Furtenbach Adventures GmbH

Wollte mich schlau machen über die Besteigung des Everest. Das machte einen professionellen Eindruck auf mich.

I would give this 0 stars if I could because the customer service is absolutely worthless.

A disappointment. Not worth the money. Furtenbach claims to be a premium provider with better service and safety and is among the most expensive providers in the Himalayas. Unfortunately the 2021 Everest expedition was a strong disappointment and has shown how the company treats its customers when things get tough (like they routinely do a 8000m peaks). After bragging about "Covid insurance" and extensive safety measures before the start of the season, Furtenbach then decided to cancel the expedition due to Covid fears right when the summit push was about to start. Our group lost the entire investment into the trip (somewhere between USD 60k to 100k per person) but decided to switch to a smaller Nepalese operator in base camp. Only a few days later everybody from the original group who decided to climb beyond camp 2 summited Everest and returned with all Sherpas safely (like many other expeditions). Furtenbach likes to use the "safety argument" to his (financial) benefit depending on the situation (e.g. bragging about Everst being "safe" despite Covid before the expedition season and then canceling (and keeping all the money from participants) because it suddenly became unsafe). Leaving the 2021 special Covid situation aside, the company also seems to overcharge and offer little additional for the hefty premium over other operators. Like other Western guiding companies Furtenbach also relies on a local Nepalese agency which organizes most of the climbing and delivers most of the important services. The Furtenbach website still claims "100% Success" suggesting that you have a higher (100%?) chance of reaching the summit of Everest. Nothing could be further from the truth. A little research on the web or asking around will show you that this claim is false and misleading. Unfortunately it is only one of many promises/ claims which are being made by Furtenbach which the company cannot fulfill. Furtenbach is a great marketing company, but certainly not an expedition provider I would recommend after my lengthy experience with them.

I have done an expedition training in 2022 with Furtenbach - it was a great experience and perfectly organized. Also our mountain guide was very professional. Got to know lots of new things and I was overwhelmed by this great adventure in the Monte Rosa range!

I climbed Everest with Furtenbach in 2018. The expedition was so well organized, staffed, and executed that I won't climb an 8000m peak with any other guide service. It's tough for me to think about what the Furtenbach team could do better because the expedition was so well done. Most importantly, the guide and Sherpa teams were very, very experienced. I'd argue that they were the most experienced group on the mountain. I noticed right away that they tended to be more mature, and had more summits than other teams. The lead Sherpa, Mingma, had summited 22 times and was tied for 2nd most summits ever. Our lead guide, Rupert, had not only climbed Everest solo without oxygen and without Sherpa support but also he performed a harrowing rescue of a snowblind climber 300 feet below the summit. My personal Sherpa partner Renji had 8 summits, and all the Sherpa that partnered with the members had summited before, often from both North and South sides. These are people you want to have around if something unexpected were to happen. Second, the Furtenbach team screens the other members very well. This allowed the team to move and function safely. Naturally, if there is one person on a team struggling or in trouble, then all resources should and do rush to that person to help them. Furtenbach prevents this as best they can by making sure all the members are truly qualified and prepared for the climb – with enough experience and prior summits to safely and successfully climb Everest. It’s important to them not only that they summit each year, but also that every member does so – therefore, they screen members well, and as a result, every member benefits. This is unique and rare and yet of the utmost importance. Finally, the accommodations, camps, and food were amazing. My team joked that we all came back from our Everest climb fatter because Thiren and the kitchen staff made such good food. We ate dinner at a table with armchairs and dessert every night except the 3 to 4 nights above 20,000 feet. Additionally, no one on my team had any GI or stomach issues, which speaks to the high hygiene standards of the kitchen. It’s almost inevitable that each climber will experience GI/stomach issues during an expedition, so the fact that none of us did with Furtenbach speaks volumes of their standards, staff, and quality. I highly encourage my climber friends who want to climb Everest to do so with Furtenbach. A friend who had climbed Everest twice (second time without oxygen) recommended Furtenbach. It’s the best Everest advice I ever received, and I want my friends to be safe and successful.

I would not recommend Furtenbach as a good expedition company especially if there are any though situations/ risks associated with the mountaineering trip. I was part of the 2021 Everest South season (which had a lot of challenges: COVID, 2 cyclones, avalanches) and out of all the tour operators Furtenbach was the first to cancel the expedition. They cancelled for all their clients without even giving us a chance to try to summit the day of our summit push. There are some things that I was very disappointed in and were unprofessional throughout my interaction with them: 1. One of the statistics presented on their website is 100% success rate. I discovered that this rate is only applied to the clients who are starting the push for the summit not the ones who actually sign up for the trip. 2. The staff would openly talk badly and make fun of clients with the other clients (they said things like X was carried up the mountain, Y is too old, why is he even here etc) 3. There were also instances where guides screamed at clients in front of others and called them names 4. Due to the fact that only some people were allowed to try to go for the summit, the culture in the team was quite competitive, with the "weak" climbers (slower/ women) feeling marginalized in trainings. I did not see the same in other camps or mountaineering expeditions where there is a strong sense of friendship and support 5. COVID: all guided camps had COVID cases but most were able to mitigate, reduce risk and let their healthy climbers continue the season. When Furtenbach had the first cases I did not feel they took enough strong mitigating actions to prevent the spread: did not ask clients to isolate in their tents (we were all still eating in a common tent from a buffet dinner), clients were not wearing face masks or staying only in the camp (clients were still doing hikes and meeting other clients daily). The company was doing Rapid Antigen tests every day but without the other COVID measures in place I did not feel safe and there was a real risk that the virus could spread quickly To summarize, from my opinion this is a company that makes a lot of promises, uses a lot of marketing but does not provide full value in mountaineering. The Nepalese company we switched to and took us to the summit was very professional on all levels - client services, respect as well as expertise on the mountain. It is very common for western guides to discount local guides by saying they are not good/safe but having seen both operate on Everest I think this is unfounded and Nepalese guides know the mountain better and they care for you as a person/ climber not for their profits. All these statements are my personal opinion and are based on the facts that I knew at that point in time