Kenton Cool
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Biography Highlights
- Kenton Cool has summited Mount Everest a record-breaking 18 times
- Kenton has overcome the odds to forge a highly successful mountaineering career, despite suffering two broken heels in a climbing accident in his 20s and being told that he would never walk unaided again
- Kenton was the first person in history to complete the Everest 'Triple Crown', summiting Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse in one single push from basecamp. He is also the only Briton to have skied down two 8,000m mountains
Biography
Kenton Cool is one of the world’s foremost high-altitude climbers, a professional mountain leader, performance coach, and a highly engaging speaker. Kenton holds the record for non-Sherpa summits of Everest, having summited the world’s highest mountain an astonishing 18 times. He has climbed extensively all over the world – establishing new routes and first ascents on peaks in Alaska, Europe and India.
His 18th summit in May 2024 confirmed 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 says of the accident: “I was in hospital for four weeks, then spent four months in a wheelchair. The doctor told me I would never walk again without using a cane, and certainly wouldn’t climb. I didn’t want to stop being part of the climbing community, I was determined to prove him wrong. So, I learned to walk again – I was so scared of failure, having purpose and being part of something felt far more significant than resigning myself to the prognosis.”
Kenton 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. 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”.
Videos
Popular Talks
The Power of the Collective Mindset
Kenton’s transformative delivery highlights the vital requirements for a collective culture when aiming for high performance. He shares his observations on true high-performance ‘start points’, noting that teams are often solely guided by skills and delivery protocols rather than trust, shared values, purpose and ownership.
Decision-Making in the Death Zone
In this stimulating seminar, Kenton showcases his observations on human, professional and societal approaches to developing and owning decisions. He also outlines the crucial actions that he employs in the high-altitude environment including: binary thinking, analysing and deploying team strengths, controlling the controllables and conflict management.
Risk Mitigation and the Power of the Consequence
How do we quantify, plan and prioritise contingency for the unknown? Kenton’s energising session presents a case for forming habits and routines around analysing risk and prioritising contingency. He summarises powerful techniques to help explore the crucial ‘What if?” question and outlines the process of assessing tolerance levels and knowing when ‘good enough’ is actually ‘good to go’.
Books
One Man's Everest
Speaker Bureaus and Talent Agencies
