Mountaineer • Expedition Leader • Founder • Speaker
I believe most people are capable of far more than they think.
James McManus is an Irish high-altitude mountaineer, expedition leader, entrepreneur and keynote speaker, and the founder of Earth’s Edge, Ireland’s most trusted expedition company.
For more than 20 years, he has guided expeditions around the world, helping thousands of people achieve ambitious goals in some of the world’s most challenging mountain environments.
James has climbed and led expeditions across South America, Asia, Africa and Europe, including multiple expeditions above 8,000 metres without supplementary oxygen.
In May 2026, he became the first Irish person to summit Lhotse (8,516m), the world’s fourth-highest mountain, without supplementary oxygen.
He is now preparing to attempt Everest in 2027, where he hopes to become the first Irish person to reach the summit without supplementary oxygen.
James founded Earth’s Edge in 2007. The company was named Ireland’s Outstanding Small Business at the SFA Awards in 2015 and achieved the highest B Corp score in Ireland in 2025.
Alongside his expeditions and his work with Earth’s Edge, James is an experienced keynote speaker, sharing practical lessons on purpose, preparation, resilience and performance.
He holds a BSc in Sport Science and brings together more than two decades of expedition leadership with evidence-based thinking.
Finding My Mountains
Growing up in Tipperary, the sports everyone cared about were hurling, soccer and rugby. I wasn’t particularly good at any of them. I was usually one of the last picked.
My mum introduced me to the outdoors when I was young, and that’s where I found my passion. It led me first to kayaking and later to mountaineering. For the first time, I had found something I genuinely loved and something I was naturally good at.
It taught me something that has stayed with me ever since. We can be too quick to decide what we’re good at, or what we’re capable of, before we’ve found the thing that really brings out the best in us.
That passion eventually became my career. I started working as a kayak instructor at 16, went on to guide around the world and founded Earth’s Edge in 2007.
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to build my life around the outdoors ever since.
What Experience Has Taught Me
The mountains have taught me a lot, but many of the most important lessons have come when things haven’t gone to plan.
In 2020, Earth’s Edge faced the biggest challenge in its history as COVID brought international travel to a standstill. At the same time, years of overuse had left me with severe knee pain, and I genuinely worried that I might lose the mountains from my life.
I needed something positive to work towards, so I set myself the goal of completing the Wicklow Round, approximately 120 kilometres across Wicklow’s highest mountains.
For 13 months, I worked towards it. I stopped running completely for three months, rebuilt my strength and gradually increased my training. Having that goal gave me direction during one of the most difficult periods of my life and helped me show up better for my family, my staff and myself.
It reinforced something I still believe today.
Purpose isn’t something you find when life gets hard. It’s something you build beforehand, so it’s there when you need it.
The years since have taught me just as much about preparation.
My journey towards climbing Everest without supplementary oxygen hasn’t been a straight line. In 2022, cumulative fatigue forced me to turn around on Everest. In 2023, terrible weather ended my attempt on Dhaulagiri. In 2024, a respiratory infection forced me to turn around on Lhotse.
Then came Makalu in 2025. I reached 8,324 metres without supplementary oxygen, setting a new Irish altitude record at the time, before turning back around 160 metres below the summit. But Makalu was different. I couldn’t simply put it down to illness, weather or circumstances outside my control.
My preparation had been good. It just wasn’t good enough for what I was trying to achieve.
That changed how I thought about preparation. I realised that preparation isn’t about giving everything you’ve got. It’s about understanding what the goal truly demands and preparing yourself to meet that standard.
So I went back to work. A year later, I returned to the Himalayas and became the first Irish person to summit Lhotse without supplementary oxygen.
I’m incredibly proud of that summit, but many of the lessons that made it possible came from the mountains I didn’t summit.
Things won’t always go our way. Sometimes there are lessons to learn and sometimes circumstances are simply outside our control. I’ve learned to reflect honestly, learn what I can, control what I can and accept what I can’t.
The goal matters. But so does who we become in the process of pursuing it.
Helping People Discover What They’re Capable Of
The most rewarding part of my work has never been standing on summits. It’s watching what happens when other people commit themselves to something difficult.
Over more than 20 years of guiding, I’ve watched thousands of people work towards challenges that genuinely mattered to them. For one person that might mean completing their first hike. For someone else it could mean standing on a 6,000-metre summit after years of preparation.
The mountain is different for everyone.
That’s a big part of what we’ve tried to build at Earth’s Edge. The summit matters, but so does everything that happens on the way there. The preparation, the confidence people build, the friendships they make and what they learn about themselves through doing something difficult.
It’s also why I speak to organisations. The mountains provide the stories, but the lessons aren’t really about mountains. They’re about purpose, disciplined preparation, consistency, learning from setbacks and performing when things get difficult.
Whether I’m guiding someone on a mountain or speaking to a room full of people, the part I enjoy most is seeing what happens when someone commits to a meaningful goal and does the work required to get there.
That’s why I guide. That’s why I speak. And it’s a big part of why I continue to challenge myself.
What’s Next?
I’m always working towards something. Right now, that’s Everest.
In spring 2027, I’ll attempt to become the first Irish person to summit Everest without supplementary oxygen. It’s a goal I’ve been working towards for years, through successful expeditions, failed attempts and everything I’ve learned along the way.
But Everest isn’t a finish line. I believe having something meaningful to strive for gives direction to everyday life. The challenge itself will change over time, but I hope I’ll always have something that asks me to learn, prepare and become better.
Follow my journey to Everest on Instagram
Work With James
Take on an adventure
Explore expeditions with Earth’s Edge.
Speaking & Events
Enquire about bringing James to your organisation for a keynote or explore the Live From Everest programme.
Media & Partnerships
For interviews, podcasts, media enquiries and partnership opportunities, get in touch.
