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Driving from Alaska to Siberia
Pelerin writes "The team from the
Ice Challenger project are driving from
Alaska to Provodanya, in Siberia; across the
56-mile field of ice floes that each winter
"joins" America
and Russia. At the last minute the Russian
authorities
have denied the entry permit but the
crew says they're on track to reach the Big
Diomedes islands, which lie across the date
line, thereby proving it's possible to do this.
This feat
is not as easy as it sounds due to the
harsh Artic winter conditions, and the fact
that the ice floes themselves are drifting
at a pretty good clip. It takes
a specially built vehicle
to tackle this adventure. Geek quotient: pretty
high :)" If you just want to drive to Alaska, you might go with Philip Greenspun. And if these guys don't make the trip to Russia this year, they might not get a chance. Update: 04/08 12:21 GMT by T : DrShrink adds to the story: "The two made it to Siberia, however were turned back due to not gaining permission to enter Russian territory."
I hope your car's heater is working...
I love roadtrips. Damn, I love roadtrips. I have always thought it would be really cool to drive from Tierra del Fuego to South Africa. (Stopping throughout Asia, Russia, Europe, etc.) However, other then the sheer amount of time it would take, this crossing area was another big obstical. Quite frankly, I think a bridge that was passable over the pacific would just be damn cool. DAMN cool!
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This doesn't sound very easy at all to me. I don't usually think of Alaska and Siberia being connected, and I'd imagine crossing the ice between them would be quite hazardous.
The future isn't what it used to be.
...they're on track to reach the Big Diomedes islands, which lie across the date line, thereby proving it's possible to do this. This feat is not as easy as it sounds...
I think they are overanalyzing this. To cross the International Date Line regardless of weather, one would only need a time machine...
The words "time machine" were supposed to link to here. Sue me for not clicking Preview :)
Who knows, this may set a new trend for rectruiting firms in Alaska. Work in Alaska by day, live in cheap Siberia by night! On paper, a 56 mile commute doesn't seem so bad... they'd only tell you that it's over a field of ice floes after you sign the deal. Of course, this section of Alaska probably has less than a burdgeoning tech industry.
I saw a TLC program a month or so ago, where they used some specialized trucks to drive accross antarctica... They had some problems with huge ravines and blown tyres, frozen motor oil, etc. etc. but they made it.
Note: it _could_ have been the arctic, i forget now... but it's awesome all the same.
At least it's shorter than the Iditarod. In the Tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and more), there was a mock contest running on the local sports radio station that had tickets to sit on one of the sleds at the Iditarod for the entire race. Of course, they also promised that they would do all of the winners' work and homework and the like, so it was pretty easy to spot (I happen to be very gullible).
And now, for a sig that's a complete copout.
Truck on snowy mountainpeak.
Truck in middle of desert on 5,000 ft verticle igneous intrusion.
Truck standing valiently atop glacial ice peak.
Truck conquering lunar crater.
...
Truck dodging Russian customs officials after traversing Bering Strait.
Tim ODonnell (trying to be the most
They fail to mention the reason that the Russians denied access was because their sattelite intelligence showed that the "specially built vehicle" was going to deposit four Tanyas and an Engineer.
--I hate big sigs.
Two brothers in North Carolina have apparently developed a new transportation device, which allows you to move through the air. They're calling this vehicle an aeroplane, or plane for short. Initial tests look very promising, and some of the designs look good.
I think something like this would be incredibly useful for getting from Alaska to Sibera both easily and quickly. Ice is very slippery! Perhaps one day you could even fly from major US cities such as New York to major Russian cities like Moscow. Give it a century, and these aeroplanes will be everywhere!
If they're floating on water some of the time, are they really "driving" from Alaska to Siberia? If that thing were to navigate across a lake, I wouldn't say it's done the impossible by "driving" across the lake. If it did the whole thing while touching solid ice, it'd make more sense.
I'm not saying that this isn't an amazing feat; on the contrary, I think the term makes it seem like what they're doing is easy, and we may all be able to do it soon enough. I'm still waiting for word on when that giant bridge is gonna go up.
