Trekking in the Himalaya

Trek through the Himalaya and experience the full sweep of the world's greatest mountain range, from the glaciers of the Karakoram and the sacred kora around Mount Kailash in Tibet to the Everest and K2 base camps, the Annapurna and Manaslu Circuits, and the remote kingdom of Bhutan. Spanning 2,400km across Pakistan, India, Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan, the Himalayas offer a lifetime of trekking adventures across the most spectacular mountain terrain on earth.

A large-format planning companion and source of inspiration, this celebrated Cicerone collection brings together 20 classic and lesser-known Himalayan treks, each written by an expert author with first-hand knowledge of the route. Rather than a conventional guidebook with detailed route descriptions, it provides a rich overview of each trek, capturing what makes it special and giving you everything you need to choose and begin planning your Himalayan adventure.

• Choose from 20 treks spanning the full length of the Himalayan chain, from K2 and Concordia and the Snow Lake glacier trek in Pakistan to the Lunana Snowman Trek and Gangkar Punsum base camp in Bhutan, with classic routes alongside remote expedition treks and sacred journeys.
• Experience the world's greatest mountains on foot, with treks to or around Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, Makalu, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat, Nanda Devi, and the world's highest unclimbed peak, Gangkar Punsum in remote Bhutan.
• Discover lesser-known Himalayan classics, including the Zanskar Dream Trek, Inner and Lower Dolpo, the Dhaulagiri Circuit, the Kangchenjunga Singalila Ridge and Goecha La, the Everest Kangshung Face approach, and the Mount Kailash Kora in Tibet.
• Plan your Himalayan adventure with confidence using graded route overviews covering what makes each trek special, typical duration and difficulty, access, and practical considerations, with routes graded from moderate to expedition level to help you choose the right challenge.
• Prepare thoroughly with introductory sections covering trekking in the Himalaya, trekking styles, when to go, safety in the mountains, and minimum impact trekking across the diverse cultures and landscapes of the Himalayan region.
• Benefit from the expertise of a team of leading Himalayan authors, including Kev Reynolds, Bart Jordans, Steve Razzetti, Siân Pritchard-Jones, Bob Gibbons, Chris Townsend, Stephen Goodwin, and Steve Berry, each writing about the treks they know best.

An essential addition to the shelf of anyone who dreams of the Himalaya, this trusted Cicerone planning companion is the perfect starting point for adventure in the world's greatest mountain range. Let a team of Himalayan experts inspire your next great journey.

Steve Berry was born in Shillong, India just south of the Bhutanese border, and has returned to the Himalaya many times as a leader of remote treks and expeditions. These include the first British ascent of Nun (7135m) in Kashmir, and attempts on the sixth-highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu (8210m) in Nepal, and also Gangkar Punsum in Bhutan – at 7550m this is still the world's highest unclimbed peak. He is the owner of Mountain Kingdoms Ltd (formerly Himalayan Kingdoms), a company offering walking holidays worldwide, and is a co-founder of Wilderness Lectures in Bristol. He has previously written two books – Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon, published by Crowood Press, and Straight Up, published by Himalayan Kingdoms in 2012. The former tells the story of the first, and only, British expedition to attempt Bhutan's highest mountain. The latter is a collection of stories from some of Steve's expeditions.

Siân Pritchard-Jones and Bob Gibbons met in 1983, on a trek from Kashmir to Ladakh. By then Bob had already driven an ancient Land Rover from England to Kathmandu (in 1974), and overland trucks across Asia, Africa and South America. He had also lived in Kathmandu for two years, employed as a trekking company manager. Before they met, Siân worked in computer programming and systems analysis, but was drawn to the Himalaya en route from working in New Zealand.

Since they met they have been leading and organising treks in the Alps, Nepal and the Sahara, as well as driving a bus overland to Nepal. Journeys by a less ancient Land Rover from England to South Africa provided the basis for several editions of the Bradt guide Africa Overland. For the sixth edition published in April 2014, they visited the fantastic boiling lava lake of Erta Ale in the Danakil desert of Ethiopia, and Somaliland. They were lucky finally to get visas to visit Eritrea, Angola and Congo for their most recent African research trips in 2016.

In Kathmandu they previously worked with Pilgrims Publishing, producing cultural guides – Kathmandu: Valley of the Green-Eyed Yellow Idol and Ladakh: Land of Magical Monasteries – and a historical look at the Guge Kingdom, Kailash: Land of the Tantric Mountain.

In 2007 they wrote the Cicerone guide to Mount Kailash and Western Tibet, as well updating the Grand Canyon guide. During 2011 they returned to Tibet, this time driving the same old Land Rover back from Kathmandu to the UK overland via Lhasa, through China, Kazakhstan, Russia and Western Europe. Their Annapurna trekking guide was published by Cicerone in January 2013; the second edition is due later in 2017.

