Everest Base Camp Trek in Winter (December to February): The Cold, Quiet Truth

This page covers December, January and February together. For all twelve months, see the month-by-month weather guide.

How cold is the Everest Base Camp trek in winter?

I use the four stations along the route that publish a record: Lukla (2,786 m), Namche Bazaar (3,450 m), Tengboche (3,857 m) and Dingboche (4,410 m, which is modelled data, not an instrument record). Each cell is the average daily high, then the average daily low, in degrees Celsius, with the month's rain or snowmelt in millimetres.

Station	December	January	February
Lukla 2,786 m	11.1 / -0.5 (0.5 mm)	8.3 / -2.9 (15.3 mm)	8.9 / -1.6 (17.2 mm)
Namche 3,450 m	7.6 / -7.1 (24 mm)	6.9 / -8.5 (43 mm)	6.4 / -6.5 (20 mm)
Tengboche 3,857 m	6.0 / -7.5 (0.6 mm)	3.7 / -9.7 (22.0 mm)	4.0 / -9.7 (14.1 mm)
Dingboche 4,410 m (modelled)	3.2 / -13.4 (3 mm)	1.0 / -15.3 (9 mm)	1.5 / -14.2 (8 mm)

Sources: Lukla, Nepal Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) 1991 to 2020 normals. Namche, FAO FAOCLIM. Tengboche, FAO and the Australian National University record. Dingboche, a computer model, so a guide and not a measurement.

In plain words: January is the coldest month at every station, December is a degree or two milder, and February is close to December. The sun still warms the day. At Lukla the average January afternoon is 8 degrees and at Namche about 7, so a sunny terrace with no wind is comfortable, and the nights are what bite: -8.5 at Namche, -15 at Dingboche.

What about Gorak Shep and Base Camp?

There is no station there, so here is an estimate and how I made it. The standard atmosphere cools by about 6.5 degrees for every 1,000 m of height (the ICAO figure). Gorak Shep (5,164 m) is about 750 m above Dingboche and Base Camp (5,364 m) is about 950 m above it, so I take Dingboche's average and subtract 4.9 degrees for Gorak Shep and 6.2 for Base Camp. This is my own calculation on a modelled figure, so it is a rough guide.

Estimate (average day high / night low, °C)	December	January	February
Gorak Shep 5,164 m	-2 / -18	-4 / -20	-3 / -19
Everest Base Camp 5,364 m	-3 / -20	-5 / -22	-5 / -20

These are averages. A clear, still night can be colder than an average, and one cold snap can be much colder, so treat the numbers as the mild end of what you might meet. I don't give wind-chill figures or the dramatic extremes you see on some sites, because I can't back them up. What I can say from guiding is that water bottles freeze overnight in rooms higher up, and that phone and camera batteries drain fast in the cold.

Is the Everest Base Camp trail snowy and icy in winter?

Less snowy than people expect, but icy in places. The rain and snowmelt in the table is small at Lukla and Tengboche in December, and larger at Namche in January (43 mm), where at those temperatures it is likely to fall as snow. High up, snow is possible on any day, and the trail can be icy even when it has not snowed, because the sun does not reach the shaded gullies. In my guides' experience, the stretches above Namche are the ones that need care, and microspikes earn their place on frozen mornings. Bring microspikes of your own for frozen mornings. That is guiding experience, not a statistic.

The final walk to Base Camp runs along the Khumbu Glacier, which is covered in rock and moraine. Our guides make the call on the day about whether conditions are safe for the last push, and they have the final say over the itinerary.

Do Lukla flights run in winter?

Yes, but they depend on cloud and wind like every month, and there is no published winter cancellation rate, so I won't give one. Tenzing-Hillary Airport has a short runway with mountain walls around it and no go-around once a pilot commits, and pilots must see the runway. The practical points are these.

• Where the flight leaves from. In autumn the busy fixed-wing flights leave from Ramechhap (Manthali), a four to five hour drive from Kathmandu, but that window runs to about 30 November and starts again about 15 March (see our domestic flights guide). So from December to the first half of March, flights leave from Kathmandu. Check the position for your week with me, because it can change at short notice.
• Helicopters. They fly from Kathmandu to Lukla all year. That is how the Luxury tier travels, round trip.
• A spare day. A delayed flight can take 24 to 48 hours to clear, so I would not book a tight international connection. If you cannot spare two or three extra days, winter is the wrong season for a Lukla trek.

If a flight is delayed, the guest pays for the extra nights and for any helicopter that you choose to take, so insurance that covers trip delay is worth having. Buy it in your home country, not in Nepal.

Is there a way to avoid the Lukla flight?

