If you like to live adventures and enjoy risk, you probably already know the exploits of Jesus Calleja: Spanish mountaineer, adventurer, naturalist and presenter who is characterized by his strong personality and passion for living memorable experiences.
Jesus Calleja presents the program called Planet Calleja which is already a huge success on television. The programme broadcast on Cuatro is a real bomb of intensity for its viewers as it mixes the intensity of a challenge such as climbing a mountain with an interview in which the journalist's ability to navigate plays an important role. The adrenaline generated by sport often makes it easier for us to bring out our most sentimental side.
Calleja is addicted to challenges and has said on several occasions that he prepares in the same way for a challenge. Dakar for an episode of Planet Calleja.
Since he was very young, Calleja has shown interest in explore and discover the intricacies of the mountain while learning lessons on each of his outings. Among his greatest achievements is the ascent of Everest in 2005 and the rise to the Seven Summits between 2006 and 2008. If you want to know more about the life of a born adventurer who has shown his dedication and passion for the mountains and nature throughout his career, keep reading to discover 10 interesting facts about his personal and professional life.
1. Where and when was Jesús Calleja born?
Jesús Calleja was born on April 11, 1965 in Fresno de la Vega, León, and it was there that he made his first trip to the mountains at just 13 years old. After having learned great lessons from his father, who read to him about expeditions by great mountaineers such as Edmund Hillary either Ernest Shackleton, He decided to board the Matallana train and embark on his first trip to the mountains of León, among which stands out Peña Ubiña, one of the highest peaks in the Cantabrian Mountains. After this experience, his professional career had only just begun.
2. Did you know that when he was little he used to get lost in the mountains?
Unlike his father, Julián Calleja, and his brother, Kike Calleja, Jesús preferred to explore the mountains until the early hours of the morning rather than go fishing with them. Due to his adventurous spirit and desire to devour the mountains, Calleja got lost on several occasions in the night and in the vegetation of León, causing concern among his family, who had to go out in search of him on more than one occasion.
3. What sports does Jesús Calleja play?
In addition to his work as a mountaineer, the television presenter has confessed on numerous occasions to being a great lover of sport in all its forms. He has practiced tennis, surfing, motocross, rally and many other disciplines throughout his life, but without a doubt, the mountains are what make him feel most alive.
But does he retain that adventurous spirit in his daily life? Calleja warns that he is the same as on television and that his personality does not change. In fact, many people have said that when they meet him they hardly notice the difference. As we can see, he is no character. Completely natural and confident, just like in his programs.
4. When was your first visit to the Himalayas?
At the age of 21, and after having already explored several mountains in the Picos de Europa, he decided to visit the Himalayas.After this brief expedition, Calleja devoted his life to other pursuits and left mountaineering to one side. It was not until 2005, on May 30, when the man from León managed to reach the summit of Everest, thus becoming the first Spaniard from León to climb to the summit. He began the climb two days before his permit to set foot in the Himalayas expired, and it was for this reason that he did so under somewhat poor conditions: with only one oxygen bottle, a Sherpa and little acclimatization. He did it with the help of Diario Leonés, a newspaper from his city that documented Calleja's entire climb to Everest. Without a doubt, this was one of Jesús Calleja's greatest achievements, and also a promise fulfilled at the age of 15 in front of his father, Julián Calleja.
Among his other great challenges is having climbed the 3 eight-thousanders, he has reached the summit of the 7 highest peaks on each continent, he reached the North Pole on a land expedition and he has traveled to Antarctica by sea and by air on three occasions.
5. Do you know the mountaineer's hairdressing side?
After his first visit to the Himalayas, and without much money saved, Jesús Calleja began his career as a hairdresser in his homeland with the help of his two brothers, founding the hair salon Calleja brothersThis profession characterises the Calleja family, as many of its members, including his father, have worked as hairdressers for many years. Calleja's talent was such that he won a national men's hairdressing championship held in Burgos when he was only 23 years old.
6. Did you know that Calleja has adopted three children?
Given his love for the mountains and his visits to Nepal, even living and working in the country, Jesús Calleja decided to adopt a Nepalese boy called Ganesh, who unfortunately suffered from tuberculosis that could not be cured in Nepal. After a long period of bureaucracy, the man from León was able to bring the boy to Spain to treat him in a public hospital. Calleja only wanted the boy to recover his former health, but once he was cured, the boy called the mountaineer “dad”, and it was at this moment that he decided to adopt him in order to spend the rest of his life with him. After this first adoption, Calleja ended up also adopting Ganesh’s best friend and sister; Suresh Shrestha and Sundarí Lama.
7. What was your first job after being a hairdresser?
After having filled his savings bank account working as a hairdresser, the Leonese spent 16 years working as expedition guide in the Himalayas and the Alps for a hiking and climbing agency based in Spain. This, in addition to increasing his savings, also allowed him to climb mountains such as the 6,153-metre Stok-Kangri (Asia), thus boosting his career as a mountaineer.
8. Do you want to know when the mountain climber participated in the Dakar rally?
In addition to his passion for the mountains and nature, the Leonese is also a great lover of cars, speed and competition. For this reason, and after three attempts to complete the Dakar Rally in 2011, 2018 and 2019, Calleja finally achieved his goal: to finish the Dakar Rally in 2020 with Toyota, where after many complications and physical problems, he managed to take 30th place and 5th among the Spanish. This is just one more success in the life of Jesús Calleja, an adventurer who tirelessly seeks to surpass himself in each of his exploits.
9.What award did Jesús Calleja win for his role on television?
Thanks to his desire to excel and passion for adventure, the Leonese was the presenter of a highly successful programme from 2007 to 2014. The television programme Extreme Challenge It was one of the most watched entertainment programs in prime time since 2009. The mountaineer has said in multiple interviews that travelling the world and having the opportunity to give voice to his adventures has been one of the best experiences of his life. Thanks to his dedication and charisma, the Leonese won the Golden Microphone award in 2010, an award that praises the role of great personalities within the journalistic field.
His television role did not end in 2014, but his passion for adventure has given rise to television programs such as Planet Calleja, a project in which the mountaineer has had the opportunity to invite celebrities from all over the world to the program to overcome great challenges and experiences in nature with him. Some of the famous people who have appeared on the program are Paz Padilla, Bertín Osborne or Elsa Pataky, who we can see below happily posing with Calleja in the episode that she stars in alongside Chris Hemsworth.
Another of his most recent achievements has been the publication of his book If you don't like your life, change it In which he intends to inspire his readers with a message that everything is possible through the story of his most extreme adventures..getAbstract He recommends the book to all those people who need motivation to achieve great goals.
10. Did you know that cancer took the life of his brother Julian?
Jesús Calleja, along with his brother Kike, were very close to their brother Julián, who unfortunately passed away from cancer, leaving an impossible-to-fill void in the lives of his family. On multiple occasions, the mountaineer and television presenter has confessed in interviews and through his social networks how much he misses his brother and the moments they shared in childhood.
As you can see, success has not come without merit in the life of the mountaineer and presenter from León. From a very young age he has fought for what is his great passion: the mountains. That dedication and tenacity that characterizes the humble Calleja is what has taken him to the top of Everest. Without a doubt, he is one of the most beloved and praised sportsmen in our country, and also one of those who has practiced the most disciplines throughout his career.
