bike & ski Kamtschatka

© 2024 Tofisch & Partner

While we fill one day in Europe after the other with many dates and live our life, there are regions of this earth far from us, from which we do not know anything.  One of it is Kamtschatka, a peninsula in the east of Russia, close Alaska and Japan.  28600 km, 12 hours flight, 11 hours of time shift, the last country before the date border... if somebody left all of this behind itself, then he is in Kamtschatka.  Tobias Fischnallerl has all this distance overcome to start his newest adventure.

bike & ski Kamtschatka – Traces through fires and ice: “The first impression of the gigantic volcanic cones at the edge of the capital Petropablowsk Kamtschatskij, where my adventure took its beginning, was more fearfully, than I could present it ever mentally to myself.

The landscape Kamtschatkas was formed during centuries from that altogether 29 active volcanos and the associated seismic forces. The west of the country is shaped by gentle, regular, flat landscape sections. In the east you find volcanos and mountains in contrast to it. The country between fires and ice is one of the most incalculable and most active volcanic regions of the earth. Yield of this journey was mounting three volcanos: Avatschinsky (2.742m) and Koriatsky (3456m) northern the capital, Mutnovsky (3456m) southern the capital. The exciting and special one at the ski routes was actually not only the ski uphill route and the ski downhill, but the art to arrive at the actual starting point. For each mountain we had to start two attempts, until the ascent and the downhill of the active volcanos succeeded. Not only the weather made us problems:

© 2024 Tofisch & Partner Orientation in the endlessly far area, wrapped in nebulas, was the main problem. We used mainly GPS for the navigation, because there were only one map on a scale 1:1Mio. available. So the ski run of the mountain Avatchinskiy succeeded. On the second day, at nine o'clock in the evening in wonderful weather. Similarly at the Korjatsky:  Due to the bad weather, fog where we looked, we missed with the first attempt even the actual mountain. But the next day should bring more luck.  Gigantically the panorama: Behind me the strong wind fumarols drives several hundred meters into air, the soil under me is warmly soft, and moves now and then. The view to the neighbour summit was for me like a view from the airplane, the mainland around the volcanic cone was covered with an enormous fog cover. The greatest still waited for us: a ski downhill in a 3000m gutter in the best snow!

© 2024 Tofisch & Partner Foreseen of it that we had forgotten at home our wheel pump in the hurry of the preparation, it did not happen to us larger breakdowns with the Mountain Bikes.  But it was already a small adventure for itself to find a bike pump. In the local shops of the capital there was no pump for Bikes.  So we had to make friendship connection with a big pump for cars. This story reflects the small interest of the kamtschatkan people in bicycle driving and mountainbikeing. Not only the low interest of the native people about biketours, but also often the very difficult orientation with GPS, maps with senseless map scale and bad information did not motivate us to keep on going. Often remembered to hang our bikes on this famous nail. Nevertheless we found ideal Singletrials on the peninsula Kamtschatka. Kilometers long they lead thought forests to remotely places, at which itself only bears from time to time go rarely: To the “blue lakes”, they have their name of the clear, blue water, and the ice on the bottom of the lakes.  To the “Three brothers” a stone formation made of lava in the Avatcha bay. Their meaning was us concealed and to the Kamtschatka Highway direction the north, he has the appearance to never end. Biken on highest level.

© 2024 Tofisch & Partner For the second part of the journey I could inspire the adventure journalist Michael Wachtler during the preparations to my journey. He took itself time to come with me to the valley of the geysire. We where there to investigate its discovery history: This valley was discovered not al long time ago. In April 1941, during a geologist expedition along the river Shumnaja ( the loud river), from the Russian scientist and geologist Tatjana Ustinova. In this two and a half kilometer long valley section, exactly, where the Gejsernaja flows into the Schumnaja, are most hot source and all geysire. There are here altogether 30 large geysire and 150 smaller, in addition many pulsating sources, which discharge only steam jets. Everyone of these geysire and sources has its own name and its own history. A jewel for the research. A unique and unforgettable experience for us!”