High-Altitude Afghanistan and Siberia Expeditions Return Triumphant

London, United Kingdom, October 09, 2015 --(PR.com)-- UK-based expedition company Secret Compass has just celebrated the return of two high-altitude expedition teams, from Afghanistan’s rugged Pamir mountains and from Siberia’s volcanic Kamchatka Peninsula.

Australian Marcus Koehne took part in both expeditions, trekking for 22 days in Afghanistan before joining the Siberia team for three further weeks. In between trips, he WhatsApp’d fellow team members, saying, “Just finished Afghanistan. Great organisation and leadership by Secret Compass. Looking forward to meeting everyone n Kamchatka!”

Tom Bodkin, director of Secret Compass, said, “Experienced travellers come to us for one-off adventures that other companies don’t offer. As Marcus proves, our recent expeditions to remote Russia and Afghanistan’s isolated Wakhan Corridor really tick these boxes!”

Adventures in Afghanistan: expedition highlights

• Overcoming landslides and downed bridges to complete the expedition’s aim
• Trekking from the Little to the Big Pamir mountains at altitudes of 4,000m-plus
• Staying with herding families from the nomadic Kyrgyz and Wakhi communities
• 2016 expedition info: 21 nights (18 Jul – 8 Aug), £3,099, group size 12

Conquering Kamchatka: expedition highlights

• Trekking among Eurasia’s highest volcanoes on the Klyuchevskaya massif
• Summiting Zimina volcano (3,080m)
• Meeting brown bears, which outnumber humans on the peninsula by 40:1
• Exploring a little-visited region which only opened to visitors in 1990
• 2016 expedition info: 15 nights (27 Aug – 11 Sep), £2,899, group size 12

Bodkin continued, “As such a wild and unpopulated peninsula, Kamchatka is the perfect Secret Compass expedition destination. Our team barely spotted one other visitor.

“Other volcanic zones in the region are more easily accessibly from the local airport but we strike far out into the wilds, going out of our way to get out of everybody else’s way. This enabled our team to enjoy one of the world’s last remaining wildernesses in solitude.

“The same goes for Afghanistan. With Wakhan Corridor visitor numbers remaining in three figures, our adventurous team members could get under the skin of the Wakhan and its peoples, experiencing traditional cultures in as authentic a way as possible.”

Modern exploration and achievement

Kerry O’Neill, marketing director with Secret Compass, said, “The Internet is full of questions like ‘Is there anywhere left to explore?’ We believe that there are many genuine challenges left, and that many regions, mountains and rivers remain unexplored.

“There is much opportunity out there for people to achieve the extraordinary in the world’s wildest places, and that’s what our expeditions offer. They’re not easy and they’re not guided tours: they’re tough, they’re satisfying and they’re what experienced adventure travellers want.”

In 2015 and 2016, Secret Compass will send out intrepid expedition teams (on foot, on mountain bikes and using packrafts and two-man expeditionary rafts) to explore Afghanistan, Iran, Sinai, Burma, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Gabon, Armenia, Panama, Iraqi Kurdistan and two different regions within Siberia.

For further press information on Secret Compass expedition destinations in 2015 and 2016, contact Kerry O’Neill.

Notes To Editors 


Secret Compass Expeditions
Secret Compass is a pioneering expedition company creating world-first experiences for teams of like-minded adventurers. Through group and bespoke adventures, Secret Compass helps each team member achieve the extraordinary in the world’s wildest places. Founded by ex-British Army Parachute Regiment officers, its expeditions reach the planet’s most remote regions in the spirit of exploration’s earliest pioneers.

For more information visit secretcompass.com
Press enquiries: 0207 096 8428

Secret Compass TV and Film 

Secret Compass provides expert pre-production and in-country location management services to the TV and film industries. Clients to date include the BBC, National Geographic, Animal Planet and Channel 4, in countries from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan, South Sudan to Siberia. For more information visit secretcompastv.com