Mid winter trekking in Nepal – an updated post, November 2013.
A year or so ago I put up a post on this forum about trekking in Nepal in mid winter. My aim was to try and make people aware that, contrary to what was widely believed, it was possible to trek at that time of year, and that there were a number of benefits in doing so.
Since putting up my original post, I have read and replied to a number of posts about trekking in mid winter and I have done a further long trek in December 2012. I thought I should put up a new post incorporating many of the points discussed, my additional experience and generally expanding and clarifying some of the key issues. My original post currently remains accessible on this forum (the link is here: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2212271), but it seems that nowadays posts become inaccessible a year or so after they are put up, so that is another reason for doing this update.
Commonly held views about mid winter trekking.
The vast majority of trekkers, guides and companies seem to believe, or more accurately to assume, that the weather effectively precludes trekking in much of Nepal between about the end of November and early March. For non Nepalis this seems to be based on the assumption that the winters in Nepal are similar to those in Europe, N America, Japan and so on, ie that it is the time of year when the days are shortest, the weather is at its coldest and there is the most snow, making it just about the worst time to be doing something like trekking in the Himalayas.
Many Nepalis also believe that it is not possible to go trekking in mid winter. This is mainly because, contrary to another assumption very commonly held by non Nepalis, the vast majority of Nepalis do not live at high altitude, and so most have no direct experience of the higher altitude areas in the winter. Most Nepalis live in the southern terrai or the middle hills, neither of which get much, if any snow in the winter.
Due to this combination of assumptions and lack of experience, when questions about mid winter trekking come up, the advice from most people, though well intended, is not to trek at that time of year, and so the myths get perpetuated. Interestingly one young guide whom I was talking to about winter trekking in January 2013, and who had recently completed his trekking qualifications, said that they were taught to advise clients that they should not trek in the winter. He lives in my guide’s village (he is not related to my guide), which is in the middle hills half way to Langtang, but which never sees snow.
The reality of mid winter trekking.
It is quite possible to go trekking in Nepal in mid winter, on the standard routes, even to altitudes of well over 5,000m. This can be done without the need for any special skills or equipment. There are two huge benefits of trekking in the winter: the usually cloudless skies which give incredibly clear views, especially high up, and the fact that the trails are, in my experience, quiet and often very quiet. Due to this I now prefer to trek in Nepal in mid winter, and I would encourage others to at least consider doing so.
My experience of mid winter trekking in Nepal.
Most of what follows is based on my experience of mid winter trekking, which briefly is:
The 3 High Passes trek in the Everest region in January 2010, flying into and out from Lukla.
The 3 High Passes trek again, in December 2010 and January 2011, this time walking in from Jiri, and flying out from Lukla.
Langtang - Gosainkunda - Helambu in January 2011.
The full Annapurna Circuit trek, including a number of side trips, in December 2012.
Including the first and last days of the treks, for example flying into and out from Lukla, the above 4 treks total 94 days.
I have also trekked Gokyo, Cho La and EBC in mid to late November 2005, and Langtang - Gosainkunda – Helambu again in November 2012, plus I have trekked in Nepal in April, May, September and October, so I have some experience of trekking in other months. I am now 51, keep myself reasonably fit, I carry my own backpack (14-17 kilos) and live in southern part of the UK, where we do not usually get severe winters. All the treks from 2010 were done with my main guide or his brother. I engage and pay them of them directly. Prior to 2010 I trekked with other independent westerners.
The weather in mid winter.
It seems that the main reason that people do not seriously consider trekking in Nepal in mid winter is due to concerns about snow, strong winds and low temperatures.
Snow: the statistics which I have been able to find, some of which are from the Italian weather station near to Lobuche (the others do not list the source of the statistics), show very little precipitation in Nepal in the winter months, and virtually none in December and January. This is not that surprising, as the main precipitation is during the monsoon, which is in the summer months (Nepal is in the northern hemisphere).
My own experience bears this out as most of the time during my mid winter treks we have had amazingly clear weather, with almost cloudless, pure blue “Mediterranean” type skies and very little haze, especially higher up which makes for some fantastic views. I actually think that the clearest weather, for trekkers, is in mid winter.
