James N. Hooper (born 1987) is a British mountain climber and adventurer who in 2006 became one of the youngest Britons to climb

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

, along with his friend Rob Gauntlett.

Biography

Hooper was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and raised in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

by a single father who worked as a civil engineer. He attended

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

, a boarding school in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, on a scholarship, where he befriended his classmate Rob Gauntlett at the age of 11. Hooper and Gauntlett frequently discussed their dream of climbing

, which was sparked in 2003 when they were 16. They prepared by climbing

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...

in 2005 and a selection of other peaks, guided by their school's climbing instructor, and cycling through

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. They struggled to raise the funds to cover the costs of a professional guided expedition, and only secured their last sponsor on the day before they departed. In May 2006 they travelled to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

and climbed Everest from the north side, becoming the youngest Britons to reach the summit, both aged 19. In 2007, Hooper and Gauntlett began their next expedition, "180° Pole-to-Pole": the first trip from the

North Magnetic Pole The north magnetic pole, also known as the magnetic north pole, is a point on the surface of Earth's Northern Hemisphere at which the planet's magnetic field points vertically downward (in other words, if a magnetic compass needle is allowed t ...

to the South Magnetic Pole (a journey of ) using only human and natural power, in order to raise awareness of

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. Starting north of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

in April 2007, they skied, sledded, cycled and sailed until they reached the Antarctic in April 2008, after 409 days. They were subsequently awarded the '' National Geographic'' Adventurers of the Year prize for 2008. Hooper, Gauntlett, and two other school friends, Richard Lebon and James Atkinson, travelled to

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

in January 2009 to attempt a winter ascent of

. While Hooper and Lebon ended up forgoing their effort, Gauntlett and Atkinson continued up an ambitious technical route and fell to their deaths from the Gervasutti Couloir. Following Gauntlett's death, Hooper faced a £90,000

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

from his pole-to-pole expedition. After a book and movie deal were not possible due to the

financial crisis of 2007-2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

, he took up an office job in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In late 2010 he moved to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

to attend

Kyung Hee University Kyung Hee University (abbreviated to KHU) (Hangul: 경희대학교; Hanja: 慶熙大學校) is a private research university in South Korea with campuses in Seoul and Suwon. Founded in 1949, it is widely regarded as one of the best universities ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

. Continuing regular work as a motivational speaker in South Korea, and now fluent in

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

, he was a cast member in the talk show ''

Non-Summit ''Non-Summit'' (), also known as ''Abnormal Summit'', is a South Korean television program on JTBC which first aired on July 7, 2014. The show features a panel of non-Korean men, living in South Korea, who debate on various topics and "Korean cu ...

'' for short time in 2014 until moving to Australia to complete his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

the University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment o ...

. He has been a Professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Science at Dongguk University, Korea since May 2020. (Ilya Belyakov's English 82 Questions with James Hooper on YouTube)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, James 1987 births Living people Welsh mountain climbers Welsh polar explorers Welsh explorers British summiters of Mount Everest People educated at Christ's Hospital Sportspeople from Cardiff British expatriates in South Korea University of Wollongong alumni