Nothing strange here

This is my response to a post I saw on the following blog: Even normal recreation is getting weird

"Talk about people getting too jaded and needing extreme excitement to prevail over boredom!!

Talk about being out of your freaking mind!"

I don't see anything unusual with snowboarding or skiing on volcanoes. I just see them as a different type of mountain, that might results is some interesting terrain. I think that Kamchatka is likely to be a lot more mellow than Krasnaya Polyana in the Caucuses or Gulmarg in the Pir Pinjal range, both being places I benchmark my trips against. I certainly don't consider riding a volcano to be extreme, crazy, or fringe. I think spending your waking hours working to make other people's dreams come true rather than your own is crazy.

In fact, judging by most people's actions, I think they are fine with snowboarding or skiing volcanoes, even if they haven't ever consciously thought about it. Mammoth, amongst others, is actually a volcano, a fact that often escapes a lot of people.

For me I simply see Kamchatka as an exotic and vast snowboarding destination (larger than France, Belgium and Luxembourg combined), with a long winter, runs filled with endless powder turns, and hopefully enough variation to be technically challenging. Unlike skiers, I can't simply satisfy myself with nice symmetrical zigzag's down the mountain. Bring on hips, lips, drops and gullies! I don't expect to find many trees but then we can't have it all.

There is one volcano that I do want to snowboard that I do think does fall into the crazy, fringe, extreme category. Its Cotopaxi in Ecuador! We have a history. About 4 year ago, with only 100 metres left to climb largest active volcano in the world (according to the 2002 CIA World factbook), my guide decided that the risk of avalanche was too severe and turned me back. I have sworn to go back and conquer that baby, and when I do, I might consider strapping a board to my pack and snowboarding down to declare victory on the sleeping icy beast that will one day kill thousands.

Each to their own really, but I certainly don't see anything too extreme about heliboarding in Kamchatka. What is perhaps extreme is how far away it is from everywhere, including most people's consciousness.

Kamchatka - Facts, figures, and my preconceptions

I first heard about Kamchatka sitting in a bar in Krasnaya Polyana. Sacha and Ivan from Croatia, and Tony and I were discussing the idea of going there after the thrill of our first heliboarding trip in Russia. An elderly gentleman lent over and spoke to us. "Until 10 years ago not even Russians were allowed into Kamchatka" he told us. "Kamchatka is controlled by the Russian military and only members of the military or those born in Kamchatka and fishing the Bering sea were allowed there." he explained. With the dismantling of the former Soviet Union access to Kamchatka has improved and there are daily flights, all of 13 hours across 9 time zones, from Moscow into Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (totalling 7500 m or 4690 miles!!!). When last I looked one could also fly into Kamchatka (PKC) from Vladivostock, Magadan, Chabarovsk, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk and internationally from Seoul and Anchorage. The only other access is via sea, either on freight or fishing boats. We managed to score a great deal on getting there from Moscow. Our flight cost Euro 130 for a one way ticket (I am fly out to Vladivostok and catching a train back to Europe after calling curtains on Winter 07/08).

In the two years that the Kamchatka has rolled off my lips, the large majority of people that have any conception of where it is are those that have at some time in their lives played the game of Risk. For those that don't know much about Kamchatka, I have outlined more of what I have learned about it below. I clearly have some preconceptions of what to expect and I think it will be interesting for me to document my expectations prior to my arrival. This is what I know and/or suspect.Kamchatka, a world heritage sight, is also called the Land of Fire and Ice and is a 1250km long volcanic peninsula on the Pacific rim that's stretches 1000 kilometres to the northeast of Japan. I have been told that it is a territory that Japan once laid claim to and there remains a low-level diplomatic dispute over the sovereignty of this territory (a refreshing change from a recent trip to Gulmarg in Kashmir).

There are over 300 volcanoes, of which about 30 are active, with the highest called Klyuchevskaya Sopka being 4750 meters above see level. During the winter, snow stretches from the top of these volcanoes down to see leave and it is possible to board onto the beach. I am looking forward to that.

The main industry in Kamchatka remains the fishing industry but due to its unique and unspoilt nature, tourism to this area is growing. I think I read a few years back that there was no GSM (cellphone) network but I understand that has changed, and finding an ATM isn't too difficult either.

I did read this crazy story about two guys that walked across the Beiring straight from Alaska and, upon their arrival, were detained and imprisoned for immigration violations. Its crazy stuff. Take a look at it.

