At 23 years old, Alex Staniforth has overcome more challenges than most will face in a lifetime on his journey to climb Mount Everest. In earlier life, he suffered epilepsy, panic attacks, low confidence, bullying and a stammer. Outdoor challenges became a way to overcome these internal challenges. To this day he still suffers with mental health challenges and shares these openly as a mental health advocate.

After climbing Mont Blanc and carrying the London 2012 Olympic flame, he single handedly fundraised over £35,000 in corporate sponsorship to fund his first Everest expedition in 2014 which was cancelled following an avalanche killing sixteen people. The following year he survived an avalanche triggered by the Nepal earthquake, which took the lives of three team-mates and trapped him on the mountain for two days.

Recognising that adversity is the greatest teacher, in 2016 he reached 7,125m on Cho Oyu, the worlds’ sixth highest peak and released an award-winning book ‘ICEFALL’, endorsed by Bear Grylls.

In 2017 Alex completed Climb The UK, a 5,000-mile human-powered journey climbing to the highest point of all 100 UK counties in 72 days; raising awareness for mental health and breaking the record by 20 days. Having raised £85,000 for charity, he won Pride of Britain Granada Reports Fundraiser of the Year and now serves as an ambassador for YHA England & Wales, Westgrove Group and Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports.

Despite a lifelong stammer he is an experienced and highly-regarded speaker inspiring others to move their ‘mind over mountains’, with emotive talks focusing on resilience through adversity, dealing with uncertainty, self-limiting beliefs and fear of failure.

Alex has spoken to clients including Yorkshire Bank, Reckitt Benckiser, Smurfit Kappa, BOSS Federation, British Cycling, United Utilities, The International School of Geneva, TEDx and more.

“As one of our members said, “If we could have a spoonful of Alex with our Cornflakes every morning, it surely would set you up to tackle the day ahead no matter what life threw at you.” – Shared Services Forum UK Ltd, Annual Conference

“Alex’s keynote address positively inspired our Leaders of the Future conference audience – whatever their age. His impassioned talk transformed our day from being just a good one to being exceptional. He was also a very tough act to follow!” – Philip Lawson, CEO of BOSS Federation