We recommend : Buy your gear in Kathmandu Trekking poles, hats, gloves, socks, down jackets, sleeping bags etc. Everything is cheap cheap cheap. There are fake, good quality North Face, Mountain Hardwear, and Marmot clothing. There are also authentic stores for proper mountaineering equipment. Mountain Hardware and North Face authentic store that offers great deals. Everything you could possibly need to climb to Everest Base Camp is available in Nepal. If you need it or forgot it, you can get it.
Train and prepare: The trek to Everest Base Camp is a stunning walk through the world famous trail to Mount Everest. It is not a technical climb; you do not need to have any previous technical climbing experience or even any altitude experience to complete the trek. However, you do need to be physically fit and have excellent strength, conditioning and endurance to be able to complete the trek and to fully enjoy the journey. If you have not trained your body to withstand the pressures of constant strain at high altitude, you will find it a very difficult task to complete the trek, risking your and other people’s safety. I would recommend that you spend at least four days a week doing some sort of intense physical exercise for approximately six to eight months prior to your starting date of your trek. Personally, I would have spent at least four days a week either walking up hill on a treadmill or walking on a stair-master (stair master is best) for one hour to two hours building up to 10 kilos (22lbs) in a backpack on my back. I have always been lucky and lived in a place where I had access to hills to train on the weekends, and I found that this was the greatest training I could get for trekking. I would spend at least one day a week out in the hills or mountains for at least a 4 hour walk and up to 7 hours in a row.
180retreats is launching a trekking expedition on the Everest in April 2019, read more on Everest Retreats. We continue on for 8 more days of trekking, each day moving between 3 and 8 hours depending on pace and preferences. Because we have a good ratio of staff to participants, you may go at any speed that is comfortable for you and we will be sure that you are always guided, of course with ample space if you want total quiet during your walking. Each day we stop to rest at least one time for lunch at traditional Nepalese tea houses. This is where dear locals will cook homemade meals that you can order off the menu. All of the meals on our trek will be included in the cost of your trip.
Top tips : Don’t eat meat after Namche Bazaar Meat is carried up the mountain. They do not kill the animals on site. Sherpas trek the meat in for days and it is not guaranteed to be fresh.
Go with an Established Tour Company – You probably think I threw this in here just to give our own company a plug so it’s probably better to relate it with a story. My aunt went on a trek to Everest a few years back and decided not to use our company because it cost $50 more than the independent guide she found. Everything went well until she got back to Lukla where bad weather was limiting the number of flights going out. Our good relationships with the locals meant we were able to get our clients on some of the flights. On the other hand, my aunt was stuck for 2 days and missed her international flight making that $50 look like a lot less of a bargain. She told me this after the fact otherwise I would have tried to help but it’s a good story since it highlights how important having good local relationships is and it’s just one way of many an established company can add value.