The helicopter ride of a lifetime! I was selected to sit in the cockpit of a Sikorsky Helicopter from Syangboche in the Solu Khumbu area of Nepal. The experience was just as rewarding as trekking to Everest Base Camp, the view was incredible, as well the pilots who manoeuvred the huge machine through the mountains. The airstrip is the closest airstrip to Mount Everest and Everest Base Camp. However, it is not often used by those going to either (or any other place significantly higher than Syangboche’s 3780 meter elevation) as this is generally not viewed as consistent with safe, reasonably paced elevation acclimatization. Rather, typical users of this airstrip are tourists who plan on visiting a nearby hotel (especially the Hotel Everest View) and going no higher or those who plan only on going to Namche Bazaar.
The airstrip is not licensed for commercial operations and has few facilities. There are no scheduled services and most aircraft landing and departing at Syangboche are helicopters and STOL aircraft making chartered flights from Kathmandu or Lukla.
Helicopters do fly further, and higher, up to Everest Base Camp, but only for picking up exhausted or injured mountaineers or dropping critical supplies.[citation needed] Without altitude acclimatization, Syangboche is the highest point it is advisable to reach by aircraft. It is not uncommon for people visiting Syangboche to be out of breath, due to the high altitude.
Filed under: Adventure travel
