In designing our routes we have tried to carefully balance the need for good acclimatisation against the desire of most of our customers to squeeze as much into their limited vacation time as possible. Our experience is that a healthy person of good to average fitness can complete the treks we operate comfortably in the time allowed.
If you are very confident in your fitness and ability to acclimatise well we will look at operating a private trek for you on a shortened itinerary. Conversely if you are uncertain of your fitness or have never done a long distance trek we will happily make a custom itinerary for you with extra rest days added.
Regardless of your fitness level a factor you do need to consider is that over the last 12 months there has been an increased incidence of fog shutting down Lukla airport for several days at a time. The pictures on the right show you what Lukla airport looks like with and without fog and you can imagine why landing in fog is impossible!
Fog like this can mean delays to the start of your trek or delays getting back to Kathmandu. Our standard trek schedules are designed to give you a contingency for acclimatisation but do not accommodate airport delays.
We would therefore recommend that you look carefully at how you can build as much flexibility into your overall itinerary as possible to make sure that your trip is not spoilt by a flight delay. In particular you might consider adding in an extra day or two in Kathmandu after your trek and ensuring you have some flexibility if you need to change your return travel plans.
If there is a delay for whatever reason we will do everything we can to help but given the nature of the risk we cannot pay compensation for any loss of your trip caused by bad weather and all extra costs incurred are your responsibility and must be paid locally.