Vikram Rawat

Vikram is from Sankri, the trailhead village for Kedarkantha, and has led winter summits there for nine seasons. He runs departures in March and early April as well as the busy December window, on the argument that the same snow with a tenth of the crowds is a better trek.

In monsoon he moves to the Bhyundar valley for the Valley of Flowers, timing departures to the bloom rather than to a fixed calendar — which shifts by a week or two each year.