Safety & Advisories

Mera Peak or Island Peak: Which Nepal Trekking Peak Should You Climb First in 2026?

Mera is higher and easier, Island is lower and far more technical — the honest breakdown of Nepal's two most-climbed 6,000m peaks, and which one…

By Bishnu Adhikari · Jul 27, 2026

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If your climbing résumé is mostly long, high-altitude trekking, climb Mera Peak first. At 6,476m it is Nepal's highest trekking peak, but the final push to the summit is a straightforward glacier walk on a moderate slope, not a technical climb — the challenge…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Same permit fee, very different climb

Since Nepal's climbing-royalty overhaul took effect on 1 September 2025, every standard NMA trekking peak, Mera and Island included, carries the same government fee: $350 per climber in spring, dropping to $175 in autumn and winter. Price is not what should…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Two peaks from the same nine days in 1953

Eric Shipton named Island Peak in 1952, after it looked to him like an island in a sea of ice viewed from Dingboche. The following year, a rope from the British Everest expedition, including Tenzing Norgay, Charles Evans, Alfred Gregory and Charles Wylie…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

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