PEAK CLIMBING
Island Peak
20 days
This peak offers not just an enjoyable climb, it also provides some of the most striking scenery in the Khumbu. If the peak can be likened to an island in a glacial sea, then the mainland forms a semicircle of cliffs that rise in the north. These cliffs eventually soar to the rugged summits of Nuptse (7879m/25850ft), Lhotse (9501m/27870ft), Lhotse middle peak (8410m/ 27590ft; as yet unclimbed!) and Lhotse Shar ( 8383m/27503ft).
To the east, rising above the frozen waves of the Lhotse Shar glacier, is Cho Polu (6734m/22093ft), beyond which can be seen the red granite mass of Makalu (8475m/27805ft). To the south of the Imja glacier, icy flutes of Baruntse (7720m/25328ft) and the Amphu peaks, is the eye-catching, lofty pinnacle of Amadablam (6856m/22493ft), which has been likened to a giant seasnake guarding the entrance to the glacial bay in which Island peak stands.
