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James Nettleton

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Adventurer and Motivational speaker

James has recently completed two extreme endurance challenges, rowing the Atlantic Ocean and climbing Mt Everest.

On 4th January at 4am he started rowing away from Gomera in the Canary Islands knowing he would not see land again for well over a month

He was part of a 12 man crew who had been selected to try and beat the world record, of 33 days, rowing unsupported across th...

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...e Atlantic Ocean and then to add a little spice to the adventure James decided to climb Mt Everest from the North side and become the first person to tackle the two extreme conditions on earth simultaneously.

The 12 man team was split into two teams of 6 and they rowed 6 times a day for two hours and had 2 hours between each shift. Despite the exhaustion and discomforts it was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

The crossing took 38 days; they finished in Barbados and were welcomed in by a huge party of supporters.

After completing the row James could not walk, could not bend his fingers after having gripped an oar for 12 hours a day for 38 days, he had lost 25% of his body weight, had blisters all over his hands and his leg muscles went into a permanent cramp; yet in a matter of weeks he would be at Everest’s base camp preparing to climb to the top of the world.

James spent 2 months building up his camps and waiting for a weather window. During which time he had been sleeping at over 7000 metres with no oxygen in order to acclimatize. He also suffered various storms, one particularly bad one saw him on top of the North Cole (7000 metres) in winds gusting over 70 mph, these winds blew many of their tents away and one of the team made a narrow escape climbing out of one of the tents moments before it blew off the side of the mountain.

James left the North Cole on the 23rd May knowing that he would have the hardest days of his life ahead, he climbed up into the death zone at 7500 metres. At this altitude the human body starts deteriorating as there is so little pressure and as a result very little oxygen; the human body can not function normally and it will start shutting down to concentrate on your vital organs. It made every few metres of height gain incredibly exhausting and completing the simplest function took 10 times longer than it would at sea level. He slowly pushed his way up higher and higher until he reached 8300 metres and arrived at high camp, this is the highest camp in the world and is a pretty challenging place to rest.

At 2.30am on the morning of 25th May James left his tent to push for the summit of Everest.

After 3 years of planning and over 3,000 miles of rowing, 2 months climbing, 6 camps and 3 false summits James was finally standing on top of the world!