How Difficult is Everest Base Camp Trek: A Brief Introduction

Trekkers heading to Everest Base Camp Trek face certain difficulty level

Having a wish to go for a trekking adventure in the Himalayas is one thing and actually going on it is a completely different thing. You will research a lot of factors about the trek that you want to go on. Everest Base Camp Trek is certainly one of the most popular trekking adventures in the world. Nepal receives the highest number of trekkers heading to the base camp of the highest mountain on earth than other trekking adventures. If you are also planning to take the adventure sooner or later, it’s good to know about Everest base camp trek difficulty level. Knowing about the difficulty of the trip will help you plan and prepare accordingly.

As a high altitude trekking adventure in the Himalaya, the trip to Everest base camp is certainly a difficult one. But ‘how difficult it is’ is the big question about the trip. There are a lot of factors that make a trip difficult. And the trip to Everest is certainly the one. Let’s take a look at the difficulty level of the Everest base camp trek.

How difficult is the Everest base camp trek?

The most famous base camp trek in the world certainly has lots of difficulties throughout. From the winding trails up and down the mountains to increasing elevation, you will face a lot of challenges during the trip. Since the trek goes above 5,000 meters from sea level, you will certainly feel the difficulty growing every step up towards the base camp.

You will feel the toughness of the trek growing even more intense in the higher elevation because of thinning oxygen level. We call it a moderately difficult trek that doesn’t involve any extremity. The well-trodden trail gives a sense of ease and comfort despite the challenges it has.

Is it a technically difficult trek?

Although Everest base camp trek has a certain difficulty level, it doesn’t involve any technical difficulties. The trip is simply a walking adventure that takes you through the mountainous landscape. You will not need any technical climbing skills to go on the trip.

How fit do you have to be to go on the trip?

Fitness is certainly the most important thing to go on the trek to the Everest. Whether you go all the way to the base camp or simply do the Everest Panorama Trek or  Gokyo Lake Trek, you need a good fitness.
A well-planned preparation is necessary to be able to go on the trek of this difficulty level. Regular cardio work-out, small hiking trips, and fitness plan can immensely help you in staying fit for the trip.

The difficulty of Everest base camp trek is not as extreme as many people think it to be. Given its elevation and wilderness, the trek can be given a moderate difficulty level. Apart from traversing the trail up and down the mountains, you do not go through an extremely difficult situation. There are plenty of lodges and teahouses to keep you comfortable during the night. You can get almost what you want to eat throughout the trek. So, the adventure has become quite humanly that has almost everything that we wish to find at that altitude of the mountain.

The access to the Everest region has also become wonderfully easy with the flight to Lukla. Before the flight service, trekkers had to walk more than ten other days. Trekking to Everest Base Camp via Jiri was a longer trekking version of the current trip in the past.

Although we have not called it an extremely difficult trek, you have to understand that there are certainly lots of challenges that you need to go through. We have found that many trekking adventures that we label easy in Nepal are difficult for some trekkers. So, you need to expect the Everest base camp difficulty to be quite challenging. You will enjoy the trip if you set your expectation accordingly.