The chapters
GHT on Wheels
The traverse in six chapters, each one a ride you can apply for: how far it runs, how long it takes, how high it climbs, when it can be ridden, and what it asks of you and of the team.
Riding high alpine turf below the eastern walls of the Great Himalaya Trail. 01 · Kangchenjunga Base Camp → Makalu
The Eastern Walls
It begins at the foot of the third-highest mountain on Earth and goes west through the emptiest country on the Trail — passes stacked one behind another, villages days apart, and no easy way down.
- Distance
- About 250 km
- Time on the line
- About two weeks
- High point
- About 5,150 m
- Best season
- April–May or October–November
- Main passes
- Nango La, Lumba Sumba La
- Permits
- Kangchenjunga conservation-area and restricted-area permits; Makalu Barun National Park at the western end
- Support
- Local guides and a support team; porters or mules where there is no road, and camping where there are no lodges
Carrying the bike across the moraines where the high route leaves rideable ground. 02 · Makalu → Khumbu → Rolwaling
The Mountaineering Cols
The crux of the high route — the mountaineering cols, up to the high point above six thousand metres at West Col. The bike goes over them the only way anything does: carried. Then the Khumbu opens below, and after it Rolwaling's locked valley.
- Distance
- About 140 km
- Time on the line
- About four weeks, most of it on foot with the bike
- High point
- About 6,150 m, at West Col
- Best season
- April–May or October–November, when the cols are cold and settled
- Main passes
- Sherpani Col, West Col, Amphu Labtsa, Cho La, Renjo La, Tashi Labtsa
- Permits
- Makalu Barun and Sagarmatha National Parks, the Khumbu local fee, and Gaurishankar Conservation Area for Rolwaling
- Support
- Mountain guides and porters on the glaciated cols; a support team and camping in the valleys
Morning light in the high valleys, with the Garmin inReach satellite tracker on his shoulder strap. 03 · Rolwaling → Langtang → Helambu
Langtang & Helambu
Across the middle of the range: Langtang's long glacial valley and the ridgelines of Helambu — a few dozen kilometres from Kathmandu on the map, and a world above it.
- Distance
- About 530 km
- Time on the line
- About three weeks
- High point
- Just under 5,000 m
- Best season
- April–May or October–November; the monsoon makes the lower valleys slow
- Main passes
- Ridge crossings in Rolwaling, Langtang, Helambu and Ganesh Himal, all below 5,000 m
- Permits
- Gaurishankar Conservation Area, Langtang National Park, and the Manaslu permits near the western end
- Support
- Local guides and a support team; lodges where the valleys have them, and camping on the high ground
High glacial valleys and moraine shelves along the central Himalaya. 04 · Larke Pass → Manang
Manaslu & Annapurna
Around the shoulder of Manaslu and into the ground El Yak knows best — Manang, the high shelf of the Marsyangdi, the walls of the Annapurna massif.
- Distance
- About 130 km
- Time on the line
- About five days
- High point
- About 5,400 m, at Thorong La
- Best season
- April–May or October–November
- Main passes
- Larke Pass, Thorong La
- Permits
- Manaslu restricted-area and conservation-area permits, and the Annapurna Conservation Area permit
- Support
- Local guides and a support team; lodges where the valleys have them, and camping where they do not
Riding the dry trans-Himalayan caravan trails west of the Kali Gandaki. 05 · Kali Gandaki → Dolpo
The Crossings into Dolpo
West of the Kali Gandaki the country dries and empties. High crossings lead into Dolpo — caravan trails that have carried salt for centuries, and the turquoise of Phoksundo at the far side.
- Distance
- About 460 km
- Time on the line
- About two and a half weeks
- High point
- About 5,550 m, at Teri La
- Best season
- May to October; Dolpo lies in the rain shadow, so the monsoon is workable
- Main passes
- Teri La, Numa La, Bagala La and other high crossings above 5,000 m
- Permits
- Upper Dolpo and Mugu restricted-area permits and Shey Phoksundo National Park
- Support
- A support team with porters or mules for the caravan trails; camping throughout, with no lodges for days at a time
High summer pastures and nomad camps in the far west of the Great Himalaya Trail. 06 · Mugu → Humla → Hilsa
The Far West
Among the least-travelled districts in Nepal: Mugu's gorges and forests, Humla's high desert, and the last descent to Hilsa on the Tibetan border, where the line ends.
- Distance
- About 190 km
- Time on the line
- About four days
- High point
- About 4,500 m
- Best season
- May to October; autumn is the steadiest, and Humla's high desert stays dry in the monsoon
- Main passes
- No pass above 5,000 m on the line
- Permits
- Mugu and Humla restricted-area permits
- Support
- Local guides and a support team; porters or mules where there is no road, and camping between the villages
By application · bespoke · vetted
Ride a chapter
The traverse is offered as chapters, in small numbers — you do not book the Great Himalaya Trail, you apply to ride a piece of it with the man who rode it solo.