Charity trek to Everest Basecamp

Planet

Carbon Reduction

This trip is mostly human powered as walking to EBC keeps our carbon emissions low. We also bring food with us or purchase from local villages along the route where and when possible.

Environment and Wildlife

On the EBC trail, we'll aim to 'Leave No Trace' by sticking to the trails, reducing our waste, carrying out our rubbish and providing you with water.

In 2018, we took the Travelers Against Plastic (TAP) pledge to help fight the harmful consumption of single-use plastics through our operations.

In Nepal, the approach to responsible disposal of waste is inconsistent and it's likely that, especially whilst in Kathmandu, you will see the effects of littering and ineffective waste management. Great strides have been taken over the last few years by the government and local businesses to improve this for the benefit of the community, good of the planet and enjoyment of travelers to this wonderful country. However, there's still much to be done and we'd encourage all of our participants to educate themselves on practical ways to reduce their own footprint.

Whilst trekking, you'll be provided with clean drinking water. We ask our participants to bring with them a water bottle (or two!) and any water treatment options they'd want to have and we ensure that there's plenty of opportunity to refill them.

On our Everest Base Camp trek, anything not biodegradable will be taken all the way back to Kathmandu to be properly disposed of. Items like batteries or wrappers won't be disposed of whilst trekking given the inadequate waste disposal facilities available after leaving Kathmandu. This helps ensure the mountains remain clean of rubbish as part of our 'Leave No Trace' approach.

Whilst we usually don't use animals on our Nepal trips, we’re proud to be an active member of ABTA’s Animal Welfare Working Group, which means we’ve got our ear to the ground on all animal welfare issues the world over, meaning we’re literally at the table helping to report animal welfare issues and enforce positive change within the industry.

Our pre-departure briefings will always cover ideas on ways to reduce waste and leave less of a footprint. Whether that’s advice to hire kit in-country, reminders on local rules for single-use plastics or suggestions on ways to replace bottled water.

We firmly believe that challenge events are one of the most worthwhile activities that a person can choose to do. They combine the exercising of the desire to challenge oneself, with fundraising for worthwhile charitable causes and discovering some of the world’s most treasured sites. As part of this, we believe that for any trip to be worth running, it should be carried out in a sustainable, ethical and transparent operational manner - from initial booking, to your return home, and we are committed to ethical and sustainable practices in all areas of our work.

We’re proud to be one of the few B-Corporation certified tour operators in the UK. Certified B Corps are a new kind of business, balancing profit with people and the planet. This certification recognises our ongoing commitment to operating responsibly across all parts of our business.

People

Local Economy

We firmly believe that all challenges should be locally led, which is why our in-country teams are made up of local people with expert local knowledge and a genuine passion for the communities in which they are based. We've been working with our partners in Nepal for several years and the guides, porters and support staff that you'll be interacting with are representative of the incredibly warm and generous hospitality the Nepali people are renowned for.

Not only are our Everest Base Camp trips locally led, we'll also always aim to stay and eat in locally owned accommodation both in Kathmandu and along the route, meaning that more of the money that you pay for your trip goes directly back into the local community.

Along the way, that means that you get to learn about the customs, history and culture of Nepalis (which helps avoid any faux pas that might be made inadvertently!). You'll soon learn which side of temples to walk, which hand to avoid eating with and what direction to spin the prayer wheels in.

All of the guides, porters and support staff that represent us are paid a fair wage, and we operate with strict limits on how much weight they are each permitted to carry.

All of our challenges have one thing in common: they're all designed to raise as much money as possible for some of the world's most worthwhile charitable causes, and our fundraising packages are built on an industry-standard 50:50 fundraising ratio with this in mind. We’re extremely proud to be part of a growing movement which helps to nurture the dedicated fundraisers of tomorrow for our partner charities.

We've helped our participants raise over £20m for charitable causes over the years and this is perhaps the most obvious example of how our business was created with purpose at its roots.

It’s not mandatory to fundraise so absolutely anyone can join our challenges. However even you elect to self-fund, we’d always encourage you to consider raising some money on the side!