Bright Lights, Big City

We find ourselves in downtown Seoul - a bit like immersion therapy before returning to LAX and our lives. Neon lights, big screen TV's, music thumping, ice cream, Starbucks and department stores. Much like being screamed at rather than spoken to.

It's an interesting contrast. Seoul is modern, the roads paved and well-marked, buildings rise tall and straight. The landscape is well-tended, green and manicured. It's layout is thoughtful. Whereas Petropavlovsk, the urban center of Kamchatka, is hap-hazard and confusing. Ugly concrete apartment buildings abound in varying shades of blue, brown and gray back-lit against aging Volcanos. Bags of trash, old tires and plastic bottles collect by the side of the road. Even potholes are ignored. Their increasing size causes traffic to swerve into the opposing lane. But of the two, I prefer Russia's Far East - its complex simplicity, its people and even its blemishes.

It was extremely sad to leave Yelizovo, our home base for the last 27 days. If I could have stayed in Kamchatka I would have been okay, but here in Seoul, I am anxious to return home and get to work on articles and photographs from the last month. We left with the promise to return and even the promise to collaborate with the people we met to help build a low-impact and sustainable backcountry ski tour industry on Kamchatka.

More Photos!

The winners! (In my mind!)

Koryakskaya Volcano opposite Avachinsky Volcano.

Scott being interviewed for his amazing performance.

Last is a place too!

But not for our American team! The Americanskis took a respectable fifth place in the 3rd Annual Kamchatka Ski Alpinism Competition.

The race was exciting! Unexpectedly and at the last minute, three French teams signed on. The Russians were happy to host the international racers, however, when the French took first in the team competition, they were a bit stunned. Quite an upset! This is a serious competition - some participants don speed suits, others travel 10 hours by plane from Moscow, it is covered by national television (both Scott and Matt were interviewed) and is sanctioned as a qualifying event for larger races.

As to the individual competition, after drinking vodka and beer Saturday evening (btw - learned a new saying "Drinking beer without vodka is like throwing money to the wind"), Matt decided to race in the individual competition Sunday morning. From the start he set a fast pace and broke trail. Third to the top of the first uphill, he skied down to the more technical rock section and climbed the rope in strong position to place. Unfortunately we did not bring all the proper gear and this impacted Matt's ability to make a speedy exit of the traverse and the downclimb in order to reach the final ski descent. Matt ended up finishing 5th behind competitors from the Kamchatka Rescue service. He did receive and honorable mention: All admired him for the way he 'danced' on his skis (the sole Telemarker) and the Competition judges rewarded his prowess with a pair of socks. They also invited him back to teach the Russians how to tele.

We were also invited back for next year's race and likewise we promised to compete. I hope to team up with my new friend Inga from Yelizovo to become the first international women's team to enter. It would be really cool to return to Avacha Pass and experience it as a competitor.

Today we are off to Petropavlosk for the day - visiting the Rescue headquarters, meeting with the Director of Tourism for Kamchatka and having coffee with our friend Slava, the kayaker. It has been an awesome month and we leave on Wednesday for Seoul before returning home. Hope to update you then.

Stability Issues

Stability issues! Just two words sums up the last 7 days in the area of Volcano Bakening. Two of us experienced gastro-intestinal instability and one of us was overstable, much like a plugged bear. The snow pack was with the majority and a bit less stable than we would have liked.

The day we arrived at basecamp we were in the beginning of a storm which landed us in the tent for the duration of the day. When we awoke the next day it was super windy, bitter cold and blue-bird clear with 6 to 12 inches of new snow. Skiing around our first day we were checking out conditions and saw quite a bit of slide activity and wind loaded slopes. We were able to find a few aspects that were firm and safe and skied until 8:00 p.m. The second day warmed up quite a bit and we сlimbed higher to ski a bit more, again skiing until 8:00 p.m. Our third day of skiing, though windy, allowed us to top out on a peak with spectacular views of Bakening.

We had a great time in this remote area. Did not see a single soul for the entire time in the mountains. Stumbled on a few bear prints and a bear den but otherwise not much in the way of wildlife. An interesting trip: From the time we handed the bus driver a note written by Martha (it said something to the effect of "Dear Mr. Bus Driver, please let these crazy Americans off the bus at the 208th kilometer and then look for them at the same kilometer on April 23rd or 24th. Thank you and be nice to them!") to the 208th km - it was in the middle of frickin' no where. From the slog in to the three days of sun and skiing. From the bus stopping and picking us up right on schedule to the little Russian girl passing us Skittles through the seats and the three beers we enjoyed while riding the bus back to Yelizovo!

