Cool Conversations with Kenton Cool

We have another Tales from the Trails for you this week! This time, Kenton travels to West Papua to climb Carstensz Pyramid with 'the twins' who are ticking off their 'seventh summit' on this expedition. Travel to and from Indonesia is severely impacted by the war in Iran and this adds a variety of challenges to the trip. However, they are all surmountable and the trio make it to base camp with only one major drama. Carstensz Pyramid is the lowest of the seven summits at 4,884m and the climb to the top can be done in one push from base camp, but is heavily reliant on good weather. Kenton takes us up the mountain with them, describing the equipment, the route, the weather and the views. Listen now for a taste of a mountaineering expedition, narrated in real time.

Tales from the Trails continues this week and Kenton and his client, Tim, are on the slopes of Aconcagua in Argentina pushing for a summit. Will they be blessed with a good weather window? Will Tim's knee and Kenton's quad hold up against the conditions? Will they choose to take their time or will they try to get up and back quickly? Kenton talks us through all his decisions and takes us, step by step, up this iconic mountain with him. Listen in to get a real flavour of the life of a professional mountain guide.

Tales From The Trails (TFTT) is back and this time Kenton is in Argentina. He takes us along on his journey from Mendoza to Aconcagua base camp and beyond, describing the conditions, the terrain, the camps and the people. Kenton has recorded this on his acclimatisation rotation before attempting the summit in a few days time. Aconcagua is known for being very windy and there are a couple of bits of audio in which the wind is quite prominent. We hope you will continue listening as it always drops off after a few seconds. Take it as evidence that this is recorded direct from the mountain!

Today's guest, Matt Cooper, owns a well-known adventure education business based in North Wales called The Mountaineering Company, but you may be surprised to learn that he and Kenton don't spend much time talking about that at all! Instead, Matt tells Kenton about the work he has been doing for the charity, Ukrainian Action. The charity raises funds for vehicles and humanitarian aid to support the Ukrainian civilians who are impacted by the ongoing conflict. Matt volunteered to drive one of the donated vehicles to Ukraine recently and he chose to spend some time in the country at the same time. His stories bring the difficulties of living in a conflict zone into reality and are humbling to hear. Matt also touches on his work with Ogwen Mountain Rescue Team in North Wales and his love of the mountains. Matt is the epitome of giving back and we hope you enjoy the episode. Ukrainian Action - https://www.ukrainianaction.com/ Ogwen Mountain Rescue - https://ogwen-rescue.org.uk/ The Mountaineering Company - https://www.themountaineeringcompany.co.uk/

This week's guest is the unstoppable Lucy Gossage who is a master in the art of squeezing every minute out of life. She works full time as a senior oncologist in the NHS, she is heavily involved in her Move Against Cancer charity, and she runs ultra-marathons in her spare time. Lucy tells Kenton how she fell into triathlon after a drunken dare, and then became a pro-triathlete winning multiple races during her career. Since retiring from triathlon, she has entered her 'adventure era' which has seen her find a new love for ultra running. She won the Montane Winter Spine Race last year and set a FKT (Fastest Known Time) on the South West Coast Path in September. Lucy is hugely passionate about the charity that she helped to set up, Move Against Cancer, and explains to Kenton why it means so much to her. Lucy admits that some of the things she does are 'a bit bonkers' and we think you're going to love hearing about them.

Our first guest in 2026 is Lee Donald, an award winning PT who summited Everest in 2024 and has found a love for the big mountains. Becoming a PT in 2011 helped Lee to overcome an eating disorder, alcohol addiction and depression, and she describes the feeling of standing on Everest as 'from rock bottom to the top of the world'. She trained for Everest in both the Alps and Ecuador, although her training was beset by a series of pitfalls and mistakes that she describes to Kenton. If you have a dream to go to Everest, you are likely to find Lee's story highly relatable, and her enthusiasm will add an extra dose of motivation!

In this week's episode, Kenton speaks to para-athlete Jonny Huntington about his life-altering stroke, his rehab and the remarkable endurance challenges that he has embarked on. Aged 28, Jonny experienced a brain bleed and stroke which left him paralysed down one side. After two and a half years of intensive rehab, he was discharged and began to come to terms with his new normal. He has always loved skiing and was determined to continue if his body allowed him to. Last year, he became the first disabled person to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole. A journey that took 46 days and required him to navigate crevasses, pull a sled and manage his body in an extreme environment. Jonny talks in fascinating detail about all of his experiences, so tune in to find out more!

This week, we welcome professional climber, Tim Emmett, onto the podcast. Kenton and Tim have been friends for over 30 years and their shared passion for climbing is infectious. Tim loves all styles of climbing from alpine to sport, from ice to deep water solos. But he talks to Kenton today about something very special. He has very recently conquered the Era Vella climb in Spain, graded 9A, after 8 years of training to do so. He explains his approach to this enormous challenge, from building strength, skill and endurance, to changing his diet and giving up alcohol. Tim went 'all in' to achieve his dream and to climbers and non-climbers alike, this is a truly compelling story.

