Home Expeditions Over 8000 Meters
36–40 Days • 8,188 m • Very Hard Bookings Open
Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain on Earth and the usual first 8000er, for good reason: vehicle access to base camp, yaks to advance base, a broad snow route with only one short ice cliff of consequence, and a summit plateau rather than a knife-edge ridge. None of that makes it easy — 8,188 m is 8,188 m and the plateau winds are brutal — but the objective danger is markedly lower than on its neighbours, and the expedition fits into five weeks instead of eight. It is the standard proving ground for climbers building towards Everest.
TerraBlaze runs this expedition end to end: permits and royalties, the approach, a fully staffed base camp, the high-altitude team fixing and stocking the route, daily forecasting and an evacuation plan filed before you land. You bring the fitness and the experience — we handle everything else.
Three things that set this permit apart — the mountain itself, and the support that gets you up it.
Short, well-supplied, vehicle-accessible and the one 8000er where a fit climber with 7000m experience has a genuine chance first time.
A personal climbing Sherpa, fixed lines on the technical ground and a stocked high-camp chain from the moment you leave base camp.
Dedicated forecasting through the whole expedition, a doctor-supervised medical kit at base camp and a rescue plan filed before you arrive.
Expeditions are planned in phases rather than fixed days — the mountain and the forecast decide the exact schedule. Every confirmed booking gets a full dated itinerary before departure.
You are met on landing and taken to your hotel in Kathmandu.
Over the next days we complete the government briefing, finalise permits, and go through your personal equipment item by item with your expedition leader. Anything missing can still be bought or hired at this point.
The team travels to the mountain by a drive from Kathmandu across the Tibetan plateau via Tingri, with vehicles and yaks all the way to advance base camp.
The approach is paced for acclimatization rather than speed — the days are deliberately short, and the altitude gain is controlled.
We establish Chinese Base Camp (4,900 m) with dining, kitchen, communication and medical tents.
The Sherpa team holds the traditional puja ceremony before anyone steps onto the mountain, and we run refresher sessions on fixed-line technique, crevasse rescue and oxygen systems.
The heart of the expedition. The team makes progressive rotations up to the higher camps — 3 camps are established on this route — sleeping high and returning to base camp to recover between each cycle.
Meanwhile the high-altitude team fixes rope and stocks the upper mountain.
When the forecast gives a usable window, the team moves back up the mountain camp by camp for the summit bid on Cho Oyu (8,188 m) via the North-West Ridge from Tibet.
Bottled oxygen and a personal climbing Sherpa included above base camp.
After the summit the team descends to base camp, strips the high camps and carries everything off the mountain — we leave nothing behind.
The return journey retraces the approach, ending with a celebration dinner and your summit certificate.
The same transparent structure we use on every trek — you know exactly what is in the number before you commit to anything.
From the day you land until the day the last load comes off the mountain, the logistics and the safety net are ours.
Every expedition is run by staff who have stood on high-altitude summits themselves
Royalties, liaison officers and restricted-area permits handled end to end
Rotation schedules paced to the mountain, never to the calendar
Heated dining tent, fresh food, charging and comms for the whole expedition
Stocked medical tent, pulse oximetry and an evacuation plan filed in advance
The same high-altitude climbers season after season, fairly paid and insured
A Kathmandu control point in daily contact with your base camp manager
One transparent quote — permits, logistics and support staff all included
"The mountain that teaches you whether the 8000m game is really for you."
— Cho Oyu, 8,188 m
Scenes from the ranges we climb in — click any photo to view it full size.
Cho Oyu — the objective
Life below the ice
The view that starts it all
The walk-in
Crossing high ground
First light on the summitSend us your climbing history and preferred season. We reply within 24 hours with a written, itemised quote — and an honest view on whether this is the right peak for you right now.
Fully licensed Nepali agency — Regd No: 125496/078/079
Personal reply within 24 hours — no bots, no call centers
We will tell you if a different peak suits your experience better
Cho Oyu Expedition • 36–40 Days • Free quote within 24 hours
