KATHMANDU: Peter Hillary, son of Sir Edmund Hillary, will lead a trek to Everest Base Camp this November for the last time, marking the end of more than five decades of high-altitude guided trekking, the Himalayan Trust has announced.

The trek, titled "In the Footsteps of Hillary II," will run from 4 to 25 November 2026, retracing the trails Sir Edmund Hillary first travelled in the Khumbu region. Peter Hillary will be accompanied by his sirdar, Pasang Temba, on the route, which passes through Khumjung, where the Himalayan Trust's first school was built, and Khunde, home to the Trust's hospital.

The trek will conclude at Khunde for a special celebration marking the 60th anniversary of Khunde Hospital, which Sir Edmund Hillary and the Himalayan Trust built in 1966.

According to the Trust, the group for the trek had been kept small and was nearly full, with only one place remaining. Following a high volume of interest, four additional places have been opened, bringing the total to five spots available to join Hillary on the trek. The Trust said no further places would be added once these are filled.

"For more than fifty years, Peter Hillary has been walking in the high Himalaya," the Trust said in its announcement, adding that this would be the final high-altitude trek he leads.

The Himalayan Trust was founded by Sir Edmund and Lady Louise Hillary in the 1960s, after Sir Edmund asked a Sherpa what he could do to help the Sherpa people. The Sherpa's response — that the children of the region had eyes but could not see, and asked for a school — led Sir Edmund to build the first school in Khumjung. He went on to establish schools, hospitals and health clinics across the Solukhumbu region in the years that followed.

Since then, the Trust said, it has continued to draw support from New Zealanders who give their time and resources to assist communities in Nepal through its ongoing programmes.