Jesse Dufton is a blind rock climber and keynote speaker.

He was awarded a Guinness World Record for becoming the first blind person to lead climb The Old Man of Hoy and he has also established new routes on previously unclimbed mountains in the arctic and in Morocco’s Anti Atlas. He is the subject of several films, including the multi-award winning films Climbing Blind 1 & 2 and Trad Stars from Brit Rock Films.

Jesse has lost all his useful vision to Rod-Cone Dystrophy, a genetic condition that causes the light-sensitive cells in the eyes to degenerate. While climbing, he is totally reliant on his sense of touch and on verbal guidance from his climbing partner, his wife Molly.

A lifelong climber, Jesse is best known for his traditional or “trad” rock climbing, but his climbing repertoire also encompasses sport, competition and ice climbing.

Jesse’s talks allow him to share the mindset and mental tools which underpin his numerous achievements, from managing fear, overcoming obstacles through ingenuity and dealing with crisis in hostile environments. He deftly balances humour and harrowing anecdotes with keen insight into performance, diversity, teamwork and sustainability from a unique viewpoint. While he is too modest to admit it, his achievements and outlook in the face of his disability are hugely inspiring and the fact that he has achieved such success in both the sporting and corporate worlds allows him to understand and relate the key attributes which underpin success universally.