The walk to Everest Base Camp is thought to be the best walk in the world. You see giant mountains, different kinds of land, forests, rivers, and ice. Seeing the world’s highest mountain is really special. Therefore, conditioning your body for Everest Base Camp Trek is essential.
You don’t need to know how to climb mountains to do this walk. People of all ages can do it. But you need to be healthy and really want to walk for two weeks high up in the mountains. It might be hard for people who aren’t very fit.
This walk has hard parts. Walking more than 130 kilometers very high up in two weeks is not easy. So you need to get ready before you go. You should train to make your body strong and your mind tough. Training for a few months should be enough to get ready. How long you need to train depends on how fit you are now.
How Difficult is the Everest Base Camp Trek?
The walk to Everest Base Camp is hard. It usually takes two weeks. You don’t need to know how to climb mountains, but you should be very fit and able to walk for a long time. The hard parts are worth it because you see beautiful things.
How far is the walk?
You start walking from a place called Lukla. The whole walk is about 130 kilometers. Most people walk about 15 kilometers each day.
Usually, a healthy person can walk 5 kilometers in one hour. This might sound easy, but the path is not smooth and you’re high up in the mountains. This makes you walk slower. So, the walk is harder than you might think.
How high you go
The walk to Everest Base Camp is hard mostly because you go very high up. This makes it harder than other walks. You start at a place that’s 3,000 meters high. Then you go up to 5,545 meters at the Kala Patthar. Going this high can make you feel sick.
So, you need to stop and rest to let your body get used to being so high up. It’s very important to know about feeling sick from being high up. If you have trouble breathing, you shouldn’t do this walk.
How to Get Ready for the Everest Base Camp Trek
You can do the Everest Base Camp Trek if you get your body ready. The walk takes about two weeks. You need to be strong and want to keep going even when it’s hard.
Many people think this walk is too hard for them. It is tough, but people of all ages can do it if they get ready well and really want to do it. That’s why you need to train before you go.
Your training should help you deal with being high up in the mountains. Here’s what you should do to get ready:
Practice Walking a Lot
When you trek, you walk for many days. You need to be patient. If you’re not used to long walks, your feet will hurt after just one day. On this trek, you walk for 9 out of 14 days. You need to walk about 15 kilometers for 6 hours each day. The path is rough and goes uphill a lot. So you need to be fit enough to walk all day.
The best way to get ready is to practice walking or hiking a lot. This helps your body get used to walking far. Start by walking for 1 or 2 hours a day. Then slowly walk for 4 to 6 hours as you get better. Once you’re good at walking, practice with the bag and shoes you’ll use on the trek.
Heart and Lung Training
The Everest walk goes very high up. When you walk high up, you get tired fast and it’s hard to breathe. So you need to train your body to work with less air. The best way is to do exercises that make your heart and lungs stronger. These help your body deal with not having enough air for a long time.
You can run, swim, bike, or row. Start by running uphill for 30 minutes each day. Slowly do more until you can do it for 1 hour. If you carry weights or your backpack while you do this, it helps even more.
Making Your Muscles Strong
Making your body strong helps make the walk easier. The paths on Everest are challenging for your body. You need strong muscles to walk many days in a row.
You can do exercises like squats, lunges, and step-ups to make your legs strong. Pull-ups and push-ups make your arms and chest strong. Be careful to do these the right way or you might hurt yourself.
Getting Your Mind Ready
Walking high up in the mountains is tough and things can change fast. The weather might turn bad even in good times. Your body will get very tired from walking in the cold. When this happens, having a strong mind helps you keep going.
It’s not easy to train your mind, but doing hard exercise helps. You need to really want to do this walk. Having a strong mind is the most important thing. It’s what helps you get through the hard parts.
How to Prevent Altitude Sickness on the Everest Walk
Getting sick from being high up is the biggest problem on the Everest Base Camp Trek. It can be dangerous if you don’t take care. Here’s how to avoid altitude sickness:
- Don’t smoke or drink alcohol during the walk.
- Drink lots of water (3-4 liters) every day.
- If you start feeling very sick, go down to a lower place right away.
- Take medicine if you need to.
- Have a guide who knows about walking high up in mountains.
- Walk slowly when you’re going up high.
Final Say
To sum up, for the walk to Everest Base Camp, you need to be fit and have a good attitude. You walk a long way and go very high up. You need to walk for two weeks. The hardest part is walking for many days while going higher and higher. The training we talked about earlier helps with these hard parts. Anyone can do this walk if they get ready and train the right way.
Pravin Baniya, a local and licensed tour and trek guide in Nepal, is dedicated to providing exceptional experiences and expert guidance in exploring the stunning landscapes and cultural wonders of the region.