Co-Directors
Charlie Knights brings to CAT a rare combination of adventure travel expertise and commercial acumen. As founder of Pure Trails Adventure — a guided trail running holiday company based in Bristol — he has spent years building brands that connect people with extraordinary landscapes in a way that gives back to the communities that make those experiences possible.
When Charlie took on the directorship of Community Action Treks, he did so with a clear vision: to honour the values Doug Scott built into this company in 1989 while building the commercial foundations that will sustain CAT for the next 35 years. Fixed departure dates, a wider audience, transparent community investment — and the same expert Sherpa team that has always made CAT exceptional.
Based in Bristol, Charlie leads the commercial strategy, marketing, website, and guest experience from the UK end of the operation — working closely with Bhai in Kathmandu to ensure every CAT trip delivers on its promise.
“CAT has 35 years of doing this the right way. My job is to make sure the world knows about it — and that we build something that lasts another 35.”
Charlie Knights · Co-Director, CAT Himalaya
Bhai B. Tamang is the person who makes every CAT trek possible. Based in Kathmandu, Bhai oversees all Nepal ground operations — the Sherpa guide team, porter logistics, accommodation, permits, domestic transport, and every on-the-ground detail that transforms an itinerary on paper into a living, breathing Himalayan experience.
Bhai has been running trekking operations in Nepal for decades. He knows the Manaslu Circuit, the Khumbu Valley, the Annapurna region and the Langtang National Park with an intimacy that only comes from a lifetime in the mountains. The communities CAT passes through — the Tamang villages, the Sherpa heartlands, the Buddhist settlements near the Tibetan border — are communities Bhai knows personally. That relationship is irreplaceable.
As Co-Director, Bhai brings not just operational expertise but a deep understanding of what makes Himalayan trekking meaningful. His guiding principle — that the routes CAT runs should honour the communities they pass through — has shaped every itinerary in the portfolio.
“The itineraries stay as they are because our clients know these routes — and because these routes include the CAN health posts and the communities that CAT was built to serve.”
Bhai B. Tamang · Co-Director, CAT HimalayaThe team behind the scenes
Denise has been the operational backbone of Community Action Treks for many years. Based in London, she has handled the day-to-day running of CAT through every evolution the company has seen — managing guest enquiries, booking logistics, pre-departure communications and the thousands of details that make a complex international trek run without a hitch. If you’ve trekked with CAT before, Denise is very likely the person who helped get you there. Her institutional knowledge of CAT’s operations, itineraries and guests is extraordinary — and her warmth with guests has been a defining quality of the CAT experience for a long time.
Every CAT trek is led by an expert Sherpa guide — not a freelancer hired for the season, but a specialist with deep roots in the communities we pass through. Our guides are Wilderness First Responder trained, fluent in English, and personally selected by Bhai from a team built over decades of in-country relationships. They are the reason CAT guests come back.
Meet the Sherpa team pages are coming soon — individual guide profiles with their trekking specialisms, peak experience and the routes they know best.
Questions about a trek? We’re here.
Whether you want to talk through a route, check your fitness level, or just find out more about how CAT works — get in touch and a real person will reply.