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Ashley Burke (Ashley Eylenburg)

Welcome to my website.

Wilderness activities form a core part of my life. My interests include the activities of bushwalking, trail running, mountaineering, trekking, canyoning, cross country skiing, cycle touring and mountain biking.

On this website I have posted a collection of photographs and trip writeups of many trips, both here in Australia and around the world. I hope to share some information on trips and experiences in the world's wild places, without compromising the wildness of these areas in the process. I hope that some of these photos and writeups will encourage people to value the world's wild places, whilst ensuring that these places remain wild.

I encourage people to participate in wilderness activities, and I regularly take interested people with me on my many excursions. I operate a business which focuses on navigation training and expertly guided bushwalks in wild and lesser known places. If interested in joining a navigation weekend or a guided hike, please click the link below.

The Blue Mountains near Sydney is the closest wilderness area to where I live and in it are extensive areas of remote, rugged and rarely visited wilderness. Therefore I visit this area frequently. I also have travelled to other parts of the world for similar pursuits and include some of these places on this web site.

Added 28 Feb 2017:

THE SEVEN SUMMITS OF ECUADOR. Climbing Ecuadorian volcanoes, where there are snowstorms on the equator. In 2015 I climbed on 7 Ecuadorian volcanoes, including the peaks of Cayambe, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. Upon completion of these climbs I was well acclimatized for the next part of the adventure, Racing The Planet Ecuador 2015, a 250km foot race from the slopes of Cotopaxi to the jungle on the western side of the Andes.

Added 10 May 2015:

MADAGASCAR. THE 8TH CONTINENT. In 2014 I went to Madagascar to run in a 250km race, then went mountain biking through central Madagascar and visited some incredible national parks including Andringitra, a remote area of granite peaks and Madagascar's second highest peak.

Added 1 Mar 2015:

KAMCHATKA - LAND OF ICE AND FIRE. One of the world's last true wilderness areas, the volcanically active region of Kamchatka in Russia's far east is a truly amazing landscape in a remote and difficult to access area. I was privileged to go there in July 2014.

Added 15 May 2013:

Mountaineering in Tierra del Fuego - The subantarctic wilderness of the Darwin Range of western Tierra del Fuego is accessible only by chartered boat.

Added 29 Nov 2011:

Mountaineering in the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan - The Marble Wall and Khan Tengri traverse - August 2011

This was my most epic experience yet!

Here are some links to some sections of this web site. Have fun!

On my bushwalking page are links to photos and writeups of various recent walks in New South Wales, Australia.
On my trekking page you will find information, photos and writeups from treks to various overseas destinations including Northern India, the Swiss Alps, the GR20 in Corsica, the Nepal Himalaya , the Peruvian Andes and the Californian High Sierra.
On my canyoning page is information about canyoning in the Blue Mountains and photos and writeups of some recent canyoning trips.
On my mountaineering page I have written up some mountaineering trips that I have done, including Mustagh Ata in China, Aconcagua in Argentina, Mont Blanc in France, Yala Peak in Nepal, Mt Aspiring in New Zealand,Huascarán in Peru and Peak Lenin in Kyrgyzstan. And in August 2011 I had the epic experience of my lifetime in the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan. And if that wasn't enough, a couple of weeks later I headed to northern India for an attempt on the summit of Shivling, a stunning peak at the head of the Ganges.
On my cross country ski touring page I celebrate the ultimate activity of all - cross country ski touring in the Jagungal Wilderness in southern New South Wales.
On my cycle touring page I have a write up of a 5 month solo cycling tour that I did in Western Europe in 1996 and also my Balkans cycling tour from Vienna to Istanbul in May 2011.
I have created a navigation page to help people learn the skill of navigation using map and compass. This is a complete online course and I also run navigation weekend once per year.

Three Peaks

UPDATED February 2022. On my Three Peaks page I describe a classic 48 hour bushwalking challenge in the Southern Blue Mountains called The Three Peaks.
In 2009 I did a 6 week trip to Central Asia, where I went climbing to 5200m in the Fan Mountains of Tajikistan. Then I headed into Kyrgyzstan and climbed Peak Lenin (7134m), the third highest mountain in the former Soviet Union.
I spent 11 weeks of 2010 trekking and climbing in Slovenia, Italy, Turkey and Russia. This trip included the Slovenian High Route, The Alta Via 2 in the Italian Dolomites, Via ferrate, a climb of Mt Ararat in eastern Turkey, and a climb of Mt Elbrus in the Russian Caucasus.

 

Trail running is a great way to stay fit and to get out into the bush fast! There are many trail running events in the Blue Mountains:

The 6 foot track marathon is a 45km mountain trail race in the Blue Mountains. Here are my 2011 photos , 2011 results, 2013 results and 2014 results.

The Ultra Trail Australia (UTA), formerly known as "The North Face", is a 100km trail race in the Blue Mountains. Here are my 2012 results, 2013 results and 2015 results.

The Great Southern Endurance Run, at 181km in the Victorian Alps, is one of the world's toughest 100 mile races. Here is my 2017 race report.

 

The following have been recently added to this web page:

January 2013: Mountaineering in Chilean Tierra del Fuego

October 2013: Cycling in the Peloponnese, trekking in the Rila Mountains of Bulgaria and cycling the Rodopi region of Bulgaria.

March 2015: KAMCHATKA - Land of Ice and Fire - the volcanoes of eastern Russia.

May 2015 - Madagascar - a 250km run, wildlife, mountain biking and trekking on the 8th continent.

February 2017 - Ecuador - Climbing 7 Ecuadorian volcanoes and another 250km run.

My true family surname is EYLENBURG and was only changed to BURKE by deed poll in 1948. I am researching the Eylenburg family history with the view to changing my surname back to Eylenburg at some time in the future. Click here for a brief Eylenburg family history. If anyone comes across this website searching by the name Eylenburg I would be very interested if you would make contact.

Want to Learn to Navigate?

I am keen to promote the skills of navigation using map and compass and I often take small group trips on 2 day navigation training weekends. Check out my Navigation Page for details or click the button below.

Interested in Other Guided Hikes?

Join expertly guided bushwalks in rarely visited locations:

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All content on this web page is Copyright © Ashley Burke. No duplication of any text or image without permission.

Page last updated 22 Sep 2022.

 

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