Gokyo Cho La Pass Trek in March

March is the month to read Cho La reports with care. Himalayan Glacier lists January, February and early March as the months when the trail is filled with snow and ice, and Heaven Himalaya says snow can still lie on higher ground in spring. What that means for the day 11 crossing is the order of events on the day: a steep climb on loose rock, a short glacier stretch, then the long way down to Dzongla at 4,800m, about 7 hours from Thangnak.

The Gokyo lakes are the other March fact. The Thonak Tso record shows the surface still unwarmed in early April, so the lakes are very likely to be iced when you reach them on day 8. The Gokyo Ri climb on day 9 still rewards a clear morning, and March mornings are often clear.

Below Namche the trail is easy by comparison. Phakding on day 3 is about 3 hours from the airstrip, Namche on day 4 about 7 hours, and the rest day on day 5 is what the nine high nights ahead depend on. March is a month in which the rest day is worth keeping exactly as printed.

March is the shoulder of the spring rush. The big count belongs to Chaitra, the Nepali month from mid-March to mid-April, when the park recorded 12,003 entries in 2025. The first half of March falls before that window.

Teahouses on that side are simpler than on the main Everest trail, as our tour notes say.

From March the flights to Lukla leave from Ramechhap, at the Manthali airfield, a drive of 5 to 6 hours from Kathmandu, and the tour includes the shared vehicle both ways. The airline chooses the airfield from traveller volume, so the notice says plainly that the decision is outside our hands.

HoneyGuide's 2020 flight note describes March and April mornings as very clear, with thunderstorms and windy afternoons, delays possible and cancellations unlikely. That is one operator's 2020 description, not an airline statistic. The spare day on day 18 is still your only buffer.