Out of the total of 94 days spent on the 4 mid winter treks listed above, we had bad weather on the following days only:
• 25 January 2010 heavy snow in the afternoon at Namche Bazaar – we visited the local monastery (I donated NR1,000 and soon after it stopped snowing...). The next day we carried on down to Lukla without difficulty.
• 1 January 2011 heavy snow all day, and the night before, whilst at Tagnag. We took a, rather chilly, rest day in the lodge. The next day it was fine with clear skies and about 100mm of snow on the ground and we crossed the Ngozumpa glacier without problems (NB do not, repeat not go on this glacier in bad weather under any circumstances), and went up Gokyo Ri in the afternoon.
• 26 January 2011 some light snow whilst walking up to Gosainkunda – this only lasted for about an hour, after which the clouds cleared and the weather was fine. We were not delayed at all.
• 11 and 12 December 2012 some on-off light snow at Manang and whilst walking up to Shree Kharka from the Annapurna Circuit. 13 December 2012 quite heavy snow, so took a rest day, 14 December more snow, but we cut across from Shree Kharka to Yak Kharka – we had been intending to go to Lake Tilicho. From 15 December onwards, as before 11 December, the weather was excellent.
Usually there will be noticeable changes in the weather which will indicate the likelihood of snow. I would advise people to pay particular attention to major changes in the strength and direction of the wind, as it could be bringing in cloud, and to keep an eye generally on any cloud build up. Most experienced trekkers will do this whenever they are trekking.
One other indicator of possible snow is the local livestock. When we crossed Cho La, a high pass, for my third time, on 31 December 2010, we encountered unusually strong winds at the top of the pass (the winds were tugging us about a bit), even though the skies were clear. When we got to the lodge at Tagnag, after crossing the pass, the 12 or so yaks belonging to the lodge owner were clustering very near to the lodge. The lodge owner explained that when the yaks did this, it was usually a sign that there would be significant snowfall. That night and for much of the next day it snowed heavily (as above). Towards the end of the day, the yaks wandered away from the lodge, and that night it stopped snowing.
Generally speaking, in the winter and at other times of the year, lower down any precipitation will most likely fall as rain, higher up it is more likely to fall as snow.
From what I have experienced and read about online, the greatest risk of heavy snowfall for trekkers seems to be in October, ie at “peak” season. The first time I did the Annapurna Circuit in October 2005, very heavy snow which was more than 1 metre deep, closed the trail, and we spent 5 nights at Manang, after which we were able to continue. The recent Cyclone Phailin (late October 2013) brought heavy snow to the Everest region and heavy rain to other parts of Nepal. Lukla generally often sees periods of disruption to flights in October and sometimes in November as well.
If there is heavy snow, at any time of year, it is often far safer to stay in the lodge and take a rest day or days.
Temperatures:
Daytime: on my treks, as noted above, most days it has been almost cloudless which has meant that there has been very strong sunshine and it has been surprisingly warm, even when at well over 5,000m. When it is like this I have generally needed to wear only 2 layers during the daytime, which are usually a trekking top or tee shirt and a medium fleece. As I carry my own backpack (14-17 kilos) this has sufficed, though I do keep a Goretex top and gloves easily to hand near to the top of my backpack. The only times it has felt noticeably chilly during the day is when in the shade (which is not often) or when at the top of hills or passes where the wind can get concentrated.
On the few days when it has been cloudy, daytime temperatures are much lower, and if we have not been trekking, I usually wear my down jacket, sometimes with the fleece underneath.
Night time: at night, in fact as soon as the sun goes down, it quickly gets very cold, especially once above say 3,000m. It is therefore absolutely essential to have a good down jacket, a four season sleeping bag and a thermal hat and gloves, as a minimum. I supplement my sleeping bag with a blanket from the lodge – this does not cause any problems as the lodges are usually very quiet in mid winter.
