About Us
Wilderness Navigators is small and friendly hiking and trekking business, formed in 2018 with the vision of making the great outdoors accessible to everyone.
Our mission at Wilderness Navigators is simple - to engage people in fun, challenging and rewarding activities to help achieve personal goals. We are also promoters of healthy lifestyles and the positive effects this can have on improving mental health and reducing obesity in society. Mountaineering and climbing are great ways to meet like minded individuals with similar goals and ambitions.
We are here to help you achieve any goals or challenges you may have, whether that’s personal or to raise money for a specific charity close to your heart. Whatever the reason, we are here to make it happen.
The Team
Aim High
Keep Climbing
Respect
Each Other
Embrace Adventure
A Qualified Mountain Leader with a passion for the great outdoors.
Jake has experience climbing some of the highest mountains in the world, has competed in several ultra marathons and led some of the toughest mountain challenges in the UK.
Jake served in Afghanistan as a RAF Regiment Gunner. He was injured in January 2013 on operations in Afghanistan sustaining a complex fracture to his left arm, nerve damage and an extensive lower back injury, as a result was medically discharged in February 2015.
Since his injury, he trained in the Swiss Alps, successfully summited Mt Aconcagua (6,960m) the highest mountain in America, the Gran Paradiso (4,061m) the highest mountain in Italy and Mt Elbrus (5,642m) the highest mountain in Europe. Jake is passionate about hill climbing, rock climbing and is a keen skydiver. Jake was also part of a self-sufficient remote expedition in Sierra Leone pack rafting over 120km down the Moa River in 2017. He has also taken on several Ultra marathons, the biggest to date is the Ultra X 260km 5 day Ultra marathon in the Wadi Rum Desert (Jordan).
Jake Gardner
Adventure Is Out There
Jake - "I originally started out on a mission to summit Mt Everest in 2021 with the vision to raise funds and awareness for charities close to my heart. I am still on this journey. Our expeditions and dreams will take us all over the globe. We want to inspire you with what we love so much; We want you to be part of our journey and share our experiences.
We want you to take up the challenge and enjoy what we love so much at Wilderness Navigators - the freedom of the outdoors; to chase the thrill and excitement of what true adventure means. We believe by focusing the mind and having a positive outlook on life, which can be so hard in today's world, you can achieve beyond what you thought was possible.
Over the years, like many people, we've faced a variety of challenges in life. We've witnessed Friends , Family members and others in our communities struggle in the face of adversity. Personal experience has taught us that you have to keep motivated and keep the light shining in the darkest of hours. If you can keep moving, you can ignite a spark for others to follow and to help overcome their demons too."
“The greatest gift of life on the mountain is time. Time to think or not think, read or not read, scribble or not scribble — to sleep and cook and walk in the woods, to sit and stare at the shapes of the hills. I produce nothing but words; I consumer nothing but food, a little propane, a little firewood. By being utterly useless in the calculations of the culture at large I become useful, at last, to myself.”
- Philip Connors