Kala Patthar

About 5,644 m at the prayer-flag summit, the top traditionally called Kala Patthar. The 5,545 m you also see belongs to a lower top on the same ridge, so both figures are real: they measure different points.

Kala Patthar is a bump on the south ridge of Pumori, with only about 10 m of prominence, so it is not a mountain in its own right. GPS readings at the prayer flags gave 5,643 m in December 2006 and 5,644.5 m in October 2008. The lower top, to the south, is about 5,545 m.

Compared with the Everest Base Camp elevation of 5,364 m, the prayer-flag summit stands about 280 m higher and the lower top about 180 m.

This is Kala Patthar in Nepal’s Khumbu, the Everest region. A roadside viewpoint in North Sikkim, India shares the name.

It is a steep walk on a trail, with a short scramble over boulders at the end: about 480 m up from Gorak Shep to the prayer flags, usually in 1.5 to 2 hours. The thin air makes it a breathless climb.

From Gorak Shep the path dips to an old lake bed with a small lake and a helipad, then climbs steep switchbacks. It eases as it crosses to the east side, steepens again up to the windy summit ridge, and a five to ten minute scramble over boulders reaches the prayer flags.

On our plan you climb before dawn on day 9, come back down to Gorak Shep, then walk down to Pheriche: 6 to 8 hours in all.

From the top you see the summit of Everest, which stays hidden behind Nuptse at base camp, with Nuptse, Changtse and part of Lhotse around it.

National Geographic describes Everest’s black summit standing clear of its companion peaks, high above the Khumbu Glacier. Lonely Planet’s guide also names Makalu and Cho Oyu in the wider view.

Three of our treks climb it, each the morning after Everest Base Camp: the Everest Base Camp trek on day 9 of 12, the Gokyo Lakes trek on day 12 of 15, and the Everest Three Passes trek on day 10 of 18.