Choosing a walk

How I grade a walk: easy, moderate, challenging and strenuous

Four grades, one scale for every walk I guide. Height alone does not make a walk hard: the hours, the ground and the high passes do. Here is what each grade means, and the walks in each.

Every walk has one grade. Everest Base Camp goes higher than many challenging walks and is still moderate, because it climbs slowly with rest days and crosses no high pass. A walk moves up when it crosses high passes, has long days at height, or leaves the lodges behind. The facts under each grade are worked out from the walks themselves.

Easy

13 walks · 1 to 8 days · highest points from 1,100 m to 3,880 m

Height
Up to 3,500 m (11,500 ft)
Hours a day
3 to 6 hours a day
The ground
Well-marked paths and stone steps, with some steady climbs
Experience
None; suitable for beginners and families

Moderate

26 walks · 1 to 20 days · highest points from 2,128 m to 5,644 m

Height
3,000 to 5,550 m (9,800 to 18,200 ft), reached gradually with acclimatisation days and no high-pass crossing
Hours a day
5 to 7 hours a day, with one or two longer days
The ground
Hilly paths, stone staircases and rocky moraine
Experience
Good basic fitness; no previous altitude experience needed

Khaptad

Far West 4 to 6 a day · 1 rest day
9days
3,300 mSahasra Linga (about 3,300 m)
Moderate
The walk

Rara Lake

Far West 4 to 6 a day · 1 rest day
10days
3,600 mThe ridge above Rara (about 3,600 m)
Moderate
The walk

Challenging

12 walks · 1 to 20 days · highest points from 2,782 m to 5,644 m

Height
4,000 to 5,600 m (13,100 to 18,400 ft), including one or more high-pass crossings
Hours a day
6 to 8 hours a day; pass days 8 to 10 hours
The ground
Remote trails, scree, and snow or glacier sections on pass days
Experience
Good fitness and previous multi-day trekking, ideally at altitude

Strenuous

3 walks · 20 to 23 days · highest points from 5,143 m to 5,545 m

Height
Often above 5,500 m (18,000 ft), or long remote routes with several high passes
Hours a day
7 to 9 hours a day over several weeks
The ground
High passes, glaciers, snow and remote wilderness, often camping
Experience
Advanced endurance and previous high-altitude experience

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