James and Rob Memorial Ride '09

For more information go to Rob Gauntlett.com

Everest 2006

On May 17th 2006 Rob Gauntlett and his expedition partner James Hooper reached the summit of Mount Everest and in doing so became the youngest Britons to scale the world’s highest mountain, shortly after their 19th birthdays. In 2003 Rob and James decided, during their GCSE’s at school, that they wanted to climb Mount Everest. After years of relentless training Rob and James turned their dream into reality and proved their critic’s wrong who insisted that it was impossible. Not content with this achievement, and still just 19 years old, they wanted to prove to other young people how important it is to believe in your own abilities. This message along with their passion for geography and the environment was enough to drive them onto even bigger projects. In March 2007 Rob and James set off on an epic journey from the North Geomagnetic Pole to the South Magnetic Pole using entirely human and natural power.

180 Degrees - Pole to pole manpowered!

Starting at the Geomagnetic North Pole they skied alone on the sea ice for 6 weeks before transferring to Inuit dog sleds. After Rob nearly lost his life in an accident by which he fell through the sea ice, they managed to meet a yacht and sail to New York City. The next stage was to pedal 5,500 miles to Panama City, through all of Central America and then sail to Guayaquil in Ecuador to don their bikes once more, this time to the bottom of South America. The final section of the epic journey was to sail across the perilous Southern Ocean to the South Magnetic Pole. After 26,000 miles of travel and 3 months on a boat since leaving South America, Rob and James arrived in Sydney, Australia to a warm welcome and a press reception.”

Time Line of greatest achievemnets.

2002 - Rob cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats at the age of 15, covering a total distance of 1108 miles

2003 - Rob undertook a cycle tour of arctic Norway. The idea of climbing Everest arose when Rob was 16.

2004 - Rob ran the London Marathon in 3 hours 30 mins. He climbed in the Alps, Scotland and attempted Mt Spantik (7,032m), Pakistan.

2005 - Expeditions and training for Mount Everest including climbing Mount Ama Dablam (6856m) and cycling from Bilbao in Spain to Instanbul, Turkey.

2006 - Ascent of Mount Everest (8,848m) from Tibet. Rob became the youngest Briton to summit the mountain.

2007-2008 - 180 Degrees Pole to Pole expedition using only human and natural power; more than 26,000 miles using only skis, dogsleds, sails and bicycles.

2007 - Honorary Diploma from the University of Queretaro, Mexico for the 180 degrees Expedition.

2008 - Rob and James Hooper become National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year. Rob also became the youngest fellow of The Royal Geographical Society.

The Rob Gauntlett Trust aims to provide exceptional and life changing experiences to underprivileged teenagers. By challenging these individuals to accomplish a physical adventure in an environment that is foreign to them, the Trust will push them beyond their perceived boundaries whilst teaching them social and environmental responsibility. These young people will then be asked to speak about their experience, thereby encouraging and inspiring their friends and community to achieve their dreams (a message that Rob continuously strived to promote).

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The James Atkinson Bequest is to benefit pupils at Christ's Hospital in pursuing activities such as cycling and climbing that were so fundamental to the lives of James and Rob.