Here’s Where Mount Everest Climbers Gear Up in Kathmandu

Where do Mount Everest climbers buy gear in Kathmandu?

It’s no secret that most Everest hopefuls arrive in Nepal with jackets, boots, harnesses, sleeping bags, and other mountaineering items. But even the most prepared climber sometimes forgets an important product at home, or buys the wrong thing.

Luckily for these climbers, there’s the Astrek Complex, a collection of stores that specializes in hiking gear, mountaineering hardware, outdoor apparel, and other outdoor products. The shops and cafes sit adjacent to an outdoor climbing wall and bouldering structure, where local climbers can test their strength. The climbing wall was the first to be built in central Kathmandu.

Our Dispatches from Everest reporter Ben Ayers recently toured Astrek to check out the stores and the climbing wall. He met with Nepali IMFG guide Vinayak Jaya Malla to talk about gear, safety, and the allure of the world’s highest peak.

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