Mike Jones (canoeist)

Mike Jones (* 1952 in Yorkshire ; † August 1978 in the Karakoram ) was a British medic who made several spectacular first trips with a kayak in white water paddling around the world .

Mike Jones is considered to be the greatest whitewater kayaker of the 20th century. He developed from a slalom competitor to an expedition leader for spectacular first descents of water-rich high mountain rivers in the area of white water difficulty scale VI. In 1969 Mike Jones and his fellow paddlers were the first to navigate the spectacular gorges of the Inn in the Engadine between St. Moritz and Finstermünz . During his lifetime he became a kayak legend through his extensive expeditions to Dudh Kosi at the foot of Mount Everest , the Blue Nile and the cataracts of the Orinoco . To this day, Mike Jones holds the world record in kayaking on Mount Everest at 5,500 m above sea level.

In Great Britain there is a Mike-Jones Foundation for the promotion of youth work in kayaking, an annual Mike-Jones rally with international participation is held.

Expeditions

• First ascent of some difficult sections of the Inn in the Engadine
• Grand Canyon of the Colorado River
• Blue Nile
• First ascent of Dudh Kosi in the Himalayas in 1976
• Orinoco upper reaches 1977
• 1978 Mike Jones drowned in Karakorum , when he tried a friend in the river Braldu to save the life

literature

• Mike Jones and Jürgen Schach von Wittenau: Falling from Everest. With the kayak through whitewater and eternal ice , 2004, ISBN 3894050209
• Mike Jones: Canoeing Down Everest , 1979
• Dudh Kosi - Relentless River of Everest . Film with: Mike Jones, Mick Hopkinson, Leo Dickinson; Directed by Mike Jones and Mick Hopkinson, VHS video

Web links

• Literature by and about Mike Jones in the catalog of the German National Library