Tom Harding - Attempting to be first: A bike-pack-mountaineering expedition to the far west of Mongolia

In April Tom and a small team went on a mountaineering expedition to the Altai Mountains in the far West of Mongolia. They were looking for adventure, first ascents and chance to get to know this little visited corner of the world. Rather than taking an easy jeep ride it was an experiment in lightweight peddle powered mountaineering, with all their food, camping equipment and mountaineering gear carried on comically overloaded bicycles. As with all good adventures, things didn’t go to plan. An infectious disease outbreak, a lost ice-axe, and a broken bike turned it into a quite unforgettable trip. It’s also a talk about the local population who constantly amazed the team with the kindness, generosity and ability to keep a Toyota Prius running on the countries appalling roads. Tom will also talk about the alluring world of unclimbed mountain hunting, how teams find them, where there are still ripe pickings and ask what the point is.

Tom has spent the last 15 years climbing and adventuring all around the UK, Europe, Asia and North America. He has a deep love for the Arctic and has spent months, Nordic skiing, pulk pulling and mountaineering in the Northern latitudes. He has been on major climbing expeditions to Baffin Island in Canada, Renland in the East of Greenland, Nepal and Svalbard amongst other places. He is a cartographer and aerial photographer by trade and uses his mapping skills to track down unclimbed peaks in remote corners of the world. His expeditions are always self-organised with a small minimally supported team and with a strong leave no trace ethic.