Jon Otto, Expedition Leader

Jon Otto is a mountain guide, expedition planner and leader, author, and travel consultant. Jon lives half the year in Palo Alto, California and the other half in Chengdu, China. Jon speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and has traveled extensively in western and southwest China, including Tibet and many remote and border regions such as the Shaksgam valley around K2. His organizational skills are superb, and he has developed extensive contacts throughout China and Tibet.

Jon learned to rock climb at the age of 15 and started ice climbing in college. He spent a year studying in Beijing where he joined the university’s climbing club. In the summer of 1991 Jon took part in the club’s first expedition to climb Mustagata (7546 meters). Since then, Jon has climbed Mustagata seven times and led two new routes, most notably the first ascent of the East Ridge.

Jon went on to lead many expeditions throughout China including the first western ascent of Mt. Nojin Tangla (7116 meters) in Tibet, the first ascent of Half Ridge Peak in Sichuan, he pioneered a new route up the rocky West ridge of Mt. Yala (5820 meters), and led the second ascent up the Southeast ridge of Mt. Siguniang (6250 meters). In 2000 Jon co-led a large international expedition to Cho-Oyu (8201 meters) the 6th highest mountain in the world, and continues to lead climbs on various 5000-7000 meter peaks in China and Tibet.

In 1998 Jon started BlueSheep Adventures, an adventure travel company dedicated to providing unique cultural, exploratory, and mountaineering trips in China and Tibet. Jon is also the co-founder of the Arête Alpine Instruction Center (AAIC) located in the city of Chengdu, China. AAIC is a premier climbing school in China dedicated to teaching skills and promoting the mountains of Sichuan province.

In the late 1990s Jon worked on an internationally renowned environmental education park called the Living Water Garden in Chengdu, China. He also wrote the first guidebook to rock climbing in Beijing. Jon has an undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Vermont.