While it looks like quite an amazing feat regardless, there are some pictures of that special vehicle floating in water; if it is amphibious, it kind of streteches the definition of "driving" across. If at times you're floating, it is sort of like taking a boat when necessary.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
... They're halfway across the 'bridge': Bill: "This bridge is pretty shaky, who was the engineer of this thing?" Ted (looks at travel guide): "God." Bill: "Oh, he's good. Well then it must be safe..." *Ice shifting in background* Good luck!
...oOOo..'(_)'..oOOo...
For the love of God, or Webster, or both Funk and Wagnalls, it's Arctic, not Artic.
A little review...
Artic
Arctic
Artic
Arctic
Sheesh.
I think that was the first time I ever read something and thought "Crap, it could all be CO and Methane by the time my unborn kids are old enough to drive." That's some scary shit to think at 22.
These are the kind of environmental articles that get my attention. It's not some steven seagal-like attempt to blame it all on big business nor an impassioned plea to adopt neo-luddite policies. It offers no solution (at least it hadn't when I got to the point I could no longer read it). It just throws out the facts and leaves and unspoken challenge to do something about it.
Who the fuck knows what's going on with our planet, but until we can figure out a way to break free of this solar system, maybe we should be taking better care of the place. Maybe that's just me though and I should be modded down for being a flamebait-throwing, karma seeking troll.
I just wanted to go on record there.....
After the completion of the English Channel Tunnel, this is now seen to be at least in the realm of possibility.
Heck, there has been some discussion on this already.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
... before global warming melts all of the ice.
Just think, they could set a world record for driving from New York to Paris that would last
for a thousand years or so.
Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis already did this, as I recall. Well, they floated across. :-)
--GrouchoMarx
Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?
I couldn't copy the text because it is done in Flash, but I was disappointed to see this narrow view of our planet postulated in "Old World" = Europe, and "New World"= The Americas. What has happened to Africa and Australia? Would they be old or new or really really old (as in Australia, which is probably the oldest continent).
Also, they want to establish an Overland Race around the world from New York to London, wouldn't it be more challenging to go New York to, say Johannesburg?
I must say, I think that's totally cool. I can't believe they denied the entry permit, however.
It's a shame they couldn't make a permanant roadway (I know, I know, it's 56 miles, but it'd still be cool.
In Canada the winters have been changing pretty drastically in the past decade.
I'm 18 years old. I've lived above and below the Arctic Circle, mostly in the Maritimes.
All of the winters in Canada have been following strange patterns. A really harsh, cold, brutal winter, with a cool summer, followed by a warm winter with lots of freezing rain, followed by a boiling summer, then back to the brutal winter.
This didn't happen before. I've also noticed much more drastic weather changes then before; especially out East. Normally the Atlantic ocean is a stabilizer, keeping temperatures normal. When I was in St. John's a couple of years ago we had a day in the summer where it was -10(C, for all you Americans) in the morning, and +25 in the afternoon. This was Newfoundland, right on the ocean. Truly terrifying.
I don't think that the issue here any more is who/ what caused this crazy weather; it might just be the way the world works, it might be man-made global warming. What we have to do now is plan for it; the ice melting creates a lot more problems then the guys in Ottawa or Washington suspect.
It changes the weather, so the farmers, it causes animals to change their migratory patterns (anyone else in Canada notice the geese leaving at wierd times now?), which causes the hunting and fishing industries to change, which cause the food industries and all of their subsidaries to compensate, etc. etc.
In a couple of years things will never be the same.
A snocat that floats, big whoop. Here the snowland there are zillions of them running around grooming trails for skiers and snowmobiliers. Other than some add ons it seems pretty OEM to me.
But it does look kind of fun =)
About the first one, they never crossed the Beiring Strait, and judging by their route and the car they took, they put the thing on boat or plane to cross the Pacific Ocean (didn't read that part, but look at the route..) Certainly nothing to be scoffed at, I couldn't stand to go that far in a car (though this is basically a rich guy taking a 3 year road trip, at least it isn't *too* pampered.... except the fact he can afford to go off for three years and do this...)
