Alex Staniforth is a record-breaking adventurer, ultra-endurance athlete, author and charity founder from Cheshire who is no stranger to overcoming challenges.
By 19 years old Alex had already overcome and achieved more than many will in a lifetime. As a teenager he survived the two most significant disasters in Mount Everest history, in two consecutive years. However, his biggest mountains have been much closer to home: epilepsy, bullying, mental ill health and a stammer since childhood.
Alex never allowed this to become his identity – only his experience. Re-framing adversity as an opportunity for growth has given him a unique drive to inspire others to overcome their own ‘Everest’ and achieve against the odds.
This is not your typical success story of reaching the summit. Alex takes his audiences on an emotional journey of resilience, courage, failure, teamwork and triumph over adversity. Drawing insights from adventure and ultra-endurance, he brings a unique perspective on resilience and success with practical ideas that anyone can relate to their own challenges at work and home.
After single-handedly raising over £35,000 in corporate sponsorship whilst still at school, Alex’s first attempt to climb Mount Everest in 2014 was abandoned following a tragic avalanche that took sixteen lives. In 2015 he was trapped at Camp 1 for two days following the Nepal earthquake and an avalanche which took the lives of three team-mates at Base Camp.
Alex has continued to push his limits and re-define success, raising over £100,000 for charity and publishing two books, Icefall and Another Peak. In 2017 he 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 completed the National Three Peaks on foot, running 452 miles in just 9 days 12 hours, and founded Mind Over Mountains, a charity to restore mental well-being through nature, working in partnership with the NHS.
With humility and vulnerability, Alex openly shares his own mental health journey to encourage conversations and challenge stigma, with a focus on how maintaining well-being is fundamental to achieving high performance. Resilience is more than simply ‘bouncing back’: it’s how we recharge and move forwards through the challenges ahead.
As an inspirational speaker, Alex has been trusted by leading global companies including Rolls-Royce Submarines, Samsung, Bank of America, FedEx and Heineken.
Challenges are inevitable; being defeated is optional. However, resilience isn’t simply about bouncing back or pushing to breaking point: it’s how we recharge, prepare and move forward through the challenges ahead.
Drawing lessons and insight from his adventures and ultra-endurance, Alex will share the tools in his ‘Resilience Rucksack’ for anyone to thrive and achieve when faced by setbacks, failure, change and pressure – when the whole team depends on it.
We all have our own ‘Everest’ to climb. However, fear of failure often prevents us from taking the first step and achieving our full potential – and staying at Base Camp might be the biggest risk of all.
In this keynote, Alex reveals how not achieving our goals first time can teach us even more, and how to reframe obstacles as an opportunity to win.
Through his account of two disasters on Everest, Alex will re-define our idea of failure and success to achieve against the odds. He shares the key components of motivation, purpose and ownership to help us raise the bar even higher. Why settle for Base Camp?
High performance isn’t sustainable without maintaining our well-being too. With a refreshing vulnerability, Alex openly shares his own mental health journey as a young man to encourage open conversations about mental health in the workplace, whilst challenging the myths and stigma that takes thousands of lives each year. As leaders, we can empower others by putting our hand up first.
Drawing from his ultra-endurance challenges, Alex shares resilience tools to proactively manage our well-being, manage stress and avoid burnout. By learning the warning signs and how to support our team, we can create a positive multiplier effect and open the conversation – one small step at a time.
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