James Forrest is an English adventurer, hiker, and author from Birmingham, England. In 2017, Forrest broke the record for the fastest known completion of all 446 mountains in England and Wales. He climbed every 2,000 ft mountain in England and Wales, peaks known as the 'Nuttalls', in six months, walking over 1,000 miles in the process. In 2018, Forrest climbed all 273 mountains in Ireland and Northern Ireland in eight weeks, the fastest known time. He walked over 1,000 km and climbed the height of Everest every week for eight weeks in a row in his mission to climb the so-called Vandeleur-Lynams, every mountain in Ireland and Northern Ireland over 600m.
James Forrest's most distinguished accomplishment is completing all 1,001 qualifying mountains across the United Kingdom and Ireland in the fastest recorded time, a self-supported effort carried out between 2017 and 2019 over roughly two and a half years. This included finishing the 446 Nuttalls in England and Wales within six months in 2017, the 273 Vandeleur-Lynams across Ireland and Northern Ireland in just eight weeks in 2018, and the 282 Munros in Scotland in another six-month period in 2019. Each phase established a speed record under strict self-supported conditions, without external assistance, prearranged transport, or a support team.
In total, Forrest covered nearly 5,000 km on foot and accumulated elevation gain comparable to climbing Mount Everest from sea level more than thirty times. Throughout the challenge, he camped for over 100 nights, including 52 during the Munros segment alone, frequently undertaking extended periods without rest. His achievement was substantiated through GPS tracking, photo documentation, and detailed logs published via his website and book, earning recognition from the outdoor community and media outlets such as The Sunday Telegraph.