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'Alex Staniforth is a record-breaking adventurer, ultra-endurance athlete, author and charity founder from Chester who is no stranger to overcoming challenges. By the age of 19 he had already survived the two biggest disasters in Mount Everest history, in two consecutive years. However, his biggest challenges have been closer to home: with mental ill health, epilepsy, stammering and bullying since school. He is the fastest person to climb all 100 UK county tops - covering 5,000 miles by human power in 72 days - and has raised over £100,000 for charity, being awarded the Pride of Britain Granada Reports Fundraiser of the Year 2017 and a Points of Light award from the Prime Minister in 2023. Alex has authored two books ‘Icefall’ and ‘Another Peak’, and in 2020 founded a national charity, Mind Over Mountains, to restore mental well-being through nature.'
With World Mental Health Day approaching on the 10th of October, we were keen to talk with Alex about the positive influence of the outdoors on mental health and find out more about his charity, Mind Over Mountains. Read on to find out more about his journey with mental health struggles, how he found strength in the outdoors, and how Mind Over Mountains plan to combat the mental health crisis that is currently occurring in the UK.
I’d describe myself as an ultra-endurance athlete, adventurer, author, motivational speaker and founder of the mental health charity, Mind Over Mountains. I’m 29 and live in Kendal near the Lake District. Overcoming challenges is what I do!
I was fortunate in most respects. I had a fairly ‘normal’ childhood and my parents gave me everything I needed. Nothing particularly adventurous, but we spent a lot of time caravanning in North Wales, or walking our dogs in the local woods. I had an early fascination with wildlife and being in green spaces, but initially hated team sports. Life was comfortable though until I had a number of seizures and was diagnosed with epilepsy at 9 years old. That also triggered a stammer, bullying, anxiety, then depression in later life. Discovering the hills on a walk up Ben Nevis with my dad and then a walk in the Lake District aged 14 was transformational and I finally discovered a sense of belonging, escape and confidence in myself: and a curiosity about what else I could achieve.
On one of my early hill walks in the Lake District, the landscape inspired the question: ‘where is Mount Everest?’. I became obsessed and fascinated by the idea of climbing the world’s highest peak. It seemed like the ultimate thing to achieve and overcome, after dealing with challenges in my childhood like epilepsy, stammering, bullying and poor mental health. I never could have imagined that 4 years later I’d actually be stood at the foot of the mountain, aged just 18.
A day before we arrived in Base Camp there was a huge avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall, just above Base Camp, which tragically killed 16 Sherpas. This was the biggest disaster in Everest history at the time. There were lots of political factors and a strike against the Ministry of Tourism, which essentially forced the whole expedition season to finish early, so we went home a week later. Of course we had no right to complain. As the Sherpas always said: the biggest success is safety.
Naturally I had unfinished business, and I’d already invested so much into it. I was aware of the risks in the first place and made a judgement that this was one of those freak tragic events that comes with mountaineering in extreme places. My whole life narrative is about overcoming challenges and trying again, so it felt like the right thing to do.
That success isn’t always defined by the end goal. That’s only a tiny part of the journey, and often depends on so many things outside of our control. What really matters is the way we grow, inspire others and respond to the challenges we encounter.
It’s a way of life for me. It gives me a place to challenge myself, achieve, and boost my confidence and self-reliance. It’s a safe environment (at least from bullying and life stresses)where I can find clarity on my problems and worries. Nature has it’s own pace, that slows down our hectic modern busy-ness. And it gives me hope: when the world is dark around us, nature just carries on business as usual, and comes back to life every spring.
Everyone will have their own thing and there’s no silver bullet. Running ultra marathons won’t scream ‘self-care’ to most people. The best activity is one that you enjoy so that it doesn’t feel like a chore! Trail running is a very mindful activity as you have to truly focus on your foot placements, surroundings and physical state. But for me, watching a sunrise or sunset at the top of a hill or mountain never fails to make me feel calmer, content and truly alive.
