Meet the Team
We are a team of experienced mountaineering instructors, with a reputation for the highest quality delivery and a relaxed and professional approach.
We love what we do and are dedicated to providing the UK's best skills courses, guiding and outdoor activities.
Jake Phillips
Jake is one of the UK's most active and experienced Mountaineering Instructors, who brings bags of enthusiasm and knowledge to every course he delivers. His down-to-earth nature and dedication to providing the highest levels of instruction and coaching combine with a genuine desire to help everyone achieve their goals.
He has worked full-time in the outdoor industry for his whole career and is a keen and accomplished climber and mountaineer. He holds the UK's highest mountaineering qualifications, has worked at the highest levels for many years and is responsible for training and assessing many of the next generation of outdoor instructors.
Some of his personal highlights from the past few years have been soloing 100 rock climbs in an afternoon, new routing in the Adwa mountains of Northern Ethiopia, mountaineering in the Central Alaskan Range and a one day winter traverse of the Cuillin Ridge, Oh and climbing Great Gully on Craig Yr Ysfa- it's the best VDiff ever!
Andy Charlton
Andy is a Director and full-time Mountaineering Instructor for AE. He also acts as a Mountain Safety Advisor for a number of well-known organisations and spends all other available time running and playing in the mountains.
Hooked on the outdoor life from an early age, Andy's been lucky enough to climb, run, walk and mountaineer extensively in the UK and overseas and enjoys pushing himself personally and professionally in the mountains. He love's what he does – a job which gives him the opportunity to pass on skills and hopefully inspire people to take themselves further in the mountains.
Some of his proudest achievements include winning the A-Class of the Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon and just being in the right place at the right time to complete a greater-crossing of the Cuillin ridges on Skye above an un-broken sea of cloud – simply breath-taking!
Cat Charlton
Cat left a career in law to work full-time in the outdoors and has never looked back. Equally happy climbing warm rock in the sun or taking on the challenge of icy winter conditions, Cat's passion lies in helping others to overcome their fears and achieve their aims in the outdoors. Her warmth and ability to connect with people and help them break down any barriers to stopping them achieve what they want has been the driving force behind what she's achieved in her career. Cat also combines her legal background and experience in the outdoors by providing mountain safety advice and acting as an expert witness alongside her role as director of AE.
Cat has climbed and led trips for many years all over the world before setting up a not-for-profit organisation (Adventure Expeditions), delivering and promoting outdoor activity opportunities for young people. She established Adventure Expertise as a sister-company to that business to offer advanced skills development courses and guiding in the UK. She continues to guide and instruct on these courses and loves nothing more than an adventure with like-minded people.