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
For example, the media played up the "Balloon Spy" thing, but the Chinese had other concerns. Specifically, their air traffic control system is extremely limited. Large areas of China are not covered by radar. To prevent accidents, they carefully schedule flights. The Chinese were concerned that allowing an uncontrolled balloon to fly through their air routes was too dangerous.
For the Russians, I could guess that they don't want to have the responsiblity for rescuing these guys if something goes wrong. Sure its easy to say it's the driver's neck, and that they could sign some release. But who wants the bad PR. I can see it now, weeping relatives on CNN begging the Russians for assistance. The Russians holding up a signed release. Guess who wins.
From a beaurcrat's point of view, these decisions are easy -- piss off a handful of people or risk world condemnation.
I'd rather hook up with Eve Andersson in Guatemala.
The machine looks like a thing from Junkyard Wars... Just alot prettier.
It better be for 200,000 pounds.
Did they ask for visa? Sometimes Americans or British do not understand they need a visa in Russia
I think MORE western tourists and other folks need to be denied permit to enter Russia, so that they maybe look at how THEIR countries deal with us. I am a Russian studiing in Canada. I can SEE the U.S. from my Residence's window. Yet, I can't go there. Guess why. No, I don't want to settle there. I just want to hike around the Finger Lakes in NY. You guys are so used to the fact that you can go anywhere while not letting all those "inferior" people into your countries! This has to come to an end. The more publicity such refusals receive, the better.
All long tunnels are rail-only. There are several problems with letting people operate their own vehicles in long tunnels:
1) you have to vent the exhaust fumes. You can use forced air on short tunnels under rivers, and vent tunnels under mountains, but the Bering Strait tunnel is far too long for that.
2) individually operated vehicles mean that you'll have accidents. It's difficult to send emergency crews 20 miles into a tunnel.
3) individually operated vehicles mean that you'll have idiots who run out of gas, or have mechanical breakdowns, etc.
Customs is also much easier with rail systems on either side. Each country can handle customs at the rail station on its own side, there's never any concern about traffic backing up into the tunnel if you only have a limited number of electric trains that shuttle back and forth through the tunnel. With vehicular traffic, you would really need to have each country operate its customs offices in the other country, with a clear shot on the other side.
That's a standard practice already, e.g., US Customs clears passengers at many Canadian airports instead of clearing them stateside, but it's always preferable to operate customs on your own territory due to jurisdictional issues.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
You know, it might be my general mood just now, but after reading Greenspun's job offer, I am outraged.
He'll be flying around in a quarter million dollar airplane, while some schmoe schleps around driving his books, bicycles and dog bed for thousands of miles all summer long? Not only that, but when he's around, his serf will sleep in a tent outside?
Sounds like a great way to spend the summer. What a jackass.
http//injoke.org -- Culling The Interesting
It is a boat with wheels. In many pictures they are floating in water. Definatly nothing special except maybe because it is a first.
This oughta' do wonders for the ole' karma, but...
I think I'll stick to living here in South Florida, thank you very much.
-1
If you really think the Russians (government, that is!) care too much about some foreigners getting themselves killed in what any fool would recognize is a potentially dangerous situation, you are forgetting how little they cared about quite a few of their own citizens who died in some freezing water not too long ago...
"Eskimo" is a term that is generally only offensive to native (Inuit) Canadians. Elsewhere, it is a (generally) non-offensice term used to encompass both the Aleut and Inuit people.
It would be expensive and dangerous. You would need a REAL SUV with a winch, extra fuel and would need permission and armed escorts through Peru (some of the land is occupied by Sendera Luminoso) and then you may have to go through some sketchy areas occupied by the FARC in Columbia. (the FARC would love to kidnap an adventurous traveler, but they rarely kill foreigners...but you might get caught in the crossfire of the Columbian army and the FARC). Also no real roads exist in the Putomayo district of Columbia nor are they really "roads" in the tradtional sense in Northern Columbia or southern Panama (also FARC and ELN hangouts). Once you went from Panama to Mexico hopefully the worst problems you would have would be repairs, gas and bribes. Through these countries you might have to register the car with the police upon both entering and exiting the country and have proof of insureance that is valid in all of them ($$$).