I would estimate that the lowest, outside, night time temperatures at say 4,800m or above, will be in the region of minus 20C to minus 30C. Inside the lodges the staff keep the dining area warm until at least 8pm, using old fashioned, but very effective, “frontier” type cast iron stoves, fuelled mostly by dried yak dung (there are no unpleasant odours from burning the dried dung, in my experience). If there are enough people around, and especially if the trekkers are still spending money on drink and food and if the guides and porters are playing cards, then the stove may well be kept going, and I have sometimes stayed up until gone 10pm in the winter. Once the stove goes out, temperatures will drop quite quickly and people go straight to bed.
Only once have I been in a lodge in mid winter where there was no heating in the dining area. This was at the high camp at Thorung Phedi on the Annapurna Circuit in mid December 2012. As there is little or no yak dung in that area or any other source of fuel, the lodge is apparently normally heated by electricity, but the power cables had been brought down and so it was pretty dark and cold – we went to bed early that night. Other than this, all the lodges I have stayed in have had good fires going in the dining areas.
The lodge bedrooms, which are unheated, to some extent benefit from the heat released from the fabric of the building at night, especially where they have used high density materials such as stone for the walls. The stone will act as a heat reservoir by absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night. For this reason I always try and select a lodge with stone walls, and try and get a room that has good exposure to the sun during the day. This will not make for a warm room at night, but it will help. A room that has little exposure to the sun during the daytime will be colder at night. As it is usually very quiet in the winter, I have almost always had a good choice of rooms.
The main heat source in the bedrooms will be the occupants. The building walls and ceiling or roof will form an enclosure that will help retain heat from the occupants. So do try and choose a room with the fewest leaks from gaps in walls, window frames and so on, and if possible away from the prevailing wind.
Despite all this people should expect temperatures in the bedrooms, especially higher up, to drop below freezing at night. The only precise temperatures that I have are from a German trekker who recorded a temperature of minus 5C inside his room at Tagnag on 1 January 2011, and an American who recorded minus 4C inside his room at Annapurna Base Camp on 5 November 2005 (so outside the true mid winter period, but useful nonetheless, and it also shows that it is cold higher up in peak season). Both these figures sound about right, though lower temperatures could be encountered.
I would strongly advise people not to use any form of heater in their lodge bedroom, if anyone is even carrying one – the lodges include a great deal of very combustible material, and almost none of them have any means at all of fire or smoke detection or of fighting a fire should one break out. Any uncontained fire in a lodge will rapidly become catastrophic – I saw a burnt out lodge at Thorung Phedi lower camp in mid December 2012 – the lodge had been completely destroyed, in fact it looked like a bomb site, possibly due in part to exploding gas cylinders.
Probably the most crucial thing in staying warm at night is a good sleeping bag and making up the bed carefully. I always make up my bed shortly after I arrive at the lodge, ie well before nightfall. I usually tuck the ends of the lodge blanket under the edges of the mattress and then place my sleeping bag inside the bedding, ie between the lodge blanket and the mattress. I only zip my sleeping bag up part way, to give myself some movement, but in combination with the blanket, after about 10 minutes, even when it is very cold, I find that I get warm and feel amazingly snug. I always wear a thermal hat at night when trekking in mid winter – I have read that up to half of heat loss is through the head. Because any liquids will quickly freeze at night high up, I wrap my water bottle and contact lens fluids in my down jacket, and place them right next to my head. Sufficient warmth radiates out, and this avoids the various liquids freezing. I keep any batteries inside my sleeping bags at night.
Do make sure that you are not depriving a porter of a blanket by using one yourself. The blankets were originally introduced for the porters, as they are not able to carry their own sleeping bags, due to the loads they carry for clients or as supplies for the lodges. As I said above, in the winter there should be lots of spare blankets, of varying cleanliness, but do check. Porter accommodation can be very poor at the best of times, and some lodge owners may not be entirely honest on matters such as this.
Generally I have had some of my best ever nights’ sleep high up in mid winter. If you have the correct kit, make up your bed the right way, are well acclimatised and have had a good day’s trekking, then once you are warm you should sleep very well. When high up I always move a bed away from direct contact with walls or other such things, to avoid any “cold bridging”.
