Twenty-one years of running our own trips
We are not an agent and we do not resell another operator. Every departure on this site is designed, staffed and run by Sixty North, which is why we can tell you who is leading it and what it costs us.
Four regions, twenty-four routes, no aggregation
Sixty North Expeditions was founded in 2005 by two mountain leaders who were tired of selling other people trips they had never walked. We work in four regions only — Patagonia, Svalbard, the Karakoram and Kyrgyzstan — because that is how many places twelve staff can know properly. We employ our in-country teams directly rather than through a ground agent, and we cap every departure at twelve travellers, ten above 4,500 m.
What we are for
To put experienced independent travellers on serious ground in small groups, with the numbers, the risks and the money terms stated before a deposit is taken. If a trip is not right for you, we would rather say so on the phone than take your booking.
How we grade a trip
A published seven-grade scale, applied to every departure. Grade 1: up to 4 hours walking, 300 m ascent, no altitude. Grade 3: 4 to 6 hours, up to 600 m, below 3,000 m. Grade 4: 5 to 7 hours (9 on the hardest day), up to 900 m, below 2,000 m. Grade 5: 6 to 8 hours, up to 1,100 m, sleeping above 3,500 m. Grade 6: consecutive 8-hour days, 1,200 m ascent, sleeping above 4,500 m, glacier travel. Grade 7: expedition, technical ground, above 5,500 m. Every trip page states its grade and the figures behind it.
Our Values
Twelve, and we mean twelve
The cap is contractual, not aspirational. We have turned away a thirteenth booking on a sold-out departure 26 times since 2019 rather than break it.
Everything in writing before the deposit
Group size, leader, grade with numbers, price basis, single supplement, deposit and balance dates and the full cancellation scale — all on the trip page, all before you pay.
Local teams employed directly
Guides, cooks and drivers are on our payroll or on direct annual contracts, paid at or above the regional guiding rate, with the same day rate whether the group is full or half empty.
A phone that a person answers
No ticketing system, no chatbot. 08:00 to 18:00 GMT Monday to Saturday, and a 24-hour duty line staffed by an operations manager for anyone on a trip.
Our Locations
Registered office
Sixty North Expeditions Ltd, 14 Bartholomew Close, London EC1A 7BJ, United Kingdom. Company number 08442617. VAT GB 174 4028 11.
office@sixtynorth.example +44 20 7946 0388Southern operations — Patagonia
Sixty North Patagonia SpA, Calle Bulnes 447, Puerto Natales, Magallanes, Chile. SERNATUR registration 2019-MG-0446.
patagonia@sixtynorth.example +56 61 241 0088Central Asia operations
Sixty North Kyrgyzstan LLC, 12 Erkindik Boulevard, Bishkek 720040, Kyrgyz Republic. KTA member 0311.
centralasia@sixtynorth.example +996 312 900 481Who leads your trip
The single biggest difference between two similarly priced expeditions is the person at the front. Here is how ours are recruited, qualified and paid.
Recruited from the route, not from a CV pile
Every leader has walked the route they lead at least twice as a traveller or assistant before they take a group. We hire two to three leaders a year and we have never used a freelance pool.
Wilderness First Responder, revalidated every 24 months
An 80-hour WFR qualification with a 24-month revalidation cycle, paid for by us and done in company time. High-altitude leaders additionally hold a wilderness advanced life support certificate.
Local co-leaders employed directly
Every departure carries a co-leader from the country it runs in, on our payroll rather than a ground agent contract, paid at or above the regional guiding rate with the same rate on an under-filled departure.
The grading scale, applied by the leader
Grades 1 to 7 with objective figures — hours walking, metres of ascent, maximum and sleeping altitude. The leader who runs the route sets the grade and reviews it every season against the GPS tracks.
A written risk assessment per route, reviewed annually
River crossings, pass closure triggers, evacuation points and turnaround times are documented per route and signed off by the operations manager before each season opens.
Backed by a duty line, not a voicemail
Every leader in the field can reach an operations manager 24 hours a day by satellite, and so can your next of kin on +44 7700 900 214.
Two travellers on what the difference actually was
I have travelled with four operators in this bracket. Sixty North is the only one where the person who answered the phone had walked the route, told me the group was nine rather than "small", and knew that the second refugio had changed hands. That is the whole difference, and it is worth £400 to me.
Marion Delaunay
Seven trips since 2014 · Trustpilot verified
What sold me was the grading page. Real numbers — hours, ascent, sleeping altitude — instead of "moderate to challenging". I could work out honestly whether I was fit enough, and when I was not, in 2022, they told me to come back the following year rather than take my deposit.
Peter Adeyemi
Karakoram 2023 and 2025 · Trustpilot verified
Come to an open evening and meet the leaders
Four evenings a year at Bartholomew Close, with the leaders for the coming season, the route maps and the kit. Free, no booking pressure, and streamed for anyone who cannot get to London.
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