James Castrission

James Castrission, 25, is currently working part time as a Consultant for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. He attained a Bachelor of Commerce in 2003 at the University of Sydney. Prior to university he completed his schooling at Knox Grammar School finishing in 2000. He has now made mountaineering, climbing, bushwalking and kayaking the central part of his life.

Kayaking

- Bass Strait Crossing April 2006 via the "Eastern route"

- First traverse of Murray River from source to mouth (2560km)

- Traverse of the Clarence River 2003 (500km)

Yachting

- Competent Crew Qual

- Sea Safety Survival Course

- Offshore Passage Brisbane

- Madang (PNG) approx. 2000n.m (2007)

- Snr First Aid

Adventure Racing

- 2x Oxfam Trailwalkers (2003, 2004)

- 1x Arrow International 24 hr Race (2001)

- Hawkesbury Classic 2005,2006

- Teva Adventure Race 2005

- Sydney marathon 2006

Rock Climbing

James' climbing career began in 2001 after he retired from boxing, in which he was the Australian Universities Middleweight Champion. Over the past 5 years James has climbed extensively around Australia (NSW, Qld., VIC and SA) and oversea's (New Zealand and America) up to grade 26- including a 3 day ascent of The Nose, El Capitan in Yosemite Valley California.

Mountaineering

- 3 Summer seasons in NZ (2002, 2003, 2004)

- Alpine Guides Technical Mountaineering Course undertaken 2002

- Significant Alpine ascents include:

Mt Cook (3564m)

Zubbriggens Ridge (Grade 3+)

Mt Aspiring (3200m)-

North West Ridge and traverse S/W ridge (Grade 3+) down the Therma Glacier Malte Brun

West Ridge (Grade 3+)

Mt Earnslaw (2950m) Mt Sefton (3400m)

North Ridge (Grade 3+) via Copland Pass Bush/ Tiger Walk

15 day traverse of Fraser Island Larapinta trail (2002)

250km hike through the West McDonald range (near Alice Springs)

Katoomba to Mittagong (144km)

Six Foot Track solo

3 Peaks Challenge (90km)- 38hrs

Boxing

Australian Universities Middle weight champion 2001.

James is focused upon expressing his appreciation of nature through the way he lives his life. He is inspired by the writings of the great explorers such as Shackleton and Scott of the Antarctic, Mallory and Irvine in 1923 on Everest. Crossing the Ditch will transcend James' passion of living a life of adventure to another level. His previous endeavors have built the foundations both mentally and physically to attempt a project of such magnitude. He is willing to put everything on the line to pursue this dream.