Alex Staniforth

Alex Staniforth is a record-breaking adventurer, ultra-endurance athlete, author and charity founder from Cheshire who is no stranger to overcoming challenges.

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Alex's story of resilience, courage, and overcoming adversity is nothing short of extraordinary. Alex's keynote reminded us all that success is not just about reaching the summit but about the journey and the unwavering spirit that fuels it. His authenticity and passion resonated throughout the room, sparking conversations that continued long after the session ended. Thank you, Alex, for making this year's APA Conference unforgettable.

Jamie Radford

CEO, Accounts Payable Association

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Why you should book Alex Staniforth for your next event

Equip your team with actionable resilience strategies for tackling any challenge.
Founder of Mind Over Mountains, delivering mental fitness strategies from nature.
Achieve extraordinary results with practical tools for well-being and peak performance.

Non-binding request for Alex Staniforth

The Adversity Adventurer, Everest avalanche survivor, author & mental health charity founder

Empower your team with resilience, mindset and mental fitness strategies from record-breaking adventurer, ICF-trained coach, author and charity founder Alex Staniforth. Drawing on his extraordinary journey of overcoming Everest disasters, personal challenges and world-record endurance feats, Alex inspires audiences to turn adversity into opportunity and achieve extraordinary results in work and life.

By the age of 30, Alex has 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 consecutive years, first caught in the 2014 avalanche that claimed sixteen lives, and then trapped for two days at Camp 1 during the 2015 Nepal earthquake and avalanche that took three teammates at Base Camp. Yet his biggest mountains have been much closer to home: epilepsy, bullying, mental ill health and a stammer since childhood.

But being defeated was never an option. After single-handedly raising over £35,000 in corporate sponsorship while still at school, Alex set out to discover how far he could push his limits and how to help others do the same. Since then, he has become the first and fastest person to run and cycle all 446 mountains in England and Wales in just 45 days, run the National Three Peaks Challenge (17 marathons in 9 days), and climb all 100 UK county tops in record time. He has raised over £150,000 for charity and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Chester in 2025 for his contribution to young people’s mental health.

In 2020, Alex founded Mind Over Mountains, an award-winning charity restoring mental well-being through nature. He is also the author of two books, Icefall and Another Peak.

Trusted by global organisations including Rolls-Royce, Samsung, Accenture, FedEx and the NHS, Alex helps teams, leaders and students build the resilience, motivation and mental fitness to overcome challenges, protect their wellbeing and achieve the extraordinary.

This is not your typical success story of reaching the summit. Combining lessons from adventure and ultra-endurance with relatable vulnerability, Alex takes audiences on an emotional journey of resilience, courage, failure, teamwork and triumph over adversity. His “Resilience Rucksack” toolkit ensures a true Return on Inspiration, empowering everyone to face their own Everest and discover that wellbeing isn’t a barrier to success, it’s the foundation of sustainable performance.

When he’s not inspiring audiences around the world, Alex is usually found running through the hills and chasing his next challenge. Why settle for Base Camp?

Customer Reviews

Jamie Radford CEO, Accounts Payable Association

Your presentation was riveting, engaging and inspirational. We have received such overwhelming feedback on how your story resonated with the team and how it was what they needed at such an appropriate time.

Seema Hallon Head of Office Dubai, Deriv.com

Thanks so much for coming down to talk with the team. You absolutely hit the brief - everyone has been talking about it ever since. It also encouraged one or two people to open up about their own anxieties and stories later in the day. And we had some really healthy conversations.

Paul Kiddle Contract Manager, National Grid

Alex delivered a virtual motivational speech via Skype to circa 150 leaders in our business. 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 – describing their “resilience rucksack” and the question “are you pulling on the rope?” has entered our lexicon. I was particularly impressed with the preparation and tailoring Alex was able to do to make the message even more pertinent to our business – it was a truly inspirational session summed up by one comment – “I can’t believe you just paid us to listen to that!

