Backstory: I was looking for a running watch. I had borrowed a Garmin Forerunner 35 from a friend, but it annoyed me because it kept showing me unnecessary information every time I turned my wrist to look at my pace. Shopping around I first settled on the Amazfit GTR 2e, which turned out to be a horrible experience (repeatedly losing track of sleep due to a software bug, losing half a mile in a two-mile run, inaccurate pace calculations and small font on workout screens). I did some more research and found the Coros Pace 2, which received excellent reviews and usually the Most Bang For Buck award. Compared to Garmin, the battery life and GPS acquisition/performance we're usually rated better at a lower price point, so I decided to get the Coros Pace 2. End of backstory. Which brought me to Miyar Adventures. I had never heard of this company and when they popped up with a good sale price on my Google search, I checked them out to see if they were legit. As it turns out, they were but I did find a number of bad reviews from disgruntled customers, mostly about bad customer service. Nevertheless, I decided to give them a shot and was happily surprised that they had my watch ready for shipping the very next day. I had selected their free shipping option as it is only a few hundred miles between them and me. The package was supposed to be shipped using First Class Package mail service from the US Postal Service, which should take one to three days, according to the USPS website. Well, the postal service guy decided differently. He left the package sitting on the dock for about five days before picking it up. It then traveled to a few miles from my house overnight, where it sat for nearly two days, before being shipped about five hundred miles south, where it sat another day before being shipped back up to me. I had to inquire multiple times with Miyar Adventures about this delivery and Jake did his best to find out what was going on. In the end, my local Postal Service representative was able to tell me that there appeared to be an issue with the format of the address label, so the machines couldn't read it right. All in all, it took ten days for this watch to get to me. Miyar Adventures is a legit business and their customer service is not at all like the reviews led me to believe. Jake was attentive and responsive throughout the shipping ordeal. I would order from Miyar Adventures again but I am a bit hesitant about using the Free Shipping option as I don't want a repeat of the USPS ride this first package experienced. read more

I was never a hiker/climber. It all changed since I decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. My husband and I were debating how to celebrate our 25th anniversary. The timing was such that a close friend recommended Sandeep Nain and his Miyar adventure's trip to climb Kilimanjaro. And next what do I know - my husband signed us up with Sandeep's Kilimanjaro climbing expedition to celebrate our 25th anniversary. It all sounded romantic at the beginning but then came down the reality that the climb was above 19000' elevation. So we started hiking rigorously on the weekends in order to prepare for Kilimanjaro climb. Sandeep 's passion to take people into mountains was very apparent as he joined us on local hikes that simulated the terrain and difficulty levels that of Kilimanjaro. In this time we also got to know each other. With Sandeep's guidance travel to Tanzania, stay at Moshi and all the preparation went very well. Sandeep is well respected with the locals in Moshi and has a very competent local partner for Kilimanjaro climbs, who accompanied us on the climb. The 7 day journey of ascend and descend was beyond expectation as the guides and the porters were supportive, humble, sincere and gelled well with us. The guides recognized each individual's physical ability and had set the pace of climb. The arrangements at the camps didn't leave anything for anyone to complain about. The food was amazing and beyond expectations. We were well fed. The group was laughing and singing throughout the day, enjoying every moment of the climb. I never felt the exertion as the pace of climb was set just right. Besides the technicalities all along the climb Sandeep added his humor, jokes, signing and yes his special dance moves, that all made us forget the difficulties of the long hiking days. On the second night on the climb Sandeep and his crew surprised me and my husband on our anniversary evening with a "mountain made" cake (above 12,000') followed by dancing and singing in Swahili /Hindi. Celebration under a beautiful full moon night! Sandeep's personal attention was remarkable here. Many such things contributed to our successfully summiting the Uhuru Peak. Experiences of Kilimanjaro climb have made my life richer. I am a hiker now. Sandeep and his Miyar Adventure made it possible and enjoyable. I look forward to our next climb with Miyar Adventure. read more

