EBC Trek in May: Pre-Monsoon Window and Climbing Season

Last updated 2 October 2026. The temperature and rainfall figures below are published station averages, not forecasts, and each table names its source. Above Dingboche there is no station data, so what I describe there comes from our guides, not from a number.

The short answer: May is a good month for Everest Base Camp if you walk early in the month and start each day at first light. It is the warmest trekking month on the trail, the nights are the mildest of the spring, and Base Camp is busy with climbing teams. It is also the month the weather turns. Rain at Lukla is more than double April's, afternoons cloud over, and the rain that comes with the monsoon is close behind. If your dates are flexible, October is the safer choice. If May is your window, go in the first half.

This is the month guide. For the full year and the weather behind it, see Everest Base Camp weather month by month, and for the decision across all seasons, the best time to trek to Everest Base Camp. The trek itself is our Everest Base Camp trek, 12 days, from US$1,399 Budget, US$2,499 Standard and US$4,999 Luxury.

What is the weather like on the Everest trail in May?

There is no weather station at Base Camp with a long record, so I use the four stations along the route that have one: Lukla (2,786 m), Namche Bazaar (3,450 m), Tengboche (3,857 m) and Dingboche (4,410 m, modelled data, not an instrument record). Each cell is the average daily high, then the average daily low, in degrees Celsius, with April alongside so you can see what changes.

Station	April high / low	May high / low	April rain (mm)	May rain (mm)
Lukla 2,786 m	16.6 / 5.7	16.7 / 8.0	58.7	127.6
Namche 3,450 m	12.8 / 0.8	14.3 / 3.7	26	39
Tengboche 3,857 m	12.1 / -4.0	13.8 / -1.2	25.2	34.0
Dingboche 4,410 m (modelled)	8.5 / -7.0	11.1 / -3.5	13	16

Sources: Lukla, Nepal Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) 1991 to 2020 normals. Namche, FAO FAOCLIM database. Tengboche, FAO and the Australian National University record. Dingboche, a computer model of the location, so a guide and not a measurement. The sources are listed in the notes at the end.

Two things stand out. The nights are warmer in May than at any point in the spring: Dingboche's modelled low is -3.5 degrees against -7.0 in April and -10.5 in March. And the rain is the real change. At Lukla, May brings 127.6 mm against 58.7 mm in April, so more than double, and it is already about 5.6 per cent of the whole year's 2,289 mm (calculated from the DHM figures). Higher up the numbers are small, 34.0 mm at Tengboche and 16 mm at Dingboche, which is why the trouble in May is mostly low on the trail and in the air around Lukla, not at the top.

There is no station data above Dingboche. From what our guides see, nights at Lobuche and Gorak Shep are still well below freezing in May and they are warmer than in March or April, but I cannot give you a measured figure.

How does May compare with April and June?

May is the bridge between the dry spring and the wet summer. These are the Lukla figures for the three months.

Month at Lukla	Average high / low (C)	Rain (mm)
April	16.6 / 5.7	58.7
May	16.7 / 8.0	127.6
June	17.7 / 12.3	324.8

May sits much closer to April than to June in temperature, but it already carries the first stage of the climb in rain. June at Lukla is about two and a half times May. That is the whole story of the season in three lines: the days are warm and the roof of cloud is coming down.

When does the monsoon start, and when does the May window close?

The wet season runs from June to September and sustained rain on average arrives in mid-June, but this can vary by up to a month. The summer monsoon may be preceded by a build-up of thunderstorm activity. So the monsoon is not a date on the calendar. It can come early, and the weeks before it are not the same as the dry spring.

I can't give you a firm cut-off date in late May. The published picture is a build-up through May and sustained rain from about mid-June, give or take a month. My judgement, from running this route since 2016, is that the first half of May is the comfortable part, and that every week after that asks more of your flexibility. That is guide experience, not data.

The dates currently listed on our trek page for May 2027 are 5, 12, 19 and 26 May. I would take the first or the second. The 19 and 26 May starts finish in the first days of June, and I would want you to know what you are choosing before you book them.

Why is May climbing season, and what does it mean for the trail?

Most attempts on the summit of Everest are made during May, before the summer monsoon. As the monsoon approaches, the jet stream shifts northward, which reduces the average wind speeds high on the mountain. Climbers aim for a calm spell of roughly 7 to 10 days. In 2018 that window ran for 11 days, and 807 people reached the summit that year.

Climbing is permit-limited, and the numbers show a busy mountain. The same page lists 381 Nepali permits for 2019, with about 40 teams and nearly 400 climbers on the Nepal side that spring, and 492 for 2026, which it calls a new record. For a trekker it means Base Camp in May is a working camp, with tents covering the glacier and teams moving loads through the Khumbu Icefall in the early hours. Some teams will talk to trekkers over a cup of tea, but that is up to them and never promised, and you must keep out of their space.

On our trek you stay in the part of Base Camp open to trekkers and you do not go into the Icefall. Your guide keeps you there.

How crowded is the Everest trail in May?

There is no month-by-month count of trekkers on the Everest trail. What I can give you is the national picture. Nepal Tourism Board figures for 2024 show 128 thousand international arrivals in March, 111 thousand in April and 90 thousand in May, against 124 thousand in October and 114 thousand in November. These are arrivals to the whole country, not to Everest, but May is clearly quieter than the two months before it and well below the autumn peak.

