About Jagged Globe

The Mountain Specialist

The core values that motivate and guide us are Quality and Responsibility

Manaslu 2008 Expedition Photo: © Jeremy Anson

Quality underpins the attitude we bring to the planning and organisation of every trip we field, whether it be to set records on 8,000-metre peaks, to climb ice in Scotland, to ski in the alps, or to trek lost valleys of the Indian Himalaya. We never marginalise the resources needed to provide you with the first-class experience we promise you when you book with us. An ethos driven by Quality is the best way we know of repaying the trust you place in us.

Responsibility is our guiding principle when considering how we operate our trips when in the mountains.

We employ local staff, use locally owned organisations and hotels, and buy as many resources as possible in the countries we visit. These are the hallmarks of Responsible Tourism and whilst we don't have a badge, or try to win prizes, it is something we have practiced since our inception and before the term itself was coined and came into popular usage.

We make exceptions only when we are forced to do so; perhaps where quality might suffer because something can't be bought locally or by buying it we would strain or divert resources away from local people. For example: we provide UK manufactured tents for our Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua expeditions and we supplement high-altitude rations on our 8,000m peaks trips, but we won't swarm into remote, seldom-visited, mountain villages and eat their winter store of potatoes.

In Nepal, our partner organisation exemplifies our ethos of Responsibility, and carries it further than we would be able to alone. Headed by an ex-pat Brit (Kit Spencer) it has a long tradition of intimately looking after the welfare of all locally employed staff and that of their families. In conjunction with Kit Spencer, we have maintained the Porter Aid Post in Khare for several seasons now, and we hope to start building a permanent porter shelter there by 2010. In Africa, we recognise the often poor conditions endured by the porters on Kilimanjaro, and we seek to improve these by working with our local provider to set an example, so that others might emulate what we consider should be best-practice.

We have an enduring ethic of paying a fair price for everything, appropriate to the local economy. We do not seek to leverage wages, but to pay a fair rate acceptable to the local communities within which we work and upon whose goodwill we rely.

Whilst times ahead may be hard for the Western Economies, it is going to be tougher for those countries and communities that rely on income from tourists to provide a basic standard of living. The World's Greatest Mountains are to be found in many such places and so it is good to travel there as frequently as possible. Ultimately this will be to the advantage of all of those porters, herders, guides, lodge keepers and camp helpers who make our journeys so worthwhile, enjoyable and purposeful and to whom we are always grateful for allowing us to share with them the majesty and beauty of their homelands.

Your Financial Security

Our membership of these organisations means that you can book with Jagged Globe Ltd in complete confidence that all monies paid to us for trips (not for insurance premiums) are protected.

The Office Team

If you speak to us on the phone or contact us via email, here are the faces to go with the names... [read more]

Dr David Hillebrandt - company doctor

Adventureworks Educational Expeditions for Schools

History

"Jagged Globe was originally part of the trekking company 'Himalayan Kingdoms', based in Bristol, UK. Himalayan Kingdoms was founded in 1987 by Steve Berry and myself, and rapidly gained a name for high quality trekking expeditions to the Himalaya. However, as a keen climber, I admit that I was more interested in climbing than trekking. I figured that if we could take people trekking, what else would it take to go beyond base camp and up the mountains themselves? The answer is, an awful lot! But I was not put off... [read more]

Recent Achievements

Each year we tackle new objectives and explore new areas, as well as repeating expeditions to some of our most difficult mountains. With every trip, there are fine achievements and examples of personal successes. Some of our best moments in 2007-2008 were:

• First ascent by a British led and organised team of the NE Face of Manaslu (8,163m).
• Organisation of the Caudwell Xtreme Everest expedition. Medical research, 10 doctors and 15 Sherpas on the summit.
• First ascents of three peaks in the Nubra Valley - Sahib Chasa (6,078m), Mani Kangri (5,792m), Yangchan Kangri (5,710m).
• The 5th ascent of Cathedral Peak in the Karakoram, using GPS to establish the correct height of the peak - 6,247m.
• Our 12th successful ascent of the world's highest mountain, Everest in May 2008.
• Our 11th successful Cho Oyu expedition in October 2007.

New Zealand - Aspiring Guides

Wanaka-based Aspiring Guides are our partners in New Zealand. Aspiring Guides offer guided mountain climbing, mountaineering instruction courses and off-piste skiing in New Zealand. They provide a high level of personal service and quality mountain experiences to our climbers looking to explore the stunning Southern Alps. Jagged Globe founder, Steve Bell (who lives just outside Melbourne, Australia) guides on some of these courses. If you would like to find out more about Aspiring Guides, please visit their excellent website www.aspiringguides.com