Let’s say you want to do the Everest base camp trek through the Nepal’s Khumbu region to Everest Base camp. And let’s say  you don’t want to share the trek with the thousands of people who usually do it. And maybe you’re looking for a unique way to spend the holidays.

Well, Embark’s friend Erik Jones has a great idea: Do the Everest Base Camp Trek for Christmas!

Erik, who now lives in Virginia, says he visited the Khumbu over the holidays once, and what he saw was nice, clear weather and very few people. Sure, it was cold at night, but the real snows don’t hit the Khumbu until January, and the average temps there range from the 20s at night to the 40s by day. If you’ve ever hiked in 40-something sunshine, you know it’s nearly ideal.

Erik has an Everest base camp trek itinerary on his website that includes the usual Everest Base Camp Trek, trekking in Nepal, with Christmas Day being spent up at the base camp and New Year’s Eve in Kathmandu.

We think this is an awesome idea, and this is the present we’d like to be opening up on Christmas day in the Khumbu: a panoramic view of one of the great mountain vistas in the world.