Tim Cope (born 7 December 1978) is an Australian

adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme s ...

, author,

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

trekking Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on one's back, while hiking for more than a day. It is often an extended journey, and may involve camping outdoors. In North America tenting is common, where simple shelters and mountain ...

guide, and

public speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delive ...

who grew up in

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

, Victoria. He has learned to speak fluent Russian and specializes in countries of the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Biography

Tim Cope was born in

Warragul Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of 1 ...

, in Victoria, and raised in nearby Drouin South. He is the oldest of 4 children. His father was an outdoor educator who took his family on adventurous trips around southern Australia including hiking, climbing, boating and skiing. Cope's expeditions include riding on horseback from

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

to Hungary which spanned over three years (2004–2007) and 10,000 km; rowing a boat down the

Yenisei River The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

to the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

in 2001 with adventurers Ben Kozel, Colin Angus and Remy Quinter; and riding a

recumbent bicycle A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Most recumbent riders choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons: the rider's weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by ba ...

10,000 km across Russia to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

(2000) with fellow Australian Chris Hatherly. He has also traveled into North Korea, among other places.

Books and films

Cope has authored books about his journeys including ''Off the Rails: Moscow to Beijing by Bike'' (2003), and ''On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads'' (2013). Cope has also made films about his journeys including as director and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...

of ''Off the Rails: On the Back Roads to Beijing'' (2002); and filmed ''The Yenisey Expedition'' co-produced by

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General ...

. Cope directed and filmed a four-hour program for ZDF and

ARTE Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, pl ...

channels in Europe titled ''On the Trail of Genghis Khan'' which received backing from Screen Australia. This series was screened in Europe in February 2010 on German/French channel ARTE. Cope's 6-part documentary series premiered on Australian TV channel

ABC2 ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment prog ...

on Wednesday 28 July 2010.

Awards and honours

*2000 "Spirit of Adventure Award", ''

Australian Geographic Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' magazine, ''DMag'' magazine, specialist book titles, travel guides, diaries and calendars and online media. It published editions of the Australian Encyclop ...

'' *2001 "Young Australian Adventurer of the Year", ''

'' *2002 "Best Adventure Film", for the film ''Off The Rails''. Mountain and Adventure Film Festival, Graz, Austria *2006 "Australian Adventurer of the Year", ''

'' *2008 "Adventurers of the Year", ''

National Geographic Adventure Nat Geo People was an international pay television channel owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (73%) and the National Geographic Society (27%). Targeted at female audiences, with programming fo ...

'', one of fifteen *2010 "Special Prize of the Jury", for the film ''The Trail of Genghis Khan'', Mountain and Adventure Film Festival, Graz, Austria *2013 "Grand Prize",

Banff Mountain Book Festival The Banff Mountain Book Festival is an annual book festival held at the Banff Centre in Banff, Canada. Grand Prize * 1994: Chris Bonington and Audrey Saukeld (editors), ''Heroic Climbs'' * 1995: Thomas Wharton, ''Icefields'' * 1996: Stephen Ve ...

, for ''The Trail of Genghis Khan'' *2015 "Mongolian Tourism Excellency Medal" by the minister for tourism and environment. Also officially inaugurated as tourism envoy for Mongolia

References

External links

Tim Cope Journeys
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, Tim Australian travel writers Living people People from Warragul 1978 births

Biography

Books and films

Awards and honours

See also

References

External links