550 km unsupported foot crossing of Lake Baikal
A two man British team are planning to complete an unassisted and unsupported partial crossing of Lake Baikal, starting in the last week of February 2018, from Listvyanka.
The team of two (Ash Routen, 31; Phil Sturgeon, 50) will fly into the nearby city of Irkutsk, with the intention of crossing from South to North (Listvyanka to Severobaikalsk), a distance of approximately 550 km.
The team, conditions dependent, intend to complete the route in 20-22 days, aiming therefore to cover between 25-28 km per day on foot.
According to Wikipedia, Lake Baikal is a rift lake in Russia, located in southern Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast.
Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake by volume in the world, containing 22–23% of the world’s fresh surface water. With 23,615.39 km3 (5,670 cu mi) of fresh water, it contains more water than the North American Great Lakes combined. With a maximum depth of 1,642 m (5,387 ft), Baikal is the world’s deepest lake. It is considered among the world’s clearest lakes and is considered the world’s oldest lake— at 25 million years. It is the seventh-largest lake in the world by surface area.
Updates on the teams plans can be followed at:
https://ashrouten.com/baikal-2018
#Baikal18
