How did we get to go to Russia? By knowing someone who know someone…Francis, one of our mountain guides knew Marco Gaiani, who is a French guide from Chamonix that partially owns Heli Ski Russia, the company that organized all those trips.Our Italian guide Alberto accompanied us in all those trips.
Kamachatka April 2019
Along with me, the participants of this trip were : Dima Z, Joe, Rob K, Lou and Rob Leven .We flew to Moscow, and after one night stay we flew for 8 hours to Petropavlovsk .Kamchatka is a huge peninsula, located on Siberia’s western end between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk, just north of Japan .It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996.Its is a magical land full of volcanoes. The peninsula is as big as Italy.The northern part of is used for military purposes. We flew in twin-turbine MI-8 helicopters , that can carry around 20 passengers. They are flown by a pilot, co pilot and a flight engineer .One of the most used Helicopters in the world. One of our pilots started flying at age 15. There are lots and lots of MI-8 Helicopters in Kamchatka , being the most common form of transportation. We skied multiple volcanoes, some active and some not. The highlight was skiing the Mutnovsky Volcano , which is one of the most active Volcanoes of southern Kamchatka, and we skied inside, towards the bottom of the crater .The terrain of Mutnovsky is partially situated in the area of South Kamchatka Sanctuary (nature reserve) which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996 in the category “Volcanoes of Kamchatka”. The Helicopter dropped us on the top of the volcano’s crater , and we skied inside it, surrounded by fumarole activity and escaping columns of steam into the air reaching the height of one kilometer above the mountain range.Fumarole is a vent from which volcanic gases are emitted into the air. Carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide, as well as water evaporation which are emitted from vents can reach enormous temperature. The Helicopter waited for us at the bottom of the crater.This was the most unique place in the world that I have ever skied. We skied other volcanoes as well :Viluchinski Volcano,Vesrshinskya Volcano, Dzendzur Volcano, and we skied around the Fjords . The most memorable one was skiing down to a deserted Soviet naval base and having lunch there.We also skied the Nalychevo and Balaganchik mountain ranges .The runs were very , very long.
One of the non skiing highlights was being dropped by the Helicopter next to hot springs were we bathed. We flew like Oligarchs. Dima Z introduced us to the the full Russian Banya experience, which includes eating salty fish and drinking Vodka. Lots of it.
One day we couldn’t ski due to bad weather, and visited Petroplavosk .It’s an ugly city with Soviet architecture, however is located on a extremely beautiful setting, a bay along the coast with incredible view of Volcanoes. The stores were very well supplied, and they had all kind of alcoholic spirits. Actually a huge supply of booze.Make sense. Alcohol will keep the locals happy .The fish market was incredible with a huge variety of seafood.The food was delicious and we feasted overnight on all possible types of seafood, including one night that we ate humongous king crabs.Never seen anywhere else crabs this big, not even in Ushuaia.On the way back we spent a day in Moscow touring the Red Square and Kremlin, where our guide -turned out to be unofficial -was taken away from us on the Kremlinby undisclosed men. For real.We also went to the Bolshoi theater for a Ballet.Had a great meal at an Armenian restaurant that served delicious grilled plates. Oue hotel , Ararat Park Hyatt, was vey close to the Kremlin , which could be seen from the roof top bar. Moscow city center is very, very clean and spotless. At night all the buildings are very well lit -it’s a light extravaganza.Moscow is the real city of lights.There were tanks and troops on the streets in the city center rehearsing for Russia’s victory day parade (we were there on May 5, the parade was on May 9-celbrating the 74th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany).Small world -our ski guide there was Andrew Eisenstark, that I met in Antarctica and Joe and Rob met in Utah wile skiing within snowcat .What a trip!
Caucasus-Arkhyz Feb 2020
On this trip came along with me :Rob, Joe, John Kim, Lou and Bennett Kaplan.
We flew in to Moscow. From there we flew the next day for about 3 hours to Mineralnye Vody, and than about 3 hours by car to Arkhyz.
The drive was on the edge of the Pontic Caspian steppe .Arkhyz is located in the Northern Caucasus , in the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic.The Caucasus Mountains are acting natural border in between Europe and Asia and they are situated in between the Black and Caspian Seas.The location is not very far-one hour by Helicopter -from Mt.Elbrus, the highest in Europe.Mikhail Gorbachev, the ex soviet premier had his Dacha in this location. We stayed in his Dacha. Putin did not want it, so now is rented out to high end travelers .I actually got to sleep in his bedroom , and we did yoga in that room!The dining room was the location where the summit between Gorabachev and the German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl reached the agreement that allowed the reunification of the West and East Germany in July 1990.This is where we had our dinners!Part of the Dacha is still off limits .
