Adrian Ballinger

Founder, Alpenglow Expeditions

Adrian Ballinger is a big-mountain climber and skier, and a certified mountain guide. As the founder of Alpenglow Expeditions, he has been guiding groups professionally on the world's tallest mountains for 25 years.

Ballinger has led more than 150 international climbing expeditions on six continents, and made 17 successful summits of 26,000-foot peaks, reaching the summit of Mt. Everest nine times. As an athlete, he is the only American to have made three successful ski descents of 26,000-foot peaks, including the first ski descent from the summit of Nepal's 26,781-foot Manaslu, the eighth-highest mountain in the world. He also is the fourth American to have summited both Mount Everest and K2 without the use of supplemental oxygen. Ballinger aims to excel in all three of the traditional mountain-guide disciplines — mountaineering, rock climbing and skiing.