The Team

JAVIER

Mountains are my passion. Since I was young I started to walk all the valleys and summits of the Basque Country where I have lived since I was born. This hobby has allowed me to know other mountains in other countries and continents. I have spent a great part of my life enjoying walks in nature and, for some years now, I have been working professionally so that others can do the same:

• I am a professional mountain guide with the international credential UIMLA (Union International Mountain Leaders Associations).
• Member of the AEGM (Spanish Mountain Guides Association).

• Graduate in Business and Tourism Activities from Deusto University.
• Before dedicating myself professionally to this activity I have organized countless routes and hiking trips as an amateur for my family and groups of friends.
• Organizer and guide of excursions in the Basque Country and Pyrenees in my local mountaineering club (CVC) for several years.
• I have also worked guiding groups of hikers in Spain (Pyrenees and Picos de Europa) for other hiking companies.
• Organizer of other sporting activities for very large groups (accommodation, travelling, meals, transfers, etc.) for several years.
• Tourist guide for groups of young people travelling in Spain and other European countries for three years.
• Qualified in First Aid by the Spanish Red Cross.
• Conducted many training courses, seminars and practices on mountain safety.
• Obtaining several diplomas and recognitions for activities carried out in mountains.

• Regarding my experience as a mountaineer:
  • When I was 10 years old I started to hike and climb.
  • Since then, I have ascended almost 1,000 different mountains and have walked countless hiking trails.
  • I know nearly all the mountains of the Basque region (more than 640), having visited many of them several times.
  • I have climbed more than 75 mountains higher than 2,000 metres (6,600ft), as well as around 50 mountains over 3,000 metres (10,000ft), many times alone.
  • I have also climbed many mountains over 4,000 metres (13,200ft) in the Alps, such as the Mont Blanc, the Cervino, the Rimpfischhorn, the Alphubel, the Breithorn and the Weissmies, among others.
  • I have also breathed the fine air that exists above 5,000 metres (16,500ft) at the summit of Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) or in some volcanoes in the Andes (Ecuador).

All this activity, together with the extensive training I have, gives me the necessary experience to be able to organize and guide the fantastic hiking trips that our company offers in the north of Spain.

MARÍA JOSÉ

María José also graduated in Business and Tourism Activities from the University of Deusto. Throughout her working life she has acquired extensive experience in the administration and sales departments of the different companies where she has worked. For this reason, in Walking North Spain she is in charge of administrative and logistic tasks, as well as of making some reservations, dealing with different suppliers, searching for information, etc. She also sometimes takes care of the reception and transfer of clients to their hotels.

She has been fond of hiking and mountaineering since her childhood, which is why her experience is very extensive, having ascended nearly 300 mountains, both in the Basque Country and in the Pyrenees and Picos de Europa.