Discover Adventures all over the Indian Himalayas with Above14000ft
Above14000ft
At Above14000ft, we are committed to offering adventures that help you explore the Himalayas. We pride ourselves in sharing our world with you. With more than 100 adventures explored through the Himalayas.
We discover local culture, ecology, flora, fauna and life from remote villages, to the bustling city markets and some of the wildest high mountains. Along the way, the warm smiles and open hospitality of the people we meet is sure to stay in our hearts and minds for years to come.
Our Mission.
At Above14000ft our aim is to promote the spirit of adventure and exploration.
We are also dedicated to promoting natural resource sustainability, economic viability and cultural integrity through sustainable tourism development. Sustainable tourism allows us to experience activities in remote areas, to view pristine and natural beauty and to learn from the cultures of our world without depleting natural resources or degrading cultural identities.
Our Values
Quality - by always delivering a high quality experience we have ensured long term relationships with guests, and a business built on referrals and grown organically though word of mouth.
Respect - we ensure that we respect the opinions, emotions, and security of individuals.
Challenge - our business is adventure and it is only through the challenge of existing practices that this can be achieved.
Growth - personal and organisational growth are fundamental objectives of our work, we strive to mirror this.
Fun - commercial enterprise is a serious business but most progress is made when people are able to express themselves, and enjoy the experience. Having fun is one of our most important ingredient.
Excellence - Defines our daily commitment to everything we do.
A sense of Adventure
Our first love is adventure travel and a thirst for exploration. This is shown in our exciting and unique journeys. We are committed to providing quality small group tours that have a positive impact on the local culture and environment. On our Himalayan programs groups are never larger than five to ten, and each journey is designed with the goal of providing you with a fun and exciting experience, apart from creating a better understanding between guests and our wonderful hosts.
We are here to answer any questions that you might have in planning your trip. Our first hand knowledge of the Himalayan Kingdom, our eagerness to share these wonderful places means that we can answer nearly any question that you might have regarding these exotic places.
What we do
We specialise in organising small group Trekking, Mountaineering, Mountain Biking, Ski Touring, Paragliding, Birding and Wildlife trips across Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand in the Indian Himalayas. We are based in the mountain town of Manali (Himachal Pradesh) in the Indian Himalayas.
With over twenty five years of experience and having worked with people of all ages from various cultures and backgrounds of varying skill and ability from all over the world. We have something to offer to everyone wether you are someone taking your first journey into the outdoors or you are a seasoned alpinist aiming to put up a new route on one of the many unclimbed peaks of the Indian Himalayas; our superb logistics planning and organising skills, our amazing guides and our first hand knowledge of the Western Himalayas are what you can rely on to make sure your adventures will be awesome.
We love being in the outdoors in pursuit of adventures and we also love sharing our world with you though our adventures.
Our Travel Philosophy
We take a holistic approach to our adventures and are dedicated to promoting the spirit of adventure, expanding ecological, cultural and spiritual awareness. On our journey together, these are some of the things you can expect:
An introduction to local people, culture and nature
We strive to discover local culture, ecology and life by utilising an assortment of transportation, from local buses, shared cabs to private vans. Sometimes we stay in charming bed-and-breakfast, at other times, it's a family farm or most times we are camping in tents. It's all part of the fun and discovery of travel !!
Freedom to Travel
The freedom of independent travel with the security of our guides is key to our adventures. We respect our travellers as individuals and do not try to second-guess their tastes and interests. Once we have reached the day's destination, explore the area however you wish. The day is yours to discover. We can interfere as little or as much as you want us.
When you sign up on an adventure with us you have the choice of letting us handle all your end to end logistics and you can stay focused and relaxed on your holiday with your loved ones. Or you can ask us to handle only certain components of your adventure like only your trek, or paragliding flight, or camping or anything else that you desire. You can choose to involve us as much or as little as needed in your program design.
With end to end we mean we can pick you up from the nearest International or Domestic Airport once you arrive in India, organise your hotel / home stays in cities and towns, take care of all your transport to and from your road head etc. You can also choose to have one of our tour leader escort your group on your whole trip with us or of course you can also do it on your own. We cater to a variety of adventure choices and also budgets.
