Ash Dykes


Ashley Philip Dykes is a Welsh adventurer and extreme athlete. He achieved two unofficial world-first records, trekking across Mongolia and Madagascar, before the age of 25. In August 2019, he achieved his third unofficial record, becoming the first person to walk along the full 4,000-mile course of the Yangtze, the longest river in Asia.

Personal life

Dykes grew up in Old Colwyn, where he attended Ysgol Bryn Elian. He then went to Coleg Llandrillo Cymru, where he studied Outdoor Education.

Career

He worked as a lifeguard to finance his first trip to China. He walked solo and unsupported across Mongolia in 2014, aged 23. The 1,500-mile journey over the Altai Mountains and across the Gobi Desert took 78 days. He became known to locals as the "lonely snow leopard". In 2015 he completed the 1,600-mile trek across Madagascar via its eight highest peaks, another world first. Along the way, he contracted the deadliest strain of malaria and was close to death. As a result of the experience, he is now a special ambassador for the charity Malaria No More UK. In August 2018, he embarked on another world-first record attempt, to walk the 4,000-mile course of the Yangtze river. The successful completion of his year-long mission earned him celebrity status in China.
He recounted his adventures in Mongolia and Madagascar in Mission Possible: A Decade of Living Dangerously, published by Eye Books in 2017.
He was featured on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on 14 January 2020.

Awards

He won the 2016 Welsh Adventurer of the Year Award. He has been named the seventh-coolest person in Wales and was described as "one of the world’s most fearless outdoor men" by FHM magazine.