James Clugnet was born and raised in the mountains around Grenoble, France, by a French ski lover and an English mother. As soon as he was old enough to stand he was put on skis. While his older brothers preferred snowboarding, he chose Cross Country Skiing. By the age of 9, he was already doing his first races. He skied in the french circuit until he joined the British team at the age of 16.

He made his World Cup debut at Ruka in November 2017, and scored his first world cup points (top 30) in Davos in December 2018, that same year he qualified 5 more times, ultimately finishing the season with a career-high at the time: 14th in Quebec. Following a steady improvement, in 2020 he qualified twice for WC sprint semi-finals achieving his first top 10 in Åre.