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 southeast Tajikistan, 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.
Jamie Maddison | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | James B Maddison July 9, 1988 Lancaster, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Explorer |
| Website | www |
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 four-wheel-drive vehicle, 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 River to the Karatal River in under 30 hours.[13][14] Across that time he had to contend with 36 °C heat and soft sand dunes underfoot. The expedition was sponsored by watchmaker Christopher Ward.
Maddison was a journalist, having written investigative articles 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]
Maddison married on December 15, 2018.
References
edit- ^ "Jamie Bunchuk - Nite Watches". nitewatches.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
- ^ "Associate Members". thelongridersguild.com. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
- ^ "About Sidetracked | Sidetracked". sidetracked.com. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
- ^ "2010: Djangart, various first ascents, by M. Royer". aaj.americanalpineclub.org. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
- ^ "Jamie Bunchuk » Running the Red Sands Desert". jamiebunchuk.com. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
- ^ "Packrafting the Khovd River, Western Mongolia - Narrative Version - YouTube". youtube.com. 20 January 2013. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
- ^ "Home - One Steppe Ahead". onesteppeahead.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
- ^ "Two Englishmen to horse-ride from Ust-Kamenogorsk to Tashkent". Tengrinews.kz. 28 May 2013.
- ^ February 18, Suhail Posted; Am, 2014at 12:36 (17 February 2014). "By Horseback across Kazakhstan".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Former Marling School pupil Jamie, 24, presented with award for boosting relations between UK and Kazakhstan (From Stroud News and Journal)". stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
- ^ "SIR PETER HOLMES AWARD | The Royal Society for Asian Affairs". rsaa.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-11-22.
- ^ "The Steppe of Misfortune | Sidetracked". sidetracked.com. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
- ^ Liu, Ming (4 September 2017). "A Remote Desert, an Adventurer and British Watchmaking". The New York Times.
- ^ "Crossing the Saryesik-Atyrau Desert – Jamie Maddison".
- ^ "The growth of loss" (PDF). 10 September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Jamie Maddison – A London-based adventure speaker and content strategist". jamiemaddison.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
- ^ Promotivate. "Jamie Maddison Adventurer by PROMOTIVATE Speakers". Retrieved 2017-01-12.