Layers rather than one heavy jacket, shoes you have already worn in, and sun protection that matters more at altitude than the temperature does. Carry original documents on paper: there is no usable signal for long stretches above Dharchula, and a missing paper ends the trip at Chiyalekh.
Pack for the range, not the average. You start at 910 m in Dharchula and sleep above 3,000 m from Gunji onward, so a single warm layer does not cover it. Layers you can add and remove work better than one heavy jacket, and the walking shoes should be ones you have already worn in rather than ones bought for the trip.
Take the documents seriously, because a missing one ends the journey at Chiyalekh rather than delaying it. You need photo identity, photographs, a medical fitness certificate and the risk affidavit the permit requires. Carry the originals, not photographs of them on a phone, and carry a paper copy of anything you would otherwise rely on a network to show. There are long stretches above Dharchula with no usable mobile signal.
Bring the medical certificate even though you will be screened again. The check at Dharchula and the second one at Gunji are both compulsory, and arriving without the certificate does not spare you either of them.
Sun at altitude is not the sun you are used to. Sunglasses, a hat that stays on in wind, and lip and skin protection matter more here than the temperature does, and they matter on overcast days too.
We are not going to publish a definitive kit list on this page while our coordinators are still checking what is genuinely available to buy in Dharchula and what has to come with you. When we know, this page will say so, and it will say when we checked. Ask us for the current list before you pack; it is one of the things we would rather tell you directly than guess at in public.
At the SDM office in Dharchula, or at Pithoragarh district hospital rooms 28 and 29. It is valid for four days, cut from fifteen in May 2024 to reduce crowding at altitude. The Inner Line you actually cross is at Chiyalekh, above Dharchula, where the ITBP checks everyone.
Adi Kailash and Om Parvat stay inside India and need only an Inner Line Permit. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra crosses into Tibet, runs 22 days, costs about 2.09 lakh, caps age at 70 and requires a Chinese visa. We run the first and cannot get anybody a place on the second.