27°32'N 86°29'E · 3,990 m
Signature · Khumbu (Everest)
Renjo La, Dudh Kunda, and Pikey Peak—Nepal’s premier high-altitude ridgelines, unlocked by rotor and ridden down to the valley floor.
The first days ride the Kathmandu Valley's rim — Nagarkot's ridgelines, the rooty descent off Phulchowki — before the expedition flies east into the Solu hills for two days at Ratnange, a hillside of purpose-built trail cut by a local nonprofit and still barely ridden from outside Solu. Then the big flights: Dudh Kunda's sacred lake, and the crown of the trip, the lake below Renjo La — a landing above 5,100 metres — descending glacial rock gardens into Thame.
This is a route through living villages — Junbesi's stone houses and monasteries, Thame's mountaineering lineage, Namche Bazaar's amphitheatre of colour, coffee and apple pie. The hospitality is not a stop on the itinerary; it is where the expedition sleeps, eats and rests between descents.
This is not a traverse but a set of descents, each reached by air: Pikey Peak to Phaplu, Dudh Kunda to Thupten Choeling, and Renjo La to Thame. The helicopter does the climbing between them. Around those three, Ratnange is ridden as shuttle laps on a hillside of cut trails, and day nine rides down from the Gokyo lakes to Namche Bazaar. The day-by-day figures are confirmed with you when you reserve.
Mangal Krishna Lama leads this tour. In 2022 he made the first solo mountain-bike traverse of the Great Himalaya Trail high route. It was 88 riding days from Kangchenjunga to Hilsa, over twenty-two passes above 5,000 metres, as his log shows. He rode the Ratnange hillside before its trail centre was built. The guides who plan your trip are the guides who ride with you.
Enduro bike · reinforced tubeless tyres · dropper post essential · warm layers for alpine starts
Mountain aviation dictates the calendar in the Khumbu. Operating helicopters safely above 5,000 metres requires stable high-pressure windows with clear morning skies and minimal thermal turbulence, restricting this expedition to spring and autumn.
Recommended
Mar · Apr · May
March to May brings stable pre-monsoon mornings and warming alpine valleys across the Khumbu. Rhododendron forests are in bloom through the lower valleys, and crisp dawn flights into Renjo La and Dudh Kunda reveal pristine snowfields before midday convective clouds build.
Closed
Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep
Heavy summer rains shroud the Himalayan foothills in dense cloud cover, creating hazardous mountain aviation conditions and slick, rain-washed singletrack throughout the Khumbu gorges. High-altitude helicopter operations cease completely.
Recommended
Oct · Nov
October and November provide the most reliable flying conditions in Nepal. Deep post-monsoon high-pressure systems deliver razor-sharp visibility, frozen alpine soil, and stable atmosphere, allowing precise helicopter insertions onto 5,100-metre ridgelines beneath crystal-clear Himalayan skies.
Closed
Dec · Jan · Feb
Sub-zero temperatures, intense jetstream winds across the high passes, and heavy snow cover on the cols make 5,000-metre drops unsafe for rotary aviation and riders alike.
Route profile
Pikey Peak 3,990 m · Phaplu 2,500 m · Dudh Kunda 4,630 m · Thupten Choeling 3,010 m · Below Renjo La 5,110 m · Thame 3,800 m
Day by day
Day 01
Arriving at Tribhuvan International Airport, where our private team welcomes you and transfers you to the hotel in Kathmandu. In the afternoon, we assemble and calibrate the bikes in the workshop before an evening welcome dinner and comprehensive expedition briefing covering mountain flight protocols, acclimatisation pacing, and the high-altitude terrain ahead.
Day 02
shuttle → ridden
ridgeline trails · forest singletrack · natural berms · technical sections
A morning shuttle climbs to the eastern rim of the Kathmandu Valley at Nagarkot. We spend the day lapping fast ridgeline singletrack through pine and rhododendron woods, dropping technical switchbacks and flowing loam into the valley floor while our vehicle handles the road transitions.
Day 03
shuttle → ridden
rooty forest singletrack · rocky switchbacks · technical descents
Ascending Phulchowki, the highest peak encircling Kathmandu at 2,742 metres. From the misty summit ridgeline, we drop into a relentless 1,300-metre technical descent through subtropical cloud forest, navigating slick roots, limestone gardens, and natural berms to complete our suspension dial-in.