Camping: those who camp in mid winter, and some do, will obviously not benefit from the stoves, heat retention and enclosure effects of the lodges, and so should be prepared for some very low night time temperatures.
The lodges: for the main trekking areas, ie the Everest region, Langtang, Gosainkunda and Helambu, and Annapurna, enough lodges now stay open to enable all the usual trekking areas to be visited in mid winter. The only exception to this that I have encountered were the lodges at Tilicho Lake base camp in mid December 2012, which we were told had closed in about mid December – just before we arrived. If it had not snowed, I would have asked my guide to ask around in Khangsar to see if someone could walk up with us to open one of the base camp lodges for a couple of days – Nepalis can be quite flexible in circumstances such as this.
Generally there seems to be an effective system of rotation, whereby at least one lodge in each village is open at any one time. For example in Gosainkunda each family keeps its lodge open for a week before another family comes up to relieve them by opening their lodge for a week. This seems to work well and to avoid wasteful competition, but ensures sufficient provision is made for those who want to trek in mid winter. Generally I have found the lodges to be well provisioned, though some tend to have the “B” team running them, as some of the main staff head to other areas.
I do not know what, if any, lodges are open in mid winter in areas such as Kanchenjunga or Nar Phu, and anyone looking at trekking in mid winter in such areas should check this very carefully. I looked at trekking Kanchenjunga in December 2012, but from asking around in Kathmandu with my guide, it appeared very likely that all the lodges higher up would be closed, as there are not enough trekkers at that time of year to make it worthwhile for them to stay open. We trekked Annapurna Circuit because of this, and from what I have read subsequently on this forum, it appears that the advice we were given about Kanchenjunga was correct.
Daylight hours: as Nepal is fairly near to the equator, the length of the day does not vary as much as it does for countries that are much further north or south. For trekking there is sufficient natural light in mid winter from about 6.30 to 7.00 am (I tend not to start trekking too early...), until say 5.30pm. I have continued trekking until just before 6pm a few times, but the light was fading fast and temperatures were noticeably starting to drop after about 5.30pm. So if the weather is fine, people will be able to get in a full day’s trekking.
Essential kit: generally speaking no specialist kit such as ice axes, ropes or crampons, or special skills, are required for mid winter trekking, even if people are doing things like the high passes. I think the most important thing is to make sure people are warm after nightfall. I think the most important kit is for staying warm is:
• Down jacket – get the best and warmest DJ that you can. Supplement it with a good fleece, as required.
• Sleeping bag – a “four seasons” type, or one that is comfortable down to say minus 15C to minus 20C – better to have it too warm than not warm enough. As noted above, I supplement mine with a lodge blanket.
• Thermal hat or head cover – the “Thinsulate” type material is excellent as it is very light, thermally efficient, dries very quickly when washed, and is quite cheap. As above, I always wear a thermal head cover at night.
• Thermal type gloves – again I use the “Thinsulate” type – they are also good as a wind break if it gets breezy.
• Thermal socks are also important, especially in the evenings.
• During the day good sun protection kit is essential, especially for those who trek higher than say 3,000m. As noted above the sun will be very strong higher up when there is no cloud, and when on snow or ice it will be reflected back off the ground as well. This can lead to severe sun burn and snow blindness, plus very dry skin. I always carry a wide brimmed hat, special high altitude wrap-around sun glasses and sunscreen and cover up as much as possible. This need for sun protection applies equally to guides and porters.
For footwear I just use “normal” trekking boots – I have not used special winter boots on any of my treks. These have sufficed even when I have encountered snow.
The above list is based on the assumption that people are using the lodges – for those who plan to camp, no doubt other kit will be required. I will put up a list of the general winter trekking kit that I carry in a separate post below.
I always carry trekking poles in Nepal – used correctly (and many people do not use them correctly) trekking poles take a lot of load off the knees during the long descents and greatly help stability on poor and slippery surfaces. Even on areas of hard ice or compacted snow, trekking poles have for me been a good substitute for crampons.
