Our Athletes & Ambassadors

Natalie discovered climbing at the age of nine and it quickly took over her life. Having joined a kids' club she soon progressed into competition climbing where following numerous national level wins she was asked to join the GB Youth Climbing Team (aged 11). This gave Natalie the opportunity to compete at an international level all over the world, culminating in a win at the European Youth Series in Slovenia in 2007. Natalie became increasingly drawn outdoors and started sport climbing at age 18. This took Natalie on numerous trips to top sport destinations across Europe including Céüse, Siurana, and Gorges du Loup.

James Rudge has always been interested in adventure through various sports. Parkour was what drew him in from a young age. After many years of practising this, he decided to give climbing a go and attend the national Paraclimbing series. James' involvement in Paraclimbing events has seen him get more involved in the inclusive climbing community as a whole. After volunteering for 2 years James and two others decided to set up their own charity, Bristol Inclusive Climbing. They aim to make adventure sports something that everyone can get involved in and try.

Dylan grew up an avid sportsman but only found climbing and adventuring when he was 30 years old. Instantly becoming hooked on the sport, he quickly took to rock and began travelling to Majorca and Thailand for sport climbing trips. Following two years of sport climbing, Dylan decided to move out of his London flat and began a nomadic lifestyle travelling the world, living in hostels and mountain bivvy huts. Dylan has climbed routes across the alps and the UK. With a drive to push his skills, most of Dylan’s winter season is spent climbing in Scotland.

For Natalie climbing is not just a sport or a hobby, it is a lifetime of wonderful opportunities. She often looks back on old videos and I see how far she has come. From winning comps to enjoying the mileage. Now all she wants is to climb super hard boulders and get back into sport climbing.

Luke Smith was born with a talipes equinovarus (club foot). Previously a professional Thai boxer, competing at a very high level all over the world. He got into climbing in 2018 and instantly became hooked on the sport. He then found out about Paraclimbing and decided to pursue competitive climbing, as well as climbing outdoors. Luke has been the RP3 Paraclimbing British champion for the last few years and has managed to achieve his first final in the Innsbruck World Cup 2023 finishing 4th and competed in the World Championships in Bern 2023 finishing 5th. Climbing outdoors is also a big interest of Luke’s, whether it's sport climbing, multipitch/ trad climbing, bouldering, scrambling and even ice climbing.

Luke is a RP1 athlete competing for GB Climbing. He has Cerebral Palsy down his right-hand side and day to day uses a wheelchair to get around. He first got into climbing almost as a joke. After seeing a poster in uni at a freshers fair of somebody climbing, He thought it would be funny if a wheelchair user was to go rock climbing. The second he completed the climb he was absolutely addicted. He'd managed to find a sport that was both challenging and extremely fun. Luke's day job is in cyber security but is now competing around the world every year, Salt Lake City, USA, Innsbruck Austria to name a few.

A lifelong lover of running and exploration, Jodie discovered ultramarathons early on. At 20, she signed up for her first race, the Lakeland 50 and got drawn into the community. Her running adventures have taken her from the local Cornish Coast Path to the European Alps, through the Wadi Rum Desert, and ascending to over 4000 meters above sea level in Tajikistan. In 2023, Jodie became the youngest member of the esteemed Lakeland #500legend club by completing her fifth Lakeland 100. That same year, she also secured a third-place finish in the race. Her track record includes a second-place finish as a female at the ARC of Attrition 100 miles and a second-place overall at the Redtail Ridge 50k in California, less than 2 minutes behind the first male.

Naomi is a serving member of the British Army and competes in XC for the Army Medical Services. Her career and love of travel has provided opportunities to run in various locations and climates around the world including Afghanistan, Romania, and Africa. Naomi's first 'proper' race was a half marathon in Cyprus in 2013 which she signed up for the day before and ran without a watch. This race ignited a flame inside to continuously push her limits and she ran her first Ultra the following year.   In 2019 Naomi ran a 100-mile race followed by an 88-mile race only 3 days later. Chasing 200 miles, Naomi then completed the Wildhorse 200 in 2022 finishing as second place female. Though Naomi prefers longer ultras, she recently competed in the UTS by UTMB 55k placing in the top 10 female finishers.

Charlie started running at a very young age spurred on by his marathon running Father. He ran his first ever race at the age of 3 - a 1km race - and moved up the ranks competing in his first ‘ultra’ at the age of 12 years old. It inspired a passion of a lifetime, and now he loves nothing more than exploring new places. Charlie has been involved in the adventure travel industry for over 12 years. He now owns and operates Pure Trails - a trail running adventure company which specialises in extraordinary small group running experiences around the world. Charlie is also a qualified running coach, mountain leader and holds a Wilderness First Aid certificate.

