Everest region trekking advice

[Xtreme Earth]

Hi all,
My partner and I recently did a 21 day trek in the Sagamartha National Park, Nepal. It was over the Christmas / New Year period so it was incredibly cold but still great fun and with some amazing views to be had.
We actually did it as a tour with World Expeditions and camped rather than use Tea Houses. It was a very well organised tour and I put most of that down to our trek leader, Satish Man Pati. His knowledge of the area is incredible (I guess it would be when you've done it for 15 years) and his very sensible approach to walking at altitude certainly was a massive plus! Unlike many groups we encountered when we reached the top, we were in good shape and had only lost 1 member back down the mountain due to altitude sickness. Most other groups were running at 40-50% losses.
The key was pace. Once we got over 3500m in altitude, we slowed down our walking pace and generally only rose 300-400m per day in altitude. If we needed to do more due to camping restrictions, it was very well planned that we would stay a full day at that next camp to acclimatise, and then do a light day walk to keep us occupied.
The other thing was Diamox. We were actually recommended this by a doctor who does a bit of altitude walking and it was confirmed as a good precaution by Satish. Take half a tablet in the morning and half at night, each day once you hit 3000m and you will most likely be sweet. We had no issues what so ever.
The only thing that effected us was the intense cold some days. Being over winter and getting to altitudes as high as 5580m, we had some temperatures as low as -30 Degrees C. It's hard to prepare for that and it does come as a bit of a shock!
If anyone would like to add to this or ask any questions, please do so.
Dave

[dashanep]

Hello There,
I will go with World Expedition on 28.03 to do Base Camp of Mt Everest. 20 days hikking and we still have a spot in our Private Group!!!
Your experience was a good information for me. Thank you.
I hope , that we will not have -30degrees!!!!
Chees Dasha