Our History

Jagged Globe was originally part of the trekking company 'Himalayan Kingdoms', founded in 1987 by Steve Berry, John Knowles and myself. However, as a keen climber, I thought that if we could take people trekking, what else would it take to go beyond base camp and up the mountains themselves? No-one else was doing it, but it seemed a logical development. Our first mountaineering expedition was to the trekking peak, Stok Kangri, in 1988, but things really started to happen the following year, when our climbers reached the summits of Himalchuli West (7,540m) and Muztag Ata (7,546m). This was the first time that a 7,000m peak had been climbed by a British operator. Fuelled by these successes, we made what then felt like a very bold move, to offer a trip to an 8,000m peak. Our 1991 Broad Peak (8,047m) expedition only had 3 summiteers (2 guides and 1 client), but it gave us the experience and the confidence to think, what about Everest?

When we announced our 1993 Everest expedition, it generated newspaper articles all over the world. We had a strong team of 11 paying climbers, and 7 of them (plus 2 guides and 7 Sherpas) reached the summit, including Ginette Harrison (the UK's second woman to the top of Everest) and Ramon Blanco (60). The actor Brian Blessed was one of those who didn't quite make it! It seems incredible how, in the few years since then, professionally led Everest expeditions have become almost commonplace. Since then, we have gone from strength to strength, building on our experience to become the first British company to lead expeditions to all of the Seven Continental Summits (1995), to climb both the north and south sides of Everest (1996) and to climb both sides in the same season (2005). But it has not just been about the big names, because throughout this time the number of climbers and trekkers visiting mountain regions has increased year on year.

Meanwhile, Steve Berry and I decided to separate the mountaineering and trekking arms of Himalayan Kingdoms. So in 1995, 'Himalayan Kingdoms Expeditions' became a separate company and moved to Sheffield, the climbing capital of Britain. This was accompanied by a brand new office team headed up by Simon Lowe. Three years later, in 1998, we launched the new name 'Jagged Globe' to reflect the increasingly global nature of our activities. Since then the business has grown considerably, achieved the 'Investor in People' standard and developed a market leading website which attracts an average of more than 2 million impressions a month. The latter is the work of Marketing Director Tom Briggs, who became the third Director of the company in 2003.

Perhaps the most notable development of the last few years has been the launch of our youth division, Adventureworks, managed by Mike Rosser. This provides outstanding opportunities for young people to discover the wilderness - and themselves - in a secure setting. Many schools and youth organisations have already travelled to remote overseas locations with Adventureworks, and the obvious benefits of such experience is attracting more young people each year. In January 2004 I moved to Australia with my family, where I continue to work on the development of Jagged Globe, lead the occasional expedition and guide for our New Zealand partner, Aspiring Guides. Thanks to the Internet, I can remain in regular touch with both the office team and our climbers. The company is still based in Sheffield, UK, under the expert leadership of Managing Director, Simon Lowe.

I feel enormously privileged to have played a part in making mountaineering more accessible; and with the recent launch of our trekking programme, you don't even have to climb a mountain to travel with Jagged Globe to the world's highest and most impressive regions. While I am proud of Jagged Globe's achievements, we remain as we started - a small specialist operator delivering a friendly, personal service to our climbers and trekkers. On behalf of all of us at Jagged Globe - our office team, our mountain guides and leaders, and our local operators around the world, I am grateful to all those who have travelled with us in the past. We look forward to travelling with you again in the years ahead, and to welcoming new climbers and trekkers to the mountainous wonders of our jagged globe.

Thank you.

Steve Bell

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