The brief
The Trans-Himalayan Traverse
The dates, the cover, the paperwork and the questions riders actually ask — the part of the trip that is not the riding.
Departures
- 2026 · October–Decemberopen
- 2027 · March–Mayopen
- 2027 · October–Decemberopen
Bike & setup
140–150 mm travel · aggressive enduro tyres · dropper post essential · strong braking setup
Before you reserve
The detail a high-altitude expedition deserves — answered here, and talked through with you personally before your place is confirmed.
+ Safety, acclimatisation & evacuation
Every departure is led by experienced local guides who know this ground. Safety is more than equipment. It is close coordination with the villages, lodges and families along the route, and a local network that gets word and help moving fast. The pace is set by the slowest rider. Altitude is taken step by step. Where a tour climbs on the bike, there are nights at altitude before the high passes. Where a helicopter lifts riders high, they stay up only a short time and ride straight down. The rule on the mountain is simple: if symptoms do not ease, we go down. If a rider has to leave the mountain, the team arranges the rescue, and the rider's insurance pays for it.
+ Fitness & experience
These are graded rides at real altitude, with long days in the saddle and sustained descents. We talk through your riding history honestly before a place is confirmed. Be honest with us about how you ride; it helps us match you to the right trip.
+ Bikes, kit & support
Bring your own bike, or hire one from us. Hire is priced by the type of bike: a hardtail at $20–30 a day, a full-suspension trail or enduro bike at $50–80. An e-bike, at $100–150 a day, is by request: we arrange the logistics, charging and support included, where the route allows. We recommend the right type for each tour and for what you like to ride. If you fly your own, check your airline's rules for a bike box and declare the bike at customs in Kathmandu. Your bag, up to 15 kg, travels by vehicle, porter or mule while you ride. Spares and tools ride with the guides, and the kit list comes once your dates are set.
+ Rooms, food & water
In Kathmandu and Pokhara you stay in comfortable city hotels; on the route, in family-run lodges — simple, warm, shared washrooms at altitude — with breakfast, lunch and dinner included, and a serviced camp on the nights a tour sleeps beyond the lodges. Tell us about any diet when you reserve; dal bhat, noodles, eggs and fresh bread are on every menu. Bring a bottle and a filter or tablets — your guide shows you where to refill.
+ A day on the trail
Breakfast early, on the bike by eight, lunch in a village or on the trail, and at the lodge by mid-afternoon on most days — the light and the weather are kindest before noon. The vehicle or the mules carry the bags; your guide sets the pace to the slowest rider and briefs the next day over dinner. If you need a rest, you ride in the vehicle where there is a road, or walk with one of the team where there is not.
+ Insurance
Insurance is a condition of riding: it must cover mountain biking at the altitudes on your route, helicopter evacuation and rescue, medical treatment, and trip cancellation and delay. We check every certificate before departure.
+ Fees, deposit & cancellation
A 30 per cent deposit holds your place, and the balance is due two months before departure, by bank transfer — no card is entered here, and nothing is charged through this site. What happens if you have to cancel is set out in full in our booking terms. Read the booking terms →
+ Visas & permits
We guide you through Nepal entry and arrange every permit your route needs — park or conservation-area entry for the ground it crosses, any local permit the valley adds, and a restricted-area permit wherever the route enters a restricted area. They are carried by your guide, not by you.
How we grade
One scale for every tour and ride, set by the hardest riding and the altitude together. If you are unsure where you sit, tell us what you ride at home; a guide will say plainly whether a trip suits you.
Intermediate
Red trails in the UK and Europe, blue to black in North America
Three to five hours a day, with most climbs shuttled
You ride red trails with confidence and can do it again the next day.
You have not yet ridden off-road for several days in a row.
Advanced
Red to black trails in the UK and Europe, black in North America
Four to seven hours a day, descents of a thousand metres or more, and some carrying
You ride black trails cleanly, are comfortable on loose rock and steep switchbacks, and can push or carry a bike for an hour at altitude.
Steep, exposed or loose ground still makes you walk.
Expert
Black and double-black in North America; the hardest natural trails in the Alps
Six to nine hours a day, remote, with long hike-a-bike over 5,000-metre passes
You have done multi-day trips in the mountains, ride technical descents tired and cold, and have been above 4,500 metres before.
This would be your first trip at altitude.
Where a day is graded, it carries three scores, each out of five.
- Technical
- How hard the trail is to ride — rock, steps, exposure and loose ground.
- Flow
- How much of the day runs as rideable descent with rhythm.
- Physical
- How hard the day is on the body — distance, climbing, altitude and carrying.
When to ride
Over a decade of reading these weather windows gets more complicated on a line that crosses three distinct landscapes in one push — the wet, green Annapurnas, the high desert of Mustang, and the higher, remoter country of Dolpo beyond it, each keeping its own season. We schedule around the window that is actually open across all three, and what follows is the honest account of each.
