Our Story
Himalayan Adventure Labs began in 2013 with a trail run in Kathmandu and a shared conviction that adventure in the Himalayas could be done better – more honestly, more safely, more fun and with more respect for the people who make it possible.
Over the past eleven years, HAL has led expeditions across Nepal, Bhutan, Tajikistan, Tanzania and beyond. We have set the Fastest Known Time on the Manaslu Circuit, helped compile the most comprehensive database of Great Himalaya Trail crossings in existence, and logged over 50,360 hours in the mountains. We have also evacuated clients from Kanchenjunga and Manaslu, navigated permit bureaucracies at 5,000 metres, and learned – sometimes the hard way – what it actually takes to run a safe expedition in one of the world’s most demanding environments.
In 2026 we reached a milestone we had been building toward for years. HAL became an employee-owned company. Through our Convertible Share Incentive Plan, our guides are becoming shareholders in the business they help run. Through Nepal’s Social Security Fund, every HAL team member has medical cover and a pension building in the background. The people carrying the rope now have a stake in what we are building.
We are a small company. We run a maximum of ten people per trip. We do not cut corners on safety, guide welfare, or the quality of what we offer. If you are looking for the cheapest way to adventure in Nepal, we are probably not the right fit. If you are looking for a team that has been in these mountains for over a decade and is accountable for what happens on your trip, we might be exactly what you need.
Sudeep Kandel – Founder, Director & Guide
Sudeep has spent most of the last decade on foot in Nepal. A licensed Nepal guide (Licence #14644) and NOLS-certified Wilderness First Responder, he has personally traversed most of the country, including a trans-Nepal run in 2014 (Did Not Finish) and Fastest Known Time (jointly with Seth Wolpin) on the Manaslu Circuit in 2015. He has led expeditions in Nepal, Bhutan, Tajikistan and Tanzania, and holds an MSc in Development Finance as a Chevening Scholar (UK FCDO) and is a US State Department Professional Fellow.
With Seth, he founded HAL in 2014 with a simple idea: that adventure travel in Nepal could be run with the same rigour and integrity you would expect from any serious professional service. Over the past eleven years that idea has grown into a company with a licensed safety platform (HOSI), a Great Himalaya Trail database, an annual research grant for young Nepali students, and an employee ownership model that is the first of its kind in Nepal’s adventure industry.
Our Guides
HAL’s guides are not contractors hired trip by trip. They are long-term team members who are becoming shareholders in the company. Anuj Dev Chudal, Rishi Chudal, Srijan Ayer, Sudeep Kandel and Upendra Sunuwar have collectively led hundreds of HAL departures across Nepal’s most demanding terrain. Every HAL guide holds Wilderness First Aid certification and is enrolled in Nepal’s Social Security Fund.