Krishna Gopal Shrestha Director of KCC Mountain Environment Program
Krishna is the director of KCC’s Mountain Environment Program. From humble begingins in the village of Nanjing, Garma-5 in the the lower Solukhumbu of Nepal, he now lives and runs his own guide business in Kathmandu. As a guide of 18 years, he now works as a tour leader for his own company called Nepal Fairstep Trekking and Expeditions. Founded in 2008, the company leads trips in Annapurna, Everest Basecamp, Dolpo, Mustang, and the 6,000-meter trekking peaks. In 2009, Krishna was on an Everest expedition up to Camp 4. Before founding his company, Krishna worked as a trekking guide but noticed injustices in how the local guides were treated by their commercial employers. Seeing that porters and guides were being exploited, Krishna decided to start a trekking and expedition company aimed at paying its workers fair wages, in just conditions. Nepal Fairstep is now family run by Krishna and his brother, proudly offering a competitive price for its customers and a fair income and insurance for its workers. Outside of Nepal, Krishna worked in the hospitality industry in the Austrian/Swiss Alps from 2005-2013. Krishna has been with KCC since he began as a student in 2008, and has been teaching as a Mountain Environment instructor since 2010. Trained by geologist Dr. Rob Thomas of Montana Western University, together the two men founded KCC’s Mountain Environment Program, which aims to teach students mountain safety and scientific facts for better client care. The program now focuses on geology, plate tectonics, mountain hazards, mountain weather, map and compass, and local flora and fauna.
