Travels from Vail, Colorado, USA
Jon Kedrowski's speaking fee falls within range: $10,000 to $15,000
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.
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 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
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.
Authentic and Motivational
“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.” – Joe Carlson, Financial Advisor, General Partner, Edward Jones
Inspirational, Highly Recommended
“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.” – C.Noonon, Senior Account Executive, Minnesota Timberwolves / Lynx
Entertaining and Educational
“Our community can’t get enough of Jon’s stories and lectures about his adventures on Everest. His multi-media presentation is as entertaining as it is educational and we welcome him to our stage any time.” – K. Sabel, Executive Director, Vail Symposium
The Journey is the Important Part
“Dr. Jon Kedrowski has accomplished some really tough feats, and has a way of using those experiences to help us all see that we should also set our sights on the mountain top while prioritizing the way there. The journey is the important part, and Dr. Jon brings that message home. My family is already planning our first 14er together!” – C. Puckett, Financial Advisor, Edward Jones
Exciting and Compelling
“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.” – S. Booren, Owner and Founder, Prosperion Financial Advisors, Greenwood Village, CO
Relevant to Business Challenges
“I highly recommend Jon as a Keynote Speaker if you are looking for someone that has the unique ability to combine impressive subject matter and lessons from his summits all over the world that relates to numerous challenges in the business environment.” – R. Cargo, COO, Raymond James Financial
Concepts of Grit and Persistence
“Dr. Jon’s keynote was perfect for our sales kickoff. He connected with the audience, shared incredible stories, and drew real life parallels between climbing mountains and achieving success in other areas of our life. Our team loved his message and he was a great reinforcer around concepts of grit and persistence. I’d highly recommend using him for your next event!” – Elizabeth Schillo, Chief Revenue Officer, Netchex
Personal and Professional Goals
“Dr. Jon Kedrowski took my audience on a journey to the top of the world, Mt. Everest. He is an eloquent speaker and an inspirational leader. Jon shared so many takeaway lessons from which we can all benefit. My own personal shortlist included: 1. Take the time to identify your own Everest; 2. Once you’ve set your goal, focus on becoming “Everest-ready;” and 3. Surround yourself with like-minded people who support and inspire you… life is too short for anything less! I would highly recommend Dr. Jon for any (every) audience looking to maximize personal and professional achievement.” – Dr. Tom Orent, Founder & CEO, Freedom Summit Coaching
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Classic Colorado Ski Descents
Travel around Colorado with ski mountaineer Dr. Jon Kedrowski as he guides you to some of the best ski descents the state has to offer. Classic Colorado Ski Descents showcases 300 ski descents on 70 separate peak entries on Fourteeners, Thirteeners, as well as easily accessible mountain passes and locales; with routes that range from peaks with gentle terrain, to tree glades, endless powder, ridge lines, steep faces, and couloirs. Each peak description includes skiable vertical, elevation gain, and roundtrip mileage, as well as easy-to-follow directions to the trailhead. Dr. Kedrowski, who brings his expert knowledge from having skied various descents on the 58 Colorado 14,000′ peaks brings in a total of 300 different ski lines and ski descents described in detail and notated with 70 color topographic maps in this book, and complete color photographs- a must have for any backcountry skier in Colorado! This guide covers seven major mountain ranges across the Colorado Rockies.
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