Jon Kedrowski

I will give you strategies to climb the Mt. Everest in your lives by learning how to accept and embrace being uncomfortable in order to push forward and achieve in business and at home.

Expert on

  • Motivation
  • Goal Setting
  • Mindset
  • Adversity
  • Adventurers

Fee Range

$10,000–$15,000

Travels from

CO, US

Biography

I am an entrepreneur, a mountain guide, a coach, a college professor, a ski mountaineer, and an author.  I am the founder of Dr. Jon’s Adventures, a mountain guiding and coaching company.  I have a Ph.D. in Environmental Geography, Weather, and Climate and grew up in Vail, Colorado where I have climbed over 1,000 different Colorado peaks, including hundreds of ski descents, skiing each of Colorado’s 14,000′ peaks and about half of the 637 CO 13ers.

I have climbed 6 of the 7 continental summits, including 5 expeditions to Mt. Everest in 2012, 2015, 2018,  2019, and 2021. My most recent summit of Everest came while guiding and coaching singer/songwriter Mike Posner to the top on June 1, 2021.  My training ground has included the mighty Mount Rainier volcano in WA, which I have climbed over 40 times and skied on numerous occasions.

In many of my adventures, there have been tragedies. In many situations, my team has faced overwhelming odds and weathered many storms but still often reached our goal of making it to the top. On high-altitude expeditions we face rapidly changing conditions, limited resources, and uncertain team dynamics, similar to what many of you face in today’s fast-paced business world as well as the realm of socially responsible investing.

While taking you along for some of the exhilarating mountain expeditions and rescues that me and my teammates have endured in Colorado, Alaska, and on Mt. Everest, I will impart lessons on the way on how to quiet your mind and find your inner warrior to tackle any challenge, develop resilient leadership skills, promote engaged teamwork, and adapt to change while reaching your goals. I will share stories from my personal experiences of surviving two of the worst tragedies in the history of Mt. Everest, including in 2015 when I witnessed the worst tragedy in the Mount Everest history when 20 climbers were killed after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal.  I was fortunate to survive the avalanche in base camp and came away with valuable lessons about turning failure into success.

We’ll also discuss goal setting, and how to break a seemingly insurmountable goal (like a far away summit) into smaller, achievable steps, like switchbacks up a mountain.  

 

Speaker Videos

Everesting

Elevate Your Mindset and Your Life!

Struggling and succeeding on long expeditions requires focused goal setting,
self-discipline, and commitment. Dr. Jon has reached hundreds of incredible
summits, including the highest in the world (Everest) three times.
Small and big mountains, we’ve all tried to climb them.
Where do you start?

In this inspirational keynote, Dr. Jon distills his mountain-tested S.U.M.M.I.T.
technique for reaching the huge goals you have in life and in business. His
adventure stories, vivid photographs, and exhilarating videos bring to life his
practical methods for how to:
● Achieve your dreams, no matter how high
● Break seemingly insurmountable goals into small, SMART goals
● Implement successful execution strategies
Through hard-won wisdom, perseverance, and success gained on adventures
from Colorado to Alaska, South America, Pakistan, and Nepal, you’ll discover
just how you can elevate your mindset and your life by reaching your stretch
goals.

Finding the Warrior Within

Reaching the Right Head Space

On May 26, 2012, Dr. Jon summited Mt. Everest after having to turn
around only 800 feet from the summit because of a terrible storm 6 days
prior. The storm was the 2nd deadliest in Everest history (at the time),
claiming seven lives in one night. In 2015, Jon was once again back in
Nepal at the Everest Base Camp when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck,
triggering a deadly avalanche, killing 20 and injuring nearly 10,000 people
in Nepal.

Dr. Jon stayed to help with recovery efforts and turned a failure into a success by
helping others and embracing a change in plans.
In this keynote, Dr. Jon will provide strategies on quieting the mind and finding the warrior within during difficult times or when facing what seems impossible. It starts with having a sacred practice or routine to reach the right headspace. It’s about facing fears, getting comfortable outside of comfort zones, setting and attempting goals and summits that take time to reach, and in the end realizing that it’s all about the journey and the rich experiences in between.

Weathering Storms

Success is Measured by Trying Again When the Storms Clear

In life, business, and mountaineering, there are storms. Mountain storms bring sudden wind, freezing conditions, and white-out blizzards. Life’s storms can be struggling with economic issues or facing a personal crisis. After decades of climbing and skiing off of high peaks around the world, as well as running his own business, Dr. Jon knows
what it takes to endure life’s storms. In this motivational talk, he shares his stories and insights on how to:
● Adjust your plans, attitudes, and actions by focusing on what you can control
● Engage problems with drive, direction, and discipline while managing risk
● Overcome fear and endure stormy times
● Realize that failure is part of the journey to success if you stay strong and don’t give up
● Thrive and maintain momentum in spite of unexpected setbacks
Dr. Jon’s best-selling book, “Sleeping on the Summits: Colorado Fourteener High Bivys” will be featured in this presentation because during this project he failed over 15 times on various peaks and had to weather storms (including a lightning strike, and a bear attack) along the way but still persevered. Dr. Jon will include the harrowing story of experiencing the 2015 earthquake and avalanche in Nepal, featured in a Smithsonian Documentary as well as his experiences during the historic 2020 Winter K2 expedition and surviving 2 cyclones on Mt. Everest in 2021.