Land Rover Owner International

trans-russia by defender

Hold on tight: when that rope’s taut, ailing across the Bering Strait drove across Russia, thoroughly the Land Rover flies – literally isn’t really the most difficult bit enjoying ourselves.’ S– it’s getting a vehicle to the ‘On the way, we took a detour to coast in a fit state to achieve it that’s Mirny – the site of the world’s biggest the real challenge.’ So says Steve diamond mine, at least in terms of Burgess who, with his partner Nicky carat output. I bought a diamond for Spinks, has been planning, designing a ring for Nicky. After meeting up and building just such a vehicle – for with another truck, we left Yakutsk the past seven years or so. and went north for about 1000 miles On January 29 this year, they left to visit Oymyakon, reckoned to be their home in Mirfield, West the coldest place on earth; it’s known Yorkshire to begin the mammoth as the Pole of Cold. It was minus journey. ‘Less than half a mile down 36ºC when we were there. the road, one of the heavy-duty ‘We then picked up the Kolyma springs I’d just put on went bang. It river, a long-distance ice road. In hadn’t seated properly,’ says Steve. Canada, they build the roads up with ‘I thought I’d broken a spring!’ After water to thicken the ice – but in this heart-stopper, the rest of the Russia they just hope it’s okay. We journey to Moscow was thankfully occasionally saw signs of where straightforward. Nicky returned vehicles had fallen through. There’s a home and her place was taken by lot of geothermal activity in the area, family friend, Simon Dedman. with hot springs bubbling up under Unfortunately, there was a major the ice. This melts, leaving patches of problem awaiting Steve and Simon open water, so you have to be careful. in the capital; the Ural truck that ‘Just once did we lose the truck, was supposed to carry the heavy which was running behind us and amphibious gear and specially catching us up at night. About 19 designed tracks wasn’t available. ‘We miles from the end of the Kolyma had to air-freight all the gear 5600 ice road there’s a big wooden stick miles to Yakutsk, at the far end of the in the snow, indicating the turn for famous Road of Bones. Simon and I Chukotka; we didn’t see it and carried jumped in the Land Rover and simply on to the next village.

Colourful living Still room for Lenin in Bilibino in modern Russia

Kolyma River ice road. Just believe – that ice is thick. Almost everywhere O n The home St r ait Steve Burgess is on the brink of realising his dream – to sail a Land Rover across the Bering Strait after driving it across the vast Russian land mass. Mark Saville catches up with him

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118 LRO July 2008 July 2008 LRO 119 trans-russia by defender Parking up for the night near the deserted village of Rigol. Only one rule here: check for polar bears before answering the call of nature

Bleak remnant of Soviet River crossing the easy way Old navigation light era in Providenja (also above right) by the seashore

Losing track – but ‘I got out and had a look; it was through it. The rope stretched and and rip out the hydraulic pipes to the gaining wheels, so that’s all right, then steaming a bit. We still hadn’t won stretched, and then we just took off winch that I disconnected them. Oleg over yet and I knew there would and crashed into the next block. These pipes go from the spool valve be far worse conditions ahead. ‘After every heavy landing I opened behind the front seats, down through ‘After filling up, we turned around well-prepared Land Rover would be ‘Imagine driving over a car park: the door to make sure the axles were the floor, along the chassis member, and went in search of the stick. The able to get this far. one track would be on the roof of one still on – it was that bad. I’m full of and then across and in front of the Kolyma river is about 20 miles wide ‘At Schmidta, we had no obvious car and another would be between admiration for the strength of our engine, under the radiator. at the turning so it took a bit of means of support to get us to Uelen, cars. Now imagine the gaps between Protection and Performance under- ‘I thought that if he took the front finding: we then followed a tributary our jumping-off point for the Bering the cars are covered by powdered body protection and roll cage – what bumper, he might take the pipes and for about 50 miles. The Land Rover Straits crossing. Talking to the locals, Above: Anatoli snow that may be a few centimetres a feat to survive treatment like that.’ the spool valve, which could whip was brilliant, even though both rear we learned why no one would go with (right) and Nicolai deep or six metres deep – you have no ‘Our worst fear was that we’d roll around in the cab and take us out. crewed the big Ural shocks were broken. We tied plasma us to Uelen. 6x6. Right: a pair the winter storms are still able to idea. That’s what it was like. on to our side or on the roof, the If nothing else, it would take all the rope around the axle and over the ‘Apparently, two Russian trucks of 6x6 tankers break it up. It then re-freezes. This ‘We took the tracks off and put the windscreen would go in and fill the radiator and that would be the end. chassis rail to stop the Land Rover made the trip back in 1998, driving struggle on the ice happens over and over again, making wheels back on and, after some gentle cab with snow, crushing us – and I could cope with losing the bumper bouncing too much; it worked a treat. right across the sea ice to Uelen. – they’re usually the truck route impassable. persuasion, Oleg agreed to come with Oleg wouldn’t know. We had no but not the hydraulics.’ ‘We reached Pevek and said Everybody who’s been advising me in unstoppable ‘Our only choice was to hire a bloke us to Uelen, towing us whenever means of communicating with him The Land Rover is now in a heated goodbye to the first truck and its Russia has based their advice on this called Oleg and his Vezdahod (a necessary. And he didn’t drive gently! at all. By the time we’d crossed this garage in Uelen, awaiting Steve – this driver – it was as far as he was 1998 expedition – and so I was led to tracked, tank-like vehicle) to tow us ‘On sand spits, we unhitched and lagoon he was well and truly time accompanied by Dan Evans – to prepared to go. Luckily, we found a believe that we would drive on the sea over the worst sections but, like drove 20-25 miles. Then we hitched determined to get us to Uelen. return to make the crossing attempt. Below (left-right): local guy, Anatoli, who was happy to ice. Everything was geared up for everyone else we met, he was totally up again on the rough sections and he Nicolai fixes the ‘He was so impressed we made it ‘The sea ice has usually melted by use his 6x6 Ural truck to carry our that – the tracks were even specially unconvinced that we’d make it. dragged us over. The effect of being tracks on the that he jumped out at the end and the end of May, so Dan and I plan to gear the next 620 miles to Mys made for that. ‘We fitted the tracks in Schmidta, towed over the huge boulders of ice Vezdahod; grand gesticulated, asking us if we were be there by the second week in June.’ Schmidta, which was discovered by ‘But, over the past five years, the and covered the first 160 miles easily, was that you just got catapulted from village sign on the scared… From that point on, he was Stay tuned to LRO to find out how Road of Bones; Captain Cook himself. north-east sea passage has remained threading our way between lumps of one boulder to the next. at least there’s no totally behind us! the guys get on; but if you want to ‘Up to this point, we were still on open for longer and longer. This ice the size of Minis. One of the track ‘The track machine went over a risk of him running ‘Before Oleg began towing us, I was find out more in the meantime, see studded Cooper road tyres – any means that, when it begins to freeze, hubs began to bind on the stub axle. block of ice and then tried to pull us out of fuel so convinced he’d rip the bumper off capetocape.org.uk.

It’s a long way there (just look at how Britain compares…) ‘Is it me, or have you just driven past the stick?’ Amazing: the Northern Lights Route taken

Pevek Uelen Kaliningrad Yakutsk Moscow Mirfield Omsk Berlin

120 LRO July 2008 July 2008 LRO 121