Altitude Sickness: What to Know Before You Go Above 3,000m

Acute Mountain Sickness usually starts small: a dull headache, a bit of nausea, feeling more tired than the day's walking should account for. It's common above 3,000m and not, by itself, a reason to panic — but it is a reason to stop ascending and tell your guide.

Every itinerary we run above 3,000m includes dedicated acclimatization days, timed at the points where trekkers most commonly start to feel it. Our guides carry a pulse oximeter and check oxygen saturation daily on high routes.

The rule we drill into every group: never ascend further while symptoms are getting worse, and never hide how you're feeling to avoid slowing the group down. Descending a few hundred meters is almost always enough to turn things around if you catch it early.

Severe symptoms — confusion, loss of coordination, fluid in the lungs — mean immediate descent, no exceptions. It's rare on our itineraries because of how we pace the ascent, but every guide is trained for it.