Everest: 5 fast facts about the Base Camp Helicopter Tour

Tens of thousands of travelers come to the Everest region each year. One of the notable people to have been to the Everest is Francys Arsentiev, someone who is known as the Sleeping Beauty in Everest. Some people opt to trek to the Base Camp, whose trekking trails coupled with a sharp altitude gradient and cold climate, means that everyone has to acclimatize at certain places and get a proper amount of rest, while others choose to mountaineer to the region. But a tight schedule and the unavailability of preparing for a trek mean that you might be looking for an alternative to getting to the Base Camp in a swifter way.  If that is the case. Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour is the one for you.

Getting to the Base Camp in a helicopter is a resort for many people who are in awe of the Himalayas and ones enjoy going to exotic destinations but aren’t able to push their bodies physically enough, or gather enough mental fortitude to complete the trek. Besides, the risk of altitude sickness, trekking in difficult terrains of the Khumbu region necessitates walking for 5-6 hours a day, and the fact that the medical facilities aren’t as robust in the trekking areas also results in travelers wanting a safer, more comfortable way to view Everest and its surrounding mountains. 

Can A Helicopter Fly To The Top Of Mount Everest?

You might be thinking on the following lines: “The helicopter tour to the Everest Base Camp is the coziest way to get there, you can save yourself a whole week of arduous trekking, and do away with the risk of altitude sickness altogether. What’s there not to like about it?” Well, let us remind you that there is an unconscionable rise of 30% in global emissions by the aviation industry from 2013 to 2019. It was reported that 920 Metric tonnes of CO2 were emitted from aircraft and choppers. 

If you’re worried about these numbers: we urge you to take a closer look at the details. Aviation only accounts for 2% of CO2 emissions worldwide, and Nepal is nowhere close to the most developed nations (such as its bordering nations India and China) in terms of its CO2 emissions. In this article, we’ll take a look at the five fast facts about the Everest Base Camp helicopter tour. 

5. You’ll miss out on iconic places during the Everest Base Camp Helicopter tour

The historic airports of the Khumbu region being the most glaring examples

The worth of a helicopter trip depends upon what you expect out of your trip and the values you get back. The helicopter trip to the Everest Base Camp saves you all the money that you would spend on your flights to and from the most dangerous airport in the world, i.e., Lukla Airport, the charge of accommodation and food at the various places during your trek, and the biggest of all, it saves you hours and hours of physical preparation for your trek along with the strain of trekking itself. Besides, if you are looking to make it to the Base of the highest mountain with someone who isn’t as physically agile as you, it makes the possibility of getting to a place of such historical and geographical importance as Everest Base Camp with your partner/ family come true.

However, with the helicopter tour, you might not be able to take in all the beauty of the Everest region. The Khumbu region, which houses the Everest Base Camp region, is home to some of the most iconic places of them all, one of them being the non-functional Syangboche region, which is home to a staggering airport that looks like a dream in the months of the winter (as evident in the following picture) season. There are no flights to and from this abandoned aerodrome, but it is a STOLport (Short Takeoff and Landing Airport) of great significance.

Taking a chopper to the Everest region means that you will also miss the Mingbo Airport, an airport that was constructed by Sir Edmund Hillary (the first person to scale the Everest and after whom the Lukla Airport is named), and is more dangerous than Lukla Airstrip. The airport was constructed for merely $900, and was a major part of the history of Khumbu, as this was the airport from where the materials for the first school in Khumbu- the Khumjung Secondary School – were dropped to. The airport was also seminal in the distribution of essential supplies for Tibetan refugees who fled the Chinese persecution in the 1950s. You can read the details of the airport below:

Mingbo Airport: The Forgotten Most Dangerous Airport In The World

 

Airports in the district where Mount Everest lies	Altitude	Runway	Starting year
Lukla Airport	2846 m /9337 ft	527 m	1971
Syangboche Airport	3748 m./12296 ft	405 m	Not Given, though the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) claims that it had seasonal servicability
Phaplu Airport	2468 m. /8097 ft	680 m	1976
Kangeldanda Airport	2097 m./6880 ft.	520 m	2003
Mingbo Airstrip	4,650 meters / 15,255 ft	Not officially measured	1961

4. The helicopter tour might not be as beautiful as the trek

There is not enough time to sink in the beauty of Everest on the helicopter tour

Well, comparing the Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour with the Everest Base Camp trek would be more or less comparing apples with oranges. Trekking allows you an opportunity to push the physical limits of your body, test your endurance, and in many cases, your mental strength too. Besides that, you will also miss out on the sociological aspect of the trek- perhaps the stories that local people tell about how the society at various points along your treks came into existence, how they perceive changes in the way their lives and surroundings have changed over the past decades as travel has become mainstream, etc. 