Day 04
helicopter → ridden
alpine meadows · pine forest · village trails
A dawn helicopter flight lifts off from Kathmandu, clearing cloud inversions to deposit us directly onto the open grassy crest of Pikey Peak at nearly 4,000 metres. Unloading rotors spinning against a panorama stretching from Kanchenjunga to Everest, we drop into a continuous 2,200-metre descent through alpine pastures, rhododendron forest, and stone-terraced Sherpa hamlets to our lodge in Phaplu.
Day 05
shuttle → ridden
short, steep descents · one rolling trail · one long descent · one climb
forest singletrack · purpose-built trail · shuttle-served descent
Spending the day on the steep, wooded flanks of Ratnange above Phaplu. Hand-built by local trail builders, this network features purpose-cut descending lines running through dense pine and oak forest. With vehicle shuttles handling the climb, Mangal leads the group through secret ridgeline cuts and fast, sculpted flow trails.
Day 06
shuttle → ridden
short, steep descents · one rolling trail · one long descent · one climb
forest singletrack · purpose-built trail · steep descent
A second day on Ratnange unlocking bigger, steeper lines through the forest. We link seven-kilometre continuous drops that plunge nearly a vertical kilometre through technical root sections and open pine meadows, stopping in quiet village teahouses between shuttle laps before evening fires in the lodge.
Day 07
helicopter → ridden
rugged alpine terrain · ancient Sherpa trails
Rotors carry us deep into the high Solu wilderness to Dudh Kunda, a glacial lake sacred to both Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims resting under the sheer north wall of Numbur peak at 4,630 metres. We unload into crisp alpine air and begin an incredible 2,300-metre descent along ancient yak paths and glacial moraine down into the Junbesi valley, ending at the historic monastery of Thupten Choeling.
Day 08
helicopter → ridden
glacial landscapes · rock gardens · technical alpine terrain
The defining flight of the expedition. The helicopter lifts high into the Khumbu, touching down on the glacial shelf beside the frozen lakes beneath Renjo La at 5,110 metres. In the shadow of Everest, Cho Oyu, and Makalu, we drop into raw, technical moraine and granite switchbacks, following the ancient salt route down into the quiet mountaineering sanctuary of Thame.
Day 09
helicopter → ridden
alpine terrain · ancient trading routes · suspension bridges
A morning rotary hop over the ridge delivers us to Gokyo at 4,790 metres beside the brilliant turquoise waters of the third lake. Mounting bikes beneath Cho Oyu, we follow the historic trail descending the Dudh Koshi gorge, crossing high suspension bridges and sweeping around granite boulders into the bustling natural amphitheatre of Namche Bazaar for fresh coffee and celebratory bakeries.
Day 10
helicopter
A morning helicopter flight sweeps out of the Khumbu, banking past Ama Dablam and the Dudh Koshi canyon on the return flight to Kathmandu. The afternoon is yours to rest, unpack, and wander before our celebratory farewell dinner.
Day 11
A relaxed day to explore the medieval alleyways of Patan or Kathmandu Durbar Square, visit quiet artisan workshops, or book restorative therapies and massages to unwind after riding the high Himalaya.
Day 12
A leisurely breakfast in the garden terrace before our private airport transfer delivers you to Tribhuvan International Airport for your homeward journey.
From the route
Rider questions
The Khumbu's finest descents start where no road goes. The helicopter replaces days of walking with a morning flight, so the expedition rides down from Renjo La, Dudh Kunda and Pikey Peak rather than pushing up to them.
The highest point is the helicopter's landing beside the lake below Renjo La, at about 5,110 metres. Before the two high flights, the nights are in the middle hills, at about 2,500 to 3,000 metres. So the high days work differently from a trek. You spend a short time up high, then ride straight down, and you never sleep at a landing. The guides watch every rider for symptoms at each landing. If they do not ease, the rider goes down at once.
Graded advanced. The descents are long, rocky and high — glacial terrain off Renjo La, rooty forest on Phulchowki — with shuttle and heli access taking the climbs out. A guide talks you through each day before your place is confirmed.
An enduro bike with reinforced tubeless tyres and a dropper post. Cold starts at altitude mean warm layers matter as much as suspension setup; the full kit list comes when you reserve.
Two, for the high valleys of Thame, Gokyo and Namche — Sagarmatha National Park entry and the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality permit. Both are arranged as part of the expedition and carried by your guide.