Food! Food! Food!
In remote areas on trips we cook all the food fresh everyday. Our cooks are chosen for their abilities to cook sumptuous meals in adverse and harsh conditions. In town, meals aren't included. Hey, we're your guides, not cooks! We do, however, know the best places to eat and are here to help satisfy your palate. We give a person the chance to taste what solo travel is all about! Daring souls may also try local delicacies.
Food on all our adventures are catered very well and our cooks and their preparations always receive 7 stars even on super hard expeditions where resources can be scarce. Meals are usually 5 course menus everyday and cuisines vary between Indian, Chinese, Tibetian, Italian and Continental. Most menu plans on our adventures will be high carbohydrate, considering you will need a lot of energy through the day to stay on trail. All our menus have been created through many years of research and experience of leading multi day expeditions through the mountains.
We also have the flexibility to cater to Vegan food on our Adventures. Incase you have any dietary restrictions or food allergies then we can also plan meals that can cater to your needs.
On Guided Mountaineering trips above base camp or on our self sustained DIY days where cooks are not present. We use a mix of dehydrated freeze dried meals, energy bars and gels, dry trail food and also some high fat foods.
We make and package our own freeze dried meals, energy bars etc in our own factory. We also sell our freeze dried food under the Above14000ft provisions brand (https://www.above14000ftprovisions.com) to Alpinists, Mountaineers, Vol-Bivouac Pilots and DIY trekking enthusiast.
Equipment on our Adventures.
We use the best quality gear there is out there for all our adventures we have partnered. All our climbing, hiking and ski touring gear needs are met with Black Diamond and we are the only Indian Climbing agency the support outside of America. Other companies whose gear we use are North Face, Mammut, Salewa and Scarpa. For all our paragliding gear we have partnered with Little cloud, Phi-Air and Nova.
We also make some of our own gear like Large base camp tents, kitchen tents, dining Tents, Sleeping bags, Sleeping pads etc. On Treks and at Base camps we use large luxurious camping tents where you will not have to crawl in. Rather they are tents that you can stand up in. On hard and challenging treks where both weight and space is an issue we use Black diamond, North Face, Salewa or custom Above14000ft tents.
You heard us right we also make our own gear !! Most of us at Above14000ft spend an average of 200 days in the mountains hiking, climbing , skiing, spotting snow leopards and Black necked Cranes or doing Vol-Bivouac flights. We have been doing this for almost 25 years or more. Living and making your self comfortable in the outdoors sometimes is all about being ingenious and creative. So we decided that we will also make our own gear. We custom make our tents, Sleeping bags, Sleeping pads etc. While designing our gear our philosophy has always been Maximum comfort, Utility, Long life and Simplicity.
Our Pricing
All our adventures are priced beginning for only 1 person and if you are a group of more than 1 person then accordingly we have a tier pricing where it will come down as the people increase. For most multi day adventures in order to maintain a good experience quality we ensure that we keep our group size limited to a max of 12 guests per group. Our Online booking engine is geared to handle tier level pricing so you can book all our trips online though our website or though one of the many market places all over the world where our trips are listed.
Leave No Trace
We have a strong environmental commitment on all our adventures. We have practised and taught the Leave no Trace outdoor ethics since 1998. We are very committed to leaving a minimum impact in the natural world that we travel through. It is always our endeavour to leave only footprints and take only photographs. you can read all about leave no trace here.
Responsible Travel
We believe that a responsible traveler doesn't go through nature's backyard as if he were the last person to walk there. The adventures we design are tailor-made to prevent vegetation damage and erosion, respect wildlife, reduce waste, avoid littering, protect water systems, learn from cultural differences, promote the local economy… in short, develop healthy travel ethics. Please read my RT policy in more detail.
Small is Beautiful
To maintain a grassroots experience and minimise cultural and ecological impact, groups are limited to 12 guests. Our average group size is 5 - 8, and we like it this way, as we can give our guests the very best cultural and adventure experience and increase our chances of seeing wildlife when in the Himalayas. If you are travelling alone no problem we can also organise an adventures exclusively for only you. Trip leaders are fluent in English, Hindi and the local language of the regions. Trip leaders are there to help and socialise as much - or as little - as needed.