This week's Cool Conversations guest is Jenny Tough, a writer and professional adventure athlete based in Scotland. Jenny has completed numerous cycling and running multi-day adventures all over the world, almost always solo and self-supported. Jenny talks to Kenton about her constant desire to find what is around the next corner, and her belief that to grow as humans, we need to push outside our comfort zones. She spends a lot of her time in remote, mountainous environments and some of her past adventures include traversing Kyrgyzstan, Morocco and the Bolivian Andes. This is a typical 'cool conversation' in that it jumps around lots of different topics but, at its heart, it centres on pushing beyond our limits and finding what lies beyond.

This week on the pod, Kenton is joined by high-altitude mountaineer David Goettler. This is his second time on the podcast, having previously chatted to Kenton back in 2022 after he successfully summited Everest without oxygen. On this occasion, Kenton was keen to speak to David because he has recently returned from an expedition in Pakistan, where he finally achieved his dream of summiting 8,000m peak Nanga Parbat via the Rupal Face. David's perseverance shines through when we learn that this was his fifth attempt to climb the mountain, and climate conditions required lots of careful calculations to make safe progress up the steep slopes. His descent, however, was much quicker! David spent 35 glorious minutes paragliding from slightly below the summit all the way to Basecamp and as listeners, we share his joy in the journey. Dreaming of big mountain adventures? This episode is for you!

On this week's episode of Cool Conversations, Kenton speaks to award winning journalist and champion Obstacle Course Racer, Gwendolyn Bounds. Wendy, as she is known, took up Obstacle Course Racing at 45 years old and has built her fitness to such an extent that she now competes for podium places in Spartan races around the world. But this hasn't always been the case. Wendy discovered Spartan when she realised that she was sitting in contented inertia - in a high-pressure, yet successful career, with a busy personal life and no time for anything else. However, she decided to make time and she started building the physical foundation that now underpins everything she does. And she's never looked back. Wendy is the author of two books: Little Chapel on the River and Not Too Late Reading: The Formula by Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg Listening to: Eric Church, a country music artist, and Peter Attia on a Bone Health Podcast

This week's Cool Conversations guest is adventurer and safety expert, Aldo Kane. Aldo tells Kenton that he was a Royal Marines Commando for 10 years before finding his way into TV and film where he looks after safety and logistics in extreme, remote, hostile environments. Prompted by Aldo's work, this conversation delves into the changing world of TV and streaming services, and the difficulties of balancing time outdoors with technology. This conversation delivers very differently to what you might expect and is definitely worth a listen! What's Aldo reading? Check Engine Light by Rob Wilson What's Aldo listening to? Moonshots podcast

In this week's episode, Kenton continues his climb up Laila Peak in Pakistan, providing real-time updates as he and the team move up the mountain from Basecamp, and then all the way back to Islamabad. He describes ice towers, snow slopes, glaciers and rock formations. He explains the challenging terrain, and shares his thoughts and feelings both on the way up and on the way back down. All expeditions need space for reflection - this one perhaps more than most. A night sleeping under the stars helped Kenton to do this, as well as the ever-present Pakistani hospitality. If you are yearning for the mountains, this episode is for you!

The popular Tales from the Trails is back and this week Kenton is taking us on a journey through Pakistan. Starting in Islamabad, Kenton and his team fly to Skardu (not without drama!), then take 4x4s to Hushe, high in the Hushe Valley, before they continue on foot to Laila Peak's Basecamp. As always, Kenton provides vivid descriptions of the landscape unfolding around him as he travels deeper into the mountains. This episode is recorded on the go, so please forgive us the background noise!

Kenton's guest on this episode of Cool Conversations is Hannah Cox who is about to launch herself into a 4,200km run, having only started running last year. Why? You will learn that Hannah is obsessed with a hedge that formed an inland customs line across India about 150 years ago. It was used to enforce a salt tax and resulted in a widespread famine in which millions died. Hannah is re-tracing the line of the hedge and will be running 100 marathons in 100 days to do so. It's a bold undertaking for anyone, especially a non-runner! But Hannah's 'Why' is strong. She is passionate about environmental sustainability and has founded two businesses with sustainability at their core - Better Not Stop and The Better Business Network. She aims to raise £1m for environmental charities through the project. Through her work building communities, businesses and bold adventures, Hannah’s mission is to prove that together we can achieve the impossible. Find out more: www.projectsaltrun.com Support the crowdfunder: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/project-salt-run

We have another outdoor special for you this week, recorded near Chamonix in Servos. Kenton chats to Sev Garo, an artist and sculptor who is inspired by glaciers. Sev explains how he aims to capture the energy of glaciers through his art and how he hopes his work helps to start conversations about climate change and glacial melt. Sev tells Kenton how he initially came up with the idea to design unique pieces of jewellery from the surface detail of glaciers and the process he follows to create this wearable art. Take a look at Sev's work on his website: www.garogosi.com

Tales from the Trails (TFTT) is back and this time Kenton is on the Eiger in the Swiss Alps. Kenton talks us through his ascent of the 3,967m Eiger, with his client Marco. They ascend via the Mittellegi ridge and descend via the South Ridge on an absolutely beautiful summer's day with views for miles. Having not done this particular climb since 2009, Kenton is reminded that it is not a walk in the park! Listen now to experience the Eiger through Kenton's eyes.