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1945 |
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Born in Manchester, England |
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1960 |
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After a family holiday in Austria, begins rock climbing. Apprentices
with world-renowned climber, Joe Brown. |
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1962/63 |
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Climbs in Switzerland and the Italian Dolomites. |
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1964 |
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Graduates from Bolton School (an English public school).
Leads a
4-member expedition to Arctic Norway
and climbs
unexplored mountains within the Arctic Circle. |
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1965 |
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Returns
to Norway to make the 1st ascent of the 5,000 ft. Vertical Mile Troll Wall
the highest sheer rock wall in Europe. Spends
10 days sleeping on foot-wide ledges. Begins his speaking career lecturing about this
experience at climbing clubs in England, Scotland and Wales. Click
here to read about this historic ascent |
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1966 |
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Joins
the 6-man British Andean Expedition to Peru, which achieves the 1st complete ascent of the
north ridge of Nevado Alpamayo (20,000 ft) and produces the award-winning film, The
Magnificent Mountain, which is televised worldwide. Click
here to read more about the Alpamayo Expedition |
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1967 |
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With
Rusty Baillie, makes the 6-day first ascent of the North
Face of Sondre Trolltind in Norway, a 3,000 ft rock wall so featureless that
no ledges are visible after a snow storm. |
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1968 |
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Graduates
from Durham University in northern England and emigrates to Canada. Starts his education career as a school teacher in
Medicine Hat, Alberta, a small town located in the western prairie. |
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1969 |
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Marries Peggy Ann Hagel, a native of Saskatchewan. |
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1970 |
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Guides for an American expedition climbing
in the Coast Range mountains of British Columbia. Speaks
at the American Alpine Club annual meeting in Philadelphia. |
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1973 |
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Moves to the mountain town of Banff,
Alberta, in the world-famous Canadian Rockies. Qualifies
as a member of the Association of Canadian
Mountain Guides. |
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1974 |
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Leads a student expedition to Baffin Island
in the Canadian Arctic, which makes a number of 1st ascents of unexplored mountains. Five more expeditions to the Arctic follow. |
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1975 |
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Recruited to develop a School of the
Environment at The Banff Centre for Continuing Education, a post secondary institution
located in Banff National Park. Graduates
from the Banff School of Advanced Management.
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1976 |
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Organizes the 1st Annual Banff Festival of
Mountain Films, now recognized as the worlds most important celebration of mountain
life. Establishes the Banff Wilderness
Seminar program, a lifestyle retreat for senior business executives.
Click here to see more on the Banff Festival of
Mountain Films
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1979 |
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Recruited as
Expedition
Manager for the first Canadian expedition to attempt Mount Everest
(29,035 ft). Responsible for raising $1 million in sponsorship
and assembling 20 tons of equipment and food. |
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1981 |
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Leads a 4-man
expedition to Western China, which skis up Mt. Muztagata (24,757 feet) in training for the
Everest climb. Click here for more info on the Muztagata Expedition |
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1982 |
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A
leader and climber on the 1982 Canadian Mount Everest
Expedition, Sponsored by Air Canada, which after 4 tragic
deaths early in the climb places 6 people on the summit. Appears on national CBC
television and on ABC Nightline. Click here for the whole
'Everest' story |
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1983 |
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Becomes
Managing
Director of CanEverEx Promotions Inc., and organizes over 500 corporate presentations and
public appearances by Everest climbers across
Canada. |
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1984 |
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Establishes his own company with the
intention of going one step beyond Everest, to take the Everest experience and
apply it as a metaphor to the challenges faced in corporate and professional life. Delivers the closing presentation for the Million
Dollar Round Table meeting before 6,000 people at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Click here to see more about John's professional speaking
career |
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1985 |
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Develops on-going professional relationships
with all major speakers bureaus in North America. Over
the following two decades delivers more than 1,500 keynote presentations and seminars to over
750,000 people in 35 countries worldwide. Described
in 1998 as The Worlds Best Adventure Speaker by International Celebrity
Management of Australia. Click here for References page |
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1989 |
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Initiates the Sir
Alexander Mackenzie Canada Sea-to-Sea Bicentennial Expeditions 1989-1993, in order
to re-create the first crossing of the North American continent which occurred between
1789 and 1793. Travels 2,000 miles to the
Arctic Ocean in an inflatable Zodiac boat in support of the expedition. Click here for more on the Mackenzie expedition. |
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1990 |
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Sails across the
Caribbean Sea from St. Thomas to Venezuela, the first of many sailing expeditions and
corporate seminars undertaken in this area. |
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1991 |
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Collaborates with Alan
Hobson to publish, One Step Beyond: Rediscovering the Adventure Attitude, now
in its third printing and a North American best selling book. |
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1992 |
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Returns to Everest on a
family trek to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Everest climb in 1982. |
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1994 |
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Writes his
autobiographical, Straight to the Top and Beyond: Nine Keys for Meeting the
Challenge of Changing Times, which articulates his Adventure Attitude
philosophy for meeting the global challenges of the 21st Century.
Click here for more information on Straight to the Top and Beyond. |
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1995 |
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Initiates the ongoing
Global Odyssey project, an around the world circumnavigation by a Tall Ship
crewed by international youth, with the objective of investigating issues of global
concern for the future and preparing A
Declaration of World Youth for the New Millennium. |
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1996 |
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Joins the International
Advisory Committee for the Banff Centre for Mountain Culture, which promotes
understanding and appreciation of the worlds mountain places by creating
opportunities for people to share and find inspiration in mountain
experiences, ideas and visions. |
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2000 |
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On the 25th anniversary
of the Banff Mountain Film Festival, initiates the Banff Mountain Summit in which 30
leading climbers discuss the future of world mountaineering. Co-authors the book, Voices
from the Summit, published by the National Geographic Society. |
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2002 |
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Contributing
Author to "Extreme Landscape",
a book developed in association with the Banff Centre for
Mountain Culture which brings together the original work of 19
renowned writers, explorers, adventurers, and scientists who
share a passion for, and a commitment to, the world’s
extreme environments. |
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2004 |
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Reaches
the amazing milestone of having delivered his
presentation to audiences totaling more than 1,000,000 persons
in 44 countries world wide. |
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2008
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Anticipates continually
going one step beyond is search of exciting adventures in the rapidly-changing
global community of the new century. |