Kamchatka Ski Expedition Aborted

Endurance athletes Ray Zahab and Stefano Gregoretti have ended their 500km ski expedition across Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula. The pair quit near the town of Mil’kovo, after about 300km of their projected 500km trek, when local hunters informed them that the rivers ahead were all open. They had been skiing through the wild Russian mountains and forests for 19 days.

Packrafts might have allowed them to continue, but even if they had been available in this remote region, the adventurers’ lightweight plastic sleds could not have floated behind them, even in calm water.

Ray Zahab: expected ice, not open water.