Jamie Maddison

Jamie Maddison
Born James B Maddison
(1988-07-09) July 9, 1988
Lancaster, England
Nationality English
Occupation Explorer
Website www.jamiemaddison.com

James Benjamin Maddison (born 9 July 1988), formerly known as Jamie Bunchuk, is an English explorer,[1] equestrian Long Rider (assoc.)[2] and an editor of Sidetracked Magazine.[3] He is best known for his exploration of the Central Asia region. Maddison's first expedition was to the Djangart Valley of the Tian Shan mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan.[4] Since then, he has mounted numerous expeditions including: spending one month living and working with Kirghiz hunters in South East Tajikistan (as well as small archaeological discoveries from the X-XI C. Sak city of Bazar Dara), a 100 mile, multi-day, camel supported run across the Red Sands Desert in Uzbekistan,[5] chronicling the lives of Kazakh eagle hunters in Western Mongolia and Winter packrafting down the Khovd River,[6] Mongolia (temperatures down to -20 °C) in retrofitted and homemade packrafts.

The Tian Shan range on the border between China and Kyrgyzstan

In 2013, Maddison – alongside friend and colleague Matthew Traver – completed a 750 mile, 63-day-long, horse ride from Ust-Kamenogorsk to Almaty,[7][8][9] in honour of the centenary of a historical journey through the region by the Anglo-Irish explorer Sir Charles Howard-Bury. For their efforts, the pair were presented with an award for the 'Best individual contribution for furthering relations between the UK and Kazakhstan' by the British-Kazakh Society at the House of Commons.[10] For the expedition, he was also the recipient of a Sir Peter Holmes Memorial Award from the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.[11] This award is designed to encourage independent and purposeful travel in Asia.

In the Autumn of 2014, Maddison led the first expedition ever to cross the Betpak-Dala or the ‘Steppe of Misfortune’ from its easternmost extremity on the shores of Lake Balkash to its western edge on the Sarysu River.[12] He also ran 190 miles, nearly eight marathons, back to back over the course of eight days within the region. The expedition was aided by two locals, a supporting 4WD, and with funding from the French underwear company HOM.

In September 2017, Maddison made the first on-foot crossing of the Saryesik-Atyrau Desert, running 70 miles across the lower reaches of the region—from the Ili to the Karatal Rivers—in under 30 hours[13][14]. Across that time he had to contend with 36ºC heat and soft sand dunes underfoot. The expedition was sponsored by Christopher Ward (watchmaker).

Maddison is an established journalist, having penned a number of investigative articles including on deforestation within Armenia (published in Geographical Magazine)[15] and reporting on the further environmental damage of Lake Sevan’s changing water levels (published in Hidden Europe Magazine).[16] Previously an editor of Sidetracked Magazine and presenter for Sidetracked TV, he is now a content marketing strategist[17] in London and a motivational speaker.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Jamie Bunchuk - Nite Watches". nitewatches.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  2. ↑ "Associate Members". thelongridersguild.com. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  3. ↑ "About Sidetracked | Sidetracked". sidetracked.com. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  4. ↑ "2010: Djangart, various first ascents, by M. Royer". aaj.americanalpineclub.org. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  5. ↑ "Jamie Bunchuk » Running the Red Sands Desert". jamiebunchuk.com. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  6. ↑ "Packrafting the Khovd River, Western Mongolia - Narrative Version - YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  7. ↑ "Home - One Steppe Ahead". onesteppeahead.com. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  8. ↑ http://en.tengrinews.kz/people/Two-Englishmen-to-horse-ride-from-Ust-Kamenogorsk-to-Tashkent-19747/
  9. ↑ http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/kazakhstan/
  10. ↑ "Former Marling School pupil Jamie, 24, presented with award for boosting relations between UK and Kazakhstan (From Stroud News and Journal)". stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  11. ↑ http://rsaa.org.uk/awards/sir-peter-holmes-memorial-award/
  12. ↑ "The Steppe of Misfortune | Sidetracked". sidetracked.com. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  13. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/04/fashion/watches-christopher-ward.html?mcubz=3
  14. ↑ http://www.jamiemaddison.com/portfolio/crossing-the-saryesik-atyrau-desert/
  15. ↑ "The growth of loss" (PDF). 10 September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  16. ↑ "Between the flux: Life on the shores of Lake Sevan" (PDF). 25 November 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  17. ↑ "Jamie Maddison – A London-based adventure speaker and content strategist". jamiemaddison.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  18. ↑ Promotivate. "Jamie Maddison Adventurer by PROMOTIVATE Speakers". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
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