Matthew is a mountain athlete primarily focused on the alpine ranges. At the age of 21, he climbed Baruntse in Nepal and then at the age of 22, quickly built on this experience to become one of the youngest Britons to climb Mount Everest.
Fast forward a few years, Matthew has become a more rounded multi-sport alpinist, combining his passion for flying with running, skiing, and climbing.
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Sport has been a huge part of Matthew’s life from an early age where he climbed the modest hills of the UK Lake District and played squash at the national level until the age of 19. While at university, however, he was given the opportunity to work in the French Alps for 3 months. In 2010, while surrounded by the inspiring presence of towering peaks in the basement of an alpine chalet, Matthew conceived the ambitious idea of scaling the world's tallest mountain.
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Since climbing Everest, Matthew has tried to evolve his mountain craft into something more satisfying and wholesome while having a little less impact. In 2014, Matthew took his love for flight and started combining his climbing with the wonderful sport of paragliding. This particularly satisfying blend gradually evolved to speedflying, speedriding, paramotoring, and more recently, run and fly. In this niche area of alpinism, the goal is to simply travel fast and light through mountainous terrain.
With this goal in mind, Matthew has recently embarked on projects including a run & fly across the length of the Alps, skiing the classic Grand Mulets route of Mont Blanc, a loose 'Fastest Known Time' of Ben Alder in Scotland, and a number of flights from alpine peaks. You can read about those adventures here.
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Matthew is currently focusing on a number of climbing and flying projects, including "RidingGiants", a high altitude project which is currently being pieced together to take a speed wing higher than ever before.
Collaborating with exceptional brands and partners, Matthew feels privileged to serve as an ambassador for SunGod, an extraordinary eyewear brand that exemplifies a commitment to ethical business practices and exceptional product quality. Additionally, for his filmmaking pursuits, Matthew receives invaluable support from Insta360.The Everest expedition was generously sponsored by Yell Group.
To give back, Matthew represents the #GetOutside initiative for the Ordnance Survey, clean water projects at Global Angels, and campaigns for equality and diversity in the outdoor spaces.
© Matthew Thornton