The Helicopter was parked right in front of the main entrance .It was a Squirrel-Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil (or Squirrel), flown by expert Russian pilots trained in Wanaka , New Zeeland ( I actually have Heli skied there …)
Our guides were Marco, (french)Misha(russian ) and Albi(italian ).The caucasus mountain range is very vast, and we skied right on the border with the republic of Georgia. The pilot told us that he was vey careful not to cross the border.there is bad blood between Russia and Georgia.One of the highlights was to come back from ski and land right in front of the dacha’s door and have a table waiting for us covered in white linen with Vodka and Caviar .One day that it snowed we couldn’t fly .so we went to the village of Arkhyz, which looks like an old village with a big outdoor market. Little old ladies were selling knick knacks. The population is muslim.Big men with thick beards .We got to ski the ski resort in the morning , which was very modern with high end lifts (austrian or swiss ).In the afternoon we went horse back riding , while it snowed .A little surreal to ride horses during a snow storm in the village and hear the muazzin calling for prayer from the minaret.Those were big horses with coarse hair, horses bred to ride in those mountains. After all, men originally domesticated horses thousand of years ago, right close by, in the Point -Caspian steppe.On the way back we spent a night in Mineralnye Vody, in a hotel close by to a park with a huge monument for the heroes of the great patriotic war.The city center was packed with people, and we had a great meal at a restaurant that would be at home in any country in the west.And we started planning for…Siberia Heli ski trip ..in December
Siberia- Lake Baikal Dec 2021
This trip was delayed by one year, thanks to Covid 19. So instead of December 2020 , we made it in December 2021.
There were 6 of us again- the “core” Me, Joe, Rob , Lou and Shel and David Langer.
Many hours to get to Siberia.Why? Layovers.
Russia allowed Americans in , but initially they wanted the travellers to arrive directly from the US. So we flew this time with Aeroflot from NY to Moscow, after along layover .Than an 8 hour layover in Moscow, followed by 6 hour flight to Irkutsk. Than 3 hours to the South shore of Lake Baikal , on a very snowy winding road and got to our place -Usadba Novosnezhka.
We stayed in a small lodge , very comfortable, located in this little village called Novosnezhka-meaning New Snow.
The village is located on the shore of Lake Baikal, right on the border between Russia proper and the republic of +Buryatia.+ Mongolia is less than 60-70 km away as the crow flies. Lake Baikal is the the with the largest freshwater lake by volume, containing about 23% of the world’s fresh surface water.
Its size is slightly larger than Belgium . It freezes completely later on the winter, starting from the north west. close to our location the lake was not frozen yet, but we saw ice starting to accumulate .The water is very clear, and I had actually drank the water straight from the lake. We also ate the “omul” fish which is endemic to this lake.
The Helicopters were the AllouetteA II and Squirrel-Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil (or Squirrel)*.*We had great pilots, one Russian that flew us in Arkhyz , and a french one based din Courmayeour.
We skied the very close by Khamar Daban Mountains .
The snow was incredible. Due to the proximity to the lake , it snowed every day, very , very light snow. It was very cold, actually the coldest place that I have been . in the minuses ! But we were dressed very well so we did not actually feel cold.We also were lucky that the sun was shining.
Speaking of the sun -it rises only at 9 am, its sets around 5:30.
Khamar-Daban mountain range is the oldest array of the planet. It stretches from west to east more than 350 km and forms a mountainous country at the southern shore of Lake Baikal. It is a system of mountain ranges 40- 90 km wide with rounded shapes of top without pronounced ridge. … The ridge is located to the south of Lake Baikal.
The snow was very deep -even Albi stated that he never skied such a deep snow. 2 Russian guys joined our group, and we were divided into 2 groups of 4 skiers. Our russian guide was Misha, who guided us in Arkhyz as well (and he was in Kamchatka too)The first day we were in an area that we skied with snow chest deep!A snorkel would abbe been helpful.
On the day that we couldn’t ski due to a snow storm we crossed in a truck the frozen river next to our lodge and drove inside Buryatia. The truck appeared to be a WW2 era vehicle, with huge wheels , and could drive in any terrain. We sat in the back on wood benches covered by bear skins. Inside we had a wood oven stove with the fire going on. We stopped at a Gulag, and had to squeeze around the barbed fence to get inside. The Gulag was active up to 5 years ago. We than drove to the lake shore and drank the local delicious ‘Omul “ vodka and shot at bottles with a WW2 rifle.
That afternoon we went to a Banya located right on the shore of the lake, in a camp made of yurts .True mongol yurts . After the hot Banya we jumped into the almost freezing lake. We also had one night a party specially organized for us, where a band comprised of 6 musicians came specially from Irkutsk .They played great music, Russian, american and jewish ! They were going for the cowboy hillbilly look. We got to eat lots of moose and also different cuts of bacon, served frozen and of course lots of “Omul” vodka. The manager of the lodge , Vitushka, went out her way to make sure we have a good time.She has a company called “Go Siberia “, and she leased the lodge from the owner, who is an ex olympic bob sled champion .
Lst night wa spent in a very nice Hotel in Irkutsk , and we flew to Moscow. Shel , Lou and I spent the night there. It was December 25th.The city was so beautifully lit and lots and lots of people were in the Red Square, where there wa sa huge fair.It extremely cold, with the wind blowing hard. But people didn’t seem to care. Next day I woke up very early and flew to France, to meet my boys at Club Med Val D’Isere.
Where next ? The world is getting smaller ….
