It's the first episode of 2025 and we have a spectacular Tales from the Trails (TFTT) for you! Kenton recorded this whilst he was trekking to Everest Base Camp in November and it is the perfect way to brighten up a cold January day. 

Kenton shares colourful descriptions of the people, valleys, rivers, views, animals and landmarks that he passes as he treks from Namche Bazaar to Everest Base Camp with a small team of trekkers. From the evocative sounds of prayer wheels to the rushing of rivers and the breathlessness of hiking at altitude, you will get a real taste of life in the Khumbu Valley and we hope that it will set your tastebuds tingling for the adventures that lie ahead in 2025!

Whilst trekking in the Khumbu region recently, Kenton bumped into 'super guide' Lakpa Rita Sherpa, and took the opportunity to interview him for the podcast. Lakpa Rita was born in Thame, a small village high in the Himalayas, and followed in his father's footsteps becoming a mountain guide and Sirdar.

Lakpa Rita has lived in Seattle since 2000 and has led multiple expeditions all over the world. He first summited Everest in 1990 and has stood atop the world's highest mountain 17 times. Lakpa Rita now runs his own guiding company, Khangri Experience, and personally prefers to climb 'smaller' mountains these days, as well as leading treks in Nepal, the USA and elsewhere.

Kenton learns things about Lakpa Rita that he didn't know during this conversation, so we're sure that you will too. Enjoy!

Follow Kenton on Instagram: @kentoncool

Follow Lakpa Rita on Instagram: @lrsherpa

Find Lakpa Rita's guiding company here: www.khangriexperience.com

Melissa Arnot is a mountain guide, Everest summiteer, adventurer and co-founder of The Juniper Fund. More recently, she has taken up ultra-running and in this episode of Cool Conversations, Kenton talks to her about her experiences in the 450km Tor des Glaciers race a few months ago.

Melissa didn't finish the race and has taken a lot of learnings from her unfortunate DNF. She continued for far longer than many of us would believe possible yet still struggled to process her 'failure' for several weeks afterwards.

This is the second time that Melissa has been on the pod, and we think you will quickly understand why she is welcome anytime!

This episode of Cool Conversations is a very special one because Kenton sits down with his close friend and Number One Sherpa, Dorjee Gyelzen.

Dorjee grew up in Pangboche, Nepal which sits at 4,000m altitude. Life in the high Himalayas is challenging, but through hard work and commitment Dorjee has forged a career in mountaineering and Kenton rates him as one of the best!

Dorjee has climbed Mount Everest 23 times and he has summited Ama Dablam (his favourite mountain) an astonishing 27 times.

Listen now to hear about Dorjee's childhood and his journey into mountaineering, and to learn about his Buddhist faith and his deep love and sense of responsibility for his family.

This week, we welcome rugby legend, Lewis Moody, to Cool Conversations! Lewis was a member of the 2003 World Cup winning England rugby squad and he amassed 71 caps for England during his career. Lewis talks to Kenton fresh from a 2003 team reunion, which, we learn, do not happen very regularly at all!

Lewis talks quite openly about the stigma that was attached to showing vulnerability or weakness in his early days as a player and how he now recognises that it is so important to take the time to ask how someone is, or to ask for help. He now runs a successful coaching business and borrows many lessons from his playing days when working with executives.

Lewis tells Kenton about The Lewis Moody Foundation which raises money for the Brain Tumour Charity, and about his love for difficult physical challenges.

It's a good one, we hope you enjoy it!

This week, Kenton talks to Sequoia Schmidt who is a remarkable business woman, climber, base-jumper, author and philanthropist.

Sequoia started her business at 17 years old after an 'unstable' childhood that she discusses with Kenton. After nearly 20 years, she has now taken herself back to school and is fully embracing the Global Executive Leadership course at Yale, sharing her own experiences of running a company with her peers and learning a huge amount from each of them too.

Sequoia talks very openly about the tough times she has experienced in her life and how she uses her strength, learnt from her late father, to navigate through these times.

This is an emotionally charged conversation, and one that has both Sequoia and Kenton. in tears at one point, so be prepared!

Sid is a high-altitude mountain guide, a heli-ski guide and more recently a self-taught builder! Sid lives in The Cascades in Washington State and he is currently building a house in the middle of nowhere and thoroughly enjoying the process.

Sid and Kenton met at Everest Basecamp in 2018 when they were both guiding there. Sid has summited Everest three times, from both the South Side and the North Side, and they share stories about their experiences in this week’s episode of Cool Conversations.

Sid spends a lot of his time heli-ski guiding and has built up a base of loyal clients who return to ski with him year after year. He talks about the importance of building their trust and also understanding skill levels of the group to keep everyone safe on the mountain. Kenton describes him as a renegade or a non-conformist, which he agrees with, but not at the expense of safety.

This is a Cool Conversation between two friends that touches on many different subjects, so be prepared for the conversation to go anywhere!

This week, Kenton speaks to Dr Sarah Ruggins who, it is fair to say, leaves him lost for words a few times! Sarah embraced academia when she was younger and she holds four degrees in four different subjects. Her interest in philosophy and economics led her to a career in finance where she now holds a senior position in one of the biggest wealth management companies in the UK.

Sarah is also a phenomenal athlete. As a junior, she ran Junior Olympic qualifying times in the 10,000m and had a promising future until a horrific illness left her bedridden for a very long time. Since recovering, she has learnt to ride a bike and has recently completed the epic Transcontinental Race (TCR) from Roubaix in Paris to Istanbul in Turkey. She covered 4,400km in 13 days over multiple mountain ranges, and with very little sleep. Her determination, passion and resilience shine through very strongly in this conversation – enjoy!

Benny Lieber is an accomplished climber and is also described by Kenton as 'the next generation of high-altitude mountain guides'. Benny and Kenton met at Everest Base Camp earlier this year and hit it off immediately with Kenton feeding off Benny's unquenchable energy.

Benny is a product developer by trade, but gave it up for a life in the mountains back in 2016. He moved to Alaska and lived for several years in his car before being able to afford an apartment, but he has now found his niche and is a full-time mountain guide. He has many summits to his name including Everest, Lhotse, K2, Manaslu and Vinson and we are certain there are more to come.

Kenton and Benny discuss the changing world of mountain guiding, they compare stories of different mountains, and Benny describes the luxury of absolute wilderness in Alaska. Listen now to this high-energy episode!

A fellow mountain guide and mountaineer, Brent Bishop first summited Everest in 1994 and now describes himself as an 'aging climber'. He talks with Kenton about many of his mountain expeditions and how his family history helped to frame his experiences.

Brent is a successful businessman and has juggled life in the mountains with his businesses. Last year he suffered a huge heart attack at his local climbing centre, despite being fit and healthy, but that hasn't stopped him!

This episode is a classic Cool Conversations - lots of interesting topics covered and a few previously unknown facts uncovered!