The Exped Diaries | Secret Compass

WILD CAMPING RAPIDS AND SELF-DISCOVERY IN THE HIGHLANDS

Anyone who’s spent time in Scotland understands the potential peril of the wether in the Scottish Highlands but, as if the gods themselves were welcoming us back out of lockdown,… read more

CELESTIAL PEAKS: UNCLIMBED MOUNTAINS IN KYRGYZSTAN

A Secret Compass expedition to explore and climb several unclimbed mountains of the Central Tien Shan deep within the wilderness of eastern Kyrgyzstan.

REFLECTIONS OF THE RIVER TAY

We love taking our teammates out of their day-to-day lives and dropping them into full-blown adventure. This is the foundation on which Secret Compass was built and what we’ve strived… read more

SOURCE TO SEA

What. A. Year. 2020 has NOT been the year of adventure any of us envisioned. Sure we’ve adapted to this new normal and continued to provide the TV and film… read more

WHAT IT MEANS TO TREAD LIGHTLY

Reindeer are like children. You guide them, graze them, protect them, they become your pride. They give you purpose, direction and identity, it is a primal, wild matrimony.

SNAPSHOTS FROM THE ARCTIC TRAIL

Judith Von Prockl shares some her favourite image highlights from the expedition.

TRAILS OF SNOW ICE AND ROCK

There is no doubt about it, traversing the full length of Greenland’s Arctic Circle Trail in the heart of winter on a bike is one of the most extraordinary and… read more

TRAIL RUNNING THROUGH THE LAND OF PEAKS AND LAKES

Towards the back-end of 2019, Secret Compass teammate Peter Wieninger gave us a shout with a unique request. Having previously joined our DRC expedition into the Virunga national park, he… read more

HOW TO SCALE AND NAME AN UNCLIMBED MOUNTAIN

The draw of the unknown is a powerful beast – something with which over the years the Secret Compass team has developed a borderline unhealthy obsession. The idea of setting… read more

PODCAST: EXPERIENCES ON THE YAMAL PENINSULA

The latest episode sees host Eden Flaherty chat with Secret Compass expedition leader Patrick Barrow about the time he’s spent on the Yamal Peninsula in the Siberian Arctic with reindeer… read more

WHAT MAKES A GOOD EXPEDITION LEADER?

As I reflect on my most recent trip to the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan, I remember saying as I flew out of Kabul in 2006 following a deployment in the… read more

THE PLACE TIME FORGOT BUT YOU NEVER WILL

For the hikers who join us as teammates on our Wakhan Corridor expeditions, Afghanistan never fails to leave impressions that last a lifetime. Joining our 2019 team of nine, Mark… read more

A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE OF LEBANON

The Middle East might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of snow-capped mountains, but there’s one Middle Eastern nation where mountains rise up straight… read more

IN PURSUIT: THE MIGRATION OF THE PORCUPINE CARIBOU

The porcupine caribou herd are a barren ground caribou with the longest land mammal migration in the world – covering 1,500 miles or 2,400 km each year – form the… read more

NOTES FROM THE LOST WORLD

Within reach of neighbouring Brazil and Guyana, in the south east of Venezuela, some 700km from the nation’s capital city Caracas, sits Canaima National Park. Home to the iconic flat… read more

CLIMBING HALGURD

Considering where I was going, I was surprised how easy it was to get to. From London, a short flight to Vienna plus another connection and I’d landed in Erbil,… read more

CROSSING BAYUDA

In 1886 General Charles Gordon was killed in Khartoum by the forces of the Mahdi, the awaited prophet of Islam. A force of several thousand British with their camels had… read more

Outdoor educators by profession, Huw Oliver and his partner Annie aren’t your ordinary fat-bikers. Drawn to colder climates where cycle tracks don’t exist and battling temperatures of -20°C is the… read more

UNCHARTED KYRGYZSTAN: FIRST ASCENTS AND WHISKY

Today, claiming a first ascent means synchronising several key ingredients. Firstly discernible geographical knowledge. Unclimbed mountains aren’t readily available in the nearest national park. A mountain with zero footfall means… read more

POSTCARD HIGHLIGHTS FROM A YEAR OF EXPEDITIONS

It seems like just last week that we were putting together the highlights from 2017, but here we are. Another year has flown by. Twelve months of expeditions and adventures… read more

A NOVICE’S GUIDE TO RAFTING THE GRAND CANYON

Guiding a 16ft raft down one of the world’s most famous water ways was surely going to be a steep learning curve, but despite his limited rafting experience, Tom soon… read more

THE SAVAGE BEAUTY OF GREENLAND’S SCHWEIZERLAND ALPS

In August of 2018, a Secret Compass expedition team faced rock, snow and ice to traverse this unforgiving landscape. Among them was Elisabeth Markham, who upon her return home to… read more

WHAT THE HELL IS BUZKASHI?

