ULTIMATE NEPAL VIP HELICOPTER EXPERIENCE – Holiday Luxury
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Aerial shot of Nepal mountains

Travel Kinship’s Ultimate Nepal VIP Helicopter Expedition

Your Adventure Begins Here

A unique, VIP luxury aerial tour of all eight peaks above 8000 meters in Nepal, including Everest, Kalapathar, Mount Lhotse and Mount Cho Oyu. You will also fly to view Mount Shishapangma in Tibet (from the Nepal side). This is an exhilarating adventure that few get to experience. An opportunity of a lifetime to experience Nepal’s gigantic Himalayan peaks up close personal.

 

  • Everest (1st highest peak in the world at 8,848 m)

  • Kanchenjunga (3rd highest peak in the world at 8,586 m)

  • Mount Lhotse (4th highest peak in the world at 8,502 m)

  • Makalu (5th highest peak in the world at 8,481 m)

  • Cho Oyu (6th highest in the world at 8,201 m)

  • Dhaulagiri (7th highest peak in the world at 8,167 m)

  • Manaslu. (8th highest peak in the world at 8,163 m)

  • Annapurna (10th highest peak in the world at 8,091 m)

  • Shishapangma in Tibet. (14th highest peak in the world at 8,013 m)

Snowy Nepal mountains
Helicopter flying over Nepal

The Highlights

There are 14 peaks in the world over 8000 m and 8 are in Nepal – you will get to see them all plus one in Tibet. (Viewed from Nepal)

A possible stop of 5 minutes at Kalapathar 5400 meters (local authorities permitting). You will be looking down at Everest Base Camp from this spot as it is higher than Everest Base Camp.

Fly through Kali Gandaki Gorge which by some definitions is the deepest ravine in the world. It is five times deeper than the Grand Canyon.

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You will be flown close to Mount Lhotse and Everest and overlooked into the Tibetan Plateau. See the largest sheer ice face in the world at Mount Dhaulagiri. Champagne breakfasts and unique special touches. Possibility to meet award winning Sanobabu Sunuwar or Lakpa Tshiri Sherpa who paraglided from Everest's summit and then took a near 500-mile kayaking trip on the Ganges River to the Indian Ocean. Possibility to meet role model women like the first female paraglider in Nepal and a woman who hiked all the way to Everest base camp from her home in Kathmandu. Women leading the way for a new age of women explorers and adventurers.

Itinerary

Day 1

We start early from Kathmandu for the best views and fly to the Eastern edge of Nepal. We will fly by Mount Kanchenjunga (3rd highest peak in the world at 8586 meters). We will continue to fly past Mount Makalu (5th highest peak in the world at 8,481 meters) and stop for the day. We will land at Namche Bazaar where guests will have the rest of the day free to relax or take part in additional activities and experiences with us.

 

Namche Bazaar is at 3,608 meters the biggest Sherpa village on the Everest Base Camp trail. Here guests can do a little bit of slow walking and meet local characters to get a sense of what it is like to trek to Everest base camp and hear stories of famous accents of Everest. Guests will need to move slowly and avoid sudden movement as the high altitude can cause dizziness.

 

One option for accommodation here is to stay in a small lodge away from the bustling Bazaar. This small lodge is owned by Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa who is a conservation activist, a photographer and who runs the Sherpa Cultural Museum and Everest Documentation Centre. If required we can arrange for Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa to join guests for dinner, conversation and story-telling.

 

“Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa, the self-confessed mountain maniac. Lhakpa's quest for Sherpa memorabilia was triggered by a British photo-journalist who came inquiring about his father, noted climber Sonam Girmi Sherpa, who had taken part in 37 mountaineering expeditions. “I got really interested and started collecting oral testimonies and artefacts and reading reference books," Lhakpa told us. The Sherwi Khangba Centre in Namche was inaugurated by Sir Edmund Hillary in April 1994. It has a Sherpa Culture Museum, a Mt Everest Documentation Centre, and an expanding library with over 118 valuable research books.”

Kathmandu
Helicopter over Nepal mountains

We start our flight early in the morning, flying to see world famous Mount Everest – the highest mountain in the world. The China-Nepal border runs across its summit and its elevation (snow height) was most recently established in 2020 at 8,848 meters.

 

We continue on past Mount Lhotse (At 8,502 meters this is the 4th highest peak in the world). If the local authorities allow it, we will land at Kalapathar viewpoint for a few minutes to take a few photos, look down at Everest Base camp. Kalapather peak is higher than Everest Base Camp and the panoramic view is much better from here.

