JON GUPTA

My passion for expeditions and the mountains started in 2005 when I was 18 years old. Living deep in the remote jungles of Belize, I spent over 2 months pushing myself both physically & mentally harder than ever before and I learnt what expedition life was all about. I loved every aspect of it and was hooked - I’ve never looked back.

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During the following years I gained experience and went through the first of many national outdoor qualifications to access the world of the outdoors, whilst simultaneously ploughing all my money into self-organised high altitude expeditions around the world.

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My work soon became focused solely around climbing in both summer and winter and the high altitude world, which was becoming my forte. By going on many expeditions a year, I quickly racked up unprecedented success on big mountains.

 

Completely absorbed in the bigger mountains and wanting to share these with more people I set up Mountain Expeditions in 2009 - a specialist expedition company offering UK instructing & guiding, worldwide expeditions & expedition specific training. My little company has gone from strength to strength almost entirely by word of mouth. I remain the sole owner of Mountain Expeditions and continue to lead the majority of groups both in the UK and worldwide.

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Through Mountain Expeditions and my own personal trips I have organised, climbed, guided and summited mountains on over 100+ major expeditions all over the world – including organising and leading expeditions to Everest (4 times), K2 and the current world speed record for the 7 summits!

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My love for the mountains is continually growing and whilst adapting to the restrictions throughout 2020, I began concentrating my time locally to home. In North Wales the options for rock climbing are endless and I have been busy delivering private scrambling, rock climbing and expedition specific training. Alongside this, my personal rock climbing has also reached new highs this year with leads at E4 / 7b+. 

 

I get a huge amount of pleasure from helping individuals achieve their mountain ambitions. A journey which has expanded many years has covered both UK summer and winter as well as overseas expedition and is an ongoing trilogy cycle to gain experience. 

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Working with, and building strong relationships with a smaller number of highly motivated individuals is incredibly rewarding. This highly personal apprenticeship process is the way I hope to continue moving forward with the majority of my work, both in the UK and in the high altitude world. 

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A few career highlights include:

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* Organising and guiding the current record breaking 7 Summits Guinness World Record

* Guiding 8000m peaks twelve times: Everest (South 2013, 2018, 2021, North 2017), Lhotse (2018, 2021), Makalu (2021, 2022), Kanchenjunga (2022), Dhaulagiri (2021), Manaslu (2021) and K2 (2021).

* 25+ Himalayan expeditions including 13 summits of Ama Dablam, 7 x Island Peak, 2 x Lobuche, 2 x Mera Peak

* Climbing 3 x 7000m peaks in 28 days in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, including the first British ski descent of Peak Lenin

* Successfully organising and guiding a rare winter ascent of Denali in Alaska

* 35+ ascents of Kilimanjaro & 3 x Aconcagua

* 14 ascents of Elbrus, including 6 ski descents

* Many other enjoyable expeditions to South America, Africa, Greenland and Central Asia

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Other relevant highlights include: running the Bob Graham round in 22hr 30, setting a new British record running up Kilimanjaro and completing the brutal Yukon Arctic Ultra 430 mile race (this was hard!).  

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I am qualified as a Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor and a full member of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors. I am also proudly sponsored by Rab as an Athlete, SunGod and The Johnston Quarry Group. I am also a full member of the Alpine Club, an ambassador for the Youth Adventure Trust, a member of the Mountain Training Association and The British Mountaineering Council. From time to time I write for Trek & Mountain Magazine, Wired for Adventure, Sidetracked and Rab.