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Please see below our UK and Worldwide Terms & Conditions:

 

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Visit the Expeditions tab to see all our Courses & Expeditions in one place!

Expeditions

About Us

Mountain Expeditions is a UK company owned and run by Jon Gupta, specialising in Instructing & Guiding, Worldwide Expeditions & Expedition Specific Training.

We operate across 5 continents and believe a successful expedition is made up of the hundreds of small experiences gained from start to finish. We therefore ensure that every aspect of your trip is expertly organised and well-managed, whether it’s going rock climbing for the first time, winter mountaineering or joining a major Himalayan expedition!

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Antarctica // When The Noise Stops People often a Antarctica // When The Noise Stops

People often ask me what I want to climb next. Where I want to go.

I usually pause before answering. Not because I don’t have ideas, but because the question assumes there’s always a next thing waiting, another line to draw forward. For a long time, that suited me. Movement gave shape to my life. Seasons, objectives, departures. I knew who I was when I was going somewhere, even if it sometimes meant leaving people behind.

As I approach forty, I can see that this way of living has carried me further than I ever expected. I remember being twenty-one, newly qualified as a Mountain Leader, sitting around evening camp fires listening to senior instructors tell stories of expeditions to far corners of the world. Back then, it felt distant. Something other people did. Something you admired from the outside.

Somehow, it became my life.

I’m deeply proud of what I’ve achieved as a Guide. It remains my greatest privilege that people trust me to take them into wild places, to climb high peaks, to abseil into sea cliffs, to climb frozen waterfalls, to ski tour into the unknown. That trust carries weight, and I never forget it.

Last year I passed the IFMGA British Mountain Guide. It demanded more of me than anything before it. It was a long period of saying no, of missing things, of committing everything I had to something larger than myself and living with the consequences. Some of those noes were easier to justify than others. I gave it everything. I passed. And when it was finally over, something unexpected happened.

For the first time in a long while, I wasn’t sure what I was running towards anymore.

—

Then came Antarctica.

For 76 days, from November 12th to January 26th, I lived on the ice. While you’re there, it becomes all-encompassing. Work, rest, weather, movement, purpose - all blur into one. Life narrows, and in that narrowing something sharpens…

⬇️⬇️ CONTINUED IN COMMENTS ⬇️⬇️

@antarcticlogistics @rab.equipment  @rab.equipment.uk
Antarctica // I would do anything for love My fou Antarctica // I would do anything for love

My fourth summit of Vinson, and the final one of the season.

The expedition took six days in total. Six days of steady effort, small routines, early starts, long hours, and quiet persistence. Adrian and Jon gave everything they had, and in the end they were rewarded for it.

We were the last team to head up. The day before, six guided groups reached the summit in full whiteout. A day later, the three of us stood on top entirely alone. Two rangers summited briefly before heading off to climb another peak, and then the mountain returned to stillness.

Summit day was everything you could hope for - warm, calm, and bright. A high Antarctic sun with just enough cloud to give depth to the sky. We moved slowly, deliberately, not rushing the final steps. With each step higher I was aware that we were closing something out.

When we arrived, there was no noise, no urgency,  just space.

We smiled, embraced, and then stood quietly. Thin cloud drifted through, opening and closing the views, turning the horizon into an ever-changing theatre. Ice crystals hung in the air and caught the light. Mini rainbows appeared and vanished. Standing there, I felt the stillness, and the weight, of being finished.

A few months ago I stood on this summit for the first time. My crampons were the first to touch the top this season. I stood side by side with Tom, one of my best friends, just the two of us. Yesterday, I took a moment alone on the summit before descending. The last crampons to touch the top this season. Vinson will now sit quiet and untouched for the next ten months.

⬇️⬇️ CONTINUED IN COMMENTS ⬇️⬇️

@rab.equipment @rab.equipment.uk @antarcticlogistics  @mymcoapp
After years guiding in the Himalaya and the Alps, After years guiding in the Himalaya and the Alps, I’ve learned one thing: a rope team is only as strong as its people. That’s why I have joined @mymcoapp as an Athlete. It's a mobile application built around something I care deeply about.

As an IFMGA Mountain Guide, I’m constantly assessing fit: matching clients to the right climbs, choosing the right co-guides, and making sure people are placed in situations where they can move safely and confidently. The mountains demand that level of care.

I’ve seen what makes a rope team strong, and what puts it at risk. And as climbing culture shifts, indoor gyms and bouldering walls have opened the door to thousands of newcomers. It’s brilliant for the sport, but with accessibility comes a challenge: more people are heading into the mountains without the same depth of experience.

For me, that shift makes trust and transparency more important than ever. Confidence alone cannot replace skills. In the mountains, knowing your limits and being honest about them can be the difference between safety and real risk.

Self-reported experience is never enough. Cross-check it. Normalize safety conversations so they feel encouraging, not judgmental.

What's more, technical ability is only half the equation. I believe that a strong rope team also depends on fit: respect, openness and a willingness to share responsibility. The social dynamic can either strengthen a team or put it under strain.

That’s why I’m proud to support MYMCO’s mission:
a vision of climbing, where skills and social fit go together, creating rope teams that move with trust, balance, and purpose.

If you haven’t checked out MYMCO yet, now’s a good time. The app just launched a couple of weeks ago in Apple Store and Google Play, and is improving and growing week by week.
Antarctica // Vinson & The 7 Summits Many people Antarctica // Vinson & The 7 Summits

Many people begin their high-altitude mountain journey on Kilimanjaro. You rise through jungle and cloud, step above the world for the first time, and something shifts inside you. There is untold magic on Kilimanjaro—it’s hard to explain. And then the question appears. What’s next? It lingers quietly, following you everywhere.

For many, that question leads to the 7 Summits - the highest mountain on every continent. A staircase of bigger, colder, higher mountains, including Everest. Most start and stop after a few peaks. Costs rise. Interests shift. Other mountains call. There is nothing wrong with that.

I never chased the list, but I liked having it quietly in the background. Not as a goal in its own right, but as a by-product of a job I love so much. Over the years I found myself busy elsewhere. Himalaya, Karakoram, Alps, Scotland. Guiding seasons, personal climbing, high-altitude expeditions. Around one hundred and thirty of them at last count. In 2018 I helped Steve Plain climb the 7 Summits in world-record time. I organised and climbed all of them beside him, except Vinson, which waited quietly in the back of my mind.

-

Antarctica is not like anywhere else. It feels ancient and untouched. Empty. Honest. Step off the plane and the first thing you notice is the silence. Not the usual silence of windless mountains, but a deeper, heavier one, pressing against your skin.

The continent is endless white, but every shade is different. Blue ice glowing like old glass. Deep shadows stretching for miles. Light sharp enough to cut. Nothing moves. Nothing makes noise. Yet it does not feel lonely. It feels clean, stripped of everything unnecessary. You hear your own breath. Your own thoughts. Nowhere to hide from either.

Guiding for ALE this season means living in that world. The cold is permanent and the air so dry it feels like it could break. Frost crawling across sleeping bags in slow motion. Sun circling the sky without ever setting. It gets inside you in ways I did not expect.

⬇️⬇️ CONTINUED IN COMMENTS ⬇️⬇️

@antarcticlogistics 
@rab.equipment.uk
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