Yoga, Spinning, Packing and Patrolling

This week my life is pretty much about yoga, spinning, packing and patrolling. Last day of patrol was today. Yoga and spinning will end soon and my packing deadline is fast approaching.

It’s hard to leave. When the final days come and the trip becomes more of realty then a plan, there is this point where I think “it is way more difficult to go than it is to stay.” The point at which I am so exhausted from tying up loose ends that I just want to sit and relax rather than finish figuring out what truly will be a necessity in Russia. And, unfortunately, it is also the time I start to freak out and think about the dangers of travel. What if I get sick? Hurt? Maimed?

No doublt there are objective hazards we could face on this expedition. Perhaps our number one hazard is the remoteness of our backcountry ski objectives. Other hazards include weather, avalanches, route-finding, river crossings, grizzly bears, grizzly bear hunters, and Russian military detainment and interrogation. From what we can tell weather should be similar to conditions found in south central Alaska, with perhaps more marine influence. We hope to find stable, spring snow conditions but realize we will be climbing and skiing volcanoes and they tend to have constant 30-40 degree slopes for thousands of feet – prime avalanche terrain. Navigating will be challenging – we can’t bring a GPS into Russia. River crossings may be different from the time we enter to the time we exit an area. We were told we could use a ‘puffed’ boat (we assumed this to mean a boat we blow up) or vodka as a bribe to locals with boats. Grizzly bears will be waking from hibernation. The largest in the world, Kamchatka bears – we believe - should not be a threat and may even be scared of us because of over-hunting. Grizzly bear hunters are an unknown but April is their season. Finally, we have heard other expeditions have been detained for not having proper papers. We think we have the proper permissions...

But, these are not the things to focus on, right? So as the days drift by – 7 more until we leave – I am not going to think about mitigating risks but rather the cool reality that once again we are fortunate enough to experience Siberia's beauty and incredible culture.