Everest Base Camp Trek is one of Nepal’s most popular and commercialized trekking destinations. Trekkers often believe it is easy, but if you want to experience fun and challenge simultaneously, you should learn how to train for Everest Base Camp. You must prepare for the Everest Base Camp Trek by training for it physically and mentally. Even if you’re an experienced trekker, training for this high-altitude journey is best.
Focus on endurance, physical fitness, and strength training to ensure you’re at your best fitness level. Some of the unique attractions you’ll encounter along the way include Lukla Airport, Namche, Tengboche, Kala Patthar, Gorakhshep, and the breathtaking view of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 8849 meters above sea level.
The EBC trek is a high altitude distance and duration trek that will take a toll on your body. So, to always get tired, you have to prepare for it. You must ensure you are vital, especially your core and leg, as you must trek for a long time. So, let’s learn how to train for the Everest Base Camp Trek.
Table of Contents
Understanding Demands to train for Everest Base Camp Trek
The Everest Base Camp Trek is very rewarding but equally challenging in Nepal. However, you must pass through a high-altitude trek through some rugged terrains, lush jungles, rocky peaks and valleys, glacial moraines, and snowy, slippery mountains. Before underestimating the trek’s difficulty, it is essential to understand the demands of the trek. Here are some of the demands that you have to pay attention to.
Rugged Terrains
The rugged terrain is one of the demands you must pay attention to during your EBC trek. In the early part of the trek, you will pass through several conditions and surroundings, from lush jungles to rivers, waterfalls, rocky ridges, and valleys to the snowy mountains, which are prone to devastating avalanches. The demand for the trek is quite tough and challenging. So whenever you plan to trek, train—keeping the challenging trekking conditions in mind.
Fitness Requirements
Even for experienced trekkers, proper fitness requirements are essential for any trekkers. If you are a beginner, you need a decent fitness routine to make your trek to Everest Base Camp more successful. To reach the Everest Base Camp Trek, you must trek for at least a week and cover at least six to seven hours daily. In terms of fitness requirements, you have to be physically and mentally strong so that it encourages you to hike every day and reach Everest Base Camp Trek confidentially. One of the best ways to prepare for your Everest Base Trek to raise your fitness level is by making a training plan. So, let’s get into them in more detail.
Make a Training Plan
To make your trekking to the Everest Base Camp Trek more potent and effective, it is essential to make a proper training plan. Making a training plan for the appropriate training regime will make the trekkers more disciplined, and if you see progress, it also works as a source of motivation. So, let’s look at some of the training that can help reduce the stress and challenges of your trek.
Cardiovascular Training
Cardiovascular or Cardio training is the most essential training you need to strengthen your core. This training helps improve your core and all the vital organs in your body, like the brain, lungs, heart, kidneys, livers, etc. Proper cardiovascular training helps your body to function fluently without the necessary amount of oxygen. This is the most essential training you have to perfect to feel comfortable in the high altitude trek with less oxygen supply. Some ways to strengthen your cardio or build your endurance are stair climbing, running uphill and downhill, and running on a treadmill. You can also start training by carrying backpacks and jogging up and down the hills.
Endurance and Strength Training
To prepare for the Everest Base Camp trek, it’s essential to focus on cardiovascular fitness and strengthening your leg muscles. You need to train and have a proper training schedule, including strength training and trekking, which will help you get the best results. You’ll need to ensure that your whole body is in good physical condition because the journey involves 5 to 6 hours of walking with a rucksack. This can be achieved through a combination of aerobic and weight training exercises. Incorporating exercises like step-ups, squats, pull-ups, bench presses, push-ups, leg curls (forward and backward), lunges, deadlifts, and overhead presses into your training program will help build more muscular legs, which will be beneficial during the trek.
To avoid getting hurt, it’s essential to do exercises correctly. This means doing them in the right way. While having solid legs for trekking is important, you also need a strong upper body to carry your gear to base camp. Some of the best ways to increase your strength are by engaging in exercises like shoulder presses, kettlebell rows, and sit-ups, strengthening your upper body, and raising your physical stamina.
Ensure you build your stamina and endurance, get more robust, and be physically and mentally healthy. To avoid getting tired or hurt, you must change your weight during each training phase and take breaks between sets of exercises. Keeping the right form during each training phase is crucial to avoid getting hurt.
Mobility Training
Mobility Training is another training you need to improve for your Everest Base Camp Trek. The training involves enhancing the range of motion, flexibility, and muscle coordination. This training will help you move faster, with fewer chances of cramps and injury. So whenever you are training for the EBC trek, make sure you are also improving your mobility.
Mental Training
Apart from physical and mobility training, you also need mental training to be prepared for the EBC trek. The mental state is quite essential if you are not mentally stable, then you will lose all the confidence for trekking ahead days, which will impact your health and may lead you to injury. There are a few ways of mental training that you can follow during your trek.
