The Khumbu Trek Members
Todd Burleson, Trek Leader
Director and founder of Alpine Ascents International,
Todd has achieved unparalleled success in the mountain guiding industry
and is one of the world's leading mountaineers. Todd spent most of his
childhood in Alaska where his prowess and love for mountaineering were
developed. In his fifteen years of guiding, he has led eight expeditions to
Mt. Everest. He has guided successful
expeditions on every continent. In addition to instructing
mountaineering training courses, Todd has recently led successful
expeditions to Rainier, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, Carstensz Pyramid, Vinson
and Everest. Most recently, Todd led a number of first ascents in the
arctic region of Greenland. In 1998 Todd was awarded the American Alpine
Club's prestigious Sowles award for his rescue efforts on Mt. Everest in
1996. Todd just spent the past two months climbing Kilimanjaro and running around India between expeditions he is rarely at home, but looking forward to a great trek and being in the Khumbu among his friends again.
Gordon Janow, Trek Leader
As the Program Director of Alpine Ascents International, Gordon is responsible for creating
all the AAI written materials, researching climbing and cultural histories
and pre-trip logistics. Gordon scouts out new area locations such as Iran,
Yemen and Bhutan to hand pick future itineraries. He has traveled
extensively for the past fifteen years with a particular addiction to
the Indian sub-continent, where he has made nearly a dozen trips,
totaling three years. Gordon spends a fair amount of time writing and
has had both fiction and travel works published in the United States and
India. He is fascinated with Nepali culture and has a real passion for sharing that knowledge with others. His sense of humor helps keep people excited in new and sometimes unexpected cultural situations
Trekkers