What Insurance Do You Need For An Everest Base Camp Trek?

When it comes to adventure travel and treks like Everest Base Camp, there are always going to be certain risks.

Whether these risks are due to sickness, injury, or severe weather delays, it’s important that you have the right travel insurance so you are adequately prepared for them.

When you book onto an Everest Base Camp trek with EverTrek, it is a requirement for you to have an adequate travel insurance policy in place for the duration of your trip.

Getting the right insurance is one of (if not the most) important parts of your Everest Base Camp trek preparation checklist. You should buy travel insurance as soon as you book your place on the trek, to cover you for any cancellations, injuries, or illnesses prior to your trip - as well as getting it out of the way to focus on your adventure ahead!

Everest Base Camp is no ordinary holiday, and your insurance shouldn’t be either. While many standard travel insurance policies only cover trekking up to around 3,000m, Everest Base Camp reaches 5,364m, so you’ll need specialist cover for high-altitude trekking. We recommend choosing a policy that covers you up to 6,000m, along with high-altitude helicopter evacuation if it’s ever needed.

Some food for thought: Like any item that you purchase, let’s use your hiking boots as an example… If you buy a pair on a budget or get an inadequate pair, they won’t hold up when you need them most.

In summary? Don’t skimp on your travel insurance for an Everest Base Camp trek. You hopefully won’t need to use it, but it’s good to have protection in place.

Here are the top things to consider when looking at high altitude trekking insurance:

Trekking to Everest Base Camp, even via the classic route, involves you reaching what would be considered an extreme altitude. At the highest point on the trek, Kala Patthar, you will reach an altitude of 5550 meters above sea level.

Due to the remoteness of this region that you're trekking through, your trekking insurance policy should always include helicopter evacuation for this reason, just in case you get into difficulty.

Most insurance policies around don’t cover you for altitudes this high due to the increased risk of altitude sickness or Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). Although our trips are designed to avoid AMS where possible, we can’t ignore it. If it happens, there are only three cures:

Descend, Descend, Descend. Or, alternatively, it's time to join the chopper club and get down.

As a result, it’s important you make sure that your trekking insurance company is aware that you are trekking to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, and you have helicopter evacuation insurance to the maximum altitude of your trip.

Note - If you're on Island Peak, Mera Peak or any trek that goes higher than Everest Base Camp, you will need insurance up to the highest point of your trip. For example, for the Ultimate Island Peak trip, you would need your insurance to cover you up to 6189m.

Let’s face it. Walking, for the most part, is relatively easy. We are so used to it that it comes as naturally as breathing, but slips, trips, and falls are a very serious problem that we need to be aware of on any trek or expedition. Let alone a trek to Everest Base Camp!

Slip, trip, and fall injuries can happen to anyone, even me… as shown below whilst hiking the Brecon Beacons a year back.

When you also add in the altitude factor, walking (and breathing for that matter) always becomes a little trickier.

Everest Base Camp is at least an 11-day trek depending on which route you take. When you have been walking for that length of time at high altitude, it’s natural for us humans to get fatigued and a little bit clumsy at times.

However, a twisted ankle or a blown knee joint can be a serious trip-ending injury. If this happens again, it may be time to, as Arnold Schwarzenegger would say, “Get to the Choppa.”

I’m sure you’ve heard of traveller's diarrhoea before. Just about anyone who has travelled outside of the UK, especially around Asia, has experienced “Delhi belly” or the dreaded "Nepalese napalm", as it’s known locally in Nepal. No matter what funny name you might know traveller’s diarrhoea by, getting it is most definitely NOT fun.

We have seen it happen many times. Otherwise fit and healthy people have treated themselves to an extra couple of days in Kathmandu before their trek even starts, and what happens? All hell breaks loose!

This can result in an aborted Everest Base Camp trek, and at worst, a brief excursion to one of Kathmandu’s finest hospitals for some TLC. To avoid a nasty bill, make sure your insurance covers you for sickness, medication, hospital stays, and return travel back home should you need it.

If you think the weather in the UK can be unpredictable, you should see what it’s like in the Himalayas! Extreme weather is especially common on Everest Base Camp around the monsoon season, to the point where it can potentially cause long delays. You could get stuck in Kathmandu waiting for a flight out, or even worse, stuck at the other end in Lukla.

If this happens, then unfortunately, you have no choice but to join the dreaded waiting game. We do what we can to help and often move heaven and earth for our EverTrekkers, but not even we can control the weather.

If you run out of time, this can mean sudden changes to your trip. Or, worst-case scenario, an aborted trip. If the weather on Everest impacts your trip, you will need your insurance policy to cover the cost of the cancelled trip and any re-booking of flights.

Sometimes, unbeknownst to you, your suitcase will go on a little unscheduled adventure. As fun as this is for your bag, it’s a nightmare for you.

Nobody wants to be stuck at the baggage claim, overcome with waves of anxiety, followed by the sinking reality that your bag has vanished. It’s a real pain having to find it, catch it, and get it back when you're off to the Himalayas in less than 48 hours.

Once again, it’s time to ring that magic number and start the claim for lost, stolen, or damaged luggage, so make sure the insurance policy covers the total value of your gear, and you have specified any expensive special items.

When it comes to choosing your trekking insurance provider for your adventure to Everest Base Camp, there are plenty of companies out there. However, we recommend that you look for a specialist provider instead of a general one, as it's likely they won't cover specific activities, illnesses, or injuries at high altitude.

Our first recommendation is to do your research. Think of the worst-case scenario, then seek cover for it. Don’t just go with the cheapest option.

Here are some of the EBC insurance companies we have used personally on several occasions. They have been reliable in our experience:

• True Traveller Insurance
• Big Cat Insurance
• Campbell Irvine

Always remember, your choice of insurance provider for the EBC trek is ultimately your responsibility. We can help and offer advice, but we cannot accept responsibility for an unsuitable policy — even if it’s one of the above companies. Any insurance policy is unique to you, and ultimately, you have to ensure it meets all your needs.

We don’t write any of this to concern you, as it’s very unlikely that you will ever need to use your insurance on the EBC trek or any other trek you take with us. It’s a great peace of mind knowing you can just enjoy your trip in the knowledge that, if something did happen, you have it covered.

All done? Peace of mind gained?

Awesome! Now let’s go trekking!