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Steve Bell grew up on the southwest coast of the UK where he discovered his affinity for the outdoors. Educated at a large state school, he spurned parental expectations and followed his heart to the Alps where he became a mountaineer, scaling climbs that were beyond his ability. He was lucky to survive, but he discovered the thrilling sense of achievement that comes when you overcome fear and push through pain. This discovery would determine the course of his life.

            Steve’s first trip to the Himalaya was a turning point. Realising he’d over-reached, he took a break from mountaineering and spend a summer with the British Antarctic Survey. A commission in the Royal Marines followed, but the mountains were never far from his mind. When a military expedition to Everest was announced, he had to go. His team attempted the West Ridge, one of Everest’s hardest climbs, and although he turned back 300m below the summit, the experience proved he could climb at extreme altitude.

            In 1987 Steve set up a trekking company with a friend. Trekking to base camp was never going to be enough, so Steve started taking clients up mountains, leading expeditions to a 7000m peak in 1989 and an 8000m peak in 1991. In 1993 he led the first British guided ascent of Everest—with sixteen summiteers, it was the most successful commercial expedition of its time.

            Steve founded Jagged Globe in 1995 and led teams up the rest of the Seven Summits—the highest mountain all seven continents—completing them in 1997. Now qualified as an international mountain guide (IFMGA), he headed up a newly formed High Altitude Guiding sub-committee which established principles of best practice, and he played a leading role in setting up a self-regulating body for the rapidly evolving high altitude guiding industry.

            Having achieved all his goals in the UK, Steve emigrated to Australia in 2004 with his wife and three children. He worked with a New Zealand mountain guiding company and led the occasional expedition for Jagged Globe. Divorce was followed by a chronic illness which ended his mountaineering career and forced him to reinvent himself. The next few years were a wild adventure while he explored different paths, eventually settling on writing and speaking about his experiences and sharing the lessons he’d learned.

            Steve Bell is the author two books with two more in the pipeline, one of which is under development as a feature film. He’s married to the South Australian artist, Rossy Reeves, and lives on the Fleurieu Peninsula at an altitude of nine metres above sea-level, four rope-lengths from the sea.