Annapurna Base Camp Trek in January

Below Chhomrong the trail is in fine winter order. The Ulleri staircase is dry, the rhododendron forest above Ghorepani is bare and open, and Poon Hill at dawn gives you Dhaulagiri and Annapurna South without the spring haze. Most January parties have the viewpoint to themselves, which is worth saying out loud because in April there are two hundred people up there.

Above Chhomrong the trek changes character. The stone staircase down to the Modi Khola holds ice in the shade until midday, and from Bamboo upward you are walking on packed snow more often than dirt. Microspikes are not optional here in January. The section that matters most is the gorge between Hinku Cave and Deurali, where the walls are steep enough to shed snow onto the path after a storm.

Inside the Sanctuary itself the ground is usually deep, dry snow with a broken track across it. The walk from Machhapuchhre Base Camp to Annapurna Base Camp takes longer than the two hours it takes in October because you are lifting your feet the whole way. Start early. The light on the amphitheatre wall at 7am is the reason people do this month.

This is the emptiest the Sanctuary gets. You will pass a handful of parties a day below Chhomrong and possibly none above it. Lodges in the lower villages all stay open and run full menus, because Ghorepani and Chhomrong have year-round traffic from the Poon Hill circuit.

Higher up is different. Deurali, Machhapuchhre Base Camp and Annapurna Base Camp each keep lodges running through winter, but with fewer rooms heated and a shorter menu. Bedrooms at base camp are unheated and sit well below freezing all night, so the sleeping bag rating matters more than anything else you carry. The upside is that you will never be turned away for a bed, which is not something an April trekker can say.

January access is genuinely easy, and this is where the Annapurna Base Camp trek pulls decisively ahead of Everest in winter. There is no flight to miss. You drive Kathmandu to Pokhara and Pokhara to the trailhead on sealed road, and winter is the dry season, so the road is in its best condition of the year. Morning fog on the Prithvi Highway can add an hour. That is the extent of the risk.