Before the game, the carcass is decapitated, gutted and soaked in water for the 24 hours ensuring it stays in one piece and sand is sometimes added for additional weight.… read more

HIGH PASSES YAKS AND BUZKASHI

Sandwiched by Tajikistan to the north and Pakistan to the south and lined by the high passes of the Hindu Kush, Pamir and the Karakoram mountains, a narrow finger of land… read more

THESE GIRLS ARE KAYAKING ACROSS THE CONTINENT

Self-supported, human-powered journeys are where it’s at. There’s a lot to be said for covering ground under your own steam and when your line of travel makes a tangible mark… read more

MOUNTAINSCAPES FROM KAZBEK

In mid June, our alpine skills course returned from Georgia. Tackling the slopes of Mount Kazbek (the country’s third highest peak) and the Gergeti Glacier – on the Russian border… read more

FELLOWSHIP OF CAMELS

A formidable constituent of the Sahara desert, the Bayuda desert is characterised partly by its people’s modern-day reliance on their camels. At the start of the year, a team of… read more

RELICS FROM THE TUNDRA

Remote and wind-blasted with a permafrost coating, separated by the Golf of Ob to the east and the Baydaratskaya Bay to the west, the Yamal Peninsula is home to about… read more

RIVER PEOPLE: FIRST DESCENT OF THE DULONG

As a river person myself, I’m really interested in how river based communities interact with the river and the relationship they have with the watercourse. From the traditional names for the… read more

THE FIRST DESCENT: NAVIGATING GABON’S UNCHARTERED WATERS

In 2016, David Marsh from London, was part of the first ever team to descend Djidji River within Gabon’s Ivindo National Park with Secret Compass. Over three weeks, the self-supported… read more

STEPPING INTO OBLIVION

With a concoction of nerves, adrenaline and exhaustion running riot through their bodies, this is where January’s Venezuela expedition team faced their fears. Peering over the edge means the five… read more

SAND STARS AND SOLITUDE

“We sounded like a bunch of school boys as we splashed and shouted in the pleasantly warm pool filled by a small waterfall. Nine days of trekking across a hot,… read more

THIRD TIME LUCKY

Four flights, one boat journey, one borderline off-road drive, one overloaded motorbike ride and six long, arduous days of seriously remote trekking later and our 2017 Burma team reached their… read more

REFLECTIONS OF SINAI

Our yearly traverse of the Sinai desert has now returned home to normality. With cleaner lungs and clearer minds, after a welcome pause from digital noise with little more than… read more

AGS PACKRAFTING WEEKEND

The folks behind the Adaptive Grand Slam are expanding their portfolio of adventure opportunities for disabled people and in doing so, they’ve teamed up with Secret Compass. In November 2017,… read more

SCALING AFRICA’S THIRD PEAK

In mid-September of 2017, Financial Times journalist Martin Fletcher embarked on a mission to reach the summit of Mt Stanley and Secret Compass helped him achieve that goal. Below is… read more

Volcanos in Kamchatka as shot on Secret Compass expedition by Cheryl Hindle

FIRE ICE AND BEARS IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST

Dividing the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west, Kamchatka is a 1,250 kilometre long peninsula of absolute isolation. It’s the home of Eurasia’s… read more

THE EDGE OF THE EARTH

In Siberia’s far north, a remote peninsula known as the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region sits within the Arctic Circle. It’s isolated. Roughly 2000km north-east of Moscow and separated by the mighty… read more

EXPEDITION HIGHLIGHTS: VIRUNGA

On their journey through the dramatic volcanic landscape, the team climbed to the Nyiragongo lava lake, encountered the mighty mountain gorillas, and learnt of the local community’s grassroots activism to… read more

The day's first rays of light make it over the mountain tops to grace the backs of the expedition team members ascending to the summit of Mt. Halgurd

MOMENTS LIKE THESE MAKE ALPINISM ADDICTIVE

Upon the unzipping of tents, the serene mix of sublime weather conditions and stillness that comes with a 4am start high above the snow line, hinted at a successful day… read more

THE DARIEN GAP

“ There is definitely a reason Secret Compass runs expeditions not tours. You couldn’t feel further from being a tourist, their expeditions are such genuine experiences. The guides were absolutely 110%… read more

THE TRANSPANAMA THRU-HIKE

Panamanian Rick Morales has done what very few trekkers would even dare to attempt, let alone imagine: mapped out a new hiking trail across the length of his country. As… read more

OPERATION TROGON

In 2016 Secret Compass expedition leader Paul Taylor joined Team Rubicon on Operation Trogon in Haiti, working to assist those affected by the most powerful Caribbean hurricane in several years. A disaster… read more

MADE IN MADAGASCAR

The best thing about the expedition for me was seeing parts of the world you would never see unless you hiked there. Only a few people will see the sights… read more