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Alex Staniforth

Alex Staniforth

Adversity Adventurer, Motivational Resilience Speaker, Author and Mental Health Activist

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Cho Oyu 2016

You are here: Home / Portfolio Items / Cho Oyu 2016

December 31, 2018 by AdversityAdventurer

In September 2016 I joined an expedition team to climb Cho Oyu in Tibet, the sixth highest peak in the world (8,201m) with 360 Expeditions, led by Rolfe Oostra.

Cho Oyu is known to be the ‘easiest’ and safest of all the fourteen 8,000-metre peaks. After Everest, I felt that Cho Oyu would give my best chance of reaching 8,000 metres altitude and putting my bad experiences to bed.

Like my other expeditions – and high-altitude mountaineering in general – things didn’t go to plan. I was badly ill with altitude sickness before we reached Advanced Base Camp, our main base camp at approx. 5,700m. Fortunately I was given the chance to acclimatise for longer at the lower Chinese Base Camp and managed to join the team again a few days later.

I was paired up with the highly-respected Dorje Gyalgen Sherpa and made our summit attempt on the early hours of 1st October from Camp 2 at approx. 7,125m altitude, my highest altitude to date. Unfortunately I had again succumbed to the altitude and quickly abandoned the attempt, descending to ABC later that day, whilst the remainder of the team made successful summits.

Nonetheless, a wonderful adventure with great company in a truly remote part of the world, that taught me so much and would ultimately change my entire direction and goals.

Lakpa Thunda Sherpa

Lakpa Thundu Sherpa – A legend made and lost in the mountains

November 29, 2016
This isn’t my usual blog post, and certainly not one I wanted to write either. Yesterday my friend Lakpa Thundu ...
Read More

Cho Oyu expedition: so close yet so far…

October 2, 2016
We left ABC on 27th September for Camp 1 where I felt strong and confident. It then emerged that I’d ...
Read More

SUMMIT PUSH IS ON!

September 29, 2016
The SUMMIT PUSH IS ON! After a number of days, and few updates, we are pleased to say Alex is ...
Read More

Camp 1 Update

September 19, 2016
At Camp 1 for a second night, feeling strong. The Ice cliff and Cho Oyu is right behind me. Climbing an ...
Read More

Ready, steady, Cho…

September 17, 2016
Ready, steady, Cho Oyu… our first rotation and six days on ‘the hill’ to acclimatise for the summit bid has ...
Read More

Cho Oyu First Glimpse!

September 14, 2016
Cho Oyu nearly had Alex falling out of his tent today, when he got his first view of the big ...
Read More
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Camp 2 - Cho Oyu 2016
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Advanced Base Camp, Cho Oyu 2016
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Mind Over Mountains is a charity restoring mental health naturally through therapeutic outdoor experiences.

Read more and join us at: www.mindovermountains.org.uk

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Climbing mountains and the mind.
Charity Founder @mindomountains
🌎 The Lake District #GetOutside
Athlete @inov_8 @ordnancesurvey @ellisbrigham

Alex Staniforth - Adventurer
Back where it all began. Running with my old man! Back where it all began. Running with my old man!

Last March I got my Parkrun PB at Keswick and this weekend got my slowest at Fell Foot.

The plan was to keep my heart rate under 145bpm to avoid another crash of fatigue, which meant walking most of the hills. It took the discipline of Yoda not to set off chasing people like the good old days, especially when my dad overtook me in the first km. 

I hated exercise as a kid. On holiday in France my stepmum bribed me with €2 to run a mile with him. That was a lot of money back then... I hated every minute but dad inspired me to enter a 10km race for charity, and the rest is history. Dad came to watch every race since, as I happily claimed the family record at every distance from 5km to marathon, whilst he retired to become a Parkrun tourist. 

Never thought he'd beat me again, but never forget where you started.
.
#LongCovid #TheComeback #MatchingJackets #parkrun #loveparkrun #fellfootpark
#LakeDistrict #lakedistrictuk #runninginspiration #Fellfoot #windermere #parkruntourist #fatherson
Much-needed adventure inspiration from @mrmarkbeau Much-needed adventure inspiration from @mrmarkbeaumont on his Faster tour at Rheged last weekend. 

Mark is the fastest person to cycle around the world in 80 days (that's 240 miles a day... for perspective) amongst many other records. He's been a huge personal inspiration and kindly endorsed my 2nd book.

So much resonated, but a few favourite takeaways: 

- Trust the process, the bigger picture will always take care of itself. 

- Remove the faff. His team had to ensure he was on the bike by 4am, not 4:05am. That would have added an entire day to his record.

- Mark had 40 people working on his world record. He knew that if he failed, the whole team failed. 

- Good times won't last forever, but that means the bad ones won't either... 

Thanks Mark. Grab his books, talks and films if you're needing some adventure inspiration! 

#faster #worldcycle #ultracycling #markbeaumont #inspiration #80days #mindset #cyclingheroes #rheged #ultracyclist 
@speakersfromtheedge
214/214 Wainwrights complete! Somehow it's taken 214/214 Wainwrights complete! 

Somehow it's taken 12 years, 8 months and 25 days since my first summit, Souther Fell, aged 14 (swipe for evidence). For those who don't know, the Wainwrights are a list of 214 summits created by legendary writer Alfred Wainwright. There was no better hill to finish than the aptly named 'Great Cockup', with a great crowd of friends.

The record is 5 days 12 hrs 14 mins... If only we hadn't stopped for a sandwich 😂 

Meanwhile @thehodfather666 is currently climbing all 214 with a 4 stone hod of house bricks, to raise money for @mindomountains.

However fast you go, there's something strangely addictive about this collection of fells. It's been a fun project to explore the Lakes and maybe one day I'll start again to see how fast I can get around... 

📸@danobeaumont

#GreatCockup #Wainwrights #LakeDistrict #Hillwalking  #GetOutside #Lakes #peakbagging #wainwrightswalks
A big welcome to the first CEO of @mindomountains, A big welcome to the first CEO of @mindomountains, Ian Sansbury! 

When Chris and I founded the charity in 2020 we never imagined how big it would become. From the flagship event with @adventureuncovered to delivering 27 events last year, supporting 300+ people with their mental health, including the NHS, Police and Ambulance Service.

Leadership is about creating a vision, and building a great team to achieve it - like our wonderful trustees, team and 50+ freelance staff who continually go above and beyond. 

It’s also knowing your strengths and weaknesses, when ironically it's compromised my own mental health sometimes too. As the charity grows I'm not the right person to take it where it needs to be, so it can reach everyone who needs our help.

Feeling like a proud parent sending their kids off to start school, with less crying, but I'm super excited to see the charity grow and support even more people with Ian’s expertise. 

I’ll remain heavily involved as a trustee (and Chief Interference Officer) to support the team, tell the story and raise money through daft adventures… 

Thanks to everyone who's been part of the first chapter. Onwards!

#NewChapter #MyBaby  #MentalHealthCharity #MindOverMountains
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