It was never really planned. But after completing Climb The UK in 2017, I had started speaking openly about my struggles with depression and an eating disorder for the first time. As a result of this and my fundraising I was approached by a group called Adventure Uncovered about supporting them with an event focused on the outdoors and mental health. We shaped the concept into a weekend well-being retreat, and we were blown away by the impact this unique combination had. I knew we had to take it to even more people, so we became a charity in 2020.For me the outdoors is a powerful, immediate intervention that could help a lot of people who are just put on a long waiting list or handed pills like I was – it’s not a cure but I want others to experience what I call our ‘Natural Health Service’.
We deliver day walks and weekend retreats all over England and Wales for anyone over 18,offering guided walking in nature with professional coaching, counselling, mindfulness and inspirational speakers to restore mental health, naturally. These are open to the general public and we also deliver these for emergency services, organisations and in partnership with other charities. The events offer a safe space for people to walk and talk with likeminded people and professional mental health support, which boosts their physical and mental well-being and reduces isolation, when typically we might wait months (or longer) to receive NHS mental health therapy, or just be put on medication which won’t address the underlying causes for people. We are increasingly working with social prescribers so that we can reach the people and communities who would benefit most.
Invite a friend or someone you know: it’s less overwhelming and you’re more likely to go through with the plan. For example: try Parkrun which is free, every Saturday, with hundreds of locations across the UK.
Create a daily habit. Set the goal of having 30 minutes outside each day for a month, which gives you the flexibility of going anywhere, in any way you like, considering how you feel on the day. Setting a goal creates a sense of achievement which will motivate you to keep going and do the things we know will help us (even if we don’t feel like them).
Small steps: it’s a cliché but we only need a few minutes outside to lower stress and blood pressure, and improve mood. Making it too complicated or aiming to run up a mountain might feel too daunting and small regular wins are far better than doing nothing at all.
Earlier this year we launched Project 500 as a campaign to encourage at least 500 people to challenge themselves and get outside whilst helping us to raise £500,000 for our charity by June 2025 so that we support thousands more people with their mental health. The deadline is June 2025 because that’s my 30th birthday – to highlight the fact that suicide is now the biggest killer of people under 35. More people won’t hit this milestone unless support is more readily available. So far we’ve had brilliant people and teams taking on challenges such as running the height of Everest via hill reps in their local park, cycling John O’Groats to Lands End, climbing Pen-y-Fan every week of 2024 – plus organisations such as BUPA and Samsung completing the Yorkshire 3 Peaks and Royal Parks in London as a workplace well-being challenge. So far we’ve raised £100,000 and counting!
Ideally, it should be introduced from an early age so that young people become comfortable and aware of nature, and it becomes part of their usual lifestyle as an adult. This could be either through their families, or through exposure to schemes like the Scouts or the Duke of Edinburgh’s award. But it won’t work for everyone and young people need to be able to try different things until they find something they enjoy. It can even be simple things like going for a family walk instead of sitting at home watching TV – but this also relies on parental initiative and accessibility, and not every young person will be this privileged.
We’d love your help! The best way for people to help is to take on their own Project 500fundraising challenge, however big or small, to enable our work to grow and reach even more people. Best of all, you’ll boost your own wellbeing in the process, whether it’s running your first marathon or organising a film night or challenge with your work colleagues. We also have a number of challenge events both in the UK and around the world that you can sign up for, if you don’t know where to start. But inevitably we all know people who might be struggling right now, so sharing our website with them and making them aware of Mind Over Mountains as a possible support is the most important thing we can do. Our website is: www.mindovermountains.org.uk Or you can even donate to our target here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/project500
The charity is growing far bigger than me now, as it needs to, but my personal vision is that we grow and become a ‘Natural Health Service’ working in all regions of the UK (including Scotland) and that we change the system of mental health support. Social prescribing is a big focus for us and I’d love for people who are struggling to be referred to us or other natural-based therapies in the first instance, rather than being put on a long waiting list or given medication, without addressing the underlying problems.
We would love to say a huge thank you to Alex and Mind Over Mountains for sharing such brilliant stories and advice with us ahead of World Mental Health Day 2024. We cannot wait to see what Alex and Mind Over Mountains continue to work on, and if you'd like to find out more about their projects and mission, head to the links below.
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