Kalinchowk Cable Car

The Kalinchowk cable car connects **Kuri village** (roughly 3,500 metres) to the summit ridge of [Kalinchowk](/destinations/kalinchowk) and the shrine of [Kalinchowk Bhagwati](/sacred-sites/kalinchowk-bhagwati) at 3,842 metres. The line is short — roughly a kilometre, taking about five to ten minutes — but it climbs some 340 vertical metres that otherwise require a steep forty-five-minute to one-hour walk up stone steps. In winter (late December through February), when snow covers Kuri and the summit danda, that stepped trail regularly ices over and becomes genuinely treacherous without traction. The gondola is what made the summit shrine and its close-range view of [Gaurishankar](/peaks/gaurishankar) (7,134 m) reachable for families, older pilgrims and weekend visitors who have never walked on snow. To reach the base station, travel from Kathmandu to **Charikot** (Dolakha) by bus or private vehicle and take a local jeep up the rough switchbacked track to Kuri, where almost all visitors stay overnight before going up to the summit at dawn. Winter Saturdays and festival days draw long queues at the Kuri station, and high wind or heavy snowfall can pause operations.