OUR WESTERN LEADER
Jamie McGuinness is Explore Himalaya's expedition consultant. He has been trekking and climbing in Nepal since 1988 and has written several guide books on Nepal including 'Trekking in the Everest Region' - now in the 4th edition.
Jamie has climbed many 6000m peaks and beginning in 1999 has summitted 8000m peaks more than a dozen times.
He has proved to be a capable, caring organizer and very strong at altitude. Sherpas enjoy working with him, not just because he speaks Nepali.
We are straight-talking in our approach - we want the best for you.

THE DIFFERENCES
We prefer to run expeditions with lower numbers of members, 4-9 is nice, the big guns run 8-24, which often means things are less adaptable. But the downside of running small teams is that there are less guides, usually just Jamie and the sherpa team (and hence we prefer the term professionally-lead expeditions). Our process of discussing safety and weather issues is far more consultative, which often means we take a finer line.
There are also a few areas where we cut our costs: we don't supply expensive snacks; bring them yourself, also we don't have our own doctor, although often a doctor joins as a team member.

OUR CREW
We provide the best climbing sherpas and expedition cooks. Because we have managed many expeditions we have a good body of dependable climbing sherpas you can rely on.

SAFETY OF OUR GUIDED CLIMBS
For guide-assisted climbs on 8000m peaks safety is paramount. We have the best walkie-talkies, emergency oxygen and a comprehensive medical kit. Also a big part of safety is common sense, altitude sense and experience, and making good judgment calls; that is what your leader-guide is for.
Expeditions under Jamie's leadership have not yet had a single case of frostbite or evacuations off the mountain. The worst we have had is a climber escorted down from ABC on oxygen.
For Cho Oyu and Shishapangma we take a limited amount of Poisk bottled oxygen and regulators, so that if you decide that you want oxygen for the summit push, it is available, and a tank plus regulator for you at Camp 3 costs $600. Additionally Jamie carries a bottle plus regulator all the way to the summit just in case.

Please contact us at enquiry@explorehimalaya.com to discuss about your expeditions.