Island Peak sits at 6,189m in the heart of the Khumbu, taking its name from the way it rises like an island from a sea of glaciers when viewed from Dingboche below. It is one of the most popular high altitude summits in Nepal and rightly so, offering an incredible mountaineering experience that is genuinely within reach for fit and motivated adventurers.

At Vertex Expeditions, we’ve designed this expedition as the ideal introduction to high altitude mountaineering. You’ll cover glaciated terrain, use crampons and an ice axe, and tackle the steep fixed ropes of the final headwall on summit day enough to give you a real taste of what mountaineering at altitude feels like, without requiring a technical background to get there.

The approach follows the Everest Trail through Sherpa villages, ancient monasteries and the extraordinary landscape of the Khumbu Valley. On summit day, you’ll push with your Vertex team to the summit ridge where Everest, Lhotse, Makalu and the entire Khumbu massif stretch out across the horizon, a view that makes every step of the climb worthwhile.