Graham McDonald - Head of Expeditions for the Young. Currently Deputy Head Teacher at Banchory Academy in North East Scotland, Graham has undertaken a variety of roles in school, outdoor and environmental education. On graduating from Aberdeen University, BSc Geography, Graham worked in Outward Bound before returning to Glasgow University to complete a teaching qualification. After a couple of years "in the classroom" he moved back outdoors working in several Outdoor and Environmental Centres, and Manager of Ballater Outdoor & Environmental Education Centre. As well as his academic qualifications Graham has trained and qualified in a range of outdoor activities including summer & winter walking, mountaineering, sailing, kayaking, canoeing, skiing, First Aid and Search Management.
Since 1981, and long before the recent trend for overseas expeditions, Graham organised and led numerous trips for senior school students and adults. Destinations included the mountainous regions of Africa, Alaska, Arctic Northern Europe, Iceland, Siberia and mainland Europe and, closer to home, all parts of Scotland. As well as this expeditionary work Graham has worked extensively with the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and has advised on Safety Guidelines and Operational Procedures for outdoor education within Aberdeenshire. Graham has been involved in Mountain Rescue for over 30 years, the last twenty as Manager of the Braemar Team. He was recently appointed Vice Chairman of the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland. When not working, Graham’s home's the mountains!
John Tolan - Head of Overseas High Altitude Climbing Expeditions - Previously a senior Army Officer with 20 years service, with experience of the Regular and Reserve forces around the world specialising for the past ten years full time in skiing and mountain expeditions. John has instructed and led teams successfully to summit many high altitude mountains - with over 100 expeditions to most of the world’s great mountain ranges. These include to Nepal, India, China, Mongolia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand, European Alps, Pyrenees, Alaska Range, USA, Vietnam, South Africa and Turkey. John is a qualified Climbing, Summer, Winter and Alpine Mountaineering instructor, BASI Alpine ski and ski touring instructor and has run a champion Army ski racing team for a number of years. He has vast experience of working with a wide range of groups include school, military and adult groups. He has also in been an Education Action Zone manager responsible for developing young people through outdoor education as well as a leader in youth organisations.
John’s passion for the mountainous environment, his enjoyment of working with people to achieve goals they thought not possible and his infectious enthusiasm, result in consistently great feedback from groups he has led. His comprehensive approach to working with groups, as well as detailed management of expeditions have resulted in greater than 95% of John’s complete teams summiting mountains safely in situations – often where other groups wholly or partially fail to gain summit success. A key aspect to this success is John’s experience of remote medical care and expert management of groups at high altitude. John views successful mountain trips as a combination of detailed preparation, diet and hydration management, health & hygiene management, psychological preparation, practical skills training, acclimatisation management as well as most importantly the creation of an atmosphere where there is a positive team attitude towards gaining success.
Johns philosophy and style aims not only to maximise your success on the mountain but also to ensure that you get the most out of your expedition experience. This means not only your enjoyment of the expedition but that you also develop your mountain skills and understanding of the mountain environment. This is where you will see a great divergence of philosophy from many other mountain leaders and guides who are often not as client focussed.
John splits his time between homes in the Alps and the UK. When not working in the mountains, he will invariably be planning the next mountain trip or expedition adventure.
Steve Bolton - Co Owner and General Manager - Venture Force is the fulfilment of a joint vision spawned many years ago while Tom and I were buddies back at school , many many years ago. It was always our dream to run an outdoor adventure company as we both savoured a love for travel, the outdoors and definitely adventure. As you’ll realise I’m sure, life takes many twists and ours have brought us to where we are now!
For my part I have, over the intervening years, successfully run a small Business Consultancy, specialising in Programme and Project Management for Financial Services organisations and I currently own a Property Development company. So why now become involved in Trekking and Expeditions in general?
That’s a question easily answered - throughout my life I’ve travelled the world and visited many different places. You could say it’s a hobby of mine, or has it become more than just that, its a passion! I love to travel experiencing the real country that I choose to visit with my family , venturing 'off the beaten track' as opposed to following the typical tourist route. The experiences I’ve gained and the many people I’ve met along the way have spurred me to take those early school ideas, realise a boyhood dream and put our thoughts and ideas into practise. So by combining my 25+ years of all round extensive business knowledge , including owning and managing start ups and small sized businesses coupled with that the experience of my fellow Co Owner Tom Tuckwood, then our skills and talents mesh perfectly - he with the Trekking and expeditions experience and me the business.
This is then further enhanced in the fact we have the support of three other highly qualified friends and top class individuals responsible for each business module that successfully makes up Venture Force - Mountains; Trekking; Expeditions for the Young; Armed Services and Skills Training. Professionally strengthening our team we have the support of over 22 trek leaders all of whom have a vast range of qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge. Together we are Venture Force. So let the adventure begin.
Tom Tuckwood- Co Owner and Head of Expeditions and Skills Training. Previously a Police Officer with 27 years of policing experience in both the United Kingdom and the Middle East including Jordan and Iraq, Tom specialised in Major Incident Management both at home and abroad. As a member of the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland, Tom served with both the Grampian Police and Braemar Mountain Rescue Teams within the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland. During 14 years of active service with both teams he participated in, lead, or managed over 200 mountain rescue incidents.
Having gained valuable experience working and playing in what, at times is considered one of the worlds most hostile environments, Tom made the most of the opportunity and furthered his love for the outdoors by qualifying for the United Kingdom Mountain Leaders Training Board (UKMLTB) Summer and Winter Mountain Leaders Awards, became a Kayak Instructor and a Climbing Coach. The qualifications provided him with the opportunity to put years of Mountain Rescue and Mountain Leadership experience to good use around the world leading, assisting and helping others to reach their individual goals.
Since the year 2000 he has led numerous overseas expeditions around the globe to destinations such as Morocco, Tanzania, Madagascar, Borneo, Siberia, India, Ecuador, Nepal and many more. He’s led clients to locations and to fulfil experiences they had never previously thought possible. Wishing to explore not only on land but under the sea Tom spent an entire year in the Gulf of Aqaba, Jordan, studying diving and gaining qualifications with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) qualifying as a diving instructor. Travelling to altitude, both hot and cold destinations and trekking within the Jungle he has developed an interest in ‘Far From Help First Aid provision, casualty care and management, gaining qualifications in several First Aid disciplines all of which enable our clients to gain from the knowledge that they are in the best hands. As a result of his work over the years Tom has become the recipient of many awards, accolades and testimonials ranging from the UK Government to young explorers. Articles written by Tom have also been published in popular UK outdoor magazines.
As co-founder of Venture Force, with a combined experience of the outdoors (in a leisure and professional arena) coupled with 27 years of major incident management and prevention at home and within a war zone Tom has the knowledge, experience, drive and capability to head Venture Force and oversee our overseas expedition operations.