What this solves

Most trek-fail stories at Yading aren't about fitness or weather — they're about team. One person pushes too hard, another lags by an hour, a third wants to descend at the first headache, the fourth insists on finishing. By day 3 someone's quit. This tool scores your party on the four axes where conflict actually happens, and surfaces the conversations to have before you start. It does not solve personality clashes — but it does tell you where they will land.

Build your party

Number of trekkers (1–6)

Whole-party settings

Decision-making culture

Trip-goal alignment

Shared red-line check (tick all that the group has agreed on before departure)

Max sleep altitude — no one sleeps above 4,200 m Pack weight cap — no one carries more than 15 kg AMS rule — anyone scoring ≥ 3 LLSS descends immediately Turnaround time — by 14:00 we stop ascending regardless Budget cap — daily spend won't exceed agreed limit Rest day — at least one full rest day in the plan

How to read the result

Overall score is 0–100, where 100 means "well-tuned, low conflict". 50 means "manageable with active effort". Below 40 means "this party is going to argue by the second pass".

Axis scores are independent. A team can be physically excellent (fitness 90) but score 30 on decision-making — and still fail. Read all four.

Recommendations are the conversations to have before you leave. They are not magic — but saying "the pace-mismatch risk is high; let's set a 30-min wait rule" before departure is much easier than arguing about it at 4,300 m.

Biggest predictor of trek failure at altitude is not fitness, it's decision disagreement under pressure. The culture and red-line sections are the most important parts of this tool.

Limitations

FAQ

Q: My partner is much fitter. Should I just accept their pace?
A: No. Pushing to a faster pace raises your AMS risk more than the fitter person's risk decreases. Agree on the slowest person's reasonable pace as the team pace.

Q: We disagree on turnaround time. Who wins?
A: Pre-agreed by the group. Whoever is most safety-conservative wins, and that person gets veto on descent decisions. The fastest person yields the summit; the slowest person doesn't get dragged past safety thresholds.

Q: A team member won't share their fitness rating. Now what?
A: Don't go. Honest self-assessment is the entry condition for shared altitude work. Anyone who refuses to share is signaling that they don't intend to follow the team's plan.

Q: Is "consensus" decision-making safe at altitude?
A: Not usually. By the time AMS is in play, no one has the cognitive clarity for negotiation. Pre-departure decisions should be leader-led; in-trip descent calls should be leader-decided, with the leader being whoever is least affected by AMS at the time.