The Wilderness Award
The 2012 Award Winner is James Bingham, who, with his team mates, attempted a first winter ascent of the Mir Samir in Afghanistan (19,878ft , 6,059m).
The Wilderness Award is a cash award made to a UK resident over the age of 18 who intends to travel overseas, returning before 31st January of the following year, to undertake an unusual and adventurous objective in a geographically remote wilderness area.
We very much regret that we are unable to accept applications from individuals who are taking part in organised trips, irrespective of the value of their charitable or environmental aims, nor is the Award intended to support student research activities, unless these contain a very high element of adventure.
The Award is made to a named individual but we recognise that it will often be shared amongst team members to benefit all members of an expedition.
The successful applicant will demonstrate a combination of enthusiasm and imagination. He or she will be expected to deliver a lecture in the Wilderness Lectures series in Bristol in the spring following their expedition (and should therefore expect to be able to support this lecture with appropriate photographic material).
The application will be expected to show clearly an idea with achievable objectives, good research, careful planning, minimal environmental impact and a commitment to follow the plan through. Referee's comments will be sought to confirm both the nature of the project and the applicant's character.
The closing date for the Award will be November 31st of each year, for expeditions taking place the following calendar year. For guidance, please see our latest Award guidelines. Our Award is now set at £650
The award is made by Wilderness Lectures.
Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowships: The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust offers a limited number of travelling fellowships. These are prestigious awards and frequently include a category for explorers. Details can be obtained from the Trust's website.
Wilderness Awards have
been made to the following:
| 2012 | James Bingham | James and his team mates attempted a first winter ascent of the Mir Samir in Afghanistan (19,878ft , 6,059m) the peak made famous by Eric Newby in his book "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush". They were turned back by heavy snow, having sometimes made only 200m in a day, but they certainly had some adventures! |
| 2011 | David Lewis and Anthon Jackson | David and Anthon's Danakil Expedition aims to follow in the footsteps taken by Wilfred Thesiger on his Awash Expedition to Ethiopia in 1933-34, but by camel. They hope to use writing, photography and film to document the Afar people and their lifestyle in one of the world's most inhospitable environments. |
| 2010 | Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent & Kerry Burns | To circumnavigate the Black Sea on a pair of 1990's Honda C90 cub motorcycles, called Zulu and Ken. Zulu is latitent in leopard livery whilst Ken is the zebroid zephyr. Covering 2600 road miles through Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Russia and the Ukraine. |
| 2009 | Matt Traver & Steve Beckwith | Matt Traver and Steve Beckwith have received their award for an attempt on a new route on the unclimbed south-western face of Bukit Nenek Semukut, on Tioman Island, Malaysia. |
| 2008 | Felicity Aston | Felicity Aston and her companion, Jenny Pugh, travelled the length of Lake Baikal using skis, kites and crampons; a distance equivalent to travelling from Moscow to St. Petersberg. |
| 2007 | Alistair Carley-Smith | Alistair has received our award for his attempt to travel a section of Alexander the Great's "Great March" which took place from 333BC to 327BC. He will travell through Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Iran. |
| 2006 | Rob Eavis | Rob is a member of the Sheffield University Speleological Society's expedition to the White Mountains of Crete. |
| 2005 | Martin Li | Martin set out to ride a mule across some of the most remote, rugged and beautiful wilderness in the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes. |
| 2004 | Michael Riddell | Michael is the winner of the 2004 Wilderness Award for his expedition to Dzungarian Ranges of S.E. Kazakhstan. This is a region of lowland coniferous forests, in the valleys, upland grass slopes and snow-covered peaks to 4600m. |
| 2003 | Jon Telling | 'Hell Caves of Northern Thailand'. The exploration of cave systems containing toxic levels of carbon dioxide. |
| 2002 | Katie Moore | Katie planned and ran a 5-person expedition to canoe the Parapeti River in Bolivia's Santa Cruz Province. |
