r/everestbasecamphike

Hey Trekkers !

My partner and I (mid-20s Aussie couple) are seriously considering an Everest Base Camp trek in mid to late November this year. We’re both very fit – we’ve done plenty of solid single-day hikes in New Zealand (including some long ones with decent elevation), but this will be our first multi-day high-altitude trek.

We’ve been looking at Intrepid Travel and G Adventures, plus a bunch of other operators on TripAdvisor and elsewhere. There are so many options it’s a bit overwhelming, so we’d love some real first-hand experiences rather than just marketing material.

A few specific things we’re wondering about:
• How is the weather in mid-late November? We know it’s shoulder/off-season, but what’s the reality on the trail (cold, snow, wind, visibility for views)?
• is it noticeably quieter than peak season? Does that make the experience better or worse?
• Which operators did you use and would you recommend them? Especially any that Australian groups have had good experiences with (flight changes, support, group size, etc.).
• Altitude and fitness – any tips for Aussies coming from sea level? How did you train?
• Packing / gear – anything you wished you’d brought or left behind?
• Overall – would you do it again in November, or would you pick a different month?

We’re leaning towards a 12-14 day itinerary including the flight in/out of Lukla. Happy to join a small group or go semi-private if it makes sense.
Any advice, stories, or warnings from people who’ve actually done it recently (especially other Aussies) would be massively appreciated. We’ve been dreaming about this for ages and want to do it right!
Thanks heaps! 🏔️

I have been doing this for a while now, looking into Nepal trekking operators for people who ask me, and comparing quotes and packages for EBC specifically. Figured I would write up what the comparison actually looks like in practice, since most content online either recommends one company without explanation or gives you a generic checklist that does not help you decide anything.

I am not going to name specific companies here because operator quality changes over time and I do not want someone reading this six months from now to book based on outdated information. What I want to show is what the comparison actually revealed when I looked at several operators side by side.

What I compared and why

I looked at operators across a rough price range from budget to mid range to premium, so roughly 1200 dollars on the low end to around 2500 on the higher end for a standard EBC itinerary. I asked each one the same set of questions so I was comparing actual answers rather than just brochure language.

The questions were roughly: who is my specific guide, what is the group size, what happens if I need evacuation, are porters insured, what is your refund policy, and what is not included in this price.

What I found that surprised me

The biggest difference was not price. It was how operators answered questions.

A couple of the cheaper operators gave fast, friendly, short answers that did not actually address what I asked. If I asked about evacuation protocol, I got something like "no worries, we handle everything." If I asked about porter insurance, I got a subject change. This is not proof they are bad operators, but it tells you they either have not thought about these things carefully or they do not want to talk about them, and either way you are going in with less information.

The more expensive operators tended to give longer, more specific answers. One named the guide upfront without me having to push. Another explained their porter insurance policy in detail without being asked twice. That kind of answer is harder to fake because it has specific detail that a vague operator simply does not have ready.

Where cheaper operators actually made sense

Two of the budget operators I looked at were genuinely fine options for a specific type of trekker. Experienced, fit, comfortable with larger groups, and already holding solid travel insurance. For that person, paying 1200 dollars instead of 2500 is a completely reasonable trade because they know what they are trading and they are okay with it.

The problem I kept seeing is not that cheap operators exist. It is that the people most likely to book a cheap operator are often first timers who do not yet know what they are trading. The mismatch between expectations and reality is where most of the bad reviews come from, not actual scams or danger.

What the comparison did not tell me

I could not assess guide quality from a comparison call. Every operator says their guides are experienced and certified. The only real signal I found here was whether they could name the guide, tell me something specific about them, and whether that guide had any kind of findable online presence or license I could cross reference. Most could not give me that level of detail upfront.

I also could not predict how well an operator handles problems, since that only shows up when something actually goes wrong. What I could look at was how detailed and honest they were in general, since operators who give vague answers to easy questions are probably going to give vague answers to hard ones.

The honest conclusion

No single operator stood out as obviously the best for everyone. What became clear was that the right operator depends heavily on the individual trekker, their budget, fitness level, experience, whether they are going solo or with someone, what they are most worried about, and how much uncertainty they are comfortable with.

A first timer on a tight budget needs to think about this differently than someone who has done multi week treks before. A solo female traveler needs to ask different questions than a group of friends who have trekked together. An older trekker with specific health considerations needs to prioritize things that a 25 year old might not care about at all.

That is actually why I started helping people with this individually rather than just posting general comparisons. A general comparison can tell you what the categories are. It cannot tell you which operator fits your specific situation without knowing what your situation actually is.

If you want to share your context, budget, dates, experience level, any health considerations, what matters most to you, I am happy to tell you what I would actually look at for someone in your position. No pitch, I just find this genuinely more useful than a generic recommendation.

I’ve been researching and coming across articles that say the 62.5mg twice a day is the same as the 125mg but without all the side effects.

