February 08, 2010: 113th short message (12:41 p.m. CET)
Concerning the delivery of the spare parts I have decided that I will not ask the people from AEWC for help any longer. We found another possibility to bring the parts to Providenia. I hope that they will arrive on Thursday, even though we are expecting bad weather with a storm and lots of snow. Let’s see how this will turn out. Anyway, everything is ready in Nome.
We now know something very interesting:
We were told that we are the first expedition ever that came to Providenia from Europe with wheeled vehicles. And Rudi and I are the first Germans that went skiing here on Russia’s easternmost ski slope. Not bad.
Daily Reports
April 26, 2010: 193rd short message (07:08 p.m. CET)
Last Friday, during a weather frame which only lasted few hours, we flew to Anadyr with a special airplane of Chukotavia. The airplane made use of the short moment, in which there was calm weather, to make a hasty shipping of foods...
mehr 
April 19, 2010: 192nd short message (10:10 a.m. CET)There’s a crazy storm going on ever since the night that we arrived. The hurricane doesn’t stop whipping snow across the Bering Strait, Uelen, Lavrentia, and so on. Not even for one hour. Storm and snow flurries everywhere. Tons of snow....
mehr
April 16, 2010: 191st short message (11:32 a.m. CET)After intense studies of the weather conditions, we made use of a very little weather frame (ca. eight hours) right before the beginning of a new storm and made a tough six-hour ride with a snow mobile and sled 100 km from Uelen to...
mehr
April 15, 2010: 190th short message (11:33 a.m. CET)By now we know how prisoners must feel. Hence we must behave well. They turned off our telephone for five days now (No, not what you are thinking. We did pay our bills right away, every time.) and this morning, the saltwater supply gave out...
mehr
Thank youRight now there are bits and pieces of words, half sentences or sometimes complete phrases running through my head.The time has come for a few thoughts - today.In the radio of my car are playing songs that have accompanied me for years. It...
mehr
Thanks to Russia
I hesitated until now, BUT it looks like we have the opportunity to arrive. 2 km to go.
On this day, the day that we arrive at the end of Russia and thus the end of Asia, I would like to write a Thank You to Russia.
Today,...
mehr
April 13, 2010: 188th short message (12:03 p.m. CET) Yesterday evening, for a very short moment, there has been some ease in the storm.It has been deceptively pleasant when the wind abruptly faded, the sky opened up, the remaining light of the day illuminated the water channel at around 8...
mehr
April 12, 2010: 187th short message (12:15 p.m. CET)
Due to the strong southern storm, the ice at Uelen’s shore and along the Cape drifted away 1-2 km from the shore after it broke off of the shorefast. It “anchors” menacingly, seems to observe us just like we do with it....
mehr
April 12, 2010: 186th short message (06:41 a.m. CET)Waiting, waiting, waiting. We are condemned to wait.Currently we have extremely bad weather.There’s a storm and it’s snowing for days as if Mother Holle was hopping mad. Furthermore, one low-pressure system is followed by another. By now...
mehr
April 9, 2010: 185th short message (11:51 a.m. CET)If I didn’t know better, I would think the Bermuda is here. Slowly it is becoming eerie here.First, we have to send Victor to Moscow where he only scarcely sidesteps the terror attacks. Then an earthquake happened in a close range to our...
mehr
April 06, 2010: 184th short message (12:34 p.m. CET)The second Tohatsu Outboard engine is working and the modifications of the vehicles in the little garage progress.However, there are parameters that keep us from starting the crossing of the Bering Strait at the moment. On the one hand we...
mehr
April 2, 2010: 183rd short message (11:47 a.m. CET) Last night we were invited to join the audience during a dancing rehearsal of an Eskimo group. We were excited about a little mongoloid boy who learned a lot on those two hours of dancing.We were able to fix the bad situation with the...
mehr
April 1, 2010: 182nd short message (10:14 a.m. CET)
How annoying. Why should a day ever be completely good?
Some agreements don’t seem to matter all that much. Today, the women whom we rented the apartment from called and told us that we have to leave the apartment, even though we...
mehr
April 1, 2010: 181th short message (01:37 a.m. CET)How unusual.I asked Victor to take the train from outside into Moscow on Sunday night instead of Monday morning. He arrived in Moscow on Monday morning at around 7 a.m. To get to his meeting