Kenton Cool
Kenton Cool is a world-leading mountaineer:
- Broke both heels and legs in a climbing accident in 1996 and was told that he would never walk unaided.
- The only non-Sherpa to summit Everest 17 times.
- First person in history to complete the ‘Everest Triple Crown’, the peaks of Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse in one continuous push.
- First non-Asian to summit Everest twice in one week.
- Selected to fulfil ‘The Olympic Games Pledge’ in 2012 (whereby a century-old promise made by Great Britain to Baron Pierre de Coubertin to place a 1924 Olympic Gold Medal on the Everest summit was completed 4 weeks before London 2012)
- Nominated for the Piolet D’or (the climbing Oscars) for a route on Annapurna III
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Kenton Cool's 2024 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 17 times. He has climbed extensively all over the world – establishing new routes and first ascents on peaks in Alaska, Europe and India.
His 17th summit in May 2023 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”.
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 17 times. He has climbed extensively all over the world – establishing new routes and first ascents on peaks in Alaska, Europe and India.
His 17th summit in May 2023 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”.
Kenton Cool's 2024 talks & topics
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’.
Kenton Cool's 2024 speaking fees
- United Kingdom
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