Ama Dablam 6812m high is situated in the Solu-Khumbu region of Nepal and is one of the many awesome mountains visible on the Everest base camp trek and perhaps the most beautiful. The mountains name derives from its appearance with the two long ridges like the arms of a mother (Ama) protecting her child, and the hanging glacier near the summit is a charm box (Dablam) worn around her neck. In the autumn of 2004 i joined a commercial expedition to try and climb it. We all met in Katmandu and after a few days flew to the mountain airport at Lukla, here we picked up the Everest Trail and stayed on it all the way to Pangboche, where we turned off to trek up to Ama Dablam base camp.

• Base camp (4650m) A surprising large flat grassy area with a nearby stream.
• Advanced base camp (5500m) Used for acclimatisation hikes from base camp.
• Camp 1 (5700m) involves scrambling over huge boulders then up a rock slab to camp.
• Camp 2 (6000m) Not much height gain from camp one but involves a lot of scrambling along rock ridges and around pinnacles with large exposure. Includes probably the hardest section of the climb up the Yellow Tower. The campsite itself is very exposed.
• Camp 3 (6280m) From camp two a steep snow ridge up through the Grey Tower area and then up the amazing Mushroom ridge. Camp three is based at the foot of the hanging glacier – the Dablam.
• Summit day (6812m)  A snow-ice climb averaging about 40 degrees round the side of the hanging glacier (the Dablam) then onto the summit slopes.