It is absolutely essential+ that guides and porters also have good trekking kit – clients should +specifically check that they have these, and not just rely on verbal assurances. Many younger and/or inexperienced trekking staff may well not realise what conditions are like higher up, or be aware of the effects of altitude.
Washing and laundry: generally speaking lower down everything is easier – there is more water, it is less cold at night, so for washing I use whatever facilities are available. At higher altitudes I use a sponge and soap with a bowl of water, which is often quite small, to wash as best I can – this can be surprisingly effective, and if the water is warmed, and one is quick, it is not especially cold when washing during daylight. Showers higher up are much more difficult and possibly even dangerous. The first time I went to Gorak Shep which is at about 5,100m, on 23 November 2005, I had a shower – the water was quite warm (it had been heated), but the “cubicle” was very cold with half an inch of ice round the edge, even in mid afternoon. I was very worried about getting seriously chilled, so had to stay in my sleeping bag immediately afterwards for an hour or so to warm up properly. Since then, like most people, I have not showered whilst higher up.
I have washed clothes many times, even in places like Chhukung, Lobuche and Gokyo, all of which are at about 4,800m. It is far better if this done during the day time, under the sun – when I washed some clothes at Manang which is about 3,500m in December 2012 when it was cloudy, my hands got very cold, so much so that I had to keep stopping to warm them. I carry some washing powder, mix it in a bucket with some water, leave it to soak, and then rinse it a couple of times. The air high up is almost always very dry, and modern trekking gear generally dries very quickly.
High passes: I have not found any of the high passes to be blocked or closed in the winter. The ones I have walked up and/or crossed at that time of year are: Khongma La, Cho La, Renjo La, Kang La and Thorung La. I have also walked twice to near Tashi Labcha (I estimate we got within about 50 minutes of the top the second time), but ran out of time to get further due to the need to get back to our lodge at Thame in daylight. I also walked to near the true start of the Dhaulagiri Icefalls in late December 2012. If doing high passes in the winter, always ask at your lodge about conditions on the pass – having a Nepali speaker with you is a big help here – he can also ask any porters who have been over a pass, as few porters will speak English. With other clients my guide was unable to cross the high pass on Manaslu in February 2013, but I understand this pass is generally more prone to closure than other high passes.
Other benefits of mid winter trekking: for me the biggest benefits are the generally very clear weather and the very quiet trails, especially compared with peak season. You really do get some awesome views, especially from the top of places like Kang La, Khongma La and Chhukung Hill to name but a few.
I have found that flights into and out of Lukla in mid winter are very easy. The time I flew into Lukla from Kathmandu in early January 2010 we arrived at Lukla before about 7.40 am, and the two times I flew out the flights were also pretty quick. On two of my mid winter flights I was the only tourist. Weather related flight disruption seems to be much less frequent than during October in particular.
If anything quite a few of the villages were too quiet, and Namche Bazaar in early January 2010 and 2011 and Muktinah in December 2012 were all was a little like a ghost towns.
The much quieter trails mean that the lodge kitchens are under much less pressure, and so cooking and hygiene standards seem to be quite a bit better. Other than when I unwisely drank some chang “beer” (an old lesson relearned..., though the raksi I have had has been safe), I have not had any stomach problems when trekking in mid winter, but did have a few when trekking in April – May 2008. The much lower number of flies in the winter may also help.
Another benefit which I only discovered on my last trek was that because the kitchens are usually so quiet, and as I was getting bored with the lodge menus, my guide asked the lodge chefs to cook good authentic local food for us and to make local spiced teas, some of which are delicious. Generally this worked very well, and would not really be possible when the lodges are busy.
Also on my most recent trek, and again probably because it was quiet, my guide and I were invited to join the monks for lunch at the monastery at Dzong (or Jhong) – we ate outdoors, under clear blue skies, in warm conditions with the Annapurnas as a backdrop. At Kagbeni a couple of days later, we were invited to sit in on an early morning “puja” at the very old monastery there. I doubt whether either invitation would have happened if there had been lots of tourists around.