Not one trail but a hillside of them. A local nonprofit, which calls itself Nepal's first trail centre, has cut sixteen numbered trails there since 2023, almost all of them pure drops served by a shuttle, so the two days are lap after lap rather than a line from A to B. Which lines a day rides is Mangal's call on the ground — and he was riding this hillside before the trail centre existed, on lines that still appear on nobody's map.
Departures
Before you reserve
The detail a high-altitude expedition deserves — answered here, and talked through with you personally before your place is confirmed.
Every departure is led by experienced local guides who know this ground. Safety is more than equipment. It is close coordination with the villages, lodges and families along the route, and a local network that gets word and help moving fast. The pace is set by the slowest rider. Altitude is taken step by step. Where a tour climbs on the bike, there are nights at altitude before the high passes. Where a helicopter lifts riders high, they stay up only a short time and ride straight down. The rule on the mountain is simple: if symptoms do not ease, we go down. If a rider has to leave the mountain, the team arranges the rescue, and the rider's insurance pays for it.
These are graded rides at real altitude, with long days in the saddle and sustained descents. We talk through your riding history honestly before a place is confirmed. Be honest with us about how you ride; it helps us match you to the right trip.
Bring your own bike, or hire one from us. Hire is priced by the type of bike: a hardtail at $20–30 a day, a full-suspension trail or enduro bike at $50–80. An e-bike, at $100–150 a day, is by request: we arrange the logistics, charging and support included, where the route allows. We recommend the right type for each tour and for what you like to ride. If you fly your own, check your airline's rules for a bike box and declare the bike at customs in Kathmandu. Your bag, up to 15 kg, travels by vehicle, porter or mule while you ride. Spares and tools ride with the guides, and the kit list comes once your dates are set.
In Kathmandu and Pokhara you stay in comfortable city hotels; on the route, in family-run lodges — simple, warm, shared washrooms at altitude — with breakfast, lunch and dinner included, and a serviced camp on the nights a tour sleeps beyond the lodges. Tell us about any diet when you reserve; dal bhat, noodles, eggs and fresh bread are on every menu. Bring a bottle and a filter or tablets — your guide shows you where to refill.
Breakfast early, on the bike by eight, lunch in a village or on the trail, and at the lodge by mid-afternoon on most days — the light and the weather are kindest before noon. The vehicle or the mules carry the bags; your guide sets the pace to the slowest rider and briefs the next day over dinner. If you need a rest, you ride in the vehicle where there is a road, or walk with one of the team where there is not.
Insurance is a condition of riding: it must cover mountain biking at the altitudes on your route, helicopter evacuation and rescue, medical treatment, and trip cancellation and delay. We check every certificate before departure.
A 30 per cent deposit holds your place, and the balance is due two months before departure, by bank transfer — no card is entered here, and nothing is charged through this site. What happens if you have to cancel is set out in full in our booking terms. Read the booking terms →
We guide you through Nepal entry and arrange every permit your route needs — park or conservation-area entry for the ground it crosses, any local permit the valley adds, and a restricted-area permit wherever the route enters a restricted area. They are carried by your guide, not by you.
One scale for every tour and ride, set by the hardest riding and the altitude together. If you are unsure where you sit, tell us what you ride at home; a guide will say plainly whether a trip suits you.
Intermediate
Red trails in the UK and Europe, blue to black in North America
Three to five hours a day, with most climbs shuttled
You ride red trails with confidence and can do it again the next day.
You have not yet ridden off-road for several days in a row.
Advanced
Red to black trails in the UK and Europe, black in North America
Four to seven hours a day, descents of a thousand metres or more, and some carrying
You ride black trails cleanly, are comfortable on loose rock and steep switchbacks, and can push or carry a bike for an hour at altitude.
Steep, exposed or loose ground still makes you walk.
Expert
Black and double-black in North America; the hardest natural trails in the Alps
Six to nine hours a day, remote, with long hike-a-bike over 5,000-metre passes
You have done multi-day trips in the mountains, ride technical descents tired and cold, and have been above 4,500 metres before.
This would be your first trip at altitude.
Where a day is graded, it carries three scores, each out of five.
“He knows the mountain inside out, every little road, trail, bump — it's fascinating. … I loved the perfect balance between riding time and time to explore the cultural sites and towns.”
The per-rider price falls as the group grows. Everything listed below is included; the figure is confirmed in writing when you reserve, and nothing is charged through this site.
Group sizePer rider
Included
Not included