For Himalayan Map House they are writing a new series of trekking guidebooks: Himalayan Travel Guides. Titles so far published include Manaslu & Tsum Valley (2nd edition); Upper & Lower Dolpo; Ganesh Himal & Tamang Heritage Trail; Everest; Langtang, Gosainkund & Helambu; Rolwaling & Gauri Shankar; Trekking around the Nepal Himalaya and Mustang.

They have also recently published their autobiography, In Search of the Green-Eyed Yellow Idol, in colour, black & white and Kindle formats, and a Pictorial Guide to the Horn of Africa.

 

Stephen Goodwin is a freelance journalist and editor of the prestigious Alpine Journal, the oldest mountaineering journal in the world. In 1999, after 25 years as a staff journalist on The Times and then The Independent, he exchanged the turbulence of Fleet Street and politics in 'the Westminster village' for the subtler currents of Cumbria's Eden Valley. When not tempted from his desk by the crags of the nearby Lake District, most days are devoted to the AJ, which he has edited since 2004, and writing about mountain matters, the environment and just a dash of politics. A climber and ski-mountaineer, he got his first taste of the Himalaya on a dream assignment in 1998, and reached the south summit of Everest, filing an award-winning diary to The Independent. Since then he has returned to the Himalaya most years as well as climbing, trekking and ski-touring in the Alps, Andes and Turkey. Happy sharing his enthusiasms with others, he enjoys leading trekking and climbing groups for Mountain Kingdoms. In 2009 he published a guide to Day Walks in the Lake District (Vertebrate), and has recently edited books by climbers Ron Fawcett and Simon Yates.

Originally from the Netherlands, Bart Jordans has been guiding and exploring treks and (trekking) peaks in the Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, European Alps, Kilimanjaro, Simien Mountains of Ethiopia, Moroccan Atlas Mountains and Damavand in Iran since 1984. Most of his guiding experience is in Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. He has been guiding in Pakistan since 1989. Originally from the Netherlands, he lived in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan for over four years with his wife and two children. He also lived in Vietnam for two years, and is now settled in Copenhagen. He caught the bug for mountain activities early in life when his parents took the family to either the Swiss or Austrian Alps every year, and with his brother he later trekked and climbed throughout the Alpine range. From Amsterdam he regularly visited Belgium and the UK for rock climbing.

As well as Bart's acclaimed Bhutan: A Trekker's Guide (a finalist at Canada's Banff Mountain Book Festival 2006), he has written a guidebook to Pakistan's Karakoram range and contributed the section on the Kangshung Face trek for Kev Reynolds' trekking guide to Everest and four chapters to Trekking in the Himalaya, edited by Kev Reynolds. 

Bart is a freelance trekking guide for several well-known companies. When not in the mountains he works in the outdoor gear business and writes articles on the mountains of Bhutan, for which he is a noted expert.

For any enquiries and comments contact Bart at jordans@mail.dk.

Siân Pritchard-Jones and Bob Gibbons met in 1983, on a trek from Kashmir to Ladakh. By then Bob had already driven an ancient Land Rover from England to Kathmandu (in 1974), and overland trucks across Asia, Africa and South America. He had also lived in Kathmandu for two years, employed as a trekking company manager. Before they met, Siân worked in computer programming and systems analysis, but was drawn to the Himalaya en route from working in New Zealand.

Since they met they have been leading and organising treks in the Alps, Nepal and the Sahara, as well as driving a bus overland to Nepal. Journeys by a less ancient Land Rover from England to South Africa provided the basis for several editions of the Bradt guide Africa Overland. For the sixth edition published in April 2014, they visited the fantastic boiling lava lake of Erta Ale in the Danakil desert of Ethiopia, and Somaliland. They were lucky finally to get visas to visit Eritrea, Angola and Congo for their most recent African research trips in 2016.

In Kathmandu they previously worked with Pilgrims Publishing, producing cultural guides – Kathmandu: Valley of the Green-Eyed Yellow Idol and Ladakh: Land of Magical Monasteries – and a historical look at the Guge Kingdom, Kailash: Land of the Tantric Mountain.

In 2007 they wrote the Cicerone guide to Mount Kailash and Western Tibet, as well updating the Grand Canyon guide. During 2011 they returned to Tibet, this time driving the same old Land Rover back from Kathmandu to the UK overland via Lhasa, through China, Kazakhstan, Russia and Western Europe. Their Annapurna trekking guide was published by Cicerone in January 2013; the second edition is due later in 2017.

For Himalayan Map House they are writing a new series of trekking guidebooks: Himalayan Travel Guides. Titles so far published include Manaslu & Tsum Valley (2nd edition); Upper & Lower Dolpo; Ganesh Himal & Tamang Heritage Trail; Everest; Langtang, Gosainkund & Helambu; Rolwaling & Gauri Shankar; Trekking around the Nepal Himalaya and Mustang.

They have also recently published their autobiography, In Search of the Green-Eyed Yellow Idol, in colour, black & white and Kindle formats, and a Pictorial Guide to the Horn of Africa.