Above 14000ft

Our aim is to promote natural resource sustainability, economic viability and cultural integrity through sustainable tourism development. We enable our clients to experience remote areas, to view pristine natural beauty and to learn from the cultures of the Himalayas without depleting natural resources or degrading cultural identities.

We always hire only registered porters through the local Porters Union. This ensures that they are not underaged or underpayed since the Union has standard rates and age limits. All porters/ guides are given good equipment – jackets, hiking shoes, warm pants etc - for use in the field. In technical terrain they are provided with the good technical gear like gaitors, plastic mountaineering boots, ice axes, harnesses etc. All porters and guides are insured by us for all trips this is an added initiative apart from the Union they are also never overloaded, we stick to the Union limit of 20 kg per porter.

We are a small company and most of the guides are friends with whom I have climbed and worked with for years. So, they are friends who work with us rather than for us. They are paid the best in the industry (Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh) and given good equipment, field clothing etc. At the end of trips, we tell our clients that if they want to tip porters or guides, to do it fairly and directly. All guides hired to lead trips are local to the areas that they travel in and are trained in responsible travel practices; Leave No Trace principles, risk management & safety, remote wilderness first aid and natural history interpretation.

On trips where we use pack horses and not porters, we ensure we hire them only from the local horse union. The horseman and horses are insured for all the trips. We ensure the horse men carry enough feed for the horses to last the trip and return. We pay him extra for it. We ensure that he does not over work or over load the horses and gives them enough rest and water on the trail. We also pay the horse men extra if they have been good with the horses and have worked well. This ensures that there is added motivation to treat their animals well.

We use locally owned and run services by preference. We use locally owned and run accommodation in preference to foreign owned hotel chains. We purchase our equipment and food from locally produced sources. We support local income generation and small business enterprises by supporting locally owned shops and restaurants, and using local staff. We encourage clients through our leaders to act in a responsible way and with an insight and understanding of the host destination. We take into consideration environmental, cultural and economic issues when looking at new programs. We ensure that our operations do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people so we ensure that our type and scale of tourism is appropriate to local conditions and operate within the limits set by local appropriate infrastructure and carrying capacity.

We aim to take responsibility for maintaining and improving the environment. We organise treks to clean on popular trekking and climbing routes at our own cost. In our own treks we follow the Leave No Traces standards. We do not use wood for any of our cooking, we always carry kerosene or butane stoves. Campfire atmosphere, minus the fire, is encouraged at the end of each day for relaxation. We support local aforestation drives by directly working with school children. We organise workshops for children of local schools to teach them the harms of deforestation and work towards getting them to love and respect the pristine environment and familiarising them with the local flora and fauna. We believe that if they know and respect the environment, they will cause it less harm and grow up to be responsible citizens.

We instruct our clients not to use toilet paper as far as possible and use water as an alternative. In colder areas, we give them warm water. We always take extra pack horses to carry back the garbage (not just ours, but what has been left behind by other groups) from trips. We always trek and camp on durable surfaces. We always trek in small groups to ensure minimal impact on campsites and trails. All food is repackaged, so that it lasts with minimal spill and causes minimal litter on the trek. We never use disposable cups, plates, etc. On treks, we encourage vegetarian food.

We look for appropriate systems for minimizing water and atmospheric pollution from tourism developments. We are building a new campsite in Manali to promote Outdoor Education groups for school children from various schools in the country between April and October. To ensure minimal impact on the surrounding soil, water and atmosphere, we are working on installing a bio-gas unit to produce gas for lighting and cooking with human excreta and kitchen waste on our campsite. This not only ensures less use of electricity, but also protects the two streams that flow through the campsite from getting contaminated and to maintain the soil. The remaining slurry from the bio-gas digester is pushed automatically in a composting pit without manual handling and the resulting compost will be given to local apple orchards free of cost to be used as manure. The water drained away from the slurry will be filtered and used for watering small flower beds, washing and cleaning. On treks and camps, we instruct our clients to wash at least 200 mts away from water sources and encourage them to use as little soap as possible. Most of our trips and camps are designed such that we don’t have any atmospheric pollution since we don’t use any CFC producing technology.

We aim to integrate environmental considerations into all economic considerations. The above mentioned bio-gas initiative is a first in our areas of work. Though not completely economically viable, we decided that it was a necessary step to minimise impact on the soil and water of the campsite. On our campsite, we will be using set mud block technology to construct platforms for tents, kitchen, toilets etc using mud from the campsite rather than concrete and cement. Similarly the extra pack horses that we take on treks are more for environmental considerations than economic.