Today we hope to firm up our plans for the weekend. The plan is to leave tomorrow with Gleb, the Director of Recreation and Tourism for Nalychevo Park and Inga, the Director of Ecological Education for Nalychevo, and head to Avacha Volcano for the Competition. (Officially an internationally sanctioned race because of the Americanskis!) We will be fed and housed for the entire weekend with the rest of the competitors and are looking forward to making some new friends and contacts. We were hoping to go cat skiing on Sunday but think this will change due to the weather forecast calling for a "cyclone." In which case we will chill at a local hot springs, begin packing or ski at one of the resorts. Monday I have a meeting with the Director of Tourism for Kamchatka to discuss eco-tourism, sustainability, independent travel, backcountry ski touring and other issues related to North Americans traveling to Kamchatka. We leave on Wednesday for a long layover in Seoul and will get more pictures posted then.

Until next time, Das Veedanya.

One More!

WORST HOT SPRiNGS EVER HE SHOUTS!

Photos!

Baggage!
Window from plane flying into kamchatka!
Slava!
On Mt. Cupola - Brilliant Skiing Day!
Rest day - frosting cookies with Nutella!

4174 miles from home plus 45 kilometers

We have returned to the city of Yelizovo, showered, washed our clothes, and dined at our favorite restaurant The Castle (or something like that - it's in Russian, so we aren't sure). The Castle coat check girl and the wait staff all greeted us warmly. At least some of them were happy to see us. The first few times we ate there we did not tip, didn't think it was standard here. Then we figured out it is customary to leave gratuity. Unfortunately for our first two waitresses - they did not receive any extra rubles from us. Fortunate for our last two waitresses, they did get their 15%. Hopefully this did not cause a rift between the four or call into question any service issues. Today we are wandering around the downtown area checking in with the Park officials, running errands, exchanging money, resupplying our food and looking to purchase a voice recorder. A couple of things before I move on to the last 9 days: We wanted to thank everyone for commenting. It makes us laugh and think of home, so please, comment away.

Also, we are finding the people of Kamchatka to be very friendly. Not that our experience in 2002 in the Baikal region was anything but hostile. Just seems here, on the Peninsula, the people are more likely to engage than scowl. It may be they are used to seeing tourists. Martha Madsen, an ex-pat from Homer, Alaska and tour operator in Yelizovo gave us the statistic that Kamchatka receives 40,000 tourists a year. Of the 40,000, 43% are non-Russian visitors. Based on discussions with various guides we've met and with Martha, most non-Russian tourists are from Europe, Australia, Japan, and Korea. Few North Americans travel here. Perhaps it is the distance and the expense, or even a reluctance to visit Russia. It is too bad - it is a wonderful place and we are all definitely planning to return.

As we mentioned we decided to first access Nalychevo Park. It is fairly close to Yelizovo - about 35 km and is an area the local population typically goes to ski tour. Ski touring in Russia is much like what we would call Cross-Country skiing in the US. They use skinny skis which typically do not have metal edges but have a fish-scale appearance to their bases to aid in climbing uphill. They are light, glide fast and the boots are comfortable for long distances. These Russians either carry a pack or are supported by snowmobile, and they typically stay in the backcountry cabins. Five years ago, the Park's Director received funds from World Wildlife Fund Germany to develop the area of the Hot Springs - building sleeping cabins, changing cabins and decking at three warm pools and a helicopter pad.

Access to the Park is limited to three main trailheads. We left from the settlement of Pinachevo and followed the Pinachevo River up and over a pass that dropped us into a wild valley fenced in by volcanos (both dormant and active) and several series of ridges. Snowmobiles are allowed into the Park and are actually quite popular. With this we followed a snowmobile track the whole way into the center of the Park - Nalychevoskiye Hot Springs. The distance is 45 km to the Hot Springs. We were told it was a 2-day trek in and 2-days out. While the officials were correct about the plugged bears (we saw many tracks and only one pile of scat), the accuracy of the number of days it would take us with our heavy packs and our ski gear was more than 2 days. Probably more accurate to say it was a slogfest, plain and simple.

The trip could be characterized as: Day 1 - slog; Day 2 - slog up to pass, experience storm and white out conditions, slog down a few hundred feet and camp; Day 3 - slog to base camp; Day 4 - slog to what Matt described as "Tepid water with floating snot growths and biting bugs: The worst hot springs ever!" (Though I would not totally agree with his assessment, they were pretty snotty and it did add to our overall stench.) Day 5 - rest from all the slogging; Day 6 - slog over the pass because the weather did not cooperate with our original plan to ski all day; Day 7 - BRILLIANT BACKCOUNTRY SKIING OF MOUNT COPULA AND TWO BEAUTFIUL UNKNOWN COULOIRS EAST OF ITS SUMMIT!; and Day 8 - slog back to Pinachevo and enjoy the three beers we buried in the snow at the trailhead 7 days earlier. So, as you can see we are now masters of slog which shoudl be good training for an upcoming competition Matt and Scott are entering (more on this later). Overall a great trip and we were not disappointed. As many of you know, backcountry skiing requires patience and the understanding that it is what it is... So, with this in mind we are happy to be planning our next foray into Kamchatka's backcountry.