That matches what we see on the trail: busy in the first week of May as April's last trekkers finish, then thinner. This is our own observation and not a count. If you want a quieter walk with the spring weather, mid-May is the point, but it comes with the weather trade above.

Will the Lukla flight run in May?

There is no published month-by-month cancellation rate for Lukla. In the monsoon, visibility problems close the airport about half the time, with about half the flights cancelled, and the airport regularly closes from mid to late morning when strong south-west winds begin. Cloud cover also reduces safety margins for aviation in the monsoon season. May is before the monsoon, but it is the month the build-up starts, so I plan on more delay risk than in April. My judgement is that most of that risk falls in the second half of the month, but that is experience and not a statistic.

Our flight guide, Nepal domestic flights for trekkers, says the fixed-wing flights leave from Manthali airport in Ramechhap rather than Kathmandu in roughly 15 March to 15 May. That means a pick-up from your hotel between midnight and 2 am and a four to five hour drive, and it is set by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, not by us, and can shift. After the window closes, flights return to Kathmandu. A helicopter flies Kathmandu to Lukla direct all year, and it is included on our Luxury tier. The rule I give every client: never book your international flight for the same day as your Lukla return. Leave 24 hours, or 48 if you can, and in May leave the 48.

Are the rhododendrons in bloom in May?

The tree rhododendron, Nepal's national flower, flowers in early and mid spring, with red, pink or white flowers. Sagarmatha National Park lists rhododendron among the trees of the subalpine forest. The bloom does not happen everywhere at once: from our guides' experience it moves up the valley as the weeks pass, so by May the lower forest has mostly finished and the show is higher, around and above Namche, and the exact timing changes from year to year. If flowers are why you are coming, April is the surer month. See EBC in April.

What should I pack for May?

This is advice from running the route, not data. May needs the warm layers of any month, because altitude does not take a month off, plus proper rain protection for the lower trail.

Item	Why in May
Waterproof jacket with taped seams	Rain is most likely between Lukla and Namche, and afternoons can bring showers.
Pack cover and a dry bag liner	Rain on the lower trail, and wet snow higher up in a bad spell.
Warm layers, hat and gloves	Dingboche's modelled lows are still below freezing in May, and Gorak Shep is colder.
Sunscreen, hat and sunglasses	The World Health Organization's fact sheet says UV rises with altitude and can be high even under cloud, so grey days still burn.
Quick-drying trekking clothes	The lower trail is warm and humid, and what gets wet needs to dry overnight.

On our Everest Base Camp trek we lend a down jacket and a sleeping bag (see the package page for what each tier includes), so the cold is a comfort question and not an extra cost. The full kit list is in our Everest Base Camp packing list, and the protocol for the climb is in our altitude sickness guide. Altitude is the same in every month.

Should I choose May, or wait for October?

If you can wait, October has the drier air and the better all-day views. May is a good month with a trade-off, and I would rather you took it with your eyes open. Choose May if you want the warmest trekking of the year, mild nights, the chance to see a working Base Camp and a thinner trail than April, and you can start days at first light and hold a spare day or two at the end.

When should you NOT trek to Everest Base Camp in May?

Skip late May if you need all-day clear views, because afternoon cloud and the build-up make them less likely. Skip it if your international flight is booked tight against your return from Lukla, because rain raises the risk of a delayed day. Skip it if you are set on rhododendrons in full bloom, because April is the surer month. And skip any month if you cannot spare a buffer day, which is the single most common cause of a missed connection.

Is the Everest region open right now?

As at 29 September 2026, the date of my latest status update, the Everest region was open and unaffected by the late-August Rasuwa flood and the late-September rain, which hit other river systems. This can change, so I keep the live position region by region on my late-September floods travel update, and I recheck before every departure.

What does the trek cost and how do I book?

Prices do not change with the month. The 12-day Everest Base Camp trek is US$1,399 Budget, US$2,499 Standard and US$4,999 Luxury for one person, with a lower price per person for larger groups. Budget has no porter. Standard has one porter for two trekkers. Luxury has a dedicated porter for each trekker and a return helicopter to Lukla. Kathmandu hotels are not included in any trek tier. A 10 per cent deposit holds your dates and the balance is paid in Kathmandu. Plans change? You can reschedule for free, with at least 72 hours' notice, to any date within one year. The deposit itself is not refunded if you cancel.

Tell me your dates on WhatsApp, +977 9810351300, or email [email protected], and I will tell you what that week usually does, including the years it went wrong.

Sources: Nepal Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (Lukla, 1991 to 2020), FAO (Namche Bazaar and Tengboche), the Australian National University (Tengboche), the Nepal Tourism Board (monthly arrivals, 2024) and the World Health Organization (UV and altitude). Dingboche figures are modelled.

About The Everest Holiday

We are a family company in Kathmandu, three generations of Himalayan guides, registered in 2016 and a member of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal, number 1586. When you book with us you deal with the family, not a call centre.

Every booking helps fund our Nagarjun Learning Center. We fully run the centre at Saldum, where 70 children learn with a teacher I pay for personally.

Written by Shreejan Simkhada, CEO of The Everest Holiday and third-generation Himalayan guide. TAAN Member #1586.