About Us
Run from Thamel, not a franchise abroad
Windhorse Expeditions has guided small groups through the Nepal Himalaya since 2009. Here is how we actually operate.
Windhorse started with three guides and a single Everest Base Camp departure a year. The agency grew because those first groups sent their friends, not because of an advertising budget. Seventeen years later, the model has not changed: guides who grew up in the regions they lead, groups small enough to move at a human pace, and an office that answers the phone in Kathmandu, not a call centre three time zones away.
We run a short, deliberate list of treks and climbs, and turn away work that would mean cutting corners on permits, insurance, or acclimatisation days. If a date is full, we say so.
Safety before schedule
Every itinerary is built around real acclimatisation days, not the minimum a brochure can get away with. Guides carry the authority to turn a group back.
Fair wages, always
Guides and porters are paid above the TAAN minimum, insured, and equipped properly for altitude. Nobody on our payroll carries more than the load limit.
Small groups, on purpose
We cap most departures well under industry norms. It means slower mornings and a guide who knows your name by day two.
Nepali-owned and run
Windhorse is not a foreign brand subcontracting to a local operator. The office in Thamel is the only office.
The guiding team
Thirty-four licensed guides on staff, all Nepali, all trained in Wilderness First Responder protocols and high-altitude rescue. Most lead treks in the districts they grew up in. Every group travels with one guide and porters at a ratio of one porter per two trekkers, never a single guide stretched across a crowd.
Pemba Sherpa
Lead Guide, Everest Region · 14 yrs
Grew up in Namche Bazaar, where his family has run a teahouse for three generations. Certified Wilderness First Responder.
Kumar Gurung
Lead Guide, Annapurna Region · 11 yrs
Born in Ghandruk, in the hills below Annapurna South. Speaks Nepali, Gurung, and English.
Tenzin Lama
Lead Guide, Manaslu & Restricted Areas · 9 yrs
Holds the restricted-area certification Manaslu requires, and grew up along the same old salt-trading route the trek now follows.
Nima Sherpa
Climbing Guide, Peak Climbing · 16 yrs
Summited Island Peak more than sixty times. Has trained climbers on fixed rope and glacier travel since 2010.
Credentials on file
Every credential below is renewed annually and available on request before you book.
TAAN Member Agency
Registered with the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal, the trade body that sets guiding and porter-welfare standards.
NTB Licensed
Holds an active trekking and expedition licence from the Nepal Tourism Board, renewed annually.
Govt. of Nepal Registered
Incorporated and tax-registered as a Nepali company under the Company Act, not a foreign-owned pass-through.
Ready to walk among giants?
Tell us which trek and which season. A guide, not a call centre, will write back within two working days.
Plan Your TrekOr call +977 98-0123-4567 , Kathmandu office hours