MONSOON Newsletter – June 2026
Namaste!
The Spring trekking season was unexpectedly a good one for us at Crystal Mountain Treks. Crystal Mountain Trek’s trekkers plan their trips months (and even years) ahead; and almost all of them did not cancel their trip even after trouble began brewing in West Asia. At the beginning of the Spring season it had looked like the war in the Gulf would have a severe impact on tourism in Nepal. While arrivals to Nepal from Western countries including the Americas and Europe declined considerably, travelers from India and China more than made up for the dip in tourist arrivals. With Iran and USA now reaching a preliminary agreement we hope that bookings for our Autumn trekking season will start picking up.
The Everest climbing season has also wrapped up. And, as always, there were some interesting stories/records/events on Everest this year. The start of the climbing season was hindered by a massive serac on the Khumbu Icefall. And the icefall doctors had to delay their route fixing work for two weeks. But the route was eventually completed with ladders and fixed lines which enabled a record 1,000 or so “climbers” to reach the summit. The fact that China did not issue permits on the North side also prompted a lot of them to attempt from the Nepal side.
Other notable records on the mountain this year were:
- Kami Rita Sherpa completed his 32nd ascent of Mt. Everest.
- Nims Purja, AKA Nims dai, completed his 50th ascent of a 8,000 m peak.
- Lhakpa Sherpa, the mountain queen on Netflix, completed her 11th ascent of Everest which is the most for a woman.
- Rustam Nabiev, a Russian double-amputee, reached the summit without artificial limbs powering his way up on his hands.
- A record 274 climbers reached the summit on 20 May. The previous record was 223.
- Tenzing David Sherpa achieved the triple crown in 5 days: Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse.
Read on to learn about other developments at Crystal Mountain Treks and 3 Summits for Nepal.
My Dhaulagiri Circuit Trek
Plans are made to be changed. Last year, after my Teri La pass trek, I had planned to do the Upper Dolpo Trek in 2026. Instead, the Dhaulagiri trek was written in the cards. So, as part of my ritual of trekking two routes in Nepal every year, I trekked the Dhaulagiri Circuit this Spring. I had also done this trek in 2010. I plan/hope to trek in another region of Nepal again this Winter.
Check out the portion of the trek on the glacier:
The Dhaulagiri Circuit trek is perhaps the SHORTEST CAMPING TREK in Nepal. It is a great option for experienced hikers who are comfortable hiking on some exposed trail. It is a true wilderness experience and receives significantly fewer trekkers than other popular trekking trails in Nepal. And of all the base camp treks in Nepal, this is the one trek where you are closest to the name-sake mountain; on the Dhaulagiri Circuit trek, you can literally touch the main massif if you wanted.
Building more schools in Taplejung
3 Summits for Nepal will help in the building of two more schools in Talpejung this year. We are working with the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council (KCAMC) on these builds. The first school we are helping build is the Mahendra Adharbhut Vidhyalaya (Mahendra Primary School). We will be contributing around $33,000 to build 3 rooms at the school. The Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council will be building 3 more rooms at their own expense. The old building at the school is in disrepair (see photo below). We will demolish the old building and will replace them with new classrooms. A retaining wall also needs to rebuilt. There are currently 34 students in this school: 4 in pre-school; 5 in Grade I; 7 in Grade II; 6 in Grade III, 8 in Grade IV and 4 in Grade V. The school plans to extend education to Grade VIII.
At the second school, we will contribute around $15,000 to build two classrooms later this year. Senior guide Rajbir Rai, who just got back from a month-long trek to Upper Dolpo has already left for Taplejung to supervise the builds.
WHATT (Women’s High-Altitude Trekking guide Training program)
3 Summits will be organizing the fifth edition of the women’s high altitude trekking program in January 2027. We are accepting DONATIONS as we are in need of funds to continue this program. WHATT provides training to certified women trekking guides to further enhance their skills as a trekking guide. These skills augment the skills they have learned during the guide license. We’ve organized this program in 2022, 2023, 2024 but couldn’t do so in 2025 due to paucity of funds. We plan to resume this again in 2027.
- 2022 – 5 guides
- 2023 – 10 guides
- 2024 – 14 guides
One of the graduates, Neema Lama Sherpa, reached the summit of Everest this year. Nisha Bhote, another 2024 graduate, had also reached the summit of Everest in 2024.
Single entry for restricted areas
According to new rules, trekkers can now trek the restricted areas of Nepal as a SOLO trekker. The previous requirement that there must be a minimum of two trekkers has been revised. Earlier, trekkers and trekking companies skirted this requirement by making permits for a second “ghost” trekker. But this still meant that the trekker would have to bear the costs for the permits for the second trekker.
This allows us at Crystal Mountain Treks to arrange treks for a solo trekkers to popular restricted trekking areas in Nepal. We have had many trekkers in the past who have trekked in Nepal alone either with just a porter-guide or with a porter and a guide. The biggest advantage of being a SOLO trekker is flexibility in the program. Some of the popular restricted areas include:
- Upper Mustang: We have three versions of treks to Mustang: The trek to Upper and Lower Mustang (Lodge trek), the Upper Mustang trek (Lodge and camping combo) and the Upper Mustang (Fast-Paced) trek.
- Manaslu Circuit & Tsum Valley
- Upper and Lower Dolpo: We are updating this trek and will get back with a new itinerary soon.
- Nar Phu Valley
- Humla & Simikot: We will scout this region and provide a program soon
- Kanchenjunga Trek: The Kanchenjunga region is getting more popular. We are updating the camping trek to include regions with NO lodges. Our standard Kanchenjunga trek is now a lodge trek.
- Makalu Region
Kanchenjunga trek
The Kanchenjunga trek can now be done as a tea-house or lodge trek. There are lodges in every location; some are better than others. That said the quality of the lodges have improved considerably over the years. So doing the trek as a camping trek is not necessary as you would basically be camping in front of a lodge in most places.
We are planning on a new CAMPING trek in Kanchenjunga. Later this year, my guides and I will scout a new route from Ilam to Timbung Pokhari and the South Base Camp. This route has the added advantage as the trek will begin from Ilam which is only 3 hours drive from Bhadrapur. So trekkers would avoid the long ride to Taplejung. Check out our new video of the Kanchenjunga Trek:
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All 3 Summits for Nepal programs are possible because of your donations. To donate to our school and training projects in the future, please click on this DONATION LINK. Global Pearls manages all our donations which are tax deductible in the USA.
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