Tim Cope (born 7 December 1978) is an Australian adventurer, author, filmmaker, trekking guide, and public speaker who grew up in Gippsland, Victoria. He has learned to speak fluent Russian and specializes in countries of the former Soviet Union.

Biography edit

Tim Cope was born in Warragul, in Victoria, and raised in nearby Drouin South.[1] He is the oldest of four children. His father was an outdoor educator who took his family on adventurous trips around southern Australia including hiking, climbing, boating and skiing.[1]

Cope's expeditions include riding a recumbent bicycle 10,000 km across Russia to Beijing (2000) with fellow Australian Chris Hatherly;[2] rowing a boat down the Yenisei River in Siberia to the Arctic Ocean in 2001 with adventurers Ben Kozel, Colin Angus and Remy Quinter;[3] and riding on horseback from Mongolia to Hungary which spanned over three years (2004–2007) and 10,000 km;[4][5][6][7] He has also traveled into North Korea, among other places.[8]

Books and films edit

Cope has authored books about his journeys including Off the Rails: Moscow to Beijing by Bike (2003),[9] and On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads (2013).[10]

Cope has also made films about his journeys including as director and cinematographer of Off the Rails: On the Back Roads to Beijing (2002);[11] and filmed The Yenisey Expedition co-produced by National Geographic Channel. Cope directed and filmed a four-hour program for ZDF and ARTE channels in Europe titled On the Trail of Genghis Khan which received backing from Screen Australia.[12] This series was screened in Europe in February 2010 on German/French channel ARTE. Cope's six-part documentary series premiered on Australian TV channel ABC2 on Wednesday 28 July 2010.[13]

Awards and honours edit

  • 2000 "Spirit of Adventure Award", Australian Geographic[14]
  • 2001 "Young Australian Adventurer of the Year", Australian Geographic[15]
  • 2002 "Best Adventure Film", for the film Off The Rails. Mountain and Adventure Film Festival, Graz, Austria
  • 2006 "Australian Adventurer of the Year", Australian Geographic[16]
  • 2008 "Adventurers of the Year", National Geographic Adventure, one of fifteen[17]
  • 2010 "Special Prize of the Jury", for the film The Trail of Genghis Khan, Mountain and Adventure Film Festival, Graz, Austria[18]
  • 2013 "Grand Prize", Banff Mountain Book Festival, for The Trail of Genghis Khan[19]
  • 2015 "Mongolian Tourism Excellency Medal" by the minister for tourism and environment. Also officially inaugurated as tourism envoy for Mongolia[20]

See also edit

Paul Salopek

References edit

  1. ^ a b Tricia Welsh (20 September 2013). "Spotted By Locals: Tim Cope's Gippsland". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 6 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  2. ^ Tim Cope. "Cycling Siberia". Tim Cope's Journeys. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2014.,
  3. ^ Tim Cope. "Yenisei River". Tim Cope's Journeys. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2014.;
  4. ^ "Three-year Genghis Khan trek ends". BBC. 23 September 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  5. ^ "Tim Cope: 'Civilisation feels like death to me'". The Independent. 16 September 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Horseback adventurer finishes big trek". Australian Associated Press. 22 September 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Tim Cope's 6,000-mile ride in the hoofsteps of Genghis Khan". Explorers Web. 6 September 2007. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2014..
  8. ^ Tim Cope. "Into North Korea". Tim Cope's Journeys. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  9. ^ Tim Cope. Off the Rails: Moscow to Beijing by Bike. Penguin Books, 2003. ISBN 978-0-14-300556-8
  10. ^ Tim Cope. On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads, Bloomsbury, 2013. ISBN 978-1608190720
  11. ^ "Off the Rails: On the Back Roads to Beijing". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 30 July 2002. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014.
  12. ^ "Screen Australia announces support for 16 new projects including de Bernières' Red Dog". Screen Australia. 5 August 2009. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  13. ^ Time Cope (28 July 2010). "'The Trail of Genghis Khan' Documentary Series on ABC". ABC2. Retrieved 19 July 2020 – via Facebook.
  14. ^ "AG Society Spirit of Adventure Awards". Australian Geographic. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  15. ^ Fran Kelly (26 September 2006). "Tim Cope: Adventurer of the Year". ABC. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  16. ^ "Past winners of the Australian Geographic Society Adventure Awards". Australian Geographic. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  17. ^ Daniel Duane. "Tim Cope: Horse Whisperer". National Geographic Adventure. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  18. ^ ""Auf den Spuren der Nomaden (Teil 4): Die letzte Hürde"". Graz Mountain and Adventure Film Festival. 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  19. ^ "Grand Prize". Banff Mountain Book Festival. 2013. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013.
  20. ^ "Tim Cope becomes Mongolian Tourism Envoy & Awarded Tourism Excellency". timcopejourneys.com. 21 July 2015. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2015.

External links edit