Why Himalaya Shelter is one of the Best Trekking Companies in India- Trekker's Perspective

Why Himalaya Shelter is one of the Best Trekking Companies in India- Trekker’s Perspective

August 30, 2024

himalaya

Best trekking companies in India? some of you may feel the urge to get this question answered. Mountains, trekking, hiking or holiday retreat one often expects to have perfect time spent and loads of memories on their way back. To have the perfect holiday or trek one should definitely choose the perfect agency to embark on this journey with. Considering there are numerous trust worthy agencies with different pros and cons one should choose wisely!

There are multiple factors to choose the best trekking company in India, ranging from safety, food, shelter, price to experience.

I embarked on my first trek through the Himalaya Shelter. My first trek was to Kedarkantha Peak. This was particularly a memorable experience and one of the best if I had to say! There are many trekking agencies as I mentioned earlier. Some have very low pricing and some have very high and many of them have hidden charges too! This article will help you choose the right one.

Factors to Consider Before Choosing an Agency for a Himalayan Trek:

Safety
Nutrition and hydration
Trekking Experience
Logistical staff
Management

Safety: the first and foremost step

How do we trek safely? The typical answer would be gear and equipment and that is only 40% of the requirement. The rest would be dependent on the Team. Trek leader plays a major role in this process having a well-experienced trek leader to lead your team would guarantee your safety even in dangerous weather conditions. Having a perfectly balanced trek team would help you complete your trek no matter how daunting a situation may be.

But what’s the role of a trek leader?

The mountains especially high-altitude mountain regions like the Himalayas, Karakoram have their own unique weather and could be shifted in a matter of seconds! No matter how small the trek is! Imagine you trekking peacefully and there starts a sudden snowfall and there comes a complete whiteout, you wouldn’t be able to see one meter ahead! You would be completely blinded!

Situations like this occur more often than one would expect. The only person you could depend on would be your guide/ trek leader! They are trained to handle this sort of situation. Navigation, and maintaining calmness among the group are the primary responsibilities of a trek leader. To manage the group, fixing tents prior to arrival, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the group to make decisions are some other duties of a trek leader.

Nutrition and Hydration.

These are the spearheads of a perfect trek. One could not always carry the necessary goods to cook. This is where the porters and agencies come in, they arrange everything from vegetables to stoves along with all the items necessary to cook food. Thanks to them trekkers would only need to concentrate on their health and trekking.

Trekking experience:

Although there are many companies who trek efficiently, there are few who respect trekkers’ boundaries and understand them thoroughly. This particular skill comes only with time and experience. Some might think well-established companies would be just fine, but they too have their own downside.

Well-established companies often tend to impose their methodology on trekkers. This particularly screws up the ambiance and zeal of the trekkers. I mean everyone should have the power to voice their opinion, right?

Logistical staff:

This is among one of the important aspects as the logistical staff connects the dots among the trekkers, trek leaders, the staff, and the rest of the company. This is an important aspect as it’s the means of communication and is a strong hand in tackling rough situations ranging from evacuation to important message communication.

Management:

Management is the cornerstone of any successful business or agency. The leader of the company needs to be extremely sharp and fit to handle any kind of situation they might face. They need to perform recce operations, establish proper trek routes, asses the medical standards of the trekkers, and keep a tap on the weather.

Now how to choose the perfect options available?

As I mentioned earlier, I went on a couple of treks with Himalaya shelter and I finally believed I made the right choice. I saw firsthand how the company worked. Below are the aspects which I find intriguing regarding the working of the company

Why Himalaya Shelter?

1) Safety:

Himalaya Shelter particularly believes in the magic of a short and customized trek with members ranging from 10 – 12 per trek. this enables them to concentrate on every individual equally. They have a minimum of two trek leaders along with personalized porters to make the trek memorable. Every trek leader carries a loaded backpack consisting of required technical equipment, a first aid kit, and oxygen supplements.

The Trek leader and the rest of the staff frequently recce the trail beforehand to tackle any unforeseen issues that would sabotage the Trekker’s ambiance.

2) Nutrition and Hydration:

Himalaya Shelter practices two approaches, 1) packed lunch and 2) fixed lunch. In the first approach, they provide trekkers with nutritious packed meals with chocolate and fruit juice which helps us to regain our energy faster. We can enjoy our meal en route as we enjoy the breathtaking view of the mountains!

The second one enables the trekkers to relax once they reach the camp and have a lavish nutritious meal which is similar to an open buffet! They say it is limited, but I never saw them denying me when I asked for more. Their recipes include meals ranging from rajma dal to provide an instant energy boost to various snacks to munch on tea time like popcorn, pakoras, and many more.

They give us 5 meals a day, with one meal being a hot soup to rev up our body heat in the chilly mountains. They usually pitch their camps on the banks of rivers which enables us to drink fresh Himalayan water all the time! Dessert is a common practice at this company. They prepare cakes, sweets, pancakes, and many more!

Their diet includes simple yet nutritious and sumptuous meals which range from scrambled eggs, bread toast, peanut butter, and nutritious Indian-style dal recipes.

3) Trekking experience

Himalaya Shelter‘s founder is a native. Bachan Rana who grew up in the Har ki dun valley and is a very skilled trekker thanks to his two decades of experience in this field! The best part is around 90% of the staff including cooks and trek leaders hail from mountain regions which gives them the upper hand among other companies. Bachan himself trains cooks and trek leaders to finetune them to handle the harsh mountain conditions.

He believes in personalized training when it comes to the staff as he was a man who went from nothing to something. Every individual at Himalaya shelter has multi skillset arsenal. Trek leaders are trained in such a way that they could cook, clean utensils at freezing temperature and carry heavy loads. This sets their trek leader apart as they are purely independent and could assume any role if needed.

Logistical staff:

Bachan and Subodh are the spear head of every role. They alternate roles between each other and train the entire team. Subodh a logistical genius is a trek leader himself and imparts his knowledge to newbies in the company which helps the newbies to cope faster. These two make sure everything would be perfect in their boundaries.

This clears out the issue of novice staff from making any issues first hand. They believe in practical learning approach. They even send their office staff on trekking so that they could get idea of how things work to handle things perfectly.

Management:

As mentioned earlier every member of Himalaya shelter has a multi skillset arsenal. This allows the team to be ready in any sort of situation. There are staff like Nithin, Subodh along with founder bachan who are working in this field since a decade! They personally take care of customer queries themselves so that the trekkers get what they paid for!

Precautions:

Most of the trekkers may feel Himalaya shelter charges more money than other trekking companies. – There are various things at play! The first one being hidden charges, Himalaya shelter includes all the charges in the main price tag and is the prime reason which may seem a bit pricey. Other companies usually use hidden charges which would be a problem for people who are on thin budget.

Himalaya shelter never denies trekkers of their freedom of speech, they listen to their clients and understand their position. I myself saw a major company returning back their team due to the reason of bad weather and in reality, the weather was good. This Is another important aspect of this company; they are trekker friendly and customize the trip accordingly

I want to remind everyone the fact: we get what we give, even if the price may seem daunting-(there is only very narrow difference) you would have a memorable and peaceful journey as you embark on your trek.

Why Himalaya Shelter is one of the Best Trekking Companies in India- Trekker’s Perspective

Factors to Consider Before Choosing an Agency for a Himalayan Trek:

Safety: the first and foremost step

But what’s the role of a trek leader?

Nutrition and Hydration.

Trekking experience:

Logistical staff:

Management:

Why Himalaya Shelter?

1) Safety:

2) Nutrition and Hydration:

3) Trekking experience

Logistical staff:

Management:

Precautions:

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