Risk, reward and extremes a live panel discussion hosted by RiskXtremePodcast
Risk, reward and extremes, a live panel discussion that explores the balance between risk and reward through the eyes of those who live for adventure. Brought to you by a podcast that captures unique perspectives from people who have tested their limits, from frozen summits to ocean adventures and every extreme in between.
At this unique live panel, we invite participants to reflect on what drives us to take risks, chase challenges, and seek meaning on the edge of experience.
Panellists include:
Scott Kirkhope
Scott has been involved in the outdoor sector for over 20 years, in a variety of roles. He started in outdoor education, working with young people at a number of Outdoor Centres. As he gained more qualifications and experience, he headed out on his own. Firstly, freelancing for several guiding companies across the UK before setting up his own mountain guiding and instruction company in 2016.
His business has grown year on year and now employs a number of freelancers of his own. He has been a Mentor for both the MCI and WMCI awards and still actively works with trainees who are working towards their awards.
Scott currently holds the Winter Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor (WMCI) and has climbed all over Britain and the Alps, and is a full member of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors, of which he is the current Development Officer for the Association. As well as working with students as part of the School of Adventure Studies at the North, West and Hebrides UHI. He also holds the Mountain Bike Leader and is an active Mountain biker and coach across the highlands of Scotland.
Caitlin Russell-Connor
Caitlin is a GB ice climbing athlete based in Glasgow, Scotland. As an A-selected athlete, she competes internationally on the Ice Climbing World Cup circuit in both lead and speed disciplines. One of her proudest competitive results to date is finishing 10th overall in the Senior Female category at the 2025 Ice Climbing World Cup in Colorado.
Alongside her competitive career, she is passionate about supporting the development of ice climbing at grassroots level. She is a co-founder and trustee of The Scottish Dry Tooling Club and works as Head Coach, where she supports youth athletes through training, competition preparation, and international events. Balancing coaching, full-time work, and her own training is demanding, but helping develop the next generation of climbers is one of the most rewarding parts of her involvement in the sport.
Caitlin was the 2024 winner of the Festival’s Youth Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture
Adele Pennington
Adele has been an active international mountaineer since the late 1990’s and has guided on several 8000m peaks, including Everest twice and the first British female winter ascent of Ama Dablam. As well as doing a number of first ascents, she has learnt a lot about the mitigation of risk having pushed those boundaries on a personal level. As a WMCI working in the Highlands, she faces objective hazards of extremes of weather and snow conditions on a daily basis, but her objective is to evaluate the risks. The reward is ensuring that her clients operate safely within their abilities and have a good day out.
Luca Celano
Luca is a climber and WMCI qualified instructor based in North Wales during the summer and Spean Bridge during the winter. He has climbed all over the world and has been coming to Scotland to winter climb for the last 15 years. He runs Straight Up Adventures, specialising in taking people climbing.
He is a full team member of Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation, one of the busier teams in the UK and covering a large area containing some very difficult to access technical terrain. He is their Winter Operation lead and a Remote Rescue Medical Technician.