We will provide financial support for local economic and environmental projects, thereby actively encouraging local community involvement in Tourism Projects. We always buy only local produce from local farmers grown organically. We buy milk from the local families rather than the packed milk from cities. All our guides, cooks, camp helpers, horse men and porters are locals. We organise camps for skiing and climbing for the local children free of cost. We completely fund our aforestation and trek to clean drives. We support the local veterinary hospital with medicines and finances for sterilization of stray dogs. We aim to reduce the levels of energy use in our offices and by our staff by recycling where possible

We are a zero paper office, working completely online with soft copies of brochures, invoices etc. We have taken up rooms with adequate light and fresh air to minimise the use of electricity. The bio-gas plant in the campsite is an initiative to recycle human and kitchen waste while saving up energy. We make as much of use of solar energy in our camp sites as possible. We stay on our campsite ourselves. We have trained all our staff in using as little electricity, paper, plastic as possible. Even repackaging of food items is done in cloth bags rather than polythene. By choice, we have no refrigerators, air condtioners, TVs etc in the campsite or in our homes.

We provide regular and ongoing training, in the principles and practices of responsible tourism, to our office and field staff. We aim to reduce the levels of energy use in our offices and by our staff by recycling where possible. We strive to live by our zero paper policy by increased use of computers.We aim to achieve zero litter policies.

As a traveler, you have a role to play in Responsible Tourism. We can provide a framework to achieve our goals but as a traveler your actions whilst on holiday and your choice of tour operator play a big part as well. We always provide the following guidelines in our pre-departure information for the places that we visit:

Economic responsibility

1. Try to buy locally made crafts and support local skills and do not simply buy on price but on value to you: bargaining for a lower price for both souvenirs and services, is often the accepted and expected custom, but don't drive a hard bargain just for the sake of it.

2. Try the local food and specialties. Many areas in the Himalayas are under threat from a reduction in their agricultural base and by eating locally produced goods you will help the local farmers as well as the local economy. Furthermore, it is important to us that we receive feedback from you. This will help us not only to find out your thoughts on our policy, but also to maintain and improve our standards. So please complete the Feedback form and return it to us at the end of a trip.

Environmental responsibility

1. Never buy products that exploit wildlife or aid the destruction of species or habitats. Do not buy souvenirs made from endangered species, like Shatoosh (Tibetan Antelope skin), Kasturi (Musk deer) etc; doing so will only encourage the trade.

2. Consider what you really need to take with you. Waste disposal systems in remote Himalayas are ill equipped to deal with the increased pressures that tourism brings, and a few simple measures can make an enormous difference to the effect you have on your destination. Where possible remove the wrapping of packaged goods before you leave: unwrap soaps and take bottles out of boxes. As far as possible, use water instead of toilet paper. Use only the provided trash bags to dispose leftover food, plastic etc

3. Pick up your litter as you would at home: bottles, cans, plastic, cigarette butts, apart from being unsightly, can be deadly to wild animals.

4. We discourage clients from picking flora or removing anything from its place in nature, and educate on all species in the local environment.

5. Take environmentally friendly detergents and shampoos for hand and hair washing, and use as little as possible and at least 200 ft away from the water source (streams, lakes etc). This will help to keep valuable fresh water supplies, rivers, streams and the lakes free from pollution.

6. Remember that in many places, fresh water is a very precious commodity and should not be wasted, so use a minimum for washing and put off washing of clothes until absolutely needed.

7. Where any toilet facilities exist, however unsavory, they should be used. Where they do not, always bury your waste and make sure it is never near, (at least 200 feet) from a water source.

8. Although we insist that our guides maintain suitable distances from wildlife, allowing the animal a suitable escape distance, there is always a temptation to get closer. For this reason we recommend that you don't encourage your guide or driver to get closer to the animals than is acceptable. Never feed animals and never attempt to touch them.

9. Be considerate of other visitors to protect the quality of their experience.

Social responsibility

1. It's quite easy in a small, simple community to appear an inquisitive rich foreigner, so be aware of the feelings of other people, and try to avoid giving offence. Learning a little of the local language can help reduce these barriers and take note of the dress codes and appropriate photography, all of which your leader can advise you on.

2. Always ask permission before taking pictures of people, ritual events or special places like shrines. If people seem reluctant or look away then do not take a picture. Be careful not to cause offence through your thoughtlessness.

3. Ask your guide for advice on how to respond to begging and about appropriate gifts. It is usually better, for example, to give school materials or local food treats as a group, through the leader, to the school head or village head; just handing out sweets encourages children to be a nuisance by begging, and may well ruin their teeth in a place where there is no dental service.

4. Extravagant displays of wealth such as ostentatious jewellery and technological gadgetry can be an incitement to robbery, as well as accentuating the gap between rich and poor.