Mangal Lama is the first person to successfully solo-ride the Great Himalaya Trail (GHT) on a mountain bike. The GHT is a 1,700km route in the Nepal Himalayas that is considered one of the most epic hiking routes in the world. Embarking on this adventure of a lifetime in March 2022, Mangal completed the journey in a total of 88 days as part of his project called “GHT on Wheels.” In addition to the personal challenge, Mangal’s project aimed to improve education, promote lesser-known areas of Nepal for tourism, and raise local incomes. Mangal is now working to produce a documentary, write a travel memoir of the journey, and design and implement tourism activities along the GHT.
Most of the trails on the upper route of GHT were impossible to ride on a mountain bike only a few decades ago, but with rising global temperatures and effects of climate change, even biking on glaciers above 6000 m is now feasible, enabling this challenge to set many high altitude mountain biking records. Walking the whole trail in one go is quite a challenging feat in itself, but doing it on a mountain bike presents a whole set of difficult physical and mental challenges, testing the full potential of human capabilities.
September 25, 2022
The GHT is an epic 150-day trek that covers 1,700 km (1,056 miles), originating from the north of the Kanchenjunga Base Camp with the world’s third highest peak, Kanchenjunga (8,586 meters), towering over it. Read Full Article
August 18, 2022
Tracing the Mission in the mountains on Wheels (Great Himalaya Trail)
August 18, 2022
Mountain racer becomes the first to solo cycle Nepal’s mountains from east to west
August 9, 2022
When Mangal Lama set off to do the Great Himalayan Trail on his bicycle alone, he knew he would be facing a lot of challenges. But, what happened at the West Col Pass in the Makalu Barun region nearly broke him.