Silvergate Sponsors A World First Madagascan Adventure

09/07/15

As the UK’s largest manufacturer of multi-component masterbatch, Silvergate Plastics is renowned for its exploratory skills and ability to innovate. However, its technical engineers will be working from the comfort of the company’s laboratory based in Wrexham when intrepid explorer and motivational speaker Ash Dykes commences an attempt to become the first person to walk the length of Madagascar, taking on all the major mountain summits along the way!

Silvergate Plastics is sponsoring Dykes’s exploratory expedition, which will ultimately see him climb the country’s five highest peaks and traverse across varied and tough terrain, including desert, jungle and mountains. Dykes could encounter crocodiles, snakes and spiders, whilst learning from tribal communities about how to survive on the world’s fourth largest island.

At the tender age of twenty-three, Ash Dykes has already completed some intrepid adventures. He recently became the first person in the world to complete a solo and unaided walk across Mongolia. He battled snow blizzards, sandstorms, severe heat exhaustion and dehydration, and the threat from wolves, snakes and wild dogs, all whilst pulling a 120kg pack. He completed the 1,500 mile trek in just seventy eight days, knocking twenty two days off his predicted target!

Silvergate Plastics has pledged to sponsor Dykes’s efforts as he begins his Madagascan adventure in September 2015. He will be travelling from Cap d’Ambre in the North to Cap Sainte Marie in the South. The exploration is set to take four months. Silvergate’s managing director Tony Bestall, who felt inspired by Dykes’s ambition, said:

"When I heard about the pursuits of Ash Dykes, a resident of North Wales, I felt very humbled. He has achieved so much at such a young age but is still hungry to do more. I hope that our donation can help him achieve his dream and become the first person to walk the entire length of Madagascar. Everyone at Silvergate Plastics wishes him the very best of luck."