Robert Neale GM, Core Manufacture, Rolls-Royce Submarines

A lot of us had read about your story online, but hearing you tell it yourself yesterday was more inspiring than I would ever have imagined. Your story telling skills are second to none and I believe that you have had an incredible impact on a lot of people who were on the call by being vulnerable, sharing your struggles, and letting us into your world.

Alix Wright Internet Fusion Group

Sometimes the approach to mental health within organisations as big and cumbersome as ours can feel a bit of a tick box, superficial exercise, but your sessions felt very different, very real, very humble and very authentic. In my view, you will have made a difference much bigger than you may think or ever know.

Chris Mead Chief Superintendent, Cambridgeshire Police

The team were blown away and left feeling incredibly inspired. Thank you for doing what you do. I know for some in my team who are struggling at the moment it would have resonated even more. Keep doing what you're doing and THANK YOU! I also know everyone has left feeling and thinking differently because of you, in a really positive way.

Sue Harries Digital Director, Screwfix

Alex recently supported a team get together encouraging different ways to approach challenges in or out of work. His ability to quickly grasp the messages specific to the team and our business and then weave this into his delivery was impressive. His authentic and humble articulation enabled there to be something in the messaging for everyone and this was very much appreciated. Thanks again Alex.

Jonathan Ford Off Trade Director, Heineken UK

Alex recently joined us at the launch event for our High Potential programme as the keynote speaker. Alex perfectly combined his story and experiences with the theme of Achieving Your Potential. He captured the audience through his ability to authentically articulate his drive and determination, overcoming many challenges in his way, as well as finding beauty and lessons through ‘failure’. Alex collaborated with my team in preparing for the event such attention to detail, ensuring his talk would not only resonate but inspire the audience. And that it did! Feedback received from participants was exceptional, so many inspired to push outside of their comfort zone and to see what opportunities lie ahead. Myself included!

Natalie Prempeh Head of Talent, Samsung UK

What a refreshing delight Alex is! Authentic, funny, passionate and simply genuine in every word of his heartening journey shared. If you’re looking for a real example of resilience and winning in the face of adversity - Alex is your man. He’ll have you glad to have met him and wishing him every success in all he does - as well as inspiring those in your team in a humble, unassuming way that is extremely powerful.

Marcella Kain UK Sales Director, Kellanova

Keynotes

Keynote by speaker Alex Staniforth:

Re-defining Resilience: How to Embrace the Unexpected

Challenges and change are inevitable; being defeated is optional. It’s time to re-define resilience in our rapidly changing world. Resilience is no longer about bouncing back or enduring to breaking point: it’s how we recharge, prepare and move forward in the face of adversity.

How do you keep moving when you can’t see the top of the mountain? Drawing insight from ultra-endurance and extreme challenges, Alex will share the tools in his ‘Resilience Rucksack’ to overcome setbacks and maintain performance despite uncertainty, failure and pressure – when the whole team depends on it.

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Keynote by speaker Alex Staniforth:

Achieving the Extraordinary: Turning Setbacks into Success

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 – when staying at Base Camp might be the biggest risk of all.

Recalling two near-death experiences on Everest and his challenges closer to home, Alex's story brings a unique perspective of success and failure to help us discover opportunities in the face of adversity and change.

This keynote will explore the key components of goalsetting to bust the myths of motivation and build a growth mindset so we can achieve the seemingly impossible. Why settle for Base Camp?

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Keynote by speaker Alex Staniforth:

Mountains in the Mind: Building Mental Fitness to Beat Burnout

High performance isn’t sustainable without managing 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, whilst challenging the myths and stigma that costs thousands of lives each year. For leaders, supporting the team often starts by putting our hand up first.

Drawing from an athlete mindset, Alex shares his mental fitness toolkit so we can manage stress, spot the warning signs of poor mental health, support others and avoid burnout - one small step at a time.

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