Mountain Expeditions
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Leaders
  • Expeditions
    By Location
    Instruction & Guiding (UK)
    • Rock Climbing
    • Scrambling & Mountaineering
    • Winter Mountaineering & Climbing
    • Winter Skills
    Worldwide Expeditions
    • Aconcagua
    • Elbrus
    • Kilimanjaro
    • Mera Peak
    • Peak Lenin
    Expedition Training
    • Expedition Specific Training (Summer)
    • Expedition Specific Training (Winter)
    By Activity

    2wish

    Expedition Specific Training

    • Expedition Specific Training (Summer)
    • Expedition Specific Training (Winter)

    High Altitude

    • Aconcagua
    • Elbrus
    • Kilimanjaro
    • Mera Peak
    • Peak Lenin

    Mountaineering

    • Aconcagua
    • Elbrus
    • Kilimanjaro
    • Mera Peak

    Rock Climbing

    • Rock Climbing

    Scrambling & Mountaineering

    • Scrambling & Mountaineering

    Trekking (High Altitude)

    • Elbrus
    • Kilimanjaro
    • Mera Peak

    Winter Mountaineering & Climbing

    • Winter Mountaineering & Climbing

    Winter Skills

    • Winter Skills
  • Blog
  • FAQ's
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Leaders
  • Expeditions
  • Blog
  • FAQ's
  • Contact Us
  • My Account

Terms & Conditions



Please see below our UK and Worldwide Terms & Conditions:

 

Addendum to Payments & Refunds Policy due to Covid-19 (PDF)

Terms & Conditions – UK (PDF)

Terms & Conditions – Worldwide (PDF)

 

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!

Read More…

Social

Home // Catching Up With Time For the first time Home // Catching Up With Time

For the first time in years, I’ve been home.

Not for a rushed week between flights, washing kit and repacking bags. Not for long enough to catch my breath before disappearing again. Properly home.

What was meant to be two weeks became three months after a Himalayan expedition was cancelled at the last minute. Compared to last year, when I spent barely three weeks at home in total, it feels almost unfamiliar. Like stepping back into a version of life I’d slowly drifted away from without really noticing.

At first, I didn’t quite know what to do with it.

I slept more. Slowed down. Found bits of routine again. I started seeing the same faces repeatedly instead of in passing.

There were slow days climbing in new places with good friends, nothing to prove and nowhere else to be. I pottered around the house doing odd bits of DIY, and watched the new kitchen finally come together. I started stealing moments to sit with a cup of tea in the garden, for no reason other than being there.

Days became less defined by forecasts, departure dates and logistics planning. The constant underlying sense that I should be preparing for something slowly faded into the background.

And gradually, the question of “how long are you home for this time?” began to disappear too, or maybe people just stopped asking.

But something else took its place.

A strange awareness of time.

At home, time feels like it moves faster than I can really hold onto. Weeks blur. Days lose their edges. Even meaningful moments seem to slip away quietly unless I actively stop to notice them. It feels almost uncontrollable, like life is accelerating in the background without asking permission.

For years I’ve lived in such a transient way that home has often felt more like a stopover than somewhere I actually inhabit. Somewhere to recover, repack and leave again. Looking back, I think I’ve asked an enormous amount of myself for a very long time and stopped recognising it. Big expeditions. Constant movement. Long periods away. Months spent operating at intensity, where everything feels sharpened by risk, uncertainty, exposure and purpose.

⬇️⬇️ CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS ⬇️⬇️
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.
Follow on Instagram

Recent Posts


  • LIVE TRACKING // Everest & Lhotse 2021

  • 3 top tips for becoming a jedi second

  • 5 top tips for improving your trad climbing

  • The Performance Edge

  • Videos // YouTube & Vimeo

Contact Details


  • Mountain Expeditions
    Gorffwysfa
    Brynrefail
    Caernarfon
    LL55 3NR


  • +44 (0) 117 230 2324

  • info@mountain-expeditions.co.uk

  • https://mountain-expeditions.co.uk
  • Disclaimer
  • Leaders
  • M.E. Hub
  • My Account
  • Payments & Refund Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Leader Login
  • Booking and Participation Form

© 2026 Mountain Expeditions - All rights reserved. Crafted by teknet.io

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.