Gobi Desert to the Altai Mountains: Christopher Schrader’s Great Adventures

Description

What were you doing at 18 years old?

For Hong Kong-born explorer Christopher Schrader, it was celebrating his milestone birthday deep in the Mongolian Gobi — midway through becoming the youngest person to walk the desert’s entire width. In his upcoming talk, Schrader relives the 52-day, 1,700-kilometre expedition: blistering heat, sandstorms and isolation, alongside rare encounters with communities who had seen few westerners since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. He then returns to remote western Mongolia to spend a harsh Steppe winter with Kazakh nomads and eagle hunters of the Altai Mountains, enduring temperatures as low as −60 degrees Celsius, hunting with golden eagles and riding across icy tundra. In short, the talk weaves endurance, cultural immersion and purpose — how physical extremes sharpened Schrader’s resolve to channel adventure into impact.

Schrader’s background is as compelling as his expeditions. Educated at Hong Kong’s Li Po Chun United World College and the USA’s prestigious Harvard University, he went on to co-found the Walking with a Purpose Foundation and launched the 24-Hour Race, now a global student-led movement against human trafficking. A fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and RGS Hong Kong board member, Schrader is an entrepreneur, AI expert and works across education technology and international business development.

On 25 August, complimentary drinks will be served at 19:00. The talk will start at 19:45.