Kevin Cherilla

Kevin Cherilla has been an international mountaineer for over 20 years. Conquering the summit of Mt. Everest in 2007 was his greatest personal accomplishment. Since then, he’s made it his personal goal to change lives one adventure at a time—whether by scaling Everest, Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu or Aconcagua. Kevin’s passion for climbing and helping others has even been passed on to individuals who are blind, paralyzed or have lost limbs. He “Enjoys the smiles on the faces of those we help both in the United States and around the world.”

His own adventure began when he wanted to have a bigger impact on people through his travel expeditions. Kevin was the expedition leader for 25 individuals, eight of whom were blind, on a climb to Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for people with disabilities. Kristen Sandquist was one of the guides on his team. The team broke four world records, raised over $200,000 for the blind in Arizona and assisted a local orphanage that housed 24 blind and albino children in Tanzania. After this historic climb in 2009, Kevin and Kristen joined forces to create K2 Adventures Foundation and K2 Adventure Travel, and they’ve been helping others around the globe ever since. Together, they run K2 Adventure Travel, which organizes voluntourism trips to Africa, Peru and Nepal.

Kevin has personally summited 5 of the 7 Summits, as well as led over 1,500 individuals safely to Kevin has personally summited 5 of the 7 Summits, as well as led over 1,500 individuals safely to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, guided tours through the Andes in South America and the Himalayas in Nepal. He has also led hundreds of clients across the Grand Canyon for the 25.5 mile Rim-to-Rim hike.

Kevin graduated from John Carrol University with a BS in Physical Education and received a master’s degree in Health Education from Case Western Reserve University. He is an international mountain guide and a certified NOLS Wilderness First Responder. He is also trained in CPR and First Aid.