Set Realistic Expectations
One of the ways to prepare yourself mentally for the EBC trek is by setting realistic expectations for the trek. If you think the EBC trek is straightforward and fun, you are setting yourself up for massive disappointment and may get terrified later when you start facing tough challenges and difficulties. So prepare for the rugged conditions, dynamic weather, freezing temperature, and potential of altitude sickness to be ready when you eventually face it.
Proper Acclimatization
If you’re new to trekking, reaching Everest Base Camp (EBC) can be challenging because you might not know how to acclimate properly. For a smooth trek in the mountains like an EBC trek, creating a training plan and gradually improving your fitness over time is crucial. This will also help prevent injuries. If your first hike involves high altitude, please feel free to choose a different location. Nepal offers many other high-altitude treks, such as the Langtang Valley trek and the Annapurna Base Camp trek. These treks can serve as acclimatization trips before attempting Everest Base Camp.
Develop Positive Mindset
In a high altitude trek, sometimes the experience will be not easy and sometimes not what you wished for. Many intangibles can ruin the fun for you. In such situations, calming yourself and developing a positive mindset will help you with your mental state. Look for the positive side of the trek, which includes natural beauty, stunning views of the mountains, flowering trails, jungles, and unforgettable cultures of unique people and their settlements.
Tips for High Altitude Acclimatization
Trekking at High altitudes can be tricky due to altitude sickness, dynamic weather, freezing temperatures, and remote surroundings. Among these factors, altitude sickness is the most difficult, as it can halt your trek mid-road and make you sick. The primary way to prepare for altitude sickness is to know the proper acclimatization ways. Here are some of the essential tips for High Altitude Trek.
- One of the best ways of acclimatization is to trek high and sleep low.
- Ensure you are always hydrated to avoid the chances of altitude sickness.
- Take medicines like Diamox and other medications to get instant remedies for altitude sickness.
- Ensure you have clean, hygenic foods full of nutrients, especially proteins and carbohydrates.
Climbing Gears & Packing List for Everest Trek
Apart from preparing and training for the Everest Base Camp Trek physically and mentally, you also have to prepare for the intangibles of the trek. High-altitude treks like Everest Base Camp have many intangible factors that can influence the trek’s difficulty, such as dynamic weather, freezing temperatures, rugged terrains, etc. To prepare for these conditions, you must choose and pack the proper clothing, gear, equipment etc. Many experts believe for these high treks, you have to pack lighter if you want to experience enjoyment; however, you also can’t afford to leave all the necessary gear and equipment. So, let’s get into the packing list of the items you need for the EBC trek.
Clothing
- Base layers
- Gaiters
- Neck buff
- Down Vest
- Fleece layers
- Lodge shoes
- Warm Hat or Beanie
- Lodge clothes
- Socks x 6
- Inner gloves
- Sandals
- High-Quality Waterproof gloves
- Gortex rain gear top and bottom
- Sunhat or sports cap
- Proper down jacket
Gears and Equipment
- 2 Water bottles of 1 litre each
- Trekking poles
- Hydration bladder
- Sleeping bag
- Duffel bag
- Sleeping bag liner
- Rain cover
- Backpack
Essential Items
- Hydration supplements
- Water purification tablets
- Toiletries
- Local Currency equivalent to a minimum of $50
- Dry bags
- Pillowcase
- First aid kit
- Head torch with spare batteries
- Microfiber towel
- Passport and visa
- High-energy snacks
Final Say About Training for EBC
If you are willing to learn How to Train for the Everest Base Camp Trek, then we hope our guide can help you find it; you need to prepare for the trek physically and mentally and be mobile enough to cover more distance as you have to spend time in the high altitude for several days.
We hope our tips and suggestions are easy enough for you to understand, and following them makes your EBC trek more effortless, a bit challenging, but overall more fun.
FAQs
How long does preparing for the Everest Base Camp trek take?
If you want to prepare for the Everest Base Camp Trek, it will take 2 to 6 months to train for it. You have to be physically and mentally fit to get used to all the difficulties and conditions of the trek. If you are a decent trekker with prior experience, you might need just a few weeks.
On average, How much money is needed for the Everest Base Camp trek?
On average, if you want a luxurious experience of the EBC trek, then you might need around $5000 per person, whereas if you are willing to trek the region in a budget-friendly way, you can enjoy the trekking for as low as $1500 per person. Hence, on average, you might need $2500 for the EBC trek.
Which is more challenging, Kilimanjaro or Everest Base Camp?
Although some aspects of the Everest Base Camp Trek are more challenging than Mount Kilimanjaro, the consensus is that the trek to Mount Kilimanjaro is much more complex than the EBC trek. The trek to Kilimanjaro is more demanding, from trails to trekking in snowy mountains, while access to EBC has become immensely more accessible recently.
What is the success rate of Everest Base Camp?
The overall success rate of the Everest Base Camp Trek is about 95%, whereas recently, the success rate has decreased to about 90%. If you are trekking without the proper acclimatization, then the rate of success rate decreases to about 85%. However, if you follow adequate acclimatization methods, then the chance of success increases to 95%.