Doing this hike in October and I have been testing out different doses, but wanted to ask if anyone has successfully done this dose. I searched through this forum and was going to also ask the mountaineering group as well.

Link above to one of many studies I found.

Thanks!

Based on my years of guiding across the Himalayas, I have come across a blanket behavior of Diamox being recommended by anyone and everyone to the ailments of Altitude Sickness and trekkers/climbers treating this as a miracle drug. While Diamox does aid in Altitude Sickness, it is not a one-stop solution against Altitude Sickness and even worse, sometimes mask the initial symptoms of Altitude Sickness to let the situation unfold into severe forms of AMS to HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) or HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema). 

 Acetazolamide (Diamox), is a very popular choice of medication for trekkers or climbers venturing into high altitude and empirical/clinical studies have shown that it is a very effective tool to prevent and aid against Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). However, every once in a while, I have come across trekkers/climbers who followed the dosage to the tee and yet, had to be evacuated due to HACE or HAPE. I understand the science behind the Diamox but this intriguing factor is what lead me to dive deeper into this topic. 

 In simple terms, Diamox works by forcing Respiratory Adaptation i.e., your kidneys accelerate excretion of bi-carbonates, resulting in hyperventilation and oxygenation of your blood. While this is effective to prevent AMS, serious conditions like HACE and HAPE works on a completely different pathological pathway. More often than not, this might work dangerously for trekkers and climbers giving them a false sense of security whilst their body requires more time to adapt to the change in barometric pressure and hypoxic conditions. This exact false sense of respiratory adaptability is what makes the onset of HACE and HAPE unpredictable. Localized vascular pressure, severe fluid shifts and inflammation that causes these conditions are not addressed by Diamox. 

Below are the summarised versions of why Diamox is not effective against HACE and HAPE.

https://preview.redd.it/f8t8fx60hsah1.png?width=1414&format=png&auto=webp&s=5f9c1bb74d726a19614da5b66d09e19310fb8daa

https://preview.redd.it/ms3ijy60hsah1.png?width=1414&format=png&auto=webp&s=e77f6406fde6a16195e6ab20bafc20ed1962cfea

To summarize the above,

https://preview.redd.it/00soi2gzhsah1.png?width=1438&format=png&auto=webp&s=a639b8c4d57c7b40ff83c5de2f8ee974df2d3f89

We come back to the foundation, the age old guidelines of slow ascent, dedicated rest days, adequate hydration. I have observed countless threads in Reddit where climbers and trekkers swear-by Diamox for the courtesy of following a shorter itinerary or quicker bag to the summit. I hope this helps you to take more informed decision on why slow acclimatization and hydration is paramount for your expeditions. My curiosity drove me further to dig deeper into the reasons behind these recommendations; 

https://preview.redd.it/z260m6zuhsah1.png?width=1444&format=png&auto=webp&s=17190a2f1d32e8560fc516c4f40d876a45ab4ed3

https://preview.redd.it/nhuo55zuhsah1.png?width=1390&format=png&auto=webp&s=26d303f2c9901bd8522b112551c60b8fbe208ca2

Now finally onto, why halting your ascent or descending to lower elevations is one of the quickest and most-effective against any conditions of Altitude Sickness. Throughout my tenure of Guiding, I have made the uncomfortable decisions to descend as soon as possible even though its 11 pm in the night or 3 am in the morning. I knew it helped immensely but I never knew the reasons of how it helped. This has further solidified my intuition to ‘Descend’ whenever possible when things don’t seem right. 

https://preview.redd.it/hshwui15jsah1.png?width=1406&format=png&auto=webp&s=30150ac51144ee1879acbbdc8b20f83d5cc92acc

https://preview.redd.it/wwuxij15jsah1.png?width=1400&format=png&auto=webp&s=80d94a397e78ad8ae38ae635b8ead6066537db83

https://preview.redd.it/rqn5fk15jsah1.png?width=1372&format=png&auto=webp&s=8d89dbbcdfc08f8685d2bdcdac070d0b8f16410d

I have had moments when I called for immediate descent at 3 am or descent till the next village at least a 1000m lower, even though we had hiked for 6-7 hours already. It is not uncomfortable but it is my responsibility to ensure that we survive this onset of ordeals to experience the mountains without fighting for survival.

Thus, if you have heard it, you have heard it right, the only miracle treatment to the onset of Altitude Sickness, HACE and HAPE is Descend, Descend and Descend.

