At seventeen I started leading groups on wilderness trips, and thirty years later, I’m still doing what I love. Along the way I summited Mount Everest and K2, starred in and/or filmed numerous television shows, written business books, started a bunch of successful companies, married a beautiful woman and became a dad.
Climbing & Guiding
Climbing internationally since 1987, I’ve led nearly 200 international 
mountaineering expeditions. I guided three groups on the North Ridge of Mount Everest and one-hundred and something more groups on peaks like Kilimanjaro, Cotopaxi, Alpamayo, Aconcagua, the Matterhorn and Mount Blanc.
I’ve summited five of the world’s tallest peaks (Everest, K2, Lhotse, Cho Oyu and Shisha Pangma). I am one of only nine Americans to have summited both K2 and Everest. I am the first American to “solo” an 8000 meter peak, climbing the South Face of Shisha Pangma in a 34 hour non-stop ascent and descent. My partners and I forged new routes on extremely technical peaks in the Himalaya (Ama Dablam and Shivling). For more information on my personal trips visit SharedSummits.com or for more information on Earth Treks’ guided expeditions, visit EarthTreksClimbing.com.
Media: TV, Radio, Books, Presentations and the Web
In 2003, I guided the first-ever reality TV show filmed on Everest. A few years later I hosted a program for the History Channel. In 2007, I led the successful Shared Summits K2 Expedition. Our team produced, filmed and starred in an expedition film, in partnership with Aura360 and NBC Sports. The film was nominated for several Emmys and was a finalist in one category. In addition to those larger roles, I’ve appeared as an expert on climbing and leadership issues on NBC, CNBC, ABC, OLN, National Geographic TV, Fox, CNN, BBC, Bloomberg and many more local stations.
Publishing: My writings have been published in dozens of newspapers and magazines. I contributed a chapter to Upward Bound, a leadership book published by Crown Books. In October 2008, Don Schminke and I released High Altitude Leadership, published by Jossey-Bass. The book was a TOP TEN Leadership Seller on Amazon.
Presentations: I have shared my adventures with tens of thousands of people at more than 400 multi-media presentations. I have been the featured speaker for dozens of corporate groups and business schools including: Google, BB&T Bank, Morgan Stanley, Cisco, General Growth Properties, Aegon, Monumental Life,Charles Schwab, Raymond James Financial Services, Northrup Grumman, Liberty Global, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, Prudential, The Allegis Group, WPO, YPO, Vistage, The University of Colorado, Loyola University’s Executive MBA Program, University of Maryland’s MBA Program, Wharton Business School, and Johns Hopkins University.
Entrepreneurship
In 1990 I started a small mountaineering guide service. Earth Treks now operates three full service indoor climbing centers (including the Nation’s largest climbing wall), a rock and ice climbing school and guides international mountaineering expeditions. Earth Treks employs over 200 people, serving over 600,000 customers each year.
Earth Treks has carved a niche in the area of leadership development. Every year Earth Treks guides leadership development expeditions for groups, including the MBA Candidates at the Wharton School of Business and directors at Google.
“Chris’ entrepreneurial experiences and his ability to tie specific leadership and teamwork situations back to the business world was extremely applicable and insightful.” -Wharton.
“One of the nation’s biggest schools for rock and mountain climbers and one that will help Girl Scouts dangle their way up the indoor training wall and lead die-hards up Everest.” –The Washington Post.
