Alex Staniforth
Adventurer, Cyclist, Runner
Aged just 21, Alex Staniforth is an adventurer, inspirational speaker and author from Cheshire. In 2015 his second attempt to climb Mount Everest ended in disaster after narrowly escaping an avalanche and the Nepal earthquake, which took the lives of three of his team.
Alex is no stranger to adversity, however, overcoming epilepsy, stammering, bullying and mental illness in earlier life. Starting off as a road runner, Alex has delved into various endurance challenges on foot and road bike. During his Everest training he cycled 880 miles from Chester to Chamonix solo in eight days then climbed the highest peak in Switzerland and completed the National Three Peaks Cycle challenge solo in in November 2014. After returning from Everest attempt number 2 came the response: if I can’t climb Everest yet, I’ll cycle it. So he began training for ‘Everesting’ – the feat of climbing 29,035ft on a bike within 24 hours by making continuous reps of a hill. The hill in question was Great Dun Fell near Dufton.21 hours and 14 ascents finally brought the top of the world, even if the two-wheeled kind…
In 2016 he attempted to climb Cho Oyu, the sixth highest peak in the world. Prior to this was a training ride of a 24-hour solo cycle from home with the aim of simply going as far as possible – 268 miles later he was in Dartmoor! Closer to home Alex competes in 5k to half marathon (when not injured) but has recently discovered a love for running in the mountains, with a self-acclaimed ability of falling up-hill.
2017 brings the biggest project yet: Climb the UK. Climbing to the highest point of all 100 UK counties in one push, approx. 5000 miles on foot, bike and kayak in two months, self-supported. This starts on May 6th and you can track Alex via his website. Climb the UK will fundraise for mental health charity Young Minds and get every corner of the UK speaking out about mental health.
