[Featured] Byrranga 2017 Solo Traverse

 

Ekspedycja w Góry Byrranga 2017, samotny trawers i wejście na najwyższe szczyty.
Горы Бырранга 2017, Соло, Траверс, Экспедиция, восхождение на самые высокие вершины.

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Dedicated photo galleries are at the bottom of the page

General information and highlights:

  • Solo, unsupported traverse of the highest, most remote, and least known and researched part of Byrranga Mountains, described in scarce research papers (e.g., “Biogeography of the Byrranga Mountains, Taymyr Peninsula, Russian Arctic”) as one of the least known areas of the whole Arctic; a region with extremely difficult access.
  • In very short: I covered around 320 kilometers in 9.5 days, on foot, solo, fully unsupported. The average of 40 kilometers per day, the maximum distance of 67 kilometers in non-stop 21 hours of march in difficult terrain, all while having non-trivial feet damage.
  • The terrain was almost always swamps, fields of sharp stones glaciers, deep snow, or large and violent rivers.
  • I climbed all the three highest peaks above 1100 meters, including the Lednikovaya Mountain (Гора Ледниковая, Góra Lodowcowa), traversed glaciers, all in the complete isolation with the nearest village around 500 kilometers away in a straight line. Note that Lednikovaya is not the highest mountain, see my map below for details (the highest peak of Byrranga Mountains is an unnamed summit in the southern part).
  • To maximize the chances of success, I organized the expedition on purpose to make it a “one-way” traverse (= “finish or perish”). I was left by a helicopter at the southern border of the mountains and I organized a pick-up far in the North, beyond the northern border of the mountains, 300 kilometers away. There were very little chances of helicopter arriving to any other point except for the pick-up location. This was the forcing and the motivating aspect for finishing the whole march, and it ultimately ensured expedition success. It was simultaneously a very fruitful lesson in risk management.
  • This expedition received a distinction in the “Travel” track during the largest European symposium “Kolosy” (“Giants”) on exploration.



Location of the highests peaks:


Route (General Info):


Route (Detailed Info):



Special thanks to / Podziękowania dla / Большое спасибо к …

  • Yuri Gavrilov, for a lot of logistics support,
  • Сергей Викторович Зверев, и все его друзья за теплое гостеприимство и помощь в полете на вертолете,
  • Юрий и Наталья Жданов, за помощь при полетах на вертолете,
  • Все друзья из Хатанги, за гостеприимство.
  • Alexander Zhulidov, Tanya, and Daniel Zhulidov, for information about the region.
  • Rafał Król (https://expeditions.pl) for a lot of insightful knowledge.
  • Roberts (https://roberts.pl/index.php?l=en&p=_katalog) for best quality, ultrawarm & ultralight down clothes and equipment.



Selected videos:



Selected photos:

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