Altitude Sickness & Safety on Nepal Treks

Altitude sickness can affect anyone above about 2,500 m, whatever their fitness, but a slow ascent prevents most cases. Our itineraries, guides and safety equipment are built around this.

Know the symptoms. Acute mountain sickness (AMS) feels like a hangover: headache, nausea, tiredness, poor sleep and loss of appetite. It usually improves with rest. Two rare but serious forms need immediate descent: HACE (confusion, loss of balance, severe headache) and HAPE (breathlessness at rest, a wet cough, extreme fatigue).

How to prevent it

• Ascend slowly: above 3,000 m, sleep no more than 300–500 m higher each night
• Take the acclimatisation days in your itinerary seriously
• Climb high, sleep low: short hikes up on rest days help your body adapt
• Drink 3–4 litres of water a day and avoid alcohol
• Tell your guide about any symptoms early, however mild
• Ask your doctor before the trip about medication for altitude

How we keep you safe

• Guides trained in wilderness first aid and altitude illness
• Daily oxygen and pulse checks with an oximeter, morning and evening
• First-aid kit on every trek
• The rule we never break: if symptoms get worse, we go down
• 24/7 office support to coordinate helicopter evacuation with your insurer

Insurance. Your policy must cover trekking to the highest point of your itinerary and helicopter rescue. Without it, we cannot start the trek.