Biography

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Tom was born in Portsmouth on May 22nd 1973. From his childhood he has always preferred the outdoor life and his passion for the hills has taken him all over the world. He is passionate about mountaineering, rock climbing, cross-country paragliding, vol-bivouac paramotoring, mountain unicycling, penny farthing riding(!) and ski touring. Photography is also high on the list.

Tom was introduced to walking and climbing in Scotland and Wales by his parents from an early age. He has skied most years since he was eight and has guided friends on peaks such as Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and the Weismiss in the Alps. The first peak in the Himalayas that Tom climbed was Ama Dablam, which many claim to be the most beautiful mountain in the world. It is a lovely mixed and steep climb on rock and ice. He has climbed four of the seven summits, Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Elbrus and Everest where he and his brother Ben became the first British brothers to stand on top of the world together, on 18th May, 2006. This was their second attempt – the first was made from Tibet in 2004, on the northern side but they became trapped in a violent storm for two days at 7,900m. They were forced to turn around. Eight climbers lost their lives.

Tom believes that if you want to do something enough you can – you just have to believe in yourself. He loves a challenge and has cycled from John O’Groats to Lands End with no support, he has ridden the Cresta run and fallen at Shutlecock corner, he has run with the bulls in Pamplona and flown with eagles on his paraglider over the foothills of Mount Olympus in Greece, he has flown into remote tribal townships on his paramotor, in the depths of Venezuela in the Gran Sabana. In the summer of 2021, he unicycled the entire length of the South Downs Way which is over 100 miles. He used a 29 inch, Kris Holm, off-road unicycle which has a hydraulic disc brake. He raised £7,215.54 for Prostate Cancer UK. It took him 3 days. In May 2023, he rode 320 miles on his 54 inch Penny Farthing along the Hebridean Way in the Outer Hebrides raising a total of £15,299.70 for the Stroke Association.

Tom has a BA International Business Studies degree and speaks French and Spanish. In the early days, Tom worked as a cycle courier and barman in London, he then worked in the sports marketing world for a number of years before doing the marketing for an adventure travel company. Nowadays, when Tom is not organising expeditions, he runs a small company called Pinnacle Renovation Projects where he manages teams of builders to work on residential properties in London. Tom is also part of the lecture circuit in the UK having spoken at numerous schools and companies since 2001. He lives near the South Downs in West Sussex with his wife, Diana, and their children, Sebastian and Daisy.