After that it would be smoothe sailing from I-5 in San Diego up to (I think) Homer Alaska...asside from the 'migra' agents searching the hell out of your vehicle. Once you get to Homer, you'd have problems. The Provedeniya route is limited, the best bet would be to sell the car in Alaska and head by boat to Dutch Harbor. There you could try booking a bearth on a Russian cargo ship to Madagan Siberia or Vladivostok. Try to buy a Toyota HiLux (the Taliban drove them, and they are the staple of every third world country with a different diffinition of the word "road"). The best would be to get to Magadan because then you could drive to Yakutsk but be prepared to get special permission from the Russians to enter in Madagan...a bribe might succeed). Last I heard, Yakutsk to Irkutsk was still drivable in the winter but sketchy during the summer (permafrost...drop by the museum of permafrost studies in Yakutsk and enjoy "milk tar" with the locals) from there, you would probably be prevented by the army from driving further (but who would not want to see Lake Baikal in Irkutsk?) by this time you would have already accumalated enough 'macho points' and a massive credit card debt so you could just continue on to Moscow with the Trans-Siberian railroad or you might want to pay through the nose and get your HiLux put on the train to let you off in Ekaterinburg and drive through there to the Black Sea. When there you would have the tough choice of proceeding through Russia through Georgia (civil war with muslim fundies in the north), Armenia (occasional war with Azerbaijan) and Turkey (war with PKK) or go the long way of Ukraine (bribes), Romania (Bribes), Bulgaria (beatings and bribes) and Turkey (shitty drivers...no bribes).
Istanbul is cool, hang out there for a while at a youth hostel, make Australian girls lust after you.
From there your only choice is to drive through Syria. Hope you can get the car through and hope you don't have a Jewish sounding name or have been to Isreal (they will call it 'Occupied Palestine'..use that term to not get your car confiscated).
You Cannot drive from Syria to Lebanon to Isreal, so your best bet is to go through Jordan (use 'Occupied Palestine' as the term again to get some tea. The term for bribe is 'Baksheesh' offer it by asking if there is any way that they can help you).
Going from Jordan to Isreal should be doable. Be prepared to answer alot of questions from the IDF, explain to them that you are a nutball with alot of money or so into debt that you hope to be killed in Africa.
Isreal to Egypt...probably doable, depending on the politics at the time. But from Egypt it will be tricky.
You may be able to cross into the Sudan from Egypt at Wadi Halfa but the Sudan is kinda pissed at the US right now (marry a Swiss person in Istanbul if you can...they have an excellent dental plan as well) and US citizens are forbidden from entering Libya by the US state department (I hear the Libyans don't stamp your passport but also don't like the fact that you have been in Isreal) This is where your trip would most likely stop without getting on a plane. If you could cross in the Sudan you would be stopped by the military as you got near the South, where they have been having a civil war for about 20 years and what little roads exist are probably unpassable. In Libya you would have to drive at night through the Sahara along routes used by illigal immigrant smugglers from Niger....Lots of bandits, and the desert might kill you before you got to Niamy or Mali.
You also couldn't get around The Democratic Republic of Congo, due to poor roads and "Africa's World War" going on. It is also unlikely that you would be able to get past Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda as well.
Not to worry though , going to Isreal would have stopped you from getting this far to begin with.
I pulled my hair out planning this trip a few years ago, but I was not going to drive, just try to see how far I could get without using an airplane while seeing as much land as possible.
Plan a short version of the trip and you'll have a blast. Traveling is great.
Why not build a bridge? There's a 8 mile bridge over icy waters in Canada
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http://www.confederationbridge.com/en/accueil/ind
As well as a really, really big snow shovel and a 50,000-pound bag of salt.
"Hey Jim, got the drive cleared yet?"
"$&%^$!!!!"
"OK, I'll just wait here then."
