The Great Himalaya Trail is one of the longest and highest altitude trails in the world, and probably the most spectacular. In the shadow of mountains such as Everest, Annapurna or Manaslu, this trekking crosses Nepal in its entirety from east to west. Including a total of approximately 1,700 kilometers of trails.
25/03/2023
Himalaya, Senderismo
The Great Himalaya Trail is one of the longest and highest altitude trails in the world, and probably the most spectacular. In the shadow of mountains such as Everest, Annapurna or Manaslu, this trekking crosses Nepal in its entirety from east to west. Including a total of approximately 1,700 kilometers of trail, starting on the eastern border of Nepal in the Kangchenchunga region to the far west, little-explored Far West Nepal.
If you think that the 1700km of the Great Himalayas Trail are not enough for you, you can extend this route as long as you want. You can start at Nanga Parbat in Pakistan and not stop until you reach Namche Barwa in Tibet, thus passing through India, Nepal, Bhutan… configuring the longest passable road in the Great Himalayas with more than 4,500 km. If covered in its entirety, this is one of the ten longest routes and the highest hiking route in the world.
Joan Cardona, recognized for his career as a mountaineer, climber and also as director of the Catalan Ski Mountaineering Team, has already traveled 1,200 km with 70,000 positives on this high route. Although he has set foot on Nepali lands on more than a dozen occasions throughout his life, having even reached the summit of Everest, he has returned to Nepal accompanied by his friend Joan Pinsach, simply to enjoy walking.
The day before returning to Nepal to continue accumulating kilometers and unevenness, Cardona reveals some keys to understanding and appreciating the attraction of this unique trekking route in the world.
Interview with Joan Cardona
For Cardona this is a trek to enjoy the views and simply let yourself go:
“It is wonderful, these mountains are impressively high. Being able to walk there, cross a hill, have them there in front of you, let yourself go… Nepal has very high mountains, but it also has towns, fertile valleys, lots of vegetation. It has a special charm.”
The Great Himalaya Trail is a unique trail in the world that crosses Nepal and includes from the regions of Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Everest, Langtang, Ganesh Himal and Manaslu, Annapurna, Mustang and Dhaulagiri and goes to the west of Nepal through Upper Dolpo and ends in Darchula. A unique terrain that advances under the highest peaks in the world, crossing lush and fertile valleys, as well as arid glaciers.
Although this route can share similar regions to the alpine ones in general terms for Cardona this trekking in the Himalayas is nothing like what we have in Europe.
“It is something very exclusive. This route crosses various high passes reaching 5,700 meters and this is something practically unique in the world. In addition, you go through all kinds of terrain, you leave tropical areas, you go through very jungle areas, you go up, then you come to the forests where a lot of vegetation accumulates and as you go up it becomes very alpine terrain, even crossing some great glacier. For example, in the Alps you would not start walking in a tropical area with its oppressive heat. This makes this trek quite different and unique. “
The route has two variants, a high and a low. The high route passes through hills between 4,000 m and 6,200 m, some of them snow-capped, requiring an ice ax and crampons, as well as porters. The low route oscillates between 1,500 and 2,500 meters of altitude, passing through small villages, inhabited by the various ethnic groups of Nepal. Cardona and Pinsach have been adapting their progression between the two routes, but without dodging some high passes. Undoubtedly one of the few difficulties that this trekking entails according to Cardona.
“The basis of this trekking is acclimatization more than km, we did 1,200 kilometers, but divided into 70 days of walking it is relatively little, but the big handicap is the height. If you acclimatize well, you can make the same effort as here. It only costs a little more… we have to take into account that people like the Tibetans live at 4,000 meters, and that’s okay, the altitude is just a problem due to acclimatization.”
Joan Cardona, recognized for his career as a mountaineer, climber and also as director of the Catalan Ski Mountaineering Team, has already traveled 1,200 km with 70,000 positives on this high route. Although he has set foot on Nepali lands on more than a dozen occasions throughout his life, having even reached the summit of Everest, he has returned to Nepal accompanied by his friend Joan Pinsach, simply to enjoy walking.
The day before returning to Nepal to continue accumulating kilometers and unevenness, Cardona reveals some keys to understanding and appreciating the attraction of this unique trekking route in the world.
Interview with Joan Cardona
For Cardona this is a trek to enjoy the views and simply let yourself go:
The great charm of this great trek is that you do not have to follow a strict route and this allows you to discover some of the hidden and less exploited corners of this mystical country, escaping from some of the busiest commercial areas. One of the main attractions of this trail is that it goes through the most impressive and highest mountains in the world, but an attraction that makes the difference is the vitality and friendliness of the Nepalis.
“What attracts me to this trekking and to the area is the mountains, but the second thing that I prefer is without a doubt its people. It is very worth meeting people, talking to them, they are poor countries, but they are not miserable people. They give you many life lessons. The people are friendly. Life is very hard here in Nepal, but everyone smiles.”
Interview and article: Pat Soler
Not everything is roads in this trekking
Interview with Joan Cardona and Pat Soler
Mountain pass in the Himalayas
Zabardast, freeride in the Karakorum
