Kanchenjunga is the 3rd highest mountain in the world at 8586m / 28169ft. It was first climbed in 1955 by George Band and Joe Brown.
The first New Zealand ascent of Kanchenjunga was in 1955 by Norman Hardie and the first Australian ascent was in 1987 by John Coulten and Michael Groom. (Source: Himalayan Database)
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Project Base8000 expedition: October/November 2018 (completed).
North Base Camp – Pangpema, Nepal – 5143m / 16873ft
South Base Camp – Oktang, Nepal – 4730m / 15518ft
- we trekked to both base camps in the one trek. For the South Base Camp we trekked to the prayer-flag adorned cairn at Oktang, which is as far as trekkers can go. We did not go further onto the Yalung glacier to the climbers’ Base Camp as this is a dangerous route
- this is one of the lesser explored trekking routes in the Himalayas. While there are some teahouses, the trekking is more ‘rustic’ compared to the busy route of Everest Base Camp
- how to get there – from Kathmandu you take a flight to Bhadrapur, then drive to Taplejung and trek from there
- number of days trekking – 19 days, with an extra 2 days needed at either end of the trek to fly/drive between Kathmandu and Taplejung
- best time of year to trek – October/November is good for cool clear days. April/May is the main climbing season and can also be trekked, but it may be more cloudy or rainy.
- we also saw the north face of Mt Jannu from the trail
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Read our blogposts
Kanchenjunga North and South Base Camp Trek blogpost (Kanchenjunga Circuit)