Quick run down of our plans: We leave on the 18th to travel north to Mount Bakening (pronounced Bah-kane-ing) and will spend until the 24th hoping to do a lot more skiing and a little less slogging. Then, we return to Yelizovo for a tight turn to go to a sanctioned ski mountaineering competition on Avacha Volcano. Matt and Scott are entering as a two-man team and hope to do better than last place. It seems important for us to go so they can now call it an international competition. The cool thing is we will be able to see an area we haven't seen, hang with other ski mountaineers and get a good feel for the backcountry touring scene. Plus after the competition we are going cat skiing with a bunch of Rotarians. Random but explainable.

Have to go the Post Office - our access to internet - is closing for lunch. Will post again when we return from Bakening.

BAGGAGE MUST LIFE

Simply put: Our baggage has arrived. And truthfully, Sunday was a rough day. We had all lost faith in our friend at Air Canada and were thinking perhaps we would never see our beloved skis and boots, Dan's tent, our climbing gear, sleeping bags and cherished Mountain Hardwear Sub Zero down jackets (it's frickin' cold here). That all changed when we caught a glance of the sport tube holding our skis and the first of our duffles. It's the little things in life like a fresh change of socks, deodarant (Matt's old spice shared between the three of us SUCKS!), or a hairbrush. We decided to celebrate with drinking. Actually, the plan was to drink either way, but in this case we were able to do so happily.

Today, a new day and we are much happier - in fact it reminds us of a slogan we saw on a bar of Korean soap: Makes you clean. Makes you smooth. Makes you happy. Our plan is to go into the mountains tomorrow for an 8-9 day ski tour of Nalychevskiye Park. We met with the Park's Director of Recreation this morning to get our permits, discuss snow conditions and the best way to enter. Our last question to them was: "Are the bears active?" To which they responded, "No, they may be awake but they are not agressive, they are weak and don't eat meat. They are plugged and need to unplug, and must find roots and vegetation (er, fiber?)." Thank god! They have constipated bears here! And Matt was so worried...

As to 'BAGGAGE MUST LIFE,' we confess it is not ours. We stole it from bus stop graffiti that said in English "PUNK MUST LIFE." Our trip can now go on and 'LIFE.'

Who needs clean underwear anyway.

Quick note - it's late and we have been drinking beers with a Russian kayaker named Slava... So, we have arrived in Kamchatka. It is incredible and will upload photos when I can. (Internet is a tad bit slow here...)

Our clothes are ready for a rest - it is day 6 I believe. But really, who's counting when you have your health and the local brew Kamchatshoe. Tomorrow is the big day - the day we go to the airport and find out if our bags have arrived. We have all decided to wear our lucky pair of underwear. To give you an idea of how lucky we have to be. We need to have had our bags pass through customs in Vladivostok WITHOUT US and then get put on a plane from another airline WITHOUT US and then be able to walk up to baggage claim in Kamchatka and say, "Yeah, really those are ours but we do not have any baggage claim tickets because they came here WITHOUT US."

If you would like to support us, please wear your luckiest pair of underwear on Sunday, April 6th. (It doesn't really matter if we are 16 hours ahead, its the union against the machine, or something, that is important.)

O' Canada

Day one of our journey and already it has proved to be exciting. It seems that our luggage did not make it on the flight to Korea and is expected to arrive in 24 hours (about 8 hours after we fly out for Vladivostok). Don't worry, we have been assured that it is 'somewhere in the world' and can be tracked. So, after travelling for roughly 15 hours we spent 2.5 hours in Air Canada's Korea office trying to figure out how to get our baggage to Petropavlovsk sometime before the end of April. We decided to travel on as scheduled sans luggage. Our hope if that our luggage will arrive in Korea tomorrow in the early evening, then go on to Vladivostok on Korea Air where it will be flown via Vladivostok Air to Petropavlovsk 2 days after we arrive, or April 6th - at least this is how we left it with Air Canada this evening.

I have to say Air Canada was very helpful and even kind enough to allow us to call our contacts in Russia to get some guidance. In doing so, we learned it has been unseasonable warm and the snow is melting. Hmmmmm. This is supposed to be a backcountry ski trip.... If nothing else, we decided we would just take to drinking.