As a skydiver, Jones jumped onto the North Pole and down the east face of Cerro Torre in Patagonia. In 1991, as a member of a four-man team, he flew two hot air balloons over Mount Everest, an exploit which gained three entries in the Guinness Book of Records. Jones had made an earlier attempt in 1978 on Everest, as part of a team that included Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler, but had to turn back because of frostbite.