Safety will always be our number one priority. The environments we operate in demand it. Your welfare and wellbeing form the foundations of our planning and decision-making throughout any expedition.
Our strategy is built around self-sufficiency, infrastructure, and decisions that protect welfare before objective. It starts well before basecamp and continues through route setup, oxygen planning, communications, rescue readiness, and summit-day judgement.
If something can be controlled, we prefer to control it. That is the foundation of a safer and more dependable expedition in serious mountain environments.
Your safety on the mountain begins well before you reach basecamp. In the planning phase of any expedition we build infrastructure that allows us to be completely self-sufficient: if it is controllable, we control it.
We are capable of setting up our own fixed lines and have backups to cover all scenarios, from secondary oxygen supplies through to the ability and experience to operate our own rescue missions if the situation arises.
All our expeditions are led by an elite team of highly-qualified Sherpa trekking and mountain guides. Hand-picked by Nims and Mingma David through a rigorous selection process inspired by British Special Forces standards, many have led successful expeditions on the world’s most demanding 8,000m peaks in their own right.
Like Nims and Mingma David, our guides’ Nepalese background helps bridge western client expectations and traditional Himalayan cultures. That is critical when building and maintaining safe, dependable supply chains and infrastructure in the region.
Our team has a track record of looking out for everyone on the mountain. On numerous occasions, Nims and Mingma David have been called upon to carry out rescue missions, saving climbers from other parties high in the death zone.
Mingma David currently holds the world record for the highest long-line rescue in history. Each time, the pair have thrown away personal objectives to answer the call of others in need.
Elite Exped’s safety-first approach, built on meticulous focus on planning and logistics, was clearly demonstrated during Bremont Project Possible. The team climbed all 14 8,000m peaks in world-record time and achieved that mission in challenging conditions.
Most important of all, every member of the team made it home safe and sound, without a single injury. That is the standard a safety strategy has to meet.
