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.
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 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]
