King of the Hill · Nepal · 17–26 February 2027

King of the Hill Nepal
The World’s Highest Luxury Ski Tours

A stage-by-stage guide to Annapurna, altitude, and how we prepare you for it. From Kathmandu at 1,400 metres to Thorong La at 5,416m.

10Days
5,416mMax Altitude
30Places
2,000mVertical
The Expedition

Ten days in Nepal.
A staged ascent from
valley floor to 5,416 metres.

This guide walks through the expedition stage by stage — where you’ll be each day, at what altitude, and what to expect physically and logistically. It also sets out the altitude profile of the route in full, and the pre-departure preparation programme built around HST’s medical and acclimatisation framework.

1,400m
Kathmandu
Day 1
900m
Pokhara
Day 2
2,720m
Jomsom
Day 3
3,710m
Muktinath
Days 4–5
4,565m
Base Camp
Days 6–7
5,416m
Thorong La
Days 8–9
900m
Pokhara
Day 10

Built-in acclimatisation stops: Jomsom 2,720m · Muktinath 3,710m (two nights) · Base Camp 4,565m. Thorong La offered only to clients assessed as ready by the guide and medical team on the day, and only in safe conditions.

Expedition Operations

In partnership
with HST Adventures

Every King of the Hill expedition is delivered on the ground by HST Adventure — a veteran-led operator founded in 2011, registered in Nepal as Himalayan Ski Trek Pvt. Ltd. We chose them not as a logistics provider but as the only team with the experience, judgement, and local credibility to operate properly in one of the most demanding mountain environments on earth.

15+

Years in the Himalayas

98%

Summit success rate

0

Major incidents

HST’s team was behind Hari Budha Magar’s 2023 Everest summit — the first double above-the-knee amputee to reach the top of the world — and has been credited with supporting the first double above-knee amputee summit of Mont Blanc. From Everest expeditions to adaptive climbing, ski mountaineering and record-breaking endurance expeditions: experience delivering world-class trips with no major incidents recorded.

This is a team that doesn’t just guide mountains.
They make history on them.

Founded
2011 — Himalayan Ski Trek Pvt. Ltd. Led by veteran mountain professionals and internationally qualified instructors.
Guide & Porter Ratio
Led by an IFMGA-certified guide from HST · 1 guide per 5 guests · 1 porter per guest — so you’re never carrying all your own kit up the mountain · plus a full chef and medical crew
Licences
NTB Trekking Agency Licence · TAAN member · ACAP, TIMS, Restricted Area Permit for upper Mustang
Safety Systems
Route assessment each morning · Conservative acclimatisation pacing · Pre-established helicopter evacuation · Ongoing weather, snowpack and terrain assessment
Philosophy
Not to remove the reality of the mountain environment — but to manage it professionally through preparation, local expertise, and disciplined decision-making.
HST Adventures logo HST honoured at Parliament for Hari Budha Magar Everest expedition
Reuben and Matt in Jomsom
Reuben and Matt in Jomsom
Built by us

The people who
built this.

King of the Hill was founded by Reuben Gray and Matt Brinkley around a single conviction: that the terrain above Muktinath and Thorong La is world-class ski country that has never been opened up properly. Confirming it took a full recon expedition, deep partnerships with the region’s most experienced ground operator, and more than a year of planning — permits, logistics, medical framework and safety systems built from the ground up.

Reuben and Matt host every expedition personally — running the guest experience, the logistics and the evenings end to end. All mountain guiding, avalanche assessment and on-mountain safety decisions sit with HST’s professional team, who have operated in this environment for over a decade. Two founders who care about every detail, backed by the people best placed to deliver it.

Reuben Gray
CEO & Co-Founder · info@kingofthehill.co.uk
Matt Brinkley
COO & Co-Founder
Company
Brinkley Grays Ltd · Company No. 16212708 · England & Wales
Day by Day
Team at Swayambhu Temple, Kathmandu Aloft Hotel Kathmandu room with city view
01
Kathmandu · 1,400m · Arrival
Kathmandu Arrival

Woodsmoke, incense, and the sound of everything happening at once. Your first evening is unhurried by design: a full kit check, a welcome ceremony, and a briefing dinner that gives you your first real sense of what the next ten days will ask of you.

ArrivalTribhuvan Airport — private 4x4 transfer
DayCheck-in · full kit inspection with guide team
EveningWelcome drinks & Tika ceremony
DinnerBriefing dinner at Nepali Chulo
Hotel

Aloft Hotel, Kathmandu

Altitude

1,400m

Kathmandu → Pokhara · 900m
The Road West

The long drive west trades the noise of Kathmandu for terraced hills, river crossings and roadside tea stops. The afternoon halt is not a scripted experience: it is the village where HST’s local guides grew up, and you arrive as their guests — not as tourists passing through.

