Annapurna Base Camp preparation: stairs instead of rubble, altitude in moderation, and a sleeping bag from Pokhara

The path: stairs, stairs, and a gorge

The paths in the Annapurna region are paved village paths, and the villages lie on hillsides: that means stairs. To Ulleri it is over 3,000 steps in a row, from Chhomrong down to the Chhomrong Khola and up to Sinuwa another 400 m each way, and the way back from base camp to Bamboo has 1,800 m of descent in one day. If you have knee problems you need poles – CAN provides them, nobody else does. The gorge between Sinuwa and Deurali is the most beautiful part and the wettest: bamboo, moss, waterfalls, leeches in the monsoon. From Deurali it becomes open, stony and cold.

Daily stages are between five and seven hours; Ghandruk–Sinuwa on the seven-day treks is seven to eight. If you regularly walk six hours with 800 m of ascent at home and can do it again the next day, you have the fitness. The trek does not need strength, it needs knees.

Altitude: 4,130 m in two to three days from Chhomrong

From Chhomrong at 2,170 m to base camp at 4,130, most programmes take three days with nights in Bamboo or Dovan (2,300 to 2,600), Deurali (3,200) and then up top. That is a sensible pace: never more than 1,000 m of sleeping altitude gained per day, and only one night above 3,500. Headache and poor sleep in the Sanctuary are still normal; if you take them seriously, sleep at Machapuchare Base Camp at 3,700 and walk up in the morning. The five- and seven-day treks cut: Holiday Planner sleeps in Sinuwa, Deurali, ABC – from 2,340 to 4,130 in two days. That works for fit people who have never had altitude sickness; if you do not know, take a day more. No product names an oximeter except Base Camp Adventure; none mentions Diamox.

Altitude becomes dangerous when headache does not improve after a night or confusion, staggering, breathlessness at rest are added. Then it is down – to Deurali, to Dovan, two hours are often enough. The guides know this; you have to tell them.

Avalanches, leeches, landslides: the risks by season

Avalanches: between Deurali and Machapuchare Base Camp the path crosses slopes where avalanches come down in winter and spring – in January 2020 trekkers and guides died there. ACAP closes the section at times; the guides walk it early in the morning and not in fresh snow. If you go from December to March, plan a buffer day and listen to the guide, not the schedule. Leeches: from June to September in the forest between Ghandruk and Deurali; salt, long trousers, gaiters. Landslides: in the monsoon on the jeep roads, then you walk from Nayapul. Cold: in the Sanctuary from November to March −5 to −15 °C at night; the lodges heat only the dining room. Insurance: a policy covering trekking to 4,500 m and helicopter rescue – Outfitter, Himalayan Recreation and Nepal High require proof; a helicopter from the Sanctuary costs several thousand dollars.

Packing list: what to bring, what to rent

With a porter: duffel up to 15–20 kg plus daypack. Without a porter (Nirvana, Glorious, Himalayan Recreation, CAN, MDA): everything together under 10–12 kg – then rent the sleeping bag, do not buy.

Renting in Pokhara: Lakeside has everything

The Lakeside road in Pokhara is one long gear mile: sleeping bags to minus 15, down jackets, poles, rain ponchos, duffels – rented for around one to two dollars per day and item against a deposit, bought cheaply in local manufacture. Himalayan Recreation says so expressly, Nepal Hiking Team describes the shops in Kathmandu in detail. With the packages from Kathmandu the afternoon in Pokhara before the trek is for this; with those from Pokhara you should arrive a day early. What you do not rent: boots. What you check: zips and seams on the sleeping bag, because in the Sanctuary you feel every gap.

Questions about preparation

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