Mandip Singh Soin

Mandip Singh Soin is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, can read palms, has bartered labor for climbing lessons and travelled the world on $500. Known to everyone as Mandy, Soin is a climber, adventure travel and eco-tourism expert, environmentalist and founder of one of India’s oldest, award-winning expedition companies. He has spent 50 years traveling across all seven continents. He now teaches responsible tourism, preparing other travelers to tread lightly. Soin established Ibex Expeditions in 1979, at the age of 22. After four decades of first ascents (Z1 in 1980, several Alpine peaks and the first Indian ascent of Mount Meru in 1986), new routes (The Ice Trek in 1994 or the first Camelback crossing of the Indian Thar Desert), Soin’s motivations are no longer simply for the sake of the thrill of the outdoors. In witnessing species becoming endangered, communities turning concrete, and inherent systems of belief being forsaken, he uses Ibex to nurture connections between people and their natural environments.