Mountain·Nepal

Cho Polu

6,735m

Himalayas

mckaysavage [3] · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 6,735m
Prominence: 498m
Relief: 1,701mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 59°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit: 27.9194°N, 86.9828°E

Mountain

Cho Polu is a mountain in the Himalayas (Nepal). Its summit stands 6,735 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 498 m.

From the lowest point within 5 km (5,034 m), it rises 1,701 m. The steepest side is the west face: 43° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 59° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Lobuche, 17 km away at 4,949 m: 1,786 m below the summit.

Cho Polu for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

5.5/10

Difficulty to the top

Expedition

Above 6,500 m: an expedition peak (altitude, logistics, often permits). Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

1.2/2.53 waymarked routes and 12 path sections nearby
0.0/1.50 huts and shelters
1.8/21,786 m of ascent from the valley
1.2/1.5498 m of prominence
1.0/1.54 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
0.3/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

—

No ski runs within 12 km in OpenStreetMap.

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

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Snow

When there is snow on Cho Polu

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit6,735 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up5,842 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Lobuche4,949 msnow in May (some years from March to June)	No snow	No snow	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month	Snow some of the time	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow some of the time	No snow	No snow

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Cho Polu, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about -2 °C; on January nights it falls to about -31 °C. Even in the warmest month the summit stays below freezing all day: ice and snow all year round. Even at its highest, in July, the 0 °C line reaches only about 6,390 m: 345 m below the summit. Across the region, November is the driest month (2 mm) and July the wettest (164 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Lobuche high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-18	-31	-6	3,990	4	1	8.4
February	-16	-30	-5	4,240	7	1	8.4
March	-13	-27	-2	4,690	11	3	9.1
April	-10	-21	2	5,190	19	5	9.3
May	-6	-18	5	5,750	46	10	9.5
June	-3	-14	9	6,330	70	15	9.0
July	-2	-11	9	6,390	164	23	6.6
August	-3	-11	9	6,300	144	24	6.7
September	-4	-14	7	6,050	76	14	8.0
October	-9	-19	3	5,380	19	4	9.9
November	-12	-25	0	4,890	2	0	9.6
December	-15	-29	-4	4,360	2	1	9.3

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 4,855 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. Heights drawn 2× taller than lengths, so the shape can be seen.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Cho Polu

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

N 5 km

ViewpointsOther summitsGlaciersCampsites

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

—mountain huts and shelters
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
—ski areas
3waymarked hiking routes
Everest South Col, Sherpani Amphu Laptsa, Island Peak Trek
—via ferratas
—climbing crags and routes
13named glaciers
ल्होत्से हिमनदी, Lower Barun Glacier, Hongku Nup Glacier, Chukhung Glacier and 9 more
2viewpoints
7campsites
Camp 4S South Col, Amphu Laptsa La BC South 1, Camp 3S, Island Peak High Camp and 3 more
—hotels, B&Bs and chalets
—restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

12 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T3T4T5T6

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking
T6 difficult alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Lobuche17 km · 4,949 m

Car hire at KTM airport (Kathmandu)Discover Cars · Affiliate link

OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

An overview of Imja Tsho showing lake outlet channel, ponds, ablation valley — Sharad Joshi · CC BY-SA 3.0

Dingboche-52-Imja Tse-2007-gje — Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-18	-16	-13	-10	-6	-3	-2	-3	-4	-9	-12	-15
2020	−2.3	−0.8	−1.4	−1.7	−1.0	−0.8	−1.0	+0.2	+0.8	+2.1	−1.1	+0.3
2021	+2.9	+1.3	+0.3	−1.8	−0.5	−0.3	−0.5	+0.1	−0.3	+1.4	+0.8	−1.2
2022	−1.6	−3.2	+2.9	+1.7	+0.5	+0.4	−0.2	+0.2	+0.2	+0.1	+0.1	+1.4
2023	+1.2	+2.4	−0.4	−1.3	−1.7	−0.2	−0.1	+0.8	+0.8	+0.3	±0.0	+0.9
2024	+0.3	−1.0	+0.6	+0.3	+0.4	+0.8	+0.3	±0.0	+0.2	+1.6	+1.0	+0.5
2025	+3.8	+1.0	−1.8	−0.5	+0.3	−0.3	+0.3	+0.2	+0.2	+0.5	+0.5	+2.4

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q448932) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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