More generally the choice of guides, trekking companies and hotels in Kathmandu will all be far easier than at peak season.
Trekking solo: because the trails are generally so quiet, I would strongly advise people not to trek alone in mid winter. This applies particularly if people are doing the high passes or going to other less visited places. Except for crossing Thorung La on 16 December 2012, each of the 9 or so times I have walked up or crossed high passes in mid winter, other than my guide I have not seen anyone else from leaving the starting village until either returning to it or arriving at or near the destination village. So if someone was trekking a high pass solo in the winter and say broke a leg then, except for Thorung La, they could well have to wait for 2 or 3 days until someone else crossed the pass, which would involve trying to survive in the open at night in extremely cold conditions at high altitude. As well as this there may also be some risk from whatever wild life there is wandering around at night in such places – I have never hung around to find out, though I did see a trail of what looked like paw prints at a slight distance on some of the ice high up near the Dhaulagiri Icefalls.
Prices: I have found that the biggest savings were on the flights to Nepal, and the hotel rooms in Kathmandu. For the latter I was able to get discounts of over 50% including taxes, as did some other tourists, as many of the hotels are very quiet. I did not really save any money in the lodges, as the prices are pretty much fixed, though I did come across one group who had had some success bargaining with lodge owners. Shopping in Thamel and visiting the tourist attractions in Kathmandu and Pokhara are all much easier.
Comparing October – November and mid winter temperatures: I really think that it is not much colder high up in December and January when compared with mid October through November, though I have not been able to find reliable figures make a more precise comparison, especially for temperatures inside lodge dining rooms and bedrooms, which is where people will be at night. If someone could find some reliable figures, it would be very interesting to see them. Though I have not trekked in February, from what my main guide has said, it sounds like conditions generally a very similar to those in December and January.
How I got into mid winter trekking: this happened by chance. When I first went to the Everest region in November 2005, I was very surprised to hear that the lodges at Gorak Shep stayed open all through the winter. Obviously they would not do this if conditions were too difficult and there were not enough trekkers. By chance my fourth visit to Nepal became possible in January 2010 – in addition to what I had been told in 2005, one or two things I had read also indicated that high altitude trekking was possible – and I was very keen to do the 3 High Passes trek. This worked well, in fact I was stunned at how good the weather was, especially compared to the typical grey, overcast UK winter. On that trek, whilst heading up to Chhukung, I spoke briefly with an older British guy – when I mentioned my very pleasant surprise at how good conditions were, he said he had been visiting Nepal in the winter for many years, and that it was a well kept secret.
Hopefully if more people trek in the mid winter, it will reduce the extreme seasonality of the current trekking patterns, where October in particular gets ridiculously overcrowded, whilst many places are too quiet just a few weeks later.
My equipment for winter treks:
Sleeping bag – 4 seasons.
Down jacket – with high rating.
Trekking boots – standard type, not special for the winter.
Fleece jacket
Thermal headcover and gloves – such as “Thinsulate” type.
Sun hat – very important – the sun is very strong high up in the winter.
Goretex jacket (I no longer carry Goretex trousers).
2 pairs of trekking trousers.
4 trekking tops.
2 pairs of trekking socks.
1 pair of normal socks.
2 pairs trekking underwear.
Several handkerchiefs.
2 trekking poles – really important for the long descents.
Camera, passport, wallet, passes, TIMS card, flight tickets, insurance documents.
Spare batteries for my camera.
Water bottle.
2 (general) books.
1 map.
Compass, whistle.
Antibiotics for stomach (ciprofloxacin and tinidazole) and any general problems (amoxicillian).
Anti-septic cream.
Lip salve.
Sun cream.
Water purifying tablets.
Trekking towel.
Washing kit – soap, toothpaste, razors, tooth brush, sponge, face flannel.
Washing powder – small packet.
Toilet paper.
Small address or note book.
Trekking head torch – always vital.
Pen.
Special sunglasses (due to the altitude and snow).
Contact lenses.
Ordinary glasses.
Edited by: rdccomments
Edited by: rdccomments
