Mountain Hawk Trek
Founder & Lead Guide

Prem Pandit

Kathmandu-born Himalayan guide. TAAN-certified trekking operator since 2009. 500+ expeditions across Everest, Annapurna, Manaslu, Langtang, and beyond.

Prem Pandit, founder and lead guide of Mountain Hawk Trek, on a Himalayan trail
27+Years
500+Treks
7Regions
The Guide Behind the Agency

Fifteen years on Nepal's trails

Prem Pandit founded Mountain Hawk Trek in 2009 from Balaju Height, Kathmandu, with a single goal: build a trekking agency where every client walks with the owner, not an outsourced guide. 27 years and 500+ expeditions later, that principle still drives every trek Mountain Hawk runs. Prem leads personally on Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Circuit, Manaslu, and Langtang Valley routes, and hand-picks and trains every guide in the team for the treks he cannot lead himself.

Born and raised in Nepal, Prem holds a government trekking operator license (License No. 1029/066) from the Tourism Department, Government of Nepal, and is a registered member of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN, Member No. 2009-800). Mountain Hawk Trek also holds membership with the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) for peak climbing expeditions above 6,000m. These are not decorative logos. They are legal requirements for any legitimate Nepal trekking operator, and Prem has maintained them continuously since 2009.

Prem specializes in the Everest, Annapurna, Manaslu, and Langtang regions, but has extensive experience across all seven trekking regions of Nepal, including the remote Dolpo, Upper Mustang, and Makalu-Kanchenjunga corridors. He also operates Bhutan cultural tours and Tibet overland journeys, managing permits, logistics, and local partnerships across all three Himalayan nations.

His guiding philosophy is grounded in three things: safety at altitude, honest pricing without agency markup from international resellers, and fair treatment of the porters and staff who make every trek possible. Mountain Hawk pays porters above industry standard, limits loads to 25kg, and provides full insurance coverage. Prem believes a trek is only successful if everyone on the trail, not just the client, goes home safely.

Fluent in Nepali, English, and Hindi with conversational Japanese, Prem works directly with trekkers from planning through departure. There is no call center, no sales team, and no middleman. When you email Mountain Hawk Trek, Prem is the one who writes back.

Credentials & Certifications

Licensed, certified, trail-proven

TAAN Licensed Operator

Registered member of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (Member No. 2009-800). TAAN membership requires annual audits, insurance verification, and compliance with Nepal's trekking regulations. It is the industry body that distinguishes licensed operators from informal guides.

Government of Nepal License

Operating under License No. 1029/066 issued by the Tourism Industry Division, Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of Nepal. This license is mandatory for any agency organizing trekking, mountaineering, or tour operations in Nepal.

NMA Peak Climbing Authority

Nepal Mountaineering Association membership authorizes Mountain Hawk to organize expeditions on NMA-classified peaks above 6,000m, including Island Peak, Mera Peak, Lobuche East, and Ama Dablam.

Wilderness First Aid Trained

Certified in high-altitude emergency response, including AMS diagnosis, HACE/HAPE protocols, Gamow bag operation, and helicopter evacuation coordination. Every Mountain Hawk guide carries the same training.

Four Languages, Three Countries

Fluent in Nepali, English, and Hindi with conversational Japanese. Operates treks across Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet, managing cross-border permits, local guides, and logistics in each country independently.

Published Trail Authority

Author of in-depth trekking guides covering Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Circuit, Manaslu, Langtang, and 50+ Nepal trails. Content cited by trekkers planning independent and guided expeditions across the Himalayas.

On the Trail

Fifteen years, one trail at a time

Prem Pandit at Everest Base Camp with trekking group
Prem leading a group on a Himalayan trail in the Manaslu region
Prem at a high-altitude summit near Mera Peak with prayer flags
Prem at Tserko Ri summit, 4,985m, in the Langtang Valley
Prem with a group of trekkers resting in an alpine meadow
Prem overlooking the Khumbu Valley on the Everest trail
Prem on the trail above the Dudh Koshi river valley
Prem arriving in Namche Bazaar, gateway to Everest at 3,443m
Prem pointing out peaks to trekkers in the Khumbu region
Prem holding the Mountain Hawk Trek flag on a summit push
Prem at a prayer flag pass in the Nepal Himalayas
Prem at the Tserko Ri summit marker with prayer flags in Langtang
Prem with trekkers at a mountain base camp in Langtang
Prem sitting on a rock overlooking a dramatic Himalayan peak
Prem with a trekker above a mountain village on the Everest trail
Prem overlooking a valley from a suspension bridge in Khumbu
Prem with clients at Chandragiri Hills overlooking Kathmandu
Published Articles

From the trail, to the page

In-depth guides to Nepal's trekking trails, written from 42+ years of guiding experience.