Laura Kennington is a British adventure athlete with a passion for the endurance capability of the human body. Previous adventures include solo cycling the world's longest coastal route in Ireland, solo cycling Scotland’s North Coast 500 route, running the length of Fuerteventura (100 miles) in 4 days and circumnavigating three of the Channel Islands using three different sporting disciplines as part of an extreme triathlon.

The outdoors has helped Alex since the age of 14, including epilepsy, stammering, bullying and mental health. Now he is a record-breaking adventurer, ultrarunner, motivational speaker and author passionate about inspiring others to find opportunities in adversity. Alex has already been on four expeditions to the Himalayas, surviving two disasters on Mount Everest as a teenager and reaching 7,125 metres on the world's sixth-highest peak, Cho Oyu. In 2017 he started looking for challenges closer to home and became the fastest person ever to climb all 100 UK county tops in his 'Climb The UK' challenge, walking, cycling, running and kayaking over 5,000 miles in 72 days to raise money for mental health in young people. He then founded his charity, Mind Over Mountains, which restores mental health through therapeutic outdoor experiences.

Laura ran 7 marathons around the world in one year, including the Mount Everest Marathon, and the World’s coldest marathon, in the Arctic Circle in winter. She started running in 2016, and since finishing her Seven Marathons challenge, has completed several ultra-marathons, including in the Alps and further afield. In 2014 she completed a self-supported ski mountaineering expedition to the highest mountain in the Arctic, in remote East Greenland. She’s also guided on Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya and Mount Toubkal, and has travelled all over the world in search of adventure. Closer to home, since having a baby in 2022, she still enjoys spending as much time as possible in the hills, and has the Lake District on her doorstep.

Anna is an adventurer, writer, photographer, and speaker. Since 2012, she has completed a number of large-scale adventures, including kayaking from London to the Black Sea in Romania, a 5-week solo trek across the wilderness of Arctic Sweden, and walking 1,000 miles across France and Spain alone. She also hopes to encourage and inspire others to not only push themselves outside of their comfort zone but also to explore more of the natural world in a hope that this will motivate more people to protect our natural resources.

Will started skiing in Canada when he was just six years old and he enjoyed it so much he started to ski at the Norfolk Snowsports Club regularly. It was from there he ended up racing with the British Ski Academy for 5 years before being selected for the GB Moguls team. Will has been training and competing in the World Cup Tour full-time with the GB moguls squad since October 2019. 

Bradley started skiing at the age of 5 years old. His style is very natural and he loves nothing more than having fun playing around exploring the whole mountain. One day he hopes to ski in the Winter Olympics but more importantly these days he just wants to have lots of fun.

As with many freestyle skiers, Milton Keynes local Mason started off racing. After a while, his coach told him to try some freestyle to improve his overall skiing. Unfortunately for his race coach Mason enjoyed it more, stopping racing altogether at 11 years old to focus on freestyle. The UK has a small but vibrant and progressive freeski scene with the indoor and dry slopes helping to provide 365 days of training and practice for young freestyle riders to hone their tricks and skills.

Picking up skiing at an early age, Chris spent his childhood learning to ski at his local dryslope, Bearsden Ski Club. With a natural talent for the sport, he has since gone on to compete at the highest level. Competing at World Cups in both slopestyle and big air disciplines, some of his biggest achievements to date include a top 20 finish at the 2021 Corvatsch World Cup, becoming the 2018 British champion in both slopestyle and big air, and being crowned 2019 British University Big Air champion whilst studying physics at the University of Glasgow in 2019. 

Freestyle skier Tom Greenway has been on the scene for almost 10 years, having spent his youth competing across the country at local competitions. A regular on the UK scene, Tom has gone on to become British Indoor and Outdoor champion in both Slopestyle and Big Air events. Tom now bases himself in Laax for the winter season and competes on the Europa Cup circuit. He also made his World Cup debut in the 2020 season.  Tom's ambition is to make a living through competitive freeskiing whilst he also has his sights firmly set on competing at the X Games in the future.

Starting at a young age, Mark was shown the skiing ropes by Jean Wright, a master of her craft. As Mark reached the back end of his teen years he was hooked, pursuing a career instructing both skiing and snowboarding. He split his time between the Glaswegian Snow Factor and the Canadian Rockies, two very different places but both allowing him to perfect his craft. Back in Glasgow Mark linked up with a group of likeminded individuals. This became a melting pot of ideas and Dasswamp was conceived, focused on being a fun and friendly vibe that dedicated itself to creativity and pushing the DIY culture in Scottish Snowsports.

