Why we cap our trekking groups at eight

Most operators put 14–16 on a single guide. We've held the line at eight since 2018. Here's the maths — and the human reason.

Most agencies will quietly tell you eight is uneconomic. They're not wrong on a single trip. But over a season — and over a guide's career — eight is the only number that holds up.

The maths first. At 14 trekkers per guide, you have roughly two minutes per person at each rest stop. That's enough time to check that someone is breathing, not enough to notice that they are breathing too fast. The early signs of acute mountain sickness — quiet withdrawal, mild confusion, slight loss of appetite — only show up when a guide knows what each person normally looks like. With eight, by day three, your guide knows your normal. With fourteen, by day three your guide knows your name.

The human reason is simpler. Above 4,000 metres, the people having a hard time stop volunteering it. They don't want to slow the group, they don't want to embarrass themselves, they want to keep up. A group of eight notices. A group of fourteen does not.

We cap at eight, we always will, and we are proud of how unspectacular that policy sounds.