Some dreams never die
Perhaps the greatest living explorer today, Russian artist and a priest Fedor Konyukhov’s accomplishments are almost too many to count: 4 full route North Pole ski expeditions, four voyages round the world, fifteen times across the Atlantic, climbing Mount Everest (back when in counted and once more in 2012, at age 60), rowing the Pacific, the list goes on.
In January this year Fedor Konyukhov and Ivan Menyaylo, set a new world record for a hot air balloon flight when they touched down after more than 33 hours in the air.
Now Konyukhov has set out on an attempt to fly solo and non-stop around the Southern Hemisphere.
Fedor took off July 12 at 07:33 am local time, from Western Australia in the balloon “Morton”.
Konyukhov says the idea to fly around the world in a balloon first came to him in 1992. “I was stationed at a base camp of Mt. Everest, preparing to climb the summit, when I heard talk of a flight, the year before over Mt. Everest by balloon. Since that time I’ve been working towards my dream to fly around the world in a balloon. I have worked on this project for the last 23 years.”
