Sunday-Tuesday. Our travel route from Stockholm via St Petersburg and Krasnoyarsk to Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka.
Tuesday. We've just landed at the Petropavlovsk Airport in Kamchatka. The Koryaksky volcano in the background.
The first stop after checking in will of course be the hotel pool with hot water from a volcanic spring.
Wednesday. Our helicopter, an MI-8 from 1950.
Loading all our stuff for skiing and a couple of nights in a cabin on a volcano side.
Soon ready for take-off.
The Koryaksky volcano (alt. 3456 m.)
The smoking top of the Avachinsky volcano (alt. 2741 m.)
Avachinsky.
We're dumping all our stuff outside our cabin before we continue to the top.
Thomas near the top of the smoking Avachinsky volcano.
The group heading down after the helicopter drop. Quite difficult snow conditions.
Not the fluffiest powder snow I've experienced, but I'm looking quite happy.
Thomas found some better snow.
Morten, me, Monika, Thomas.
The helicopter waits for us.
Wheels might not be optimal for landing in snow?
Tomas.
Thomas on the Avachinsky volcano side, with the Koryaksky volcano in the background.
Laying some nice tracks.
Thomas.
The helicopter waits for us again.
Back to the cabin. Thomas is ready to "check in".
Thursday. Our cabin in the foggy morning. We're planning to climb to the top of Avachinsky today, using our ski skinns.
After some climbing, the weather got better. Peter, Ian, Anders, Andrey, Morten.
And then it got worse.
The guide Andrey and Thomas just before most of the group turned back. Andrey, Ian, Thomas and I continued for another hour or so, but eventually we had to turn back too.
Friday. Another cold night has passed. There's snow on the floor along the walls. The poor people who slept upstairs woke up with snow on their sleeping bags, and their water bottles froze.
Ian is longing for hot morning coffee.
Outside there's a mighty snow storm. Don't go too far - another couple of steps and you might not be able to find the cabin again.
Anders figures that vodka might get the body temperature up a bit.
The vodka was really good! And it helped keeping the spirit up during the snow storm.
Our guide Andrey found a cosy corner to rest in.
When you've got to go, you've got to go. Find a suitable angle so it all doesn't come right back at you in the backdraft around your body.
Someone is out for a walk in the interesting weather.
Playing cards and drinking warming liquids while waiting for the storm to fade.
Still storming.
Fetching water. No need for buckets.
Yup, it's still storming.
Eventually you _really_ have to go. Thomas and Peter built a shelter. No, there were no such facilities available in the cabin.
Saturday. A beautiful morning, with sunshine on the Koryaksky top.
View from the cabin.
While waiting for the helicopter to come and pick us up, we're skiing near the cabin using our skinns to climb. Tomas, Morten and Ian.
Me skiing. The storm had filled a small bowl with snow that was quite soft and nice.
Up and down, up and down again. The Koryaksky volcano in the background.
Thomas.
Thomas.
Thomas.
Me.
Jennie is almost up at the top of the slope.
View from the top.
The Avachinsky top (alt. 2741 m.) as it looks from our cabin (at alt. 900 m.)
The helicopter finally arrives.
There's some problems with winds, fuel and agreements. We're playing cards while they're debating. Carpenters arrive on the latest scooter model to keep working on our cabin to make it slightly more habitable (but we're leaving it today, of course).
I had lots of time to do some more climbing and skiing before we could load the helicopter and fly back to the hotel.
The hotel pool with hot volcanic spring water was the obvious target for the whole frozen group. It was wonderful! Anders, Peter, Fredrik, Morten, Tomas, Thomas, Monika and soon Jennie.
Sunday. This is going to be the best day of the trip. Here they're preparing another (newer?) MI-8 helicopter for us.
We'll need lots of fuel today, so we're hugging the spare fuel between us in the cabin. No one was smoking...
The helicopter is taking us to the Vilyuchinsky volcano (alt. 2173 m.)
Unloading spare fuel and other unnecessary weight at the base of the volcano.
Getting off at the top.
View from the top.
Ian.
Fredrik.
The group heading down.
Tomas getting ready for some high speed skiing.
There he goes!
Morten.
Me halfway down the Vilyuchinsky volcano, heading towards the Pacific Ocean.
Me in action, with the same spectacular view.
Jennie on the same spot.
Tomas.
The helicopter leaves us at the top again.
Thomas.
The helicopter taking off.
A mighty view.
Amazing view! Had I looked over my right shoulder (and been able to see beyond the horizon) I would have seen Alaska.
View from the top.
View from the top.
Thomas disappearing.
Thomas above the bay.
Fredrik, Thomas and a guide were first in the hot water from the volcanic springs, before our late lunch.
Jennie, Tomas, Morten and Erik.
Jacob and Anders.
Anders after bath.
Another top after lunch. The huge helicopter hovers just above ground, unable to land in the wind gusts at the top.
Anders jumps off.
Our helicopter leaves us.
Very difficult snow.
Thomas handles it well, though.
View from the helicopter cockpit.
View from the helicopter cockpit.
View from the helicopter cockpit.
Flying over a military harbour with at least six submarines and some other ships.
The whole group back at the helicopter base. Morten, me, Anders, Monika, Jennie, Anders, Peter, Ian, Jacob, Tomas, Erik, Thomas, Fredrik.
Monday. Lenin is still watching over Petropavlovsk ("who would pay what it costs to get rid of the statue?")
Petropavlovsk harbour.
Thomas at a viewpoint above Petropavlovsk.
A submarine surfaces in the bay in front of the Koryaksky volcano.
Me outside Jevgeny's datcha.
Me upstairs in the datcha.
Thomas in front of the datcha's guest house.
Dinner in the guest house.
Tuesday. Monika in Tomas' new hat.
Fredrik "Bajen" feeling good in the volcanic spring pool the last night at the hotel.
Wednesday. View from the plane window on the way from Petropavlovsk.