 

Next we fly into the Gokyo Valley over its stunning lakes. We will fly over the Ngozumba glacier which stretches an impressive 36 km down from the sixth highest peak, Mount Cho Oyu (At 8201 meters this is the 6th highest in the world.)  Flight paths are of course not set highways so the helicopter will fly according to weather and when and where the pilots see it best at that moment.

 

We will land for a specially prepared Champagne breakfast at the Everest View Hotel and then fly on to Lukla to refuel before heading back to Kathmandu.

 

During this flight we will pass close enough, whilst remaining on the Nepal side, to see Mount Shishapangma over in Tibet. (At 8013 m this is the smallest of the 8000-meter peaks and 14th highest Peak in the world). We then continue on to Gorkha where we stop to explore.

 

Gorkha is a historically important place in Nepal. This is where the last dynasty of Nepal originated. Your guide will tell you stories of how the throne was obtained by deceit and non-Hindus became the Kings and incarnation of a Hindu God. This is also where the name of the world-renowned Gurkha name came from.

 

Finally, we fly the last short leg to Pokhara for our overnight stop. Guests can relax at a peaceful deluxe resort, perhaps indulge in a massage before cocktails followed by a lovely dinner.

 

Possible accommodations here include:

  • Tiger Mountain Pokhara lodge whose English owner is a charming host and can help us with special touches and added extras.

  • Pavillions Lake View is a gorgeous luxury property reached by a 30-45min boat ride.

 

Possible Dinner Guests:

Here we can possibly arrange for guests to meet other local explorers such as Sanobabu Sunuwar or Lakpa Tshiri Sherpa who paraglided from Everest's summit and then took a near 500-mile kayaking trip on the Ganges River to the Indian Ocean. The two men tackled some of the most dangerous terrain and powerful rivers in the world without sponsors and without permits. Their story won the 2012 National Geographic Adventurers of the Year award.

 

There are also other fascinating local adventurers such as Nepal’s youngest licensed female paraglider who was trained by her brother and has a fascinating story to tell through a translator.

Day 2

Starry night in Nepal

Day 3

Today we fly east from Pokhara to fly into the Budi Gandaki valley, north of the Manaslu mountain range to view Mount Manaslu. (At 8163 meters this is the 8th highest peak in the world.) The flight will bring us close to Himal Chuli, Ngadi Chuli and numerous other “smaller” 6000 and 7000-meter mountains. Once in the Budi Gandaki valley, we continue to fly west towards the Annapurna range to fly past Mount Annapurna (10th highest peak in the world at 8,091 m) Finally, we will fly into the Kali Gandaki valley via either Mesokanto or Thorung La pass.

 

The pilots will bring the helicopter to fly around Mount Dhaulagiri (The 7th highest peak in the world at 8167 meters.) The south face of Dhaulagiri is the largest sheer ice face in the world.

 

Next we fly from Mount Dhaulagiri to Mount Annapurna through the famous Kali Gandaki gorge – cited by many as the deepest ravine in the world - five times deeper than the Grand Canyon. The gorge is also famous for being the passageway used by Guru Padmasambhava who introduced Buddhism to Tibet.

 

We land for breakfast at Thasang Lodge above Naurikot village. Here we can arrange to have a Buddhist prayer ceremony for guests.

 

Finally, we return to Pokhara from where guests can continue on their journey around Nepal.

 

We would be delighted to help design the rest of the Nepal itinerary:

 

  • Chitwan National Park

  • Bardia National Park

  • Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha

  • Take part in a lodge based or Camping Trek

  • More time in Kathmandu

Helicopter Safety

Safety is our priority. We have handpicked the safest and most professional helicopter companies with the newest machines. Owner Raj Tamang has known their directors personally for 15-25 years. Some of these helicopter companies and pilots have set world records for high altitude rescue above 7000 meters and are extremely experienced and professional. Typically we use Euro Copter B3 or H125.

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For an enhanced experience, our pilots fly the helicopters at an altitude of around 7000 meters in order to get you as close as possible to the peaks of these colossal 8000 meter mountains. Only two passengers per aircraft to achieve this altitude. If there are three passengers the helicopter will fly guests at 6500 meters which is still an incredible altitude for passenger flights.

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All passengers will get nasal oxygen apparatus on the flight

All passengers will get headsets to interact and talk with the guide or pilot as they guide the flight.

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