Our Team

The Adventure Junkie!

Born in Lokhim, a small rural village in the lower part of Everest region, Bigraj is a true mountain man. From humble beginnings he found his feet at an early age collecting firewood from the surrounding slopes but his sights were always set higher. Aged just 14 Bigraj set off for Lukla in search of work as a porter and got an opportunity to join an expedition. Unsurprisingly the nimble local lad proved himself quickly, not only as a skilled porter but through his ability to learn and pick up languages from the visiting climbers and trekkers.

Bigraj noticed that being able to speak English would help his cause to become a guide so he set about teaching himself by any means possible and sure enough aged just 21 Bigraj had officially become a mountain guide. Since then he has amassed over a decade of experience in the mountains and a depth of knowledge and linguistic skills that really set him apart. Highly respected and loved by all, his diligence, ability and sense of humour make Bigraj one of the finest Nepal have to offer.

With years of experience under his belt, this fearless adventurer has climbed numerous trekking peaks over 6000m, including the legendary Mt Ama Dablam. But what truly sets him apart is his unparalleled ability to organize and execute thrilling adventures with utmost safety.   

Hailing from the UK, Ed’s journey into the Himalayas is an unusual one. In 2017 a successful professional rugby career was cut short by a life changing spinal cord injury. Being told he was likely never walk again Ed set about defying medical opinion and after a year of intensive rehabilitation managed to summit Mt Snowdon, Wales highest mountain.

Far from able bodied but certainly strong minded Ed’s heights were set higher and he soon found himself in Nepal taking on peaks in the Himalayas whilst raising money for local initiatives and inspiring people along the way. It was on one of these trips that Ed and co-founder Bigraj’s friendship was formed and the idea to start an altruistic trekking company was hatched. Whilst Ed is not scaling mountains he can be found supporting his partner charities or on channel 4 reporting on rugby.

One of our skilled, qualified climbing guides, Pemba started working with us full-time in the spring of 2023 after we hired him as a climbing guide for a Himlung Himal expedition. He has climbed numerous mountains, including Makalu and the treacherous Mount Annapurna, which he has summited twice. He also summited three of the 8,000-metre mountains, including Everest, in the Spring of 2024 as a climbing guide.

He grew up in a lower part of the Mount Everest Region called Jhankribas. Like many guides, he worked his way up from porter through hard work and training, finally achieving his goal of becoming a climbing guide in 2016. He spends all his time during the climbing seasons in the mountains, levelling up his training, and is highly committed to honing his climbing abilities. Pemba brings the highest level of mountaineering skills to the Ascent Adventures Nepal team.

Kaji is our other qualified climbing guide who works for us part-time. He and Pemba are close friends and work incredibly well together as a team. He has been qualified for over fifteen years and has directed his career towards the 6,000 and 7,000-metre mountains as an advanced technical climbing guide. If Pemba is all about using his skills to scale new heights, Kaji focuses on perfecting the many mountain routes he knows.

He also grew up in the lower part of the Mount Everest Region, but in a different village to Pemba, called Gorakhani. He started as a porter when he was very young and worked his way up to climbing guide in his mid-twenties. He lives in the mountains in both seasons, crossing from peak to peak. He returns to his home village between seasons to help his people build houses and work in the fields, which maintains his high fitness levels. Kaji brings decades of climbing experience and route mastery to the Ascent Adventures Nepal team.

Dilraj is one of our many experienced and qualified trekking guides. He hails from the foothills of Mount Everest in a village called Lokhim. At sixteen, he began portering from Lukla, the gateway to Mount Everest. He enjoys leading tourists from all over the world and has a strong love for the Nepal countryside and trekking.

Having worked in the tourism industry for decades, interspersed with periods working abroad where he learned about other cultures, he obtained a guide licence in 2017. He started working for us full-time in 2022. Dil is a down-to-earth yet experienced trekking guide. He is as happy helping out the porters when needed as he is leading a full team through one of the many routes he has trekked hundreds of times.

Rasit Kumar has a bachelor’s degree in business studies, where he also learned fluent English. His extended family knew he was academically gifted and would benefit greatly from higher education, so they all contributed to the fund for his education. Rasit’s heart was always in the mountains, having first worked as a porter at fifteen. So, with his family’s blessing, he returned to them and qualified to become a trekking guide in 2023.

He grew up in the same village as Dilraj and is one of his many cousins. He has a bright mind and is an energetic and knowledgeable guide. He thinks quickly on his feet and can always find a solution to any situation, whether big or small. After receiving his guide licence, he began providing formal tours in 2021, and since 2022, he has been working with us full-time. Rasit is our founder, Bigraj Tamang’s protégé. He will often be found in the office working alongside Bigraj, where he will eventually lead Ascent Adventures Nepal to the next generation.

Rabin has been a part-time trekking guide for us since 2022 and has helped on many expeditions. He comes from a different part of Nepal than most of the team, which is the Well-known trekking area of the Langtang region. Rabin secured his trekking guide licence in 2018.

Rabin has completed every major trekking route in Nepal throughout his tenure as a Trekking guide, with severals treks to Everest, Langtang, Annapurna, Manaslu, Makalu, Dhaulagiri-round, Kanchanjung and other regions. He is a diligent guide who is trustworthy, reliable and very kind. We plan to employ him full-time in the future as he is always an asset to the team.

Pasang is our youngest trekking guide and began his career as a porter. He is a relative of our founder, Bigraj, and grew up in the same village of Lokhim. Pasang has always wanted to follow in Bigraj’s footsteps, so with his guidance, he decided to train as an assistant guide. Over a few years, he built up the necessary experience to gain his trekking guide certificate, which he secured in 2023, and he now works full-time for Ascent Adventures Nepal.

Already renowned for his extraordinary fitness, Pasang will go far in his career as a trekking guide. He is passionate about trekking and hopes one day to qualify as a climbing guide as well.

Another one of our young, enthusiastic trekking guides, Lalkumar works for us part-time and obtained his trekking guide licence in 2022. He also comes from the same village as Bigraj and Pasang and is named after the region. He is known for his sense of humour and will always have a big smile for all our guests. Lalkumar is passionate about trekking and adventure and wants to do more mountaineering work in the future.