Some of the other delectables you might miss out on the Everest region if you opt for a helicopter tour include:

• The chance to observe the Tengboche monastery, which supposedly houses the remains of the mysterious creature known as Yeti, is slim. The remains were previously in the Khunde monastery. Tengboche Monastery also celebrates an esoteric festival known as the Mani Rimdu, an access to which would be difficult on the helicopter tour.
• Namche Bazaar is home to a museum of the Everest region and houses the cultural artifacts of the region. There are also wonderful initiatives (by ICIMOD) at display in the mountain museum in Namche. 
• Halfway into the trek from Lukla to Namche, you will reach a great place for bungee jumping. However, the region is almost inaccessible from a helicopter. 

But there are other things to gain during the Helicopter tour to Everest Base Camp as well- the chance of exploring the vistas of the Everest region with a bird’s eye view is close to unparalleled, and the uncertainty of not reaching the Base Camp due to altitude sickness or other illnesses you might catch along the way is completely neutralized. Besides, there will be opportunities of forming bonds and friendships in other ways:  there might be other fellow travel enthusiasts on your flight with whom you can bond well. You can also use the time you will save to travel to other beautiful locations within the country itself.

3. You can avoid the erratic weather of the Everest region on a helicopter tour

Flight cancellations and extensions of your stay are a common source of agony during the trek

There are a few stops during the Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour- the first of which is Lukla. You might have already known that the flight to Lukla on an airplane is one of the most thrilling experiences of all time- something that often draws out a lot of adrenaline rush. Its short runaway and the fact that your flight faces some acclivity while landing makes the flight seem dangerous at the outset. But in the comforts of the helicopter, you can do away with that.

After landing in Lukla, you will have some glimpses of what to expect from the trip. The climate would have changed drastically, to begin with. High hills that surround this place and the towering mountains bless it with beauty. From here, we take off and enter the Sagarmatha National Park region. The lush forests that make up this palace, how the hills have beautiful confluences, and how icefalls and waterfalls, and rivers add depth to the beauty of this place are some other remarkable things you will experience during your flight.

Are helicopters safer than planes?

As we cross the many villages along the way and the monasteries that are integral to the culture of this region, and get the views of some wonderful perks along the way, we will cross the Everest Base Camp and get to Kala Patthar. Unlike most people who are not quite familiar with the places during a trip to the Everest Base Camp believe, EBC is not the place where you get the most splendid views of the mountain: Kala Patthar is. 

Kala Patthar is a long, narrow hilltop that is located on the Southern Edge of Pumori. The glimpses of the mountains that we see from Kala Patthar are not something we can justifiably describe- it is a sight to be experienced with the deepest awe of mother nature and all her glory. 

After your sojourn at Kala Patthar, we will head out to Everest View Hotel, from where you will have your breakfast. The hotel has been named so because you can view the whole range of mountains that make for splendid viewing during this trip. The delightful breakfast they serve gets even more delightful with its surrounding views. This is a bird eye view of the hotel’s premises during snowy days. 

Major Highlights of The Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour Package

• You will come across various mountain ranges of the country as you fly 
• Get in touch with the Easiest way to get to the Everest Base Camp.
• Be in awe of the several eight-thousander mountains.
• Touch down on Kala Patthar, the best viewpoint for Mt Everest and the adjoining peaks.
• Observe the majestic peaks of Mt Everest, Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Makalu, Nuptse, and many more.
• View pristine lakes, glaciers, lush forests, broad valleys, winding rivers, and more in comfort and safety.
• Get an aerial perspective of historic monasteries like Tengboche Monastery. 
• Breakfast at Everest View Hotel, one of the highest hotels in the world, which offers breathtaking mountain vistas.

