Kenton Cool

Kenton Cool is one of the world’s leading high-altitude climbers, an avid adventurer, a mountaineer, and a highly engaging and inspiring speaker. Kenton holds the record for non-Sherpa summits of Everest, having summited the world’s highest mountain an astonishing 16 times. He has climbed extensively all over the world – establishing new routes and first ascents on peaks in Alaska, Europe and India.

This 16th summit confirms Kenton’s status as the world’s most successful high-altitude mountaineer and elite IFMGA* mountain guide.

It marks a far cry from Kenton’s early climbing career, which was thrown into jeopardy when he “failed to defy gravity” during a climbing accident in Wales, which broke both of his heels and legs.

Kenton Cool is one of the world’s most sought-after mountain guides and is known as ‘The Everest Leader’.  With survival as the ultimate goal, he is the one calling the shots, making time and safety-critical decisions that others are unwilling, or unable, to make.  Alongside this, he is also the man that aims to fulfil the lifelong summit dreams of others – “It’s far easier to take risks and succeed if you have a safety net, Kenton is that safety net”.  As a strong advocate of elevating levels of safety via a bold approach to an ascent, Kenton’s unique style on the mountain has seen unrivalled summit and commercial success for more than 15 years.

Kenton Cool has the rare ability to encourage individuals and teams to move beyond their perceived ‘tolerance level’.  Be this in a storm on the higher reaches of Mount Everest, testing their very survival, or in a professional environment where the goal might be streamlined productivity, results-driven collaboration or elevated commercial success rates.  For Kenton, the setting is simply the context, success comes from ‘flawless execution’ – “His motivation is relentless and Kenton’s ability to push boundaries in the world of mountaineering are legendary, now he is pushing others to achieve their own new levels”.

Kenton lives with his wife, Jazz, and two children in Gloucestershire. He follows a plant-based diet and is carbon neutral, underlining his commitment to the future of our planet.

Kenton’s mountaineering achievements include:

• Record holder for non-sherpa summits of Everest having summited the mountain 16 times between 2004 and 2022.
• First person in history to complete the ‘Everest Triple Crown’ – the peaks of Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse in one continuous push from Everest base camp
• First non-Asian to summit Everest twice in one week
• Only Briton to have skied two 8,000m mountains
• First British IFMGA guide to lead a client to the summit of K2
• Credited by Lord Sebastian Coe for ‘single-handedly kicking off the 2012 Olympics’ when he fulfilled an 88-year old pledge to take a Gold medal from the 1924 Olympic games to the top of Everest

SPEAKING TOPICS 

Kenton’s keynote presentations are entertaining, high energy and filled with humour, yet press home some serious points. Each session is complemented with an awe-inspiring collection of photographs and video footage from his expeditions around the world.

Kenton Cool is able to deliver keynotes on a variety of different subjects, including but not limited to:

• Overcoming Adversity in a Hostile Environment
• Critical Decision-Making in the Death Zone
• The Big Mountain Blueprint for Optimal Performance – Leaders and Teams
• Striving to Achieve your Goals
• Understanding and Harnessing Personal Fear
• Activating and Maximising your Performance Mindset