DR. jon kedrowski

Dr. Jon Kedrowski is one of the world's leading high altitude mountaineer experts. He has a Ph.D. in Environmental Geography, Weather and Climate. He has studied, survived, and safely guided teams on high altitude peaks around the world, learning valuable lessons and how to elevate his mindset.

Speaking Topics

overcoming adversity

inspirational

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With unparalleled outdoor experiences, a passion for storytelling, and the desire to inspire, Dr. Jon wants to help ignite your organization, your clients, and you to overcome the mountains of your mind!

As a life-long wilderness enthusiast, Dr. Jon is one of the world’s leading high altitude mountaineer experts. His passion for hiking, climbing, and skiing was instilled in him as he grew up in Vail, Colorado, and continued as he earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Geography in 2010. The following year he was the first to summit and spend the night on the top of all 55 of Colorado’s 14,000’+ peaks in only 95 days. This experience prepared him for his life goal of summiting Mt. Everest, which he did for the first time in 2012.

Dr. Kedrowski has advised or led climbing expeditions to each of the Seven Summits except for Vinson Massif in Antarctica, which is high on his bucket list. In 2012, Dr. Kedrowski summited Mount Everest and has since led five different expeditions to Mount Everest (2012, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, guiding clients to the top in 2019 and 2021).

Dr. Kedrowski has been featured on several documentaries about his climbing and skiing adventures on the Discovery Channel, Smithsonian, NBC, DatelineNBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and CNN. In 2019, Dr. Kedrowski made the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 meters / 26,781 feet with- out the use of supplemental oxygen and was part of the first expedition to K2 (8,611 meters / 28,250 feet) in 2021 that put ten Nepali climbers on the summit for the first time ever in winter. He is also a regular contributor to KDVR Fox 31 Denver and KWGN CW2 in Denver for stories about the great outdoors in Colorado. He is the owner of a company called Dr. Jon’s Adventures that leads expeditions all over the world.

Dr. Kedrowski has written four books: Sleeping on the Summits: Colorado 14er High Bivys (2012), Skiing and Sleeping on the Summits, Cascade Volcanoes (2016), Classic Colorado Ski Descents (2017), Classic Colorado Ski Descents (2022).

Dr. Kedrowski has previously presented his lessons from the summits to companies such as Hewlett Packard, Charles Schwab, Raymond James, Edward Jones, and Vail Resorts, with stories about motivation, goal setting, leadership, risk management, and unlocking human potential.

Dr. Kedrowski’s favorite hobbies include skiing, mountaineering, and photography. He loves to travel, mountain bike, trail run, river raft, play basketball, and play golf while enjoying the gorgeous summer and fall seasons in Colorado.

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Testimonials

  • Financial Advisor, General Partner, Edward Jones

    “Dr. Jon’s authenticity is real, and his message will motivate…he was strong in front of the group, but the real treat was his commitment to some one on one interaction…our people really appreciated that time.”.

  • Senior Account Executive, Minnesota Timberwolves / Lynx

    “Jon was an incredible speaker and brought our group a brand new perspective on what it means to go through challenges and rise above them when it counts! I took a picture with him afterwards and noted that this was the closest I’ll ever get to the top of Mount Everest. He was an inspiration and I would strongly recommend him to any organization looking to make an impact on their staff or clients.”

  • Owner and Founder, Prosperion Financial Advisors, Greenwood Village, CO

    “Dr. Jon gives a unique, exciting and compelling talk, one that engages his audience to experience what few have seen, climbing Mt. Everest. Crossing crevasses, feeling the force of the wind, the rush of the climb. Jon uniquely shares the determination, planning, teamwork and focus in an inspirational message to the audience. You will never will forget his experience and passion and you’ll use the experience to enrich your own life.”

KEYNOTE TOPICS

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • On May 26, 2012, Dr. Jon summited Mt. Everest after having to tur 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.

    “In order to be successful in life, you have to accept and embrace being uncomfortable on some level in order to push forward and achieve.” – Dr. Jon

  • 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.

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Fee Range: $10,000–$15,000

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