Water needs, food and energy, Naismith trail times, pack-weight comfort, altitude plans and honest safety-first guides — type your trip question and get a straight, careful answer in seconds. The full detailed report costs less than a cup of coffee: $2.95.
Altitude illness is the one mountain risk that has nothing to do with fitness: anyone can get it, and the cause is sleeping too high too fast. The widely used prevention rule is simple — above about 2,500 m, raise your sleeping altitude by no more than 500 m per day, and take a rest day for roughly every 1,000 m of gain. This planner applies that rule to your numbers: your starting altitude and your planned highest sleeping altitude produce the minimum number of staged climbing days and rest days you should build into the itinerary. The verdict scales with the height — a 3,000 m hut gets a light plan, a 5,000 m pass gets a serious one with an explicit warning. This is planning information, not medical advice: symptoms of altitude sickness mean descend, and anyone getting worse needs real medical help fast.
Plan a safe ascent to altitude — how many days of staged climbing and rest you need between your starting elevation and a high sleeping or summit altitude.
Above about 2,500 m, the standard rule is to sleep no more than 500 m higher than the previous night. Day hikes can go higher as long as you return to sleep low — 'climb high, sleep low' is the whole principle.
Roughly one rest day for every 1,000 m of sleeping gain is a sensible planning figure. Rest days do not have to be idle — short day hikes to higher ground followed by returning to the same sleeping altitude are ideal.
Yes. Fitness does not protect against AMS, and previous easy trips do not guarantee the next one. The reliable protections are slow staged ascent, hydration and honest self-monitoring — and the only reliable treatment for real symptoms is descending.
Every tool answers instantly from our own knowledge and calculators — no AI wait, no account. Honest estimates built on widely used outdoor rules of thumb (Naismith, hydration and pack-weight guidance), always safety-first and educational — never a substitute for local knowledge, training or judgement. In an emergency while out, call 911 (US/Canada) or your local emergency number. Want the deeper, personalised version? Each has a $2.95 full report.