Trekkers working up the rocky Gokyo Ri trail in the early morning, the turquoise second lake and the grey sprawl of the Ngozumpa glacier falling away below them
Trekking
Jul 28, 202613 min read

Gokyo Lakes Trek Difficulty: What 'Moderate' Means at 5,357m (2026)

Ask around and you will get slightly different numbers for how high Gokyo village sits. This guide settles on the figure we use and why, then covers the questions that decide whether this trek suits you: the Gokyo Ri summit push, genuine altitude sickness risk at 4,790m, a real training timeline, and exactly how much harder the trek gets once Cho La Pass enters the picture.

Prem Pandit
Prem Pandit
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A climber in a down jacket at a prayer-flag cairn above the Ngozumpa glacier, looking across the high Khumbu skyline toward Everest, the same altitude world a Mera Peak expedition climbs through
Trekking
Jul 28, 202613 min read

Mera Peak Climbing Cost: The Full 2026 Price, By Route

Mera Peak climbing costs USD 2,475 per person with Mountain Hawk Trek on either of its two routes, before permits, insurance, gear, and tips. This breakdown prices both real departures line by line, corrects a permit fee that a lot of Mera Peak content, including our own pillar guide, still gets wrong, and flags the one insurance mistake that costs more than the trip itself.

Prem Pandit
Prem Pandit
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Trekkers crossing the frost-dusted summit plateau of Poon Hill just after sunrise, with Dhaulagiri and the Annapurna range filling the skyline behind them
Trekking
Jul 28, 202613 min read

How Hard Is the Poon Hill Trek? The Stairs, the Altitude, and the Honest Grade (2026)

Every difficulty page for this trek quotes a different Ulleri step count, anywhere from 3,000 to 3,767, and most don't say why they disagree. This guide gives the honest range, a day-by-day breakdown from Mountain Hawk Trek's own 8-day itinerary, a real fitness test with a training timeline, and a straight answer on why Poon Hill is graded Easy while still being hard enough to test unprepared knees on the way down from Tadhapani.

Prem Pandit
Prem Pandit
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Trekkers and their guide in down jackets beside prayer flags on a high Himalayan pass, the kind of cold, exposed 5,000m crossing Larkya La demands
Trekking
Jul 22, 202615 min read

Manaslu Circuit Trek Difficulty: What Actually Makes It Hard (2026)

Every difficulty page for this trek compares summit altitudes and concludes Manaslu is the easy one of Nepal's big three treks. That comparison is measuring the wrong thing. This guide breaks the 15-day route down day by day, walks through what actually happens on the 8 to 10 hour Larkya La crossing, gives an honest answer on how many groups don't make it across, and explains why isolation, not the number on the pass sign, is what makes this trek harder than it looks on paper.

Prem Pandit
Prem Pandit
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A stone-built village at the mouth of a wide river valley in the Nepal Himalaya, the kind of gateway settlement where restricted-area trekking permits are checked
Trekking
Jul 21, 202616 min read

The Manaslu Permit Stack: Three Permits, One Trek, Explained

This is the deep version of the Manaslu permit stack, not the survey. How the RAP's week-based pricing actually gets calculated, where MRAP hands off to MCAP and then ACAP, what happens at Jagat and Samagaon, exactly what changed for solo trekkers on March 22, 2026, and the real cost of the Tsum Valley add-on, which is priced lower than most guides admit.

Prem Pandit
Prem Pandit
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Snow-capped Annapurna peaks reflected in a still lake above the Marsyangdi valley, the region the Manaslu Circuit drops into after crossing Larkya La
Trekking
Jul 21, 202617 min read

What the Manaslu Circuit Trek Actually Costs: A Full 2026 Breakdown

The Manaslu Circuit Trek costs anywhere from $850 to over $2,000 depending on whether you join a group departure or book private, what tier of teahouse you sleep in, and how many days you spend inside the restricted area. This breakdown walks every line item, permits, guide and porter wages, daily hidden costs, against our own $1,675 package and the verified 2026 market.

Prem Pandit
Prem Pandit
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Nepal trekking season 2026

Some mountains
don't wait

Permits close. Weather windows narrow. The best Everest region teahouse beds fill by October, and spring season opens again in March. Our Kathmandu team is already booking for autumn. If you have been planning a trek, this is the window.

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TAAN & NTB certified15 years on these trailsResponse within 2 hours