Welsh adventurer, extreme athlete,
two times World First record holder, TEDx speaker, specialty master scuba
diving instructor, Muay Thai fighter (and JBB client!), 26-year-old ASH DYKES will be publishing his first book in 2017 in a deal to be announced soon. FHM magazine
called him ‘One of The World’s Most Fearless Outdoors Men’; he was 2015
UK Adventurer of the Year and 2016 Welsh Adventurer of the Year. His book will
cover his latest Madagascar adventure, with messages of resilience and
determination, as well as talking about how he has made it all happen at such a
young age, coming as he did from an ordinary background with no special
privileges.
Ash recently returned from China, where he gave a talk at the Nanshen International Mountain Film Festival in Shenzhen. The translated talk went down extremely well, and thanks to Ash's popularity at that event with many questions asked and photos taken, Mobi-Garden, the third biggest outdoor company in China, want him to model their clothing in a 5-day photo shoot in Bali and Bombok, trekking Rinjani volcano in November. He'll also give a talk in Shanghai. During his stay in Shenzhen he met government officials, sponsors and the biggest brands in China, TV companies and production teams. He's starting to learn Mandarin and plans to visit China frequently over the next year.
In
2016
- Ash became the first person ever to traverse Madagascar's length through its
interior, taking on 8 of the highest mountains on the fourth largest island in
the world, 1,600 miles in 155 days.
He contracted the deadliest
strain of malaria, was held up by the military, had to avoid bandits, was bitten
by a spider, built a raft to cross rivers, was almost washed away by a river
infested with Nile crocodiles on a night time crossing and had to hack through
almost impenetrable jungle among much more. He met up with conservationists
along the way, in order to spread the word on the work being done to protect Madagascar’s
unique biodiversity.
In
2014
- Ash became the first person ever to complete a solo & unsupported walk
across Mongolia, over the Altai Mountains, Gobi Desert & Mongolian Steppe,
covering 1,500 miles in 78 days knocking 22 days off the predicted time.
He pulled 120kg in a wheeled
trailer carrying all provisions needed to survive, he faced sand storms, snow
blizzards, grey wolves, snakes, severe heat exhaustion & loneliness; he
became known to the locals as ‘The Lonely Snow Leopard’, due to the wolves
keeping a respectful distance from him, as they do the snow leopard.
Ash filmed and blogged his
expedition, and people followed his journey from all over the world as he hit
major news, and articles were shared globally & translated into a number of
different languages. He became the youngest member within Speakers from the
Edge and he was soon out on his first UK theatre tour as well as his footage
being featured on Discovery Channel and Channel 5.
Sir
Ranulph Fiennes: – “This young man’s completion of a ‘first’ solo
trek across Mongolia, from the Altai to the Steppe, will have proved both
physically & mentally challenging & is an example of great
determination.”
Ash's exploits from the age of 19
include:
• Cycling
Cambodia & the length of Vietnam (1130 miles – 15 days)
• Trekking
the Himalayas in North India
• Cycling
700 miles through Australia
• Learning
to survive in the jungle with a Burmese Hill Tribe
• Working
as a scuba diving instructor for 2.5 years in Thailand where he trained &
competed against the locals in Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing)
He has been featured in The
Times, Forbes, The Guardian, Mail Online, BBC World News, ITV, Arise TV,
Discovery Channel, Channel 5, FHM etc. His Mongolia and Madagascar expeditions
gained a global reach of more than 350,000,000.
He toured the UK, visiting 10
different theatres in Scotland, England and Wales, speaking of his world first
expedition across Mongolia and will go on tour again in March 2017 with
Speakers from the Edge and present to 13 venues.
A
few press articles from his most recent expedition: -
BBC World News - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-28703519
The Guardian - http://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2015/sep/29/welsh-adventurer-madagascar-lemurs-ashdykes
Wales Online (Cool List) - http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/cool-list-50-coolest-men-10495495
Discovery Channel Champion - http://www.discoveryuk.com/make-your-world-bigger/champions/ash-dykes/
Bradt Travel Guides - http://www.bradtguides.com/articles/ash-dykes-madagascar/
The Allrounder - http://www.theallrounder.co.uk/ash-dykes-walking-across-madagascar/
National Adventure Awards - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3009420/Ash-Dykes-named-National-Adventurer-Year-walking-Mongolia.html
Daily post - http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/old-colwyn-explorer-ash-dykes-10896009
ITV News - http://www.itv.com/news/wales/story/2014-08-19/welsh-adventurer-breaks-mongolia-world-record/
