Our History
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 progression. Our first mountaineering expedition was to the trekking peak, Stok Kangri, in 1988. 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 team member), 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 climbers, and 7 of them (plus 2 guides and 7 Sherpas) reached the summit. As the leader of that trip, I had no idea that we were among the trail blazers for professionally led expeditions, which are now the most common form of Everest ascent. We then became 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, with whom I'd shared many mountaineering adventures. 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 expanded to include trekking and skiing, and developed a market leading website. The latter is the work of Marketing Director Tom Briggs, who became the third Director of the company in 2003.
In January 2004 I moved to Australia, leaving Simon Lowe to take over as MD. I continue to work on the development of Jagged Globe and promote our offerings 'downunder' from my bases in Melbourne and Natimuk near Mount Arapiles. I am no longer able to lead expeditions, but my heart is still very much up there in the heights.
Jagged Globe has been a pioneer in making mountaineering, trekking and skiing more accessible, and I know how lucky I am to have been a part of it. How lucky we all are, to have access to adventures that our forebears could only dream of.
Steve Bell
