Jon Kedrowski

• "Train for mountains by climbing mountains" is a common phrase I frequently use with my clients when training them for big mountain climbs, but this concept can apply to any endeavor in life.  

In my motivational keynote, I will inspire you to climb your next Everest and learn how to "Weather Storms and Stay Prepared" through amazing stories of facing adversity on big mountains and in real life. You will learn 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

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.  

Here's a few of my most memorable adventures that I often pull stories from:

• 2011: Sleeping on the Summits project.  I became the first person to spend the night on the summit of Colorado's 58 peaks over 14,000'. It was a project involving the ultimate levels of adversity, teamwork, perseverance, and endurance.  Setting goals and never giving up on them was key to making it happen.  This project also led to my first published book chronicling the feat in "Sleeping on the Summits: Colorado 14er High Bivys."
• 2012: My first Mt. Everest summit, a tragic year on Everest chronicled in the Dateline NBC special "Into the Death Zone".
• 2013: During a ski expedition to Gasherbrum II in Pakistan, a base camp at a nearby mountain was attacked by the Taliban and many climbers were executed. My team decided to stay at Gasherbrum II and still had a chance to ski on the 13th highest mountain in the world.
• 2015: While in Mt. Everest base camp preparing for the climb, a major earthquake in Nepal triggered an avalanche that was documented in the Smithsonian film "Mountain of Death: Earthquake and Avalanche on Everest".
• 2016: I attempted  to become the first person to climb and ski each of Colorado's 14,000' peaks in a single season from January to June. While falling a little short of the goal, the project led to my second published book: "Classic Colorado Ski Descents".
• 2019: I climbed to the summit of  Manaslu (27,781') without the use of supplemental oxygen.
• 2020-21: I was a member of the team that put the first people on the summit of K2 (the world's second highest mountain) in the winter in -50F temperatures. 
• 2021: I led singer and songwriter Mike Posner to the top of the world after training him for 18 months, summiting Mt. Everest on June 1 after waiting out two major weather events.  

I have spoken to all ages and organizations ranging from private financial companies, state recreation associations, schools, universities, clubs, corporations, private, and public.