Yes. Our Everest Base Camp trek by road is a 15-day itinerary. You drive from Kathmandu to Salleri or Phaplu (the package says usually 8 to 9 hours), take a local jeep to Thamdanda and trek to Phakding, then follow the same trail as the flight itinerary. It is three days longer than the 12-day trek and is the same price, from US$1,399 Budget, US$2,499 Standard and US$4,999 Luxury for one traveller. I have no 2026 winter report on the Salleri road, either way, so ask me for the position before you choose it.

How short are the winter days?

Shorter than most people expect. These are published sunrise and sunset times for Kathmandu. The Lukla area is almost the same: on 21 December the same service gives sunrise 6:43 and sunset 17:09.

Date	Sunrise	Sunset	Day length
1 December 2026	6:35	17:09	10 h 34 min
21 December 2026 (shortest day)	6:48	17:14	10 h 26 min
15 January 2027	6:54	17:31	10 h 37 min
1 February 2027	6:49	17:45	10 h 55 min
15 February 2027	6:39	17:55	11 h 15 min
28 February 2027	6:28	18:04	11 h 36 min

These are astronomical times. In a deep valley the low winter sun drops behind the ridges earlier, so the light you can actually walk in is shorter, and the temperature falls fast once the sun goes. In practice it means early starts, arriving at the lodge by mid-afternoon, and spending the evening in the dining room round the stove. That is our guides' experience, not a published figure.

Are teahouses open on the Everest Base Camp trek in winter?

From December to February most of the accommodation at Gorak Shep is closed, the area is snow-covered and the cold is intense. Our own best-time guide says some high lodges are shut in January and February, and our guides' experience is that the lower villages are the safest bet for a bed and that Namche stays open through winter. There is no published list of which lodges are open on which date, because the owners decide week by week, so I won't guess. The question to put to any operator is: where will we sleep on the Base Camp night, and what is the plan if that lodge is shut? Ask me for your dates and I will tell you what our guides are seeing on the trail that week.

Hot showers and charging cost extra on most of the trail and are often not available higher up in winter; ask what your tier covers. On Luxury, hot showers and charging are covered. Food choice is also narrower in winter, so this is not a trip for picky eaters. For what the rooms and meals are like in any season, read our teahouse guide and our teahouse menu guide.

Is the Everest Base Camp trek worth doing in winter?

If I have spent four sections warning you about cold, ice and flights, you might wonder why anyone goes. Here is the case for it, with the experience and the data kept apart.

It is dry and clear

Lukla averages 0.5 mm of rain in December and Tengboche 0.6 mm, the lowest figures in the table. Our guides' view is that the winter air is the cleanest and driest of the year, and that the view from Kala Patthar on a good morning is crisper than in October. That is a guide's judgement, not a measurement.

The trails are quiet

Our best time to trek guide rates crowds as low in December and very low in January and February. That is our judgement from guiding, not a counted figure. In practice you can expect the dining room to be nearly your own.

You meet the people who live there

This is less talked about, but in my guides' experience it is the most valuable part of a winter trek. In autumn, lodge families are flat out cooking and cleaning for dozens of guests. In winter, with a handful of trekkers passing through, there is more time to sit by the stove and talk. Some of our repeat clients choose winter for this reason.

The trek price does not change

The price on our package page is the same in winter as in October: US$1,399 Budget, US$2,499 Standard and US$4,999 Luxury for one traveller, and less per person for groups. I can't promise savings on lodge or flight prices in winter. Kathmandu hotels are not included in any trek tier, so we quote them separately.

Here is what one of our guests wrote after a January trek, from our TripAdvisor record: "So at the beginning, my friends told me it will be very cold and snowing but thank God it was perfect weather for me." (Candy, TripAdvisor, January 2021). One guest, one trip, not a forecast.

December, January or February: which winter month?

December is the mildest of the three at every station, and the days are at their shortest around the 21st. Our guides' view is that early December still carries the clear weather of November before the deep cold arrives, and that is the stretch I would pick. The November figures from the same sources, for comparison, are Lukla 13.8 / 2.4 and Dingboche 5.3 / -11.0, so early December feels like a slightly colder November, and from about the third week the deep cold sets in. If you can, go in the first two weeks, and keep a spare day at the end for flights. The question to put to any operator is: where will we sleep on the Base Camp night, and what is the plan if that lodge is shut?

January is the coldest month in every row of the table: Dingboche's average night is -15 and Namche has its most snowmelt (43 mm). If you want the deepest quiet and can handle the cold, this is your window. The days begin to lengthen, to 10 h 37 min by mid-January.

February is a degree or so milder than January, and the days are noticeably longer: 11 h 15 min by mid-month and 11 h 36 min at the end. March is warmer again (Namche averages 9.6 / -3.0 and Dingboche 4.7 / -10.5 in the same sources) but wetter at Lukla (45.3 mm). February is a good compromise for trekkers who want winter quiet without January's cold. Compare it with our March guide.