The population is approximately 400'000 with more than half of those living in the main city, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Until 1990, no foreigners or nonresident Russians were allowed to visit. In 1991, the Russian Federation was established as an independent republic and Kamchatka was opened for visiting by foreign guests.

The main industry is the fishing industry, and there is a greater variety of Salmonid (trout, salmon etc) than anywhere else in the world. I have already made notes on the pictures I want to take of the fish markets.

In terms of skiing and snowboarding terrain, I expect it to be a lot more mellow than Krasnaya Polyana. I think that the geology of volcanoes means that it will not have incredibly steap pitches. I hope I am proved otherwise. I am looking forward to a challenge after Gulmarg.

A 100 day season - its a fulltime job

This trip to Kamchatka should crown what has been the best season of my life so far. I had planned on getting 100 days on my board and the season started well with plenty of snow in Europe. From mid December through to late January I went through a 32 day period where I spent all but four days on my board. By the time the Burton European Open rolled into Laax in late January, my body was aching and rather than riding the mountain hard, I found myself happily sitting in Cafe No Name watching the likes of Kevin Pearce and Shaun White, rather than riding the mountain myself. Some of the enjoyment was lost in my boarding and I soon came to terms with focusing on having as much fun as possible, rather than notching up days and after my knee started to hurt, I took a two week break in early Feb. By the time I reached Gulmarg in Kashmir on 12 February, I had about 45 days under my belt.

I had planned on spending 6 weeks of boarding in the Pir Pingal range in the foothills of the Himalayas but Spring arrived about 2 weeks earlier than I had anticipated and I made an unscheduled trip to Kerala in Southern India for what I thought would be a little sunshine. With only about 65 days on my board, I can comfortably conclude that Winter 07/08 is going to fall short of a 100 day season... but there is no doubt that I have had more fun than ever before.

To add to this positive message, I am today also the proud holder of a Russian Visa. This has been stressing me out somewhat and with changes to the Visa regulations in October 2007 now stipulating that Visa's can only be issued to citizen's or residents of the country in which you apply, I was rather concerned that as an Irish citizen, with Swiss residency, currently in New Zealand, I was going to struggle. The rules allow for some discretion and fortunately for me, my basic Russian clearly curried favour with the embassy staff and I now hold my visa. Spaseeba.

I also got an email from Nikolay of Vertikaly Mir today. "Since your group arrive one day early, I would like to inform you that you can have heliskiing day even on 26th which are normally the day of your arrival. If the weather is good, i recommend you to join the other group for this day, if you want. Like this you have more chance for skiing." Brilliant, I potentially have one more day of powder before I call curtains on the best season yet!

What is more, I got an email from the guys at Option Snowboards on Friday and it looks like they are finally doing something about my Option Freeplus 165 which started delaminating after 20 days of riding. Admittedly I think that there has been a breakdown in communication between the shop at which I bought my board and the Swiss distributor for Option because the people at Option in Canada have always been super helpful. Lets see if Casoar in Vevey, Switzerland come through on this one.

My mind is already on next season, on Gulmarg, on Jason's invitation to Japan, on Richard and Nicole's invitation to Whistler and the promise I made in Casa Veglia to Dave that I would enter next year's BEO slopestyle in Laax. My mind even toys with the idea of cutting short a European summer and heading to Chile or back to New Zealand for more. I think I am getting ahead of myself. For the time being let me focus on getting everything out of the snowcapped volcanoes of Kamchatka. It promises to be better than Krasnaya Polyana and even if it only equals Gulmarg, I will have nothing to complain about. My first possible day back on my board is only 15 days away and counting....

Thoughts on Heliboarding in Russia.

Traveling in Russia, when you can't speak Russian, is a little difficult. Unlike say India, you can't always find someone that speaks English. In Moscow you can get by pretty easily, but once you head out into the mountains, be armed with a few phrases. Her are the few I can remember.

