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Trekking for Snow Leopards

Adventure for a Cause in Nepal

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National Geographic Award

Three years running! for National Geographic Traveler magazine’s “50 Tours of a Lifetime” award! Our  previous Trek for Snow Leopards was designated one of 2015’s best guided tours, “a sustainable, authentic, innovative and immersive travel experience” and “a model for the rest of the travel industry.”

Overview

Overview

One of the most spectacular of the big cats, Snow Leopards are perfectly adapted to the cold, barren landscapes of their high-altitude home. Their huge paws that act like snowshoes, and a long thick tail gives them balance for hunting on precipitous slopes.  For centuries, they have co-existed with Nepal’s human inhabitants, tribal agro-pastoral people of Tibetan origin who eke out a precarious existence herding yaks, goats and sheep.

The numbers of Snow Leopards are in serious decline and there are only about 6000 left in the wild.  This is mainly because they come into conflict with humans and they are hunted for their beautiful coats and for body parts that are used in traditional medicine. Snow Leopards sometimes kill livestock to survive because their traditional wild prey has almost disappeared as a result of humans and livestock encroaching and overgrazing wild areas. Shepherds can loose many goats and sheep overnight and then occasionally resort to retribution killings of these amazing felines.

Team members will help save Snow Leopards by raising a minimum of US $500 each to help a local initiative mitigate human-snow leopard conflict in Nepal. We will travel with local conservationists as our guides and teachers. Local yak herders who support us will also give us unprecedented access to their culture and knowledge and introduce us to their families in villages along the way. And they are among the people who will benefit directly from the new grassroots efforts we are helping to create. Funds we raise will support compensation schemes for herders who lose their livestock to predation. We also provide important conservation tools like camera traps and high-tech lights that keep snow leopards away from livestock. Our support will help protect the snow leopard and also the culture of the people who share its habitat.

It will truly be the trip of a lifetime to a wild maze of snow peaks intercut by deep valleys: the home to one of South Asia’s most important populations of the rare, endangered and exquisite snow leopard. As well as being a challenging adventure, the trip also has a crucial goal: to assist local efforts in mitigating human-leopard conflict.

We trek up to 12 miles a day reaching altitudes as high as 14,000 feet. We stay in traditional village houses and camp with shepherds in beautiful high meadows close to glaciers. The rewards of our efforts are rare and unforgettable: moving through a mythical landscape; being immersed in the culture and daily life of Himalayan livestock herders; supporting crucial conservation work; and having the chance to see the secretive snow leopard in its stunning natural environment.

Experience the wondrous world of the snow leopard and the graceful daily life of Nepal’s Annapurna region, and help preserve both a vital species and a unique way of life.

We can organize this extraordinary adventure for your group!

Gallery

Gallery

All photos taken by team-member, Hilary Rhodes on our last Snow Leopard Trek in India.

Trip Details

Dates
Private: Nov - Mar

 


Land Cost
From US $5490 per person


Length
14 days


Accommodation
Village home stays
Wilderness camping


Support
Porters throughout the trek


Group Size
4 – 12


Begins/Ends
Details to be announced.


Guest comments from last trek

  • The snow leopard trek was amazing. The Himalaya, the walking, the guiding, the crew ... the vast landscapes, the colours, the people...

    Karen K Vancouver, CA
  • I came to experience the splendor of mountains but I've come away with so much more. Our guides brought the Himalayas to life for us.

    Dennis B Danvers, USA
  • A brilliant trek! The knowledge and wisdom of our guides were astounding. We were kept safe and supported by a group of humble, skilled and patient porters.  

    Brendan W Sherwood Park, CA
  • This has been an unforgettable experience!

    Liam F London, UK
  • ...each day was a richly layered experience, a study in the deep, historic connection between landscape and people.

    Lynn M. Sherwood Park, CA

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