7:00amBreakfast at Aloft Hotel
8:00amLoad the 4x4s & depart Kathmandu
12:00pmLunch at Kuringa riverside resort
AfternoonLocal village — rice planting & temple visit
EveningLong table dinner in the hills above the village
Hotel

Fish Tail Lodge, Pokhara (5-star)

Altitude

900m

Hillside village in Nepal where HST's guides grew up
02
Aerial view of Fish Tail Lodge on the lake, Pokhara
Fish Tail Lodge · Pokhara · 5-Star
Lakeside resort with Himalayan backdrop, Pokhara Prayer-flag-lined street in Jomsom, Mustang Prayer flags strung across a stone alley in Mustang
03
Pokhara → Jomsom · 2,720m
Edge of the Kingdom

Jomsom sits at the threshold of the old Mustang kingdom — dry, dramatic and windswept. Tonight is the trip’s first deliberate acclimatisation stop: a planned pause that lets your body begin adjusting before altitude gains resume.

MorningFree — explore Pokhara lakeside at leisure
12:00pmDepart Pokhara for Jomsom — up the Kali Gandaki, the deepest river gorge on earth
ArrivalExplore Jomsom village
OvernightMarpha Palace Hotel — first acclimatisation night
Hotel

Marpha Palace Hotel, Jomsom

Altitude

2,720m — acclimatisation night

Jomsom → Muktinath · 3,710m
Sacred Ground

Muktinath is one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites in Hindu and Buddhist tradition — eternal flames from natural gas vents, 108 stone waterspouts carrying glacial water. A place of profound stillness before the mountains begin in earnest.

MorningDrive to Muktinath — Lo Mustang Resort (5-star), two nights
AfternoonFirst skiing & mountain exploration — horses & skidoos
TempleMuktinath Temple — arrive before dawn, in near-silence
Hotel

Lo Mustang Resort (5-star) — two nights

Altitude

3,710m

Hotel interior at Muktinath
04
Guide with dog on ascent to base camp
05
Muktinath · 3,710m · Night Two
Free Range Mountain

From today, mornings begin with a daily acclimatisation assessment. Skiing is concentrated in the morning, when the snowpack is at its most stable — avalanche risk rises as the day warms — and always runs to conditions assessed by the guides. A full day of free-range mountain exploration follows, with the option of a candlelit dinner in the evening.

6:30amAcclimatisation assessment · yoga / breathwork
8:00am+Full day free-range mountain exploration & skiing
6:00pmDinner — resort or candlelit dinner
Hotel

Lo Mustang Resort (5-star)

Altitude

3,710m

Highlights

Full day skiing · Candlelit dinner option

Ascent to Base Camp · 4,565m
Ascent to Base Camp

Base camp sits at 4,565 metres. Thirty private heated tents, a grand dome, a bar, and five snowmobiles on the mountain: nothing like it has ever existed at this altitude in organised ski travel. The snowmobiles are there first and foremost for safety, but come into their own for uplift once the first tour of the day is done — saving the climb and getting you back to the good snow.

6:30amAcclimatisation assessment · yoga / breathwork
8:00amAscent on foot or by horseback
12:00pm+First guided ski descents from 4,500m
6:00pmDinner in the grand dome · guided talks
7:30pmEvening entertainment
Accommodation

Private heated tent, base camp

Altitude

4,000–4,500m

06
Aerial view of base camp at night with glowing tents and dome
Base Camp · Annapurna Region · 4,565m
Team skinning across high-altitude snowfield
07
Base Camp · 4,565m
Tour Site Phase I

A full day of guided skiing at 4,500 metres, ungroomed and unlifted. After the first tour of the day, the snowmobiles are on hand for uplift — useful for extra laps without every descent being earned on skins. Evenings are built to match the days: dinner in the grand dome, guided talks, then evening entertainment under a genuinely dark sky.

6:30amAcclimatisation assessment · yoga / breathwork
8:00am+Full day guided skiing — snowmobile uplift after first tour
6:00pmDinner in the grand dome · guided talks
7:30pmEvening entertainment
Altitude

4,500m

Highlights

Snowmobile uplift · Grand dome dining

Base Camp → Thorong La (Optional) · 4,565–5,416m
Tour Site Phase II

5,416 metres is the expedition’s high point — entirely optional, attempted only by those acclimatised and well, in safe conditions, and only when the guides judge it safe to go. The HST guide team leads the group to Thorong La, the high crossing of the Annapurna Circuit, never before skied.

6:30amAcclimatisation assessment · yoga / breathwork
8:00am+Guided skiing + optional: Thorong La Pass, 5,416m
6:00pmDinner in the grand dome · guided talks
7:30pmEvening entertainment
Altitude

4,000–5,416m

Optional

Thorong La — first-ever ski descent

Skier making big turn on Nepal high altitude snow
08