Upon further research, various sources recommended the following prophylactic dosages for AMS, HACE and HAPE. However, I am not a medical professional neither have the licesing to advocate any medication but here is a summarised version, if you wish to discuss this with your travel doctor;

Use in caution with your Doctor's advice

As a Climbing and Trek Guide, one needs to be observant and perhaps more than others as you look for minute indicators that things are not going on the way that’s meant to be. I have had instances where I have descended trekkers and climbers who were already on full dosage of Diamox, recommended and administered Dexamethasone to buy more time but fortunately haven’t had to use Nifedipine. There are things that I pay attention to which might seem a bit ridiculous but there are reasons to it, 

Checking on Hydration: I always check with my clients sometimes a bit more rigorously if I know that someone doesn’t drink a lot of water. Those who have trekked with me before know that I am known to be quite firm with my demands of having adequate hydration both for myself and for the team that I am leading the climb or trek with. With enough familiarity I even make it a point to remark in funny or satirical ways of the hydration intake.

Checking on Sleep Quality and Appetite: Once you are on the trails for a number of days, you begin to have a baseline understanding of your client’s natural appetite. A seemingly mundane question, ‘How was your sleep?’ or your client’s significant loss of appetite are the early signs of Altitude Sickness. 

Overall Mood, Slower Pace: This might seem surprising but a smiling, talkative person, suddenly going silent for periods, falling behind even in slow pace and having to hyperventilate even in rest periods are many of the tale tell signs of unfolding crisis. As an independent climber/trekker, if you are observing these signs with your friends or climbing partners, it is time to descend and/or access cautionary approaches. 

Refusing to push further than required: There are instances where I have refused to lead the clients through the option of trails that is more demanding or exhausting or took them to that view point that they saw in Instagram unless they allocate rest days in their time commitment.  Physical exhaustion and consistent stress on your body overlaps with the exact bio-chemical markers on your body that accelerates the onset of Altitude Sickness or HACE or HAPE. We discuss the side trails and the side hikes before the trek so that I can build that into the itinerary without compromising the safety of my clients.

Note: There are direct bio-chemical changes that improves your High Altitude Adapatibility with Hydration, preventing Physical Exhaustion, Dedicated Rest Days and Active Acclimmatisation Days, which are the foundations of successful high altitude endeavours. I will attempt to discuss all of this in the next chapter of this article. These attributes are even more paramount if you are looking to summit your next peak or participate in high altitude adventure, than a blanket approach of relying just on Diamox.

Conclusion

As always, I am not a medical professional neither a Researcher but a curious individual making an attempt to correlate my experiences with scientific reasonings. I am Kiran, a Trek and Climbing Guide based in Nepal and a big part of my academic studies focuses on the Mountain Safety and Prevention/Management of its related ailments. For those of you who are curious, I am in near proximity to completing my Masters of Adventure Tourism Studies and thus, it helps immensely to be able to correlate my field experience with clinical understanding.

Lastly, I want to hear your stories of when and how relying on Diamox alone and speeding your ascent failed you. Your stories of survival and management might be a learning lesson for everyone in this wonderful community. I hope this helps for your future adventures and if you are seeking to connect with me, you can find my contact details in my profile info.

Kiran

Hey guys, I'm not sure if this is the correct subreddit to post this but I'm looking to either do the ABC or EBC trek in November. I'm coming from Brisbane and flights are anywhere from $1300-$1700AUD. I'm aware of the differences between the treks and the difficulty. What I'm unsure about is how much it will really cost without a porter or tour agency. It it realistic that I could do either of these treks for under $2500AUD or is this unrealistic. I'm happy to budget travel, including taking the bus to the trailhead etc. I'm aware of the travel logistics and everything, just need to know if I'm really underestimating the total cost of everything. I'm including the price of the flights into the cost.

Did EBC this April and can't wait to go back to Nepal again next year March!

But it's been really hard shortlisting which treks to do lol. Time is not really that big of an issue because I have roughly 3 weeks, which should be enough for most treks.

Anyone care to share which other treks they have done after EBC, or any treks they are planning?

People who have done EBC + gokyo in October - what socks did you take for the trip and how many? Weight/type? Did you use liners as well? I live in Australia so any recommendations for shops to get them help too.

I will be using trail runners. Specifically Salomon xt6 gore Tex.

If anyone is making plan to visit Nepal to do ebc plus three passes 13th September has group availability. If you are interested let me know

I recently completed my EBC trek and documented the whole journey in a film series called Trail Notes, shot entirely on a Google Pixel 6a.

This is a 2 minute preview of the series. If it looks interesting, Episode 1 is already up covering Namche Bazaar to Tengboche!

Would love to hear from anyone who's done this trek. Curious if it brings back memories. 🏔️

Hi everyone,
I’ll be starting my Everest Base Camp trek on 1 July, entering the trail via Surke instead of flying to Lukla.
I’m planning my itinerary based on the availability of tea houses during the monsoon season. I’ve heard that most tea houses in Dingboche may be closed around this time, so I’m looking for advice from anyone who has been there recently.
Could you please let me know:
Which villages currently have tea houses open?
Where would you recommend staying each night from Surke to EBC and back?
Are there any sections where accommodation is limited due to the season?
I want to finalize my trekking schedule based on where I can realistically find accommodation.
Any recent updates or firsthand experiences would be greatly appreciated.