I climbed Rainier with Sandeep in 2013. It was a dream come true and the completion of a cherished bucket list item for me. I do not believe I would have been able to accomplish this without the support of Sandeep and his team. One thing that sets Sandeep apart from other guides / outfits is the support / guidance for the training climbs leading up to the climb. He helped set up increasingly challenging climbs leading up to the climb up Rainier to make sure we were fit and prepared for it and I believe that made a big difference. Others have noted in their reviews that Sandeep takes safety very seriously. I completely agree. Sandeep puts enough failsafes and buffers in the plan which adds to the chance of success as well as increases safety. For example in our Rainier climb: 1) He had added additional time for acclimatization so we get used to the altitude and reducing the chance for altitude sickness on summit day 2) Prior to our summit day we got news that some of the snow bridges were unstable/broken in the DC route and a new path would be needed to get to the summit. For the sake of safety and to check feasibility : two of the climbing leads in Sandeep's team actually went all the way from Muir to the summit just to check the route and came back to report. And this was the day before they climbed back up again to the summit with the rest of us!! 3) Sandeep had made sure there were extra climbing leads per rope team to have the necessary support in case some people had to turn back. This came in very handy when a couple of climbers had to turn back due to altitude sickness. They were sent back safely with lead climbers and we still had enough experienced lead climbers for the rest of the group to finish our climb. All in all I felt that the trip was planned very well to deal with all unexpected situations in a safe way. Last but not the least: the trip was great fun : with good teamwork and everybody showing great attitude. I would definitely go on a trip with Sandeep and Co. again and would highly recommend his company to others as well. read more

I registered to climb Denali and thought that I could use my old pair of Olympus Mons from several expeditions in 2006. I had not worn them in over 10 years. I wore them during a few training climbs on Mt. Hood and it was painfully obvious that my feet have flattened out over the years and I needed to go a size up. I was worried that I wouldn't find the right size with enough time to break them in, and at a price point I could afford. I did a lot of searching for a new pair of Olympus Mons in this size and no one carried it at the price point I was wanting to purchase. Miyar Adventures popped up in my searches, but I didn't pay attention as I was not familiar with them. I decided to look after no one had my size and they had my size at the best price point of all my searches. I decided to order from them. They contacted me promptly after ordering that they did not have that size in stock but that they would immediately order it direct from LaSportiva and have it to me within a few days. I immediately began to think the worst. But, within a few days I was getting a text on my phone alerting me the boots were at my doorstep. I wanted to be sure they were the right size and wore them in the house for a while. Sandeep, from Miyar Adventures, assured me that if they did not fit properly they would quickly exchange for whatever size I thought I needed. And they assured me they would make sure I had the right fit well advance of my climb so there was adequate time to break them in. I cannot tell you how much peace of mind this gave me. There's even more to it than that. But I'll just say the customer service was so excellent that I will always look to Miyar Adventures first for my mountaineering and climbing gear needs from now on because of this. Plus, you support a smaller independent company in the PNW. Thank you Miyar Adventures!!! Whatever you do, take care of your shoes! read more

I was part of the group that summited Mt. Rainier on 7/20/15 led by Miyar Adventures and its guides. I had a great experience training and finally climbing with Miyar and Sandeep Nain. Miyar Adventures has an experienced team of guides with most guides being a part of some or the other mountain rescue group (as an added perk, you can just sit and listen to these guys tell stories). I felt that all the guides shared common mountaineering principles which is very important in case of a mishap. Sandeep and his team believe that "getting to the summit is optional, but getting back to the parking lot is mandatory" - safety first, mountain is not going anywhere. Another thing that I particularly liked about the guides was they set strict timelines and also inspired discipline in us to adhere to those timelines. As pre-climb training, we did a lot of hikes around the area and also climbed Mt. Ruth. Sandeep would try and accompany us on our training hikes as much as he could and answered any dumb and dumber questions that we had with patience and precision. You always learn something new when you talk mountaineering with Sandeep Nain. The Mt. Ruth climb was a very good precursor to Mt. Rainier in terms of learning and practicing the basics of snow and glacier travel. Both the Mt. Rainier and Mt. Ruth training climbs were very meticulously planned. The gear distribution was done well before the actual climb so that any changes were easily accommodated. Sandeep and Ben gave us a detailed briefing about the itinerary and risks before the climb and were available to clear any doubts during and after the session. The guides Sandeep Nain teaches you, inspires you, and pushes you to your limits and lets you redefine them, I highly recommend giving Miyar Adventures a try for your next backpacking/mountaineering/climbing adventure. You will thank me!! read more

