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Montbell Challenge Award
Montbell Challenge Award was founded to support people who dream of traveling to remote regions or of adventuring in unexplored places. Montbell proudly supports people who offer positive influence and hope towards others. Montbell supports unique challenges, regardless of their outcome.
Challenge Award 2025
Dr. Yoshiharu Sekino
Explorer and Physician
Born in Tokyo in 1949. While attending Hitotsubashi University, he founded the university's exploration club and led an expedition down the entire Amazon River as the team leader in 1971. Over the next 25 years, he made numerous journeys to South America, including to the Amazon River headwaters, the Central Andes, Patagonia, and the Guiana Highlands. During this time, feeling the need for medical care in South America, he enrolled in the School of Medicine at Yokohama City University. After becoming a surgeon, he worked at hospitals such as Musashino Red Cross Hospital. Throughout this period, he continued to make trips to South America.
Starting in 1993, he began the "Great Journey," retracing the approximately 53,000-kilometer path that humans, who originated in Africa, took to spread to the Americas, without using modern power sources. He departed from the southernmost point of South America by kayak and reached his goal in Tanzania, Africa in 2002.
In 2004, he launched the "New Great Journey." In 2011, he completed tracing the three routes by which humans came to the Japanese archipelago, using handmade dugout canoes and other means.
In recent years, he has been working on the "Paleolithic Time Travel Project," producing documentary films while practicing Stone Age living in various parts of Japan. In the future, he plans to navigate the route of the oldest Great Journey using a reed boat.
Received the Naomi Uemura Adventure Award in 1999. Author of numerous books. Also involved in planning and appearing in various documentary films, including "The Voyage of Jomon-go and Pachour-go," "Making Curry Rice from Scratch," and "The Rehabilitation of Poop and Corpses."
Currently Honorary Professor at Musashino Art University, Lecturer at Hokkaido University, Representative of the Earth Permanent Residence Plan, and Physician (part-time) at Tamagawa Hospital
I am very honored and delighted to receive the Montbell Challenge Award. Looking at the lineup of past award winners, there are many people I admire or respect. Dr. Tetsu Nakamura is one of the people I respect most in history. Mr. Shigeatsu Hatakeyama's "The Forest is the Lover of the Sea" project has greatly influenced my activities. Ms. Emiko Seal gave me courage and encouragement. Past award recipients are not only outstanding in their activities but also exceptionally charming in their personalities. I also feel pressure from being chosen. I heard that this award asks what I will do from now on, based on my past achievements. With renewed determination, I intend to seriously commit myself to future activities.
Starting in 1993, he began the "Great Journey," retracing the approximately 53,000-kilometer path that humans, who originated in Africa, took to spread to the Americas, without using modern power sources. He departed from the southernmost point of South America by kayak and reached his goal in Tanzania, Africa in 2002.
In 2004, he launched the "New Great Journey." In 2011, he completed tracing the three routes by which humans came to the Japanese archipelago, using handmade dugout canoes and other means.
In recent years, he has been working on the "Paleolithic Time Travel Project," producing documentary films while practicing Stone Age living in various parts of Japan. In the future, he plans to navigate the route of the oldest Great Journey using a reed boat.
Received the Naomi Uemura Adventure Award in 1999. Author of numerous books. Also involved in planning and appearing in various documentary films, including "The Voyage of Jomon-go and Pachour-go," "Making Curry Rice from Scratch," and "The Rehabilitation of Poop and Corpses."
Currently Honorary Professor at Musashino Art University, Lecturer at Hokkaido University, Representative of the Earth Permanent Residence Plan, and Physician (part-time) at Tamagawa Hospital
Comment from Yoshiharu Sekino:
I am very honored and delighted to receive the Montbell Challenge Award. Looking at the lineup of past award winners, there are many people I admire or respect. Dr. Tetsu Nakamura is one of the people I respect most in history. Mr. Shigeatsu Hatakeyama's "The Forest is the Lover of the Sea" project has greatly influenced my activities. Ms. Emiko Seal gave me courage and encouragement. Past award recipients are not only outstanding in their activities but also exceptionally charming in their personalities. I also feel pressure from being chosen. I heard that this award asks what I will do from now on, based on my past achievements. With renewed determination, I intend to seriously commit myself to future activities.
Challenge Award 2023
Pasche Family
NOMADIC FAMILY BY BICYCLE AS A WAY OF LIFE
Xavier Pasche: Born in 1980, Architectural Engineer and Photographer
Celine Pasche: Born in 1982, Anthropologist and Mountaineering Instructor
Nayla Pasche: Born in 2013
Fibie Pasche: Born in 2017
Swiss couple Xavier and Celine began a journey around the world by bicycle in 2010. They continue their cycling adventure around the globe with their daughters Nayla and Fibie, who were born during their travels. While experiencing the cultures of the various countries they've visited, their two daughters are growing up strong and resilient.
