Above_Treeline wrote: ↑Fri Nov 05, 2021 1:48 pmI'd think trekking at the altitudes common in this area is pretty dicey in January in general though.
Not really, at least most of the time on the main trekking routes in Nepal. It tends to be cold and dry. It's summer when most of the snow falls in the Nepal Himalaya. In winter you have to bundle up, but it's usually sunny then. It can snow, but sunny days are more common. The first time I went in December-January we had one day of bad weather in 47 days. The second time we had one day of bad weather in 30 days, but that trip was mostly in December (January is slightly wetter).
On the Nepal side it's the big peaks that get the brunt of the jet stream and winds. They also shelter the lower valleys from the really cold weather. The trekking valleys below 18,000 feet tend to be sunny and rather pleasant, if a bit chilly in the mornings. There can be some snow and ice on the trails.
Places such as the south side of Dhalagiri and Annapurna do get hit wth winter storms since they rise straight out of the plains. Sometimes the treks over the Thorung La or to Annapurna Base Camp (both of them) can get dicey and ABC can get at least a few feet of snow (though it was dry when we were there that time of year).
The 3-5 day treks around Pokhara should be good in winter. Most of those treks are only 3000-11,000 feet in elevation.
The Kailash Trek is on the north side of the Himalayas the area around Kailash is much colder in winter. The main problem though is that all the facilities in that area will be shut down in winter. You would have to be self sufficient, even if it is open. Since the flights aren't running (and even when they are they are usually delayed, sometimes for days) you would have to take the overland route.
Overland by bus, it's
at least 50 hours by bus each way from Pokhara. Bus distance is 1403 miles each way from Kathmandu and 1531 miles from Pokhara and the highways in that part of the world aren't like the ones around here! It wouldn't be practical to even try to get there if you only have 3-5 days. Riding ~3000 miles on buses on mountain roads takes time!
So, the Kailash Trek would be a good one, but probably not in winter and definitely not if you only have 4-5 days to spare and are in Nepal. In season and when things open up again you could actually fly to Ngari, which is not that far from Kailash. You have to fly to Lhasa first, but if the flights work out you could get Kathmandu to Ngari in a day or two, but to do the Kailash Trek you would probably want to spend at least a few days in Lhasa for acclimatization. Even when the flights open back up, 3-5 days from Nepal wouldn't be enough.
Anyway, good luck to you if you do get out there sometime. It's a really interesting part of the world. Personally I prefer Nepal over Tibet, but both are worth visting and can be done on the same trip.
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
) It would be great to have a beautiful 3-4 day trek with a 1-day adventure option for those in our group - myself - that want a little bit of an adventure. To give some reference - as giving advice in situations like this is always tough, I am not looking for adventures on the scale of Little Bear, Keplinger's Couloir in the winter, or a winter Crestone Needle climb - but something more than a walk on the Gray's Peak trail). 
