Gorak shep or Gorashep (Nepali: गोराशप) is a frozen lakebed covered with sand in Nepal, and also the name of the small settlement that sits at its edge at 5,164 m (16,942 ft) elevation, near Mount Everest. The village is not inhabited year-round.
Gorak Shep provides the best "launching pad" for an ascent of Kala Patthar, which looks like a giant dune looming over the lakebed. For many trekkers, summitting Kala Patthar, with its 5,550 meters (18,209 ft), provides both the best views of Everest and the highest altitude that most will reach without a climbing permit, which must be obtained in Kathmandu, at the Nepal Mountaineering Association.[2]
Climbing starts in the early morning, when the visibility is usually better. It takes four hours to summit and come back. Gorak Shep was the original Everest Base Camp, being used by the Swiss mountain climbers in their attempt to climb the Everest in 1952. Later the camp was moved closer to the mountain, just below the Khumbu Ice Fall. Climbing time from Gorak Shep to the Everest Base Camp ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 hours, depending on the weather, acclimatization and physical conditioning of each individual.[3] At this altitude, few people feel comfortable and many start to suffer symptoms of altitude sickness or acute mountain sickness (AMS).
(wikipedia)
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