The Pasche family has covered 91,000 km across 4 continents so far. From 2010 to 2015, under the title "Swiss Alps to Southern Alps," they cycled from their birthplace in Switzerland to New Zealand. Along the way, their first daughter Nayla was born in Malaysia in 2013. Since then, they have continued their journey while raising their children, and in 2017 their second daughter Fibie was born. In 2019, they received the 9th Montbell Challenge Award, and in 2023, there were appointed as an official ambassadors for Japan Eco-Track. From May 2023, they launched the "Wonder of Nature" project, which will span about half a year. They conducted activities that involve visiting various parts of Japan, providing children with nature experiences to nurture their life skills, and conveying the importance of this for the future of the planet. In 2023, they received the Montbell Challenge Award for the second time.
We would like to dedicate this "Montbell Challenge Award 2023" to our daughters, Nayla and Fibie. Without their strong determination and courage, we would not have been able to overcome Japan's rainy season, intense heat, and several typhoons to complete this project. Ten-year-old Nayla completed the entire journey on her own bicycle. The total distance covered was about 5,000 km, with a cumulative elevation gain of 31,000 m. This is equivalent to climbing Mt. Fuji eight times. Six-year-old Fibie cycled between 10 km and 35 km on her own bicycle every day. She walked the entire course of the "SEA TO SUMMIT Chikuma River and Takayama Mountain Competition." Every day, she immersed herself in Japanese culture, eating her favorite food natto and singing the Japanese folk song "Furusato."
More important than children's physical strength is their intuition and ability to go with the flow. Creativity to sing while cycling up a 1,000m hill climb to Madarao in Nagano Prefecture in pouring rain, and to invent a game using a stick picked up along the way. Children believe in themselves and in all life. Thank you, Nayla. Thank you, Fibie.
The Pasche family has covered 91,000 km across 4 continents so far. From 2010 to 2015, under the title "Swiss Alps to Southern Alps," they cycled from their birthplace in Switzerland to New Zealand. Along the way, their first daughter Nayla was born in Malaysia in 2013. Since then, they have continued their journey while raising their children, and in 2017 their second daughter Fibie was born. In 2019, they received the 9th Montbell Challenge Award, and in 2023, there were appointed as an official ambassadors for Japan Eco-Track. From May 2023, they launched the "Wonder of Nature" project, which will span about half a year. They conducted activities that involve visiting various parts of Japan, providing children with nature experiences to nurture their life skills, and conveying the importance of this for the future of the planet. In 2023, they received the Montbell Challenge Award for the second time.
Comment from the Pasche Family
We would like to dedicate this "Montbell Challenge Award 2023" to our daughters, Nayla and Fibie. Without their strong determination and courage, we would not have been able to overcome Japan's rainy season, intense heat, and several typhoons to complete this project. Ten-year-old Nayla completed the entire journey on her own bicycle. The total distance covered was about 5,000 km, with a cumulative elevation gain of 31,000 m. This is equivalent to climbing Mt. Fuji eight times. Six-year-old Fibie cycled between 10 km and 35 km on her own bicycle every day. She walked the entire course of the "SEA TO SUMMIT Chikuma River and Takayama Mountain Competition." Every day, she immersed herself in Japanese culture, eating her favorite food natto and singing the Japanese folk song "Furusato."
More important than children's physical strength is their intuition and ability to go with the flow. Creativity to sing while cycling up a 1,000m hill climb to Madarao in Nagano Prefecture in pouring rain, and to invent a game using a stick picked up along the way. Children believe in themselves and in all life. Thank you, Nayla. Thank you, Fibie.
Challenge Award 2022
Yuka Komatsu
Photographer
Yuka Komatsu was born in Akita Prefecture in 1982. She has been fascinated with mountaineering since high school, and has climbed mountains both in Japan and abroad. In 2006, she became the first Japanese woman to summit K2 (8,611m/Pakistan), the second highest peak in the world. For this accomplishment, she received the Uemura Naomi Adventure Award. Being drawn to people living in deserts and other natural places, she aspired to become a photographer. She began documenting in photographs the Syrian civil war and refugee crisis, and continues to convey the current situation of Syrian refugees. Her written works include To The Land of Humanity (Shueisha International). She is the recipient of the 8th Mika Yamamoto Memorial International Journalist Award.
