ALEX STANIFORTH - Adventurer
Alex Staniforth is an expert on resilience and pushing through adversity to achieve.
At just 27, he has already survived the two biggest disasters in Mount Everest history as a teenager. However, Alex is not your typical Everest speaker. His biggest challenges have been much closer to home in Cheshire – suffering openly with epilepsy, a lifelong stammer, bullying, depression and eating disorders since childhood.
After climbing Mont Blanc at 17 and single-handedly raising over £35,000 in corporate sponsorship whilst still at school, his first attempt to climb to the summit of Mount Everest in 2014 was abandoned following a tragic avalanche that took sixteen lives. Aged just 19, he returned a year later and survived an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall, triggered by the Nepal earthquake, which trapped his team at Camp 1 for two days.
Adversity brings opportunity, and Alex has now raised in excess of £100,000 for charity and published two books, Icefall and Another Peak, endorsed by Bear Grylls and Mark Beaumont. In 2016 he reached 7,200m on Cho Oyu and in 2017 became the fastest person ever to climb all 100 UK county tops by bicycle, foot and kayak, covering over 5,000 miles in 72 days, and winning a Pride of Britain award. In 2020 he ran the National 3 Peaks Challenge – climbing the three highest mountains in the UK and running the 452-miles between in just 9 days 12 hours.
Resilience is about how we recharge – not how we endure – to move forwards. As an inspirational and keynote speaker, Alex is committed to helping teams and leaders build the resilience to adapt, protect their mental well-being and achieve more during crisis and uncertainty.
Alex combines insights from adventure and ultra-endurance with a human vulnerability, sharing actionable tools that audiences can apply to their own challenges; at home and work. Alex has already inspired global organisations including Rolls-Royce Submarines, Bank of America, FedEx, Samsung, Randstad and the NHS to re-define success and keep moving forwards.
Alex is a passionate advocate for the benefits of the outdoors for well-being and is the founder of Mind Over Mountains, a national charity to restore mental well-being through nature.
“...a hugely inspirational and thought-provoking talk. The distillation of his own personal challenges and incredible experiences into practical, helpful advice makes for a highly compelling session.”
“The event was very well received with many leaders commenting on the relevance of Alex’s journey to our challenges and since the event several leaders have linked back to Alex’s content.”
“His ability to quickly grasp the messages specific to the team and our business and then weave this into his delivery was impressive.”
Copyright Jonathan Davies