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Since my teenage years, I have been drawn to the outdoors, particularly the mountains. Professionally, I am a chemical engineer and have been working in this field for many years. Later in life, I discovered that road cycling, especially on hilly terrain, was a more enjoyable pursuit. I pushed this passion to an extreme, covering up to 12,000 miles (19000 km) per year. In winter, I took pleasure in both downhill and cross-country skiing, particularly in the Rocky Mountains. In 2013, I went trekking in the southern Chilean Andes and, not surprisingly, fell in love with the activity. This experience inspired me to embark on treks in other regions, including South America, Europe, New Zealand, and the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.
I first visited Nepal in April 2015 to trek to Everest Base Camp. My Nepali guide was Raj Kharel. On Saturday, April 25, 2015, a devastating earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mt. Pumori, above Mount Everest Base Camp, resulting in the deaths of 22 people. Our group had visited the Base Camp just one day before the earthquake and was on our way down to Lukla. The following day, one of the numerous aftershocks caused a rockslide, which injured one member of our group and resulted in the loss of some of our luggage. This experience strengthened my bond with Raj and his family. Since 2015, I have visited Nepal almost every year, except in 2016 and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I have become a part of the Kharel/Khanal family. Raj and his wife, Komal, have two sons, Ishan and Yogan, who now affectionately refer to me as their “grandfather.”
In 2024, five of us—my cousin Sylwia and her husband Robert, Raj, young Ishan, and I—were trekking in the Upper Mustang region of northern Nepal. I think that during that period, the concept of starting our own trekking company, Trail Mania Trekking, began to take shape.
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