I am deeply honored to receive the news that I have been selected for the Montbell Challenge Award. In the summer of 2006, from the summit of K2, the world's second highest peak, what I saw was the round Earth and the black sky. After surviving a dangerous bivouac and returning to base camp, I truly realized the specialness of simply existing and being alive. Since then, I have been drawn to human activities rooted in local cultures, and have focused my photography on the relationship between people and the land. Since 2012, I have been reporting on refugees displaced by the Syrian civil war, hoping my work can help improve their situation, even if only a little. For me, adventure means continuing to face the "unknown" with conviction and humility. Through my photography, I hope to continue connecting people and creating opportunities for new waves to emerge. Thank you very much.
Comment from Yuka Komatsu
I am deeply honored to receive the news that I have been selected for the Montbell Challenge Award. In the summer of 2006, from the summit of K2, the world's second highest peak, what I saw was the round Earth and the black sky. After surviving a dangerous bivouac and returning to base camp, I truly realized the specialness of simply existing and being alive. Since then, I have been drawn to human activities rooted in local cultures, and have focused my photography on the relationship between people and the land. Since 2012, I have been reporting on refugees displaced by the Syrian civil war, hoping my work can help improve their situation, even if only a little. For me, adventure means continuing to face the "unknown" with conviction and humility. Through my photography, I hope to continue connecting people and creating opportunities for new waves to emerge. Thank you very much.
Challenge Award 2020
Yuki Sekiguchi
A Polar Explorer
Yuki Sekiguchi was born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1987. While in high school, he dreamt of becoming an adventurer, and this led him to pursue that path instead of joining a company after graduation. At the age of 18, he made his first of many adventures by walking the length of Japan, which covered 2,715km and took him 109 days to complete (May to September 2006). He also attempted to traverse Alaska in deep winter, where temperatures can reach -50 degree Celsius, and Death Valley in the middle of summer, where temperatures exceed 50 degree Celsius. He has now traveled 7,000km on foot and 38,000km by bicycle in Japan and abroad.
Recently, he has been adventuring in polar regions. In 2016, he walked solo for 450km across the Arctic Sea ice with a sled. Since 2017, he has been undertaking a multi-year adventure project with the goal of completing "A Human-powered traverse of Canada in deep winter".
Since I was 18, I have devoted myself to adventure for my own sake, and I am delighted that my way of life as an adventurer has been recognized with this award. In the midst of true wilderness, what I feel most keenly as I struggle onward is my own weakness, and I have experienced countless failures along the way. What I have come to realize through these experiences is that being able to fail is proof that I have taken on a challenge. As a recipient of the Montbell Challenge Award, I will continue to pursue adventure without fear of failure, so as not to bring shame to this honor.
Recently, he has been adventuring in polar regions. In 2016, he walked solo for 450km across the Arctic Sea ice with a sled. Since 2017, he has been undertaking a multi-year adventure project with the goal of completing "A Human-powered traverse of Canada in deep winter".
Comment from Yuki Sekiguchi
Since I was 18, I have devoted myself to adventure for my own sake, and I am delighted that my way of life as an adventurer has been recognized with this award. In the midst of true wilderness, what I feel most keenly as I struggle onward is my own weakness, and I have experienced countless failures along the way. What I have come to realize through these experiences is that being able to fail is proof that I have taken on a challenge. As a recipient of the Montbell Challenge Award, I will continue to pursue adventure without fear of failure, so as not to bring shame to this honor.
Challenge Award 2019
Pasche Family
NOMADIC FAMILY BY BICYCLE AS A WAY OF LIFE
Xavier Pasche: Born in 1980, Architectural Engineer and Photographer
Celine Pasche: Born in 1982, Anthropologist and Mountaineering Instructor
Celine Pasche (1982) is an anthoropologist and a mountain guide. Xavier Pasche (1980) is an architectural draughtsman and a photographer. Since 2010, this Swiss couple has been travelling the world by bicycle. In 2013, Nayla, their daughter, was born in Malaysia. Their second daughter Fibie was born in 2017, during their new project called "The Great Northern Horizon." Today they still cycle the world together as nomads.
We are truly grateful to receive the wonderful Montbell Challenge Award. When we first encountered Montbell in Japan three years ago, there were just three of us. Now, with Fibie joining our family, we are delighted to have the opportunity to visit Japan again as four.
Comment from the Pasche Family
We are truly grateful to receive the wonderful Montbell Challenge Award. When we first encountered Montbell in Japan three years ago, there were just three of us. Now, with Fibie joining our family, we are delighted to have the opportunity to visit Japan again as four.