I'm not sure if this has been posted by anyone else yet, but I'm certain this has already been done.
There was a TV programme on a few years back here in the UK in which, IIRC, a group of celebs known for being the rugged expedition type, along with explorers and such drove from London to New York in several Landrovers.
They got permission to drive through the service tunnel of the channel tunnel, through Europe, Russia, Siberia, across the ice, through alaska and then down across the states to New York.
I think one of the celebs was Peter Duncan... He of Duncan dares fame.
Dammit, just have to remember what it was called now.
There's been a lot of press lately about not only Antarctic ice shelf collapses but also Arctic ice melting. It's causing serious problems for seals, polar bears that eat seals, and Inuit and Siberians who hunt seals and whales, as well as for anybody sailing up there.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
The difference between "thou" and "you" has nothing to do with number. It's all about familiarity: "thou" is the familiar form (used with pals, family and subordinates) and "you" is the formal form (used with strangers, superiors, etc.) It's exactly like the difference between "tu" and "usted." Both "thou" and "you" can function as singular or plural, although in a group situation you'll tend to use the more formal form (this goes for contintental Spanish as well as early modern English)-- probably erring on the side of safety (wouldn't want the serfs thinking you like 'em.)
Much Love,
"S"HM
*****
(I refuse to spellcheck out of contempt for your belief system)
See This Site for one example, he mentions several others he met doing the same thing.
A couple other notes: A "Hi-Lux" is basically a 4-runner. The Land Cruiser is the flagship and the real workhorse.
One option that I've heard of that works for entering internationally blacklisted countries is to have two passports. Most of the people I've know have had duel citizenship, but others have just managed to get a second passport "somehow". Usually that is only effective if you plan to reenter the "somewhat friendly" country after your visit to the "unfriendly" country. I knew this to be used from Zimbabwe to South Africa back when ZA was the censured country. The main passport only showed entry and exit to Zimbabwe. The "reserve" passport had lots of border crossings from Zimbabwe to South Africa.
I looked at the map and for some reason I forgot about Ethiopia. Still I bet the roads suck to high hell for most of the route.
The HiLux is a 4 runner? hmmm...When I was in Haiti this December (got out right before the attempted coup) I was amazed at the Hilux...traveling the pothole system that passes for highways there (all dirt, except from PAP to SDQ) Stacked with people and livestock...Uncomfortable but amazing.
It's the same bering straight that people have been crossing with sleds... It's said that native americans may have migrated from asia over the bering straight thousands of years ago (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/chavez/hinojosa/chican o125/map_1.html) So why build a 200000 worth of lunar lander?
It's Provideniya, not provodanya.
afaik all those places on the Russian shore of the Bering strait primarily serve as Air Force bases.
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Look, I live in Seattle -- a city which, just 10,000 years ago, was buried under a sheet of ice three thousand feet thick.
Or consider Greenland, which is quite inhospitable today but was inhabited by the Vikings in the unusually warm period about a thousand years ago. Then things started to get colder again, and all the (relatively few by modern standards) people who were living there died off. They went through almost the exact reverse of the situation you are describing, but the cause of that climate change was certainly not the actions of humans.
Note that I'm not making any statements about the degree to which global warming is occurring, how much humans are contributing to it, or how much we should do about it. All I'm saying is that when you say "that's [i.e. climate change on the order of a decade or two] beyond my comprehension," you ought to realize that this is hardly the first time such things have occurred and will certainly not be the last. The planet is a dynamic system, and changes are the norm, not the exception.
"Biped! Good cranial development. Evidently considerable human ancestry."
Well, how about Pokey The Penguin Then? They're after my Arctic Circle Candy!!
--Josh
There are exactly 42,935,718 letter sized sheets in a square mile.
I'd say that the Land Rover is the real workhorse of OR driving. Entering SA with a Japanese car? Pish.
(teasing all my friends who own _very_ well made Toyota SUVs ;-) )
DP
97 Disco
94 D90
They could be used to commit crimes.
If you're not against the airlines, you're with the terrorists.
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.