A friend once remarked, "if you have any questions about your mountain climbing abilities, the person you need to talk to is Sandeep from Miyar adventures." It can't be more precise than that. I met Sandeep through "asha for education" with an interest to climb Mt. Rainier. My first hike with Sandeep was up tiger mountains. A small and easy hike but I reached the top a solid 30 mins after the rest of the group. That got me thinking if I should back off from climbing Rainier. But Sandeep didn't let me do so. He was confident that I could climb Rainier with some training, when I myself had very few reasons to believe so. The next 4 months, we had training hikes almost every weekend organized by Sandeep which were so much fun to call them "trainings". And fast forward to today, I'm home cherishing the feeling of having summited mount Rainier. This would not have been possible but for Sandeep and his team. Guides are super knowledgeable and amicable, the trips are very well organized, any questions about gears, health, trip details etc, answers are just an email or call away. The extent to which Sandeep and his team go to make a trip, an enjoyable experience and more importantly safe is quite admirable. Looking forward to joining Miyar adventures for more such 5-star experiences in future. read more

I've climbed Rainier and Baker (+several other training hikes) with Sandeep and other guides from Miyar Adventures. The climbs were made super fun, safe, and informational. With Sandeep's detailed prior planning, extensive know-how of the mountaineering practices, and long climbing experience, you know the climb is going to be safe with great chances of summit. Before all big climbs, Sandeep does an indoor session to discuss the itinerary and answer any concerns. You'll definitely learn a lot whenever you spend time with Sandeep. He has expertise in all forms of climbing: mountaineering, rock and ice. So it also makes it easy to try other activities because you already know the guide well. I've taken instructions from few other guides as well and I wouldn't doubt to state that Sandeep is the best guide I've climbed with! He'll keep you motivated and answer your questions with patience. He'd have fun stories to tell from his rescue ops, first ascents, or other hard climbs. He is ready to make adjustments based on the preferences of the group which is a key in making the trip not only successful but also enjoyable. I can't recommend Miyar Adventures enough! Give them a try and you'll be glad you did. read more

I was part of a group that summitted Mt. Baker in early August this year. Overall, it was a great experience. I went into it not knowing what to expect from a guided climb (my past few had been unguided) and was pleasantly surprised. I was concerned that I'd be bored, but was happy to find that they did a great job juggling our group's varying skill levels, and I walked away feeling like I had learned and progressed as a climber. Ben and Anthony are both very knowledgeable (you can always learn from guides, it just depends how much time they have to teach!) and I found myself getting a bunch of new experiences even just in the 24 hours that we climbed. I was also impressed by their abilities to read us and judge when clients needed encouraging or advice. They did a great job managing us, and I remember the moment that my attitude turned from "this isn't going to happen but it's still experience" to "holy crap, we have a shot!" After toughing it out through some rain, blustering winds, and low visibility, the skies cleared up and we had our chance. Thanks to Ben and Anthony for the positive attitudes and guidance that weekend! I'd definitely join them again in the future. read more

I have been training with Sandeep from Miyar Adventures for the past 6 months for a fundraiser Mt.Rainier climb. I have never done any activity on snow and I am a newbie hiker. So I had my reservations when I started training.So starting from how to get better at hiking to improving my snow skills, being my sounding board, whenever I expressed any doubts in my mind, and pushing me a little harder every time so I can get some confidence that I can accomplish this, he has been an great guide. It is unbelievable that I actually got to climb Rainier, starting from where I was. I give all the credit to Sandeep. He makes beginners like me get comfortable and build up on the skills and make their dreams become achievable. The way he organized the whole climb from picking food, group gear and personal gear for everyone, to picking great rope leads for glacier travel for us to lead the way, he has done a phenomenal job. He is very efficient about trip planning and ensures everyone summits and gets back home safely. If you ever want to climb any mountain, I strongly recommend Miyar Adventures, without any doubt. read more

I joined Sandeep on a climb to the highest free-standing mountain in the world - Kilimanjaro in Africa not quite knowing what that meant or what was involved and gained more than what I could have ever imagined. It was a rather long climb and the last day was very tiresome for me. Sandeep continued to encourage me when I was tired and truly exhausted and felt like I could not move an inch. Thanks to that, I did end up summiting and got safely back down to basecamp. I truly appreciated how the climb was coordinated by Sandeep with the guides and porters and it was really pain free for the clients with great food and all conveniences one can expect on a mountain. The pre-planning and gear check sessions all helped me immensely and thought the price was by far the best I had observed for the services provided. After having been part of climbs with other leaders, I think Sandeep's climbs are very accommodative to a wide set of climbers with varied skill set and preferences. I highly recommend his climbs and would definitely join on future climbs to some of the most beautiful places in the world. read more