For most routes, no. What matters more is being able to walk uphill for five or six hours on consecutive days. Each trip page states its difficulty honestly, and if we think a route is a stretch for you we will say so before you book rather than after.

If you can walk for six hours with a day pack and be willing to do it again the next morning, you can do a moderate trek. Strenuous routes add altitude and longer days. Very strenuous routes assume you have already spent days above 4,000 metres.

Every trip we run is private on your dates, so a single traveller is completely normal. Note that Nepal requires a licensed guide for most trekking areas, so nobody walks the main routes unaccompanied any more.

Autumn, from late September to November, is the most reliable: clear air, stable weather, cold nights. Spring, March to May, is warmer with rhododendron in flower and slightly hazier views. Winter is fine at lower altitude. Monsoon is difficult except in Mustang and Dolpo, which sit behind the main range.

Your guide watches for it daily and descent is always the first treatment. Mild symptoms usually mean a rest day rather than the end of your trek. Serious symptoms mean going down, immediately, and that decision is your guide's to make.

Your guide carries a pulse oximeter on high-altitude routes and monitors the group. Bottled oxygen and a portable altitude chamber are carried on climbing trips and on some high routes; the trip page says which. Oxygen is a way of buying time to descend, never a way of going higher.

Lukla has a short runway and mountain weather, so flights are cancelled fairly often, particularly in the shoulder seasons. Cancellation is the normal risk, not danger. We build a buffer day into Everest itineraries for exactly this reason.

We coordinate the helicopter from Kathmandu with your insurer's assistance line. Rescue operators here require a guarantee of payment before flying, which is why your insurance details have to be with us before you start. We take no commission on evacuations.

Permits, park and conservation fees, your licensed guide, porter support where the itinerary says so, accommodation and meals on the trek, and government taxes. Each trip page lists its own inclusions and exclusions in full.

Usually: international flights, the Nepal visa, travel insurance, meals in Kathmandu, drinks and snacks, hot showers and charging on the trail, personal equipment, and tips.

No, unless you change the trip or the government raises a permit or park fee. In that second case we pass on the actual increase at cost with the official notice attached.

It is genuinely optional and nobody on our staff depends on it for a living wage. Ask us and we will tell you the normal range rather than a number designed to flatter.

Yes. National park and conservation fees, TIMS where it applies, and restricted-area permits are all arranged by us and are inside the price unless the trip page says otherwise.

A passport scan, passport photographs for some permits, your arrival details, your insurance policy details, and anything medical we should know. Restricted-area permits need more lead time, so book those earlier.

Most nationalities can get a visa on arrival at Kathmandu airport. Check the current rules for your passport before you fly, and make sure the passport is valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates.

On teahouse routes, a simple room with two beds and usually a shared bathroom. Blankets are provided but a sleeping bag is warmer. Higher up the buildings get simpler and colder. On camping routes we carry everything.

Usually available in the bigger villages, usually paid for, and usually slow. Assume it stops working somewhere above the last real town and carry a power bank.

Vegetarian is easy everywhere and often the safest choice at altitude. Vegan is workable with notice. Halal is possible in the cities and difficult on the trail, so tell us early and we will plan around it.

You carry a day pack with water, a layer and a camera, usually five to seven kilos. Your porter carries the rest within the weight limit we hold them to. Anything you do not need on the trek stays in Kathmandu.