• Yes: dah
• No: nyet
• Please: pazhalsta
• Thank you: spahseeba
• What is your name?: kak vaz zavoot
• My name is.. meenya zahvoot...
• I don't understand: ya nyeh pahneemahyo
• Do you speak English: vi goovahreetye pa-angliski
• I don't speak Russian: yah nyeh goovaryu pa-rooskee
• Pivo: Beer
• Hleb: Bread
• Dovarish: Comrade
• Stroganoff: Stroganoff
• Telefon: Telephone

Alternatively, practice saying the word "Woddka", a few times to get the accent right and then just append "ski" to the English word and use your newly acquired Russian and you'll find you can get further than you think. (I also find the phrase "I kjill you weeth my beer hunds" works to get the accent going)

That's pretty much all I can remember two years down the line and it got me through my trip, and a few rather interesting meals. I even got complemented on my accent. Apparently I sound like I am from Moscow.

I am going to be working on my Russian in the next few weeks.

Heliboarding in an Mi8 is an experience. When they fire up one of those choppers a huge jet flame ignites from the exhaust. They are an awesome piece of machinery and unlike their western counterparts, the engineering is relatively simple and one hopes therefore quite reliable. It takes a crew of 3 to fly these beasts. You have a pilot, co-pilot and a spotter and its clear that the guys we flew with have worked together for decades. It reminds me of the story about the Russian cosmonauts using pencils in space while NASA spent millions developing a pen that wrote in zero gravity.

I have recently taken to researching the safety of various helicopters. I had heard from Aviation underwriters that I am acquainted with that a choppers maintenance record was a more important factor in assessing the risk of catastrophic failure than the particular model. When I learned that both the helicopter crash I remember in Cape Town when I was living there, and a heli guide I know recently involved in a crash in Tajikistan where both Russian Mi8's, I decided that I wasn't content with simply taking someone else's word and did some of my own research.
It is interesting to note then that all the stats I could find showed the breakdown of the number deaths per 1000 flying hours by helicopter model. Perhaps quality of maintenance is a little more difficult to assess.

I was encourage to find only 7 crashes logged in the following database. 5 of those (71% were fatal). Both of the accidents I knew about were amongst those 7. I rest a litte easier.

There are economies of scale in going heliboarding or skiing in a helicopter that can take 16 paying customers. There is no denying that is one of the attractions for me. Given the great deal we got, I also had some concerns about the standard of guiding and the ratio of guides to boarders that we would have. I was very pleasantly surprised but in retrospect I shouldn't have been.

Ultimately I think most of I want to live, and wealthy Russian skiers and snowboarders are no exception. These are premium customers that want a premium service and expect what anyone else in North America does. They are simply fortunate enough to have helicopters that make it more affordable to get to the top of the mountain, but once you are there, the experience is no different. Everyone was provided with Avalanche transceivers if they didn't already have them, they were given basic information on there purpose and how they operate and before each run they were individually tested by the guides.

The group would be lead by a guide, with a safe distance being maintained between all riders, particularly over more dangerous terrain, to ensure safe travel. A second guide would ride amongst the skiers/boarders an would be able to respond to any of their needs and a third guide would bring up the rear to ensure that everyone made it safely down to our beautiful Mi8, waiting for our next drop.

One of the most unique aspects of heliboarding in Russia has nothing to do with either the heli, or the boarding, and everything to do with Russia. Where else in the world do you get dropped off at the bar for apre ski and go and enjoy beer and caviar as if it where Gluhwein in Austria or Schummliflummli's in Switzerland.

Krasnaya Polyana didn't boast much of a night life but perhaps I am just guilty of failing to find it. Of the little I know of Russians, they like to enjoy themselves, so I figure I was just looking in the wrong places. I am lead to believe from my friend Sacha that Kamchatka has quite a serious night life. Bring it on.

Heliboarding in Kazakhstan anyone?

I love extreme travel and I love snowboarding. And I love combining the two. After an awesome day riding with Kev and Ivo a few years back in Laax on one of those few days when Cassons was open (a day in which we squeezed in Cassons, Entrance exam aka buendner Vorab - Alp Ruschein, Megawatt and a couple in between), Ivo mentioned that he had heard that Heliboarding in Russian Military helicopters (Mi8) in the Northern Tien-Shan mountains in Kazakhstan was excellent. Marek had also sent me pictures of these same choppers used in Uzbekistan and they were excellent. I decided to spend some time researching Kazakhstan.

After a few weeks I gave up on the idea of organising a trip and decided to do it much like I have done most of my other travel: find someone you can trust, get on a plane with your first nights accommodation sorted so you don't get ripped off by touts, and sort the rest out once you were there.

