EBC in January?

[xanadu]

Has anyone trekked in the Khumbu in January?

If so,what is the high/low temperature range and are there lodges open everywhere , i.e., Khumjung, Gokyo, EBC route and Chukung?

Thanks for your help.

[Michael Sunkist]

Nameste, I have and it is cold. Some years lots of snow, most years not. Nice to have a pair of crampons if you go beyond Gokyo Ryo into the ice fields. But the pros of this time of the year for the most part it is clear skies so you can groove on the scenery. Happy trails

[yakshaver]

I was there in January this year. Had minus 7 or 8 degrees in the room at night but did not feel the cold much as we had good sleeping bags, head gear, etc. Just the water in the bottle froze, so the following night we put bottles in the sleeping bags, along with the batteries. During the day the temperature rose to maybe +7 degrees Celsius. Perhaps even more at times in the sun. The visibility was awesome and there was not much wind. Definitely go to the fifth lake to the viewing point there. Unbeatable!

[RRainey]

I was there in January this year. Had minus 7 or 8 degrees in the room at night but did not feel the cold much as we had good sleeping bags, head gear, etc. Just the water in the bottle froze, so the following night we put bottles in the sleeping bags, along with the batteries. During the day the temperature rose to maybe +7 degrees Celsius. Perhaps even more at times in the sun. The visibility was awesome and there was not much wind. Definitely go to the fifth lake to the viewing point there. Unbeatable!

I was expecting much colder. I thought 0 degress F was common. That is about -18C. We will be treking mid to end December. RR

[Landfall38]

Our experience December 2005 in Gokyo (temperature wise) is about the same as Yakshaver's.

However, this IS cold at night.

Photse Tenge and higher (or Lobuche higher) the toilets all were frozen at night, and one had to use a heavy stick to break a hole in the ice to complete our business... so much fun!:eek:

[Petrus]

I have survived -22C in Gokyo even in March. In a tent, though. -15C inside lodges is possible.

[yakshaver]

I was expecting much colder. I thought 0 degress F was common. That is about -18C. We will be treking mid to end December. RR

It was indeed exaclty minus 18 degrees recorded that nigh outside - the lodge owner told us. But inside our rooms we had about minus 7, according to the thermometer on my Suunto, when I bothered to take it off my wrist (just to check the justification for the water being frozen in my drinking bottle). We spend the 4 and 5 January there. Or maybe the 5 and 6...

I must admit that it felt colder at Dole, although I know it was not. Just we got a room which was on the lower floor, no sun whatsoever, and really really damp and cold. We asked for extra blankets. We got four grotty ones each, but did not care. Two below, two above our sleeping bags.

[RRainey]

I'm really not dredding the cold. I'm more prone to being hot. At times my sweat point is 15 degrees C, and I often have run in 5 degrees with a t shirt.

I sleep great in the cold. In college during winter I would open the window turn off the heat and enjoy the perfect sleeping temp which is about 0- to -10. RR

[Michael Sunkist]

RRainey, in college you probably eat real well, have surplus body fat. Up at high altitudes in the Himalayans by time you get there what fat you do have most likely will have been burned up and the caloric intake you get at teahouse meals isn't that great, espescially when you take into account how many calories you burn trekking all day. Hypothermia is a reality at high altitudes. Pack accordingly. It is better to have extra layers of cold weather gear and a heavy sleeping bag and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Happy trails.