Our approach
Slow is
how we
get home
Twenty-two years of guiding have taught us one thing above all: the mountain decides. Everything else is preparation.
Since 2004
Vardane began as two guides and one Sherpa team on Ama Dablam. We are larger now, but the rules have not changed: small teams, our own people, and the summit only when it is right.
Four things we never cut
01 · People
One Sherpa
for every climber
On every 8,000 m peak, each climber has a personal Sherpa partner from the first rotation to the summit. Our Sherpa team are paid all year round, insured in full and trained in rescue at our expense.
02 · Oxygen
Eight bottles,
not five
We carry far more oxygen than a summit day needs, with spare masks and regulators at every camp. Nobody should have to choose between turning down their flow and turning round.
03 · Medicine
A doctor
at base camp
Every 8,000 m expedition has its own doctor, a medical tent and a hyperbaric chamber. Every climber is checked twice a day from the first night of the trek.
04 · Weather
Three forecasts,
one decision
We buy forecasts from three meteorologists and compare them every morning. When they agree, and the mountain agrees, we climb.
Standards
What every
expedition has
01
Our own guides
IFMGA guides and Nepal National Mountain Guides, never subcontracted.
02
Small teams
Six climbers at most on any 8,000 m peak; eight elsewhere.
03
Satellite contact
Radios for every climber, satellite phones in every camp.
04
Rescue plan
A written plan for every camp, practised before the first rotation.
05
Clean mountains
Every bottle, tent and bag of rubbish comes down with us.
06
Fair pay
Wages, insurance and education grants for the families of our Sherpa team.
07
Open records
Summits, turnarounds and evacuations, published every year.
08
A training plan
Written for you, with a coach who checks in every month.
Since 2004
Twenty-two seasons
above the clouds
- Summits of 8,000 m peaks
- 412
- Everest summit rate since 2015
- 94%
- Sherpa to climber above base camp
- 1:1
- Climbers at most on any team
- 6
The guides
People you
would follow
anywhere
01 · Head of expeditions
9 × 8,000 m
Ingrid Halvorsen
IFMGA mountain guide · Wilderness medic
Grew up skiing the fjords of western Norway and has led our Everest team since 2016. She has turned more teams round than anyone here, and is proud of every one.
02 · Sirdar, Himalaya
14 × Everest
Pemba Dorje
Nepal National Mountain Guide · Rescue lead
Leads our Sherpa team on every Himalayan expedition. Fixes the ropes, reads the snow and decides, with Ingrid, when a team goes up.
03 · Guide and training coach
Denali × 11
Mara Lindqvist
IFMGA mountain guide · Sports scientist
Writes every climber's training plan and checks in each month. On the mountain she guides Denali, Aconcagua and our Alpine courses.
04 · Guide, Andes and Antarctica
Aconcagua × 38
Lucas Ferreyra
IFMGA mountain guide
Born in Mendoza, has spent more nights on Aconcagua than in most cities. Leads our traverse and our Vinson team.
05 · Expedition doctor
Base camp × 17 seasons
Dr. Tomas Reiner
Diploma in mountain medicine
Runs our medical tent on every 8,000 m expedition, checks every climber twice a day and has the final word on who climbs.
06 · Guide, ice and Alps
Matterhorn × 64
Anna Kowal
IFMGA mountain guide
Teaches our ice and glacier courses and guides the Matterhorn every summer, one climber at a time.
Climbers' words
01 / 04
“I turned round at the Balcony on my first attempt and summited with Vardane two years later. Both decisions were made with me, not for me.”
“Pemba didn't just get me up Ama Dablam. He taught me how to climb at altitude, and I've used every word of it since.”
“The quietest, best-run base camp on the mountain. You notice the difference on day one and you're grateful for it on day fifty.”
“Three weeks on Denali with a sled behind me. Hardest thing I have ever done, and I'd do it again tomorrow with the same guides.”
