Geo Ex

The seed for Geographic Expeditions (GeoEx) was planted on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest by a group of trekkers in 1981. Huddled in a cold tent at about 16,500 feet and thrilled to be there—at the time, fewer than 300 Westerners had been permitted in Tibet and this group of 15 was the first American contingent ever allowed into the Tibetan backcountry—they cajoled a spunky Jo Sanders, the trek’s master permit-wheedler, into starting her own adventure travel company specializing in travel to recently forbidden parts of Tibet and China.