2. There are many alternative Helicopter Tours in the Everest Region

You can choose to be picked up at Namche Bazaar, Hotel Everest View, or other places

The general Everest Base Camp Helicopter tour is 3-4 hours long, though you can also get a customized itinerary. The helicopter for your helicopter tour departs from the Tribhuvan International Airport at 6:00 AM to Lukla Airport. The chopper stops at  Lukla (2,820 m) for refueling. After this short break at Lukla, we head out to Pheriche, from where 2 or 3 people (depending upon the weight) will get on board and head out to Kala Patthar. You will stay at Kala Patthar for 5-10  minutes for some splendid sightseeing. 

However, this is not the only way to complete the helicopter tour to Everest Base Camp. Some of the other options include the following: 

Lukla to Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour

There are various ways you can reach the Everest Base Camp. Trekkers generally take a flight to Lukla and start their journeys. But there are others who take a longer route, avoiding a flight altogether. You might drive from Kathmandu to Salleri and start your trek. But a few days into the trek, you might feel iffy and that your body and your mind are really not responding well to the vagaries of the trek. You might run into the same problem if you are taking the flight too.

In such a case, you have the option of being picked up from Lukla and getting to the Everest Base Camp on a helicopter.

Namche Bazaar to Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour

Your trek to Everest Base Camp has Namche as a spot where you spend a day acclimatizing. Most EBC treks come with a flight to Lukla, and you reach Phakding overnight. Next day, you will head out to Namche. And when you are doing the acclimatization hikes around Namche, getting to villages like Khunde and Khumjung, it might dawn on you that you be better off flying to the Everest Base Camp. You can opt for such an arrangement, too. 

Lukla: 5 Fast Facts About The World’s Most Dangerous Airport

Hotel Everest View to Everest Base Camp Trek

If you have made it as far to Namche while trekking, you will reach Hotel Everest View during your acclimatization trek. You will enjoy some great views of the Everest region from this hotel that has been constructed so as to adjust to the slopes and the curves of the mountains- and not the other way around. There will be plenty of tourists-both national and international- who take chopper to the Base Camp from here. Perhaps, the energy of the people who want to take a light to the Base Camp will rub off on you and you will want to hop on a helicopter too. 

Gokyo to Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour

Gokyo is one of the most staggering lakes to visit too- and it is holy too. Located at altitudes that are greater than 5000 meters, Gokyo is not a singleton lake but rather a collection of sex lakes- all of which make it the highest freshwater lake in the world. It is an area of great concern to the environmentalists too which is why it was listed in one of the Ramsar Sites.

So if you are an environmentalist who has come to this place for your research or you are here on a  religious trip (as this lake is considered to be an abode of Hindu snake god) and you don’t want toms out on the Everest base Camp, which is only a few hundred meters in latitude from here, you can let us know and we will arrange your tour to the Everest Base Camp on a helicopter. After all, etting so close to the Everest Base Camp and not reaching it would certainly be rueful.

1. A helicopter can land at the top of Mount Everest

To your chagrin, you won’t be able to land at the top of Everest on a chopper, though

In May 2005, helicopter pilot Didier Delsalle landed at the top of Everest. His historic flight took place on an Airbus A350B3 helicopter, a type that has dominated the Everest region in recent times. While this chopper (and the pilot) landed at the top of Everest on two separate occasions, no one after him has attempted to get to the top of Everest on a helicopter again.

   Can you land a helicopter anywhere? 

Helicopters are able to fly much higher than the height of Mout Everest. The top of Everest is perched at an altitude of around 29,000 ft but the record of the highest helicopter flight is 40,820 feet (12,442 meters) when French test pilot Jean Boulet took an Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama and broke the record of the highest helicopter flight on June 21, 1972. This record stands still, to this day. On a different note altogether, a helicopter named Ingenuity has landed on Mars as well. You can read about it in our guide below. 

Ingenuity: The helicopter that flew on Mars

Many people are reticent to take on a chopper, given that Nepal has a checquered record of aviation safety. However, most of the aircraft crashes on the Everest region have taken place on a fixed-wing aircraft. Once, a Let L-410 Turbolet operated by Summit Airlines crashed into a helicopter that was parked in Lukla Airport.

Following this accident, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal created a separate helipad in Lukla, and a crash of a chopper in the airports of the Everest region hasn’t taken place. Despite this unblemished record, no one is permitted to land on the top of Everest on a chopper: the one which did was referred to as the Mystery Chopper. 

Here are the specifications of the helicopter that landed at the top of Everest:

 

Maximum Range	349 nm
Maximum operating altitude	23,000 ft
Take off power	632 kW
Engine Type	Turbine
Passenger Capacity	5-6