Palmer Parish is a freestyle skier from Essex, UK. He started skiing when he was just 3 years old, and was quickly drawn to jumps and rails. Starting out at The Snow Centre in Hemel Hampstead, it wasn’t long before he began riding park. At aged 6 he was a regular across indoor and dry parks across the UK, as well as heading to the mountains whenever possible. Having grown up watching Line Travelling Circus, Palmer had a natural draw to creative and competitive skiing. He’s already gone on to prove his competitive edge, winning 1st place in the U12 Big Air and Slopestyle at the British Ski and Snowboard Championships in Laax, and in the same year, also finishing 1st in his category at the Scottish and Welsh freestyle championships.

Kirsty Muir learned to ski just before her 4th birthday at her local dry slope in Aberdeen. Always drawn to the snowflex jump slope there, she started freestyle skiing at 6. At 13, she became British Champion in Laax in Slopestyle, Big Air and Half Pipe and had won the Indoors Freestyle Ski British Championships 4 times consecutively by age 15. In January ‘20, at 15, Kirsty won Youth Olympic Silver in Freeski Big Air, the first British athlete to win a medal in this event. Kirsty competed on the World Cup circuit and in only her second Freeski Slopestyle World Cup, came 2nd in Aspen in March ’21. She landed her Dub 12 in competition for the first time in the finals, earning her first WC podium at 16 years old. Finishing the season in 2nd place overall in the World Cup season standings in Slopestyle and 5th place overall Park & Pipe World Cup season standings. Kirsty loves to volunteer coach at her local dry slope and is qualified as a freestyle coach. She loves to shred with everyone there, sharing her passion for freestyle skiing.

Introduced to the snowpark on a family ski holiday at a young age, Harris found his passion for freestyle skiing and continued to pursue it weekly at the Scottish dryslopes of Hillend & Bearsden. Harris quickly became a regular on the UK scene, and has since been selected for the GB Park & Pipe team and travelled worldwide competing at the highest level in Europa Cup and World Cup Slopestyle events for the last 6 years. Some of his top achievements include a top 30 finish at the Seiser Alm World Cup in 2018, 9th place at the Winter World University Games, 3rd place at the Kreischberg Europa Cup in 2019 and becoming British Slopestyle Champion in 2016. After a Covid forced year at home combining with his final year of university studies, Harris discovered a love for the Scottish backcountry, and has since had some amazing days filming, building jumps and skiing lines in the Scottish mountains. This experience sparked the fire for expanding Harris's skiing, with him now focussing on all aspects of freeskiing and especially Scottish skiing projects.

Hailing from North Wales, Calum is an IFMGA mountain guide dividing his time between the mountains of Snowdonia and the sunny French valley of Samoens in the heart of the Alps. Calum specialises in trad and alpine climbing having served an apprenticeship climbing on the mountain crags and sea cliffs of North Wales. His climbing life follows the seasons with skiing and mixed climbing being his main activities over the winter months before spring arrives and with it opportunities to get back out on the rock in the UK. During the summer months, Calum is often out in the Alps, working and climbing in the higher mountains.

Rebecca has made first ascents in South Georgia, Antarctica and a 6000m peak in the far west of Nepal, attempting many more in places such as Tajikistan. She has also made major ascents in the Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan and Peak Lenin 7134m in Kyrgyzstan, all in alpine style. Working as a Winter Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor and expedition leader takes her all over the world and to a variety of environments. Winters in Scotland have lead to some of her most rewarding climbs like Gemini VI, 6.  If it's not the mountains and climbing she she likes leading desert expeditions and crossed the Lut Desert in Iran on foot (the fifth ever crossing) and will soon be heading to Sudan, as well as cycle touring trips such as in Zimbabwe. She has a Geography Ph.D., is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and is a Full member of the Alpine Club.

Andy is a keen paddleboarder based in Manchester. He started paddling at 17 after realising that A-level college wasn't for him. He decided to pursue his passion for the outdoors and went to a dedicated outdoor college to complete an Extended Diploma in Sport and Outdoor Activities. He worked as an outdoor instructor for many years, taking clients on anything from beginner paddleboard courses to canoeing expeditions. One of his favourite paddle spots is Loch an Eilein in Scotland right at the foot of the Cairngorm Mountains, due to the scenic surroundings but also because the little island in the middle has a small ruin on it which he loves to explore. Closer to home he loves a local paddle at his favourite spot on the reservoirs of Rivington (aka ‘Mini-Lake District’).