Climbing Mount Everest is one of the toughest feats a climber can endeavour — it's a gruelling test of human endurance, resilience and willpower. Whether you’re considering climbing to the summit or trekking to base camp, it’s imperative that you pick the best time of year to undertake your climb. Choosing the wrong time to climb can determine the outcome of your hike and comes with serious safety risks that cannot be ignored.
So, let’s discuss — when is the best time to climb Mount Everest?
With any hike, having a successful climb is largely dependent on the weather conditions. Ideally, on your trek you’ll have good visibility, minimal rainfall, low prevailing winds and warm temperatures. If you’re climbing Mount Everest, these conditions aren’t just the difference between having wet socks or dry socks — they can be the difference between life and death. That’s why starting your climb at the right time is of the utmost importance.
March to June is widely considered the best period to take on the Everest trek and is known as Everest climbing season. During this time, the harsh winter weather begins to subside and the temperature warms. As the spring months pass, high-altitude winds known as the jet stream begin to move away from the mountains, and rainfall remains low and steady, averaging at around 7mm at base camp.
With this temperature change comes longer periods of sunlight, clearer skies and better visibility for your climb. Plus, in spring time you’ll be able to enjoy the blooming rhododendron forests, making the epic Everest landscape that little bit greener.
May is widely considered the best month to climb Mount Everest. Temperatures are warm, the jet stream has completely moved away from the mountains, and there's still a month or so to go until monsoon season begins.
According to Dale Remsberg, the technical director for the American Mountain Guides Association, May is the time of the year when you have “the highest chance of getting to the summit”. The minimal rainfall, low prevailing winds, good visibility and warmer temperatures makes May and its preceding months the safest and best time of year to climb Mount Everest.
Autumn is another popular time to climb Mount Everest. By September, monsoon season has been and gone and stable weather conditions and clear skies take its place. The temperature in September is often warmer than that of the summer period, and while it will slowly drop as your hike continues, it only becomes a real problem in the winter months.
Autumn too will bring another element of visual beauty to your climb, as the trail to base camp becomes littered with colourful foliage that enriches the landscape. Clear skies bring good visibility, and as your trail continues rainfall will decrease incrementally. This means that Autumn is not only a visually breath-taking time to climb Mount Everest, but a safe time too.
Despite what many might presume, the summer months are some of the most dangerous to attempt the summit. Monsoon season sees heavy rainfall and high humidity which significantly increases the risk of avalanches and landslides.
Simultaneously, fog and clouds cover the skies almost constantly, obscuring visibility and making navigation near impossible. You should definitely avoid attempting the summit during this period as the weather conditions make it dangerous and cloud coverage makes it difficult to enjoy the scenery.
Trekking to base camp in the summer season can tell a different story. The monsoon weather gets worse as you ascend to the summit, so the conditions on the trek to base camp can be much better than the ones described above.
It can be a quieter time to trek, so if you’re an experienced climber who isn’t deterred by these adverse weather conditions, you might enjoy trekking in this period as it is a lot less busy than the Spring and Autumn periods. However, it is not not the prettiest, driest or safest time to trek by any means.
Winter is another time to avoid. Temperatures drop dramatically during this period and at base camp they can be as low as -30C. Near the summit, wind chill temperatures plunge even more drastically, dropping to as low as -83C. In these sorts of temperatures, frostbite would occur in less than a minute.
As well as these cold temperatures, the southward migration of the northern hemisphere jet stream brings high winds and heavy snowfall. The combination of the winds and snowfall mean blizzards and snowstorms form quickly, compromising visibility significantly. At Elite Exped we never run expeditions in the winter months for these exact reasons — no hike is worth risking someone’s life.
While you can make a trek to base camp throughout the year, if you’re planning on reaching the summit, the best time to make this happen is during the springtime. Good weather conditions are rare on Everest and can make or break a successful climb.
Taking on Everest will be extremely difficult and can be extremely dangerous. Whether it's base camp or the summit, you’ll need an experienced team and good weather on your side. At Elite Exped, our expert team will never run an expedition if there is any sign of dangerous weather conditions. Our climbers safety is our number one priority, and that’s how we’ve maintained a 100% success rate across all of our expeditions. If you’re considering taking on this immense challenge, you can trust in our team to make it happen as safely and successfully as possible.