Recommended
Spring
Mar · Apr · May
March to May is one of the two recommended windows for the crossing — Thorong La and the col into Dolpo both need to be clear, and this is one of the two windows, alongside autumn, when they usually are.
Rideable
Monsoon and late monsoon
Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep
The Annapurna leg lies south of the crest and takes the monsoon rain directly; Mustang and Dolpo, on the far side, sit in its rain shadow and stay drier and rideable while the first days of the route do not. It is the quietest window for the remoter half of the line, where Dolpo sees very few visitors in any season, and the trade is the same readiness for road delays and changeable weather that applies everywhere we ride through it.
Recommended
Autumn
Oct · Nov · Dec
October to December is the other recommended window for the same two crossings, on the settled far side of the monsoon — though as with every route we run, over a decade of watching the weather shift has taught us not to take a season for granted, on either side of Thorong La.
Rideable
Winter
Jan · Feb
January and February are harder here than on the shorter routes: a second high crossing of the same order as Thorong La, into a district with the fewest facilities of anywhere we ride, and both the cold and the wait for a clear pass are real. Riders taking this window should come ready for altitude, cold and a plan that bends to the weather — which is exactly how we run it.
Rider questions
? How much of the route is actually rideable?
Most of it. The big passes are not — the final climbs to Thorong La and over into Dolpo are extended hike-a-bike with the bike on your shoulder — and a few high traverses ask for short pushes. The descents on the far side are why you carry it.
? What bike should I bring?
A 140–150 mm full-suspension enduro bike with aggressive tubeless tyres, a dropper post and strong brakes. Between Manang and Juphal the route is far from any bike shop, so spare hangers, pads and tubes travel with the support crew; setup details are confirmed when you reserve. Bikes can be hired in Kathmandu.
? Where do we sleep?
Lodges and teahouses for most of the route, hotels in Kathmandu at either end, and one night under canvas at a high camp around 4,500 metres on the crossing into Dolpo, with the support crew cooking.
? How high does the traverse go?
Two crossings define the route. Thorong La, at 5,416 metres, is the confirmed high point. The crossing into Dolpo is of the same order, and the exact col is set by the season. Most of the middle week rides between 3,600 and 4,950 metres.
? How fit do I need to be?
This is an expert-graded expedition. Nearly every riding day rates five of five for physical effort, and the route spends two weeks above 3,500 metres. Acclimatisation is built in — a rest day in Manang before Thorong La and another at Shey Phoksundo — but a deep endurance base is essential.
? Is this the hardest mountain-bike expedition in Nepal?
It is our most demanding — graded expert, twenty days with twelve riding days, and two great crossings, the 5,416-metre Thorong La among them, with extended hike-a-bike where the bike goes on your shoulder. It asks for real high-altitude fitness and confident technical descending.
? Which permits does the Trans-Himalayan Traverse need?
The paperwork changes as the ground does — a conservation area, restricted areas and a national park on one line. Every permit the route needs is in the Included list below. All of it is arranged as part of the expedition and carried by your guide.
? How does the expedition end?
From Shey Phoksundo the route descends the Phoksundo Khola to Suligad, drives to Juphal, and flies via Nepalgunj back to Kathmandu — one of Nepal's most scenic mountain flights — with a rest day and a final dinner before departure.
Reserve a place.
The per-rider price falls as the group grows. Everything listed below is included; the figure is confirmed in writing when you reserve, and nothing is charged through this site.
Group sizePer rider
Included
- Airport transfers in Kathmandu
- The flights home from Juphal, by Nepalgunj, for riders and crew
- A support jeep from Kathmandu to Sangta, and a mule train through the roadless Dolpo stretch
- Four hotel nights in Kathmandu
- Fifteen nights on the route, in lodges and one high camp, with all meals
- The meals the itinerary lists in Kathmandu, with a welcome dinner
- Experienced local guides, with the crew's pay and insurance
- Your bag, up to 15 kg, carried by the mules and the vehicle
- A group medical kit carried by the guides
- The Annapurna Conservation Area, Upper Mustang and Upper Dolpo permits, and Shey Phoksundo National Park entry
- All local and government taxes
Not included
- International flights to and from Kathmandu
- Nepal visa fees, $30–125 depending on the length of stay
- Travel and medical insurance, which is required, with helicopter evacuation cover to the route's altitude
- Meals in Kathmandu other than those the itinerary lists
- Bike hire, from $20 to $150 a day by type of bike — or bring your own
- Personal spending, such as laundry, phone calls, drinks and souvenirs
- Tips for the crew, which are customary but voluntary
- Extra costs from weather delays or other events outside our control