Paris / New York - Transcontinental 2009

[BlueGerbil]

April 16, 2010: 191st short message (11:32 a.m. CET)

After intense studies of the weather conditions, we made use of a very little weather frame (ca. eight hours) right before the beginning of a new storm and made a tough six-hour ride, that led me to my limits, with a snow mobile and sled 100 km from Uelen to Lavrentia last night to wait here for a couple of days.

Amongst others, we hereby improved our communication possibilities considerably and are not completely cut off.

The next storm began less than three hours after our arrival, snow flurries started and last.

April 19, 2010: 192nd short message (10:10 a.m. CET)

There’s a crazy storm going on ever since the night that we arrived. The hurricane doesn’t stop whipping snow across the Bering Strait, Uelen, Lavrentia, and so on. Not even for one hour. Storm and snow flurries everywhere. Tons of snow. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Meanwhile, in the city they prepare for the arrival of a multimillionaire/billionaire who has already been in outer space and who now plans to fly from Anadyr to Lavrentia via microlight.

As far as we understood with our limited Russian, a larger airplane is supposed to bring the microlight to Anadyr in parts. There, the crew assembles it. Then the boss flies to Lavrentia with the little bird. There it gets taken apart again and packed in a Cessna. The Cessna is supposed to bring the little plane over the Bering Strait to America. Upps. Furthermore, there is a traveler on its way to Uelen who plans to cross the Bering Strait via the Chukot and Eskimo way with a hunting boat in summer.

Wee, maybe we’ll meet one of them.

...........

April 26, 2010: 193rd short message (07:08 p.m. CET)

Last Friday, during a weather frame which only lasted few hours, we flew to Anadyr with a special airplane of Chukotavia. The airplane made use of the short moment, in which there was calm weather, to make a hasty shipping of foods (amongst others) to Lavrentia.

After 1.5 months of futile waiting I decided the day before that further waiting doesn’t make sense any longer. Due to the heavy storms it is not possible for the team of the Russian authorities to arrive in Uelen, or rather to leave Uelen in a decent time frame. While we were waiting there for 1.5 months, only one single helicopter was able to fly to Uelen. We only left because we found the venturesome Skidoo driver who dared the nightly “escape” between two storms and who didn’t want to pass up this extraordinary chance. A hell of a ride. Insofar I can understand and accept the concerns by the official authorities. Meanwhile, spring storms have arrived at the Bering Strait. A crossing is completely out of question at the moment.

At the same time this means a high financial burden, as well as an interruption that takes at least several months.

For now I will go back to Germany to have some conversations and then decide how we will continue.

In order to continue, it is especially important that there is an alliance of partners who keep supporting the expedition in the future.

I would like to say thank you to the team of 2010 that has managed to proof a very very high extent of will power, endurance and courage throughout all the difficult situations we had to face. I am happy about what we achieved.

I would also like to thank the overly friendly and kind reception in Lavrentia during the last few days, especially to the administration, Victor and Marina for their heartiness, and to the staff of the well-kept accommodation where we were allowed to sleep.

 

[Oilworker]

Well, we were that far already...message #193 was already posted further up.
More interesting would be how it´s going to continue?

Oh, and yes, the road conditions in north-eastern Russia are, as far as my knowledge goes, just as bad or even worse than in Alaska in summer....depending on where you go
Most places in northern Syberia are only accessibly by land during a few months in winter.

 

[XXXpedition]

sorry, i was just sarcastic :-( i'm not patient enough to wait another few months...

 

[Lucky j]

Anybody knows anything about why they did not continu their journey?

Weather, money, anything?

They have not move at all this winter, and no info at all on the web site. Not even the main wed site of extrem events.

To sad.

 

[Lucky j]

Any thing new on them? Couldn't find anything on the web. As this become a subject to avoied from the company itself?

Would be nice to know if they decided to end the adventure and what happend to the rigs if they are still in russia!