The little I knew about Kazakhstan was rather frightening. While doing my research and arranging a visa I stumbled on the following page on the US and Canadian Kazakhstan Embassy website (http://www.kazakhembus.com/Nuc_h.html) Its pretty heavy stuff but I guess the world, in the words of Sam Keen, has little in common with Walt Disney and is a brutal bitch, red in tooth and claw, who destroys what she creates. It doesn't even have much in common with the worst I have seen of Borat, and that gets pretty grim!

Another interesting point on Kazakhstan visas is this: Needless to say, like all the former Soviet states they are tricky to get hold of. If you are planning on going for more than 3 months you need to supply the embassy with the results of a recent HIV test. If you are going for less than 3 months there is no need. I couldn't quite get my head around this. Is there an unwritten rule that Kazakh's keep clear of foreigners for 3 months, or at least find out what visa they are carrying? If anyone know the answer, please leave me a comment.

I sent many an email, perhaps even some terrible Russian ones, to any website or source I could find on winter sports in Kazakhstan and I got enough varied responses to strike the fear of god into me. I had ones ranging from, "wire me your money, I will meet you at the airport and I will be your heliboarding guide for Euro 1000 a day" to "Don't come to Kazakhstan for heli, we had too many people die last year from avalanches so we no longer do this". This was later confirmed by Nikolay. More about him in subsequent posts.

Perhaps heli operations in the Northern Tien-Shan mountains are now safe, reliable and worth spending your hard earned money on. I enjoy a lot of risk but I like to remain quite calculated about those I choose to take on. Feel free to try heli in Kazakhstan, or invite me along on an all expenses paid trip to prove otherwise, but for time being I have decided on alternative spots. I have heard that approaching the Northern Tien-Shan mountains from Bischek in Kyrgyzstan is very doable. I have seen some super pictures in fact (all heli pictures look good. I believe one can get better... read on, read on)!

With Kazakhstan now only a fact sheet filed away in the back of my head, and the 05/06 season fast coming to a close, I needed to look elsewhere for my powder dreams. Enter waytorussia.com and Matt!

Some History- Winter 06/07

This trip is well overdue. It was paid for about 18 months ago and then I was struck down by horrific knee injury. A ruptured ACL, MCL and torn lateral and medial meniscus sustained during a touch football game in the Touch world cup between my adoptive country Switzerland and the country of residence of my immediate family, New Zealand, on 21 January 2007 sent me back to the drawing board. I remember writhing on the pitch in Stellenbosch, South Africa (my country of birth) and the first thought that came into my mind, once my lower leg had been relocated and my mind cleared from the blackness of the pain, was that I wouldn't be heliboarding in Kamchatka in 3 months time. I sent a text to Tony

Sitting in Ponky Firer's knee consulting room at the Linksfield clinic a few days later I held onto hope that I could have key-hole surgery to repair the menisci, brace my leg and hit the gym hard for the next few months and postpone the surgery until after my trip. I had hardly finished when he grabbed my knee, gave it a yank (also known as the lachmann test), and stopped me mid sentence. "You aren't going anywhere near a mountain soon" he interrupted, "Let alone to one of the most remote places in the world where access is only possible by helicopter. Not under my watch!".

I returned to Switzerland for the surgery but because it was now 10 days after the injury and my muscles had begun to atrophy and I had lost range of motion, I was prescribed 6 weeks of prehab in the gym with my physio. There is something quite demoralising about getting into the gym to build your strength, only to know that a surgeon is later going to go in with his scalpel and undo all your hard work. I am told that it brings down your post op recovery time.

I am not going to bore you with the details of the surgery, the hours and hours of rehab, my new best friend, Dani my physio, or all the names of all the new artists I discovered while blasting my ipod while I heaved on the leg press, pounded away on the tread mill and balanced precariously on my balance ball for hours.

I would like to thank the following people though:

Daniel Geiger, Dr Marcel Schibli, the kind nurses (especially the pretty one that only appeared on the last night of my week long stay) and brilliant staff at the Hirslanden Clinic, Kimberly Melville-Smith for her patience and TLC, all the people that came to visit me, Zurich Insurance for fitting the substantial bill, Migros for their brilliant home delivery service (your fresh vegetables can do with some work), everyone at the Zurich Sports Clinic and everyone in the snowboarding industry that makes it such a cool sport that gave me the will power to get back to the mountain, stronger, fitter, and better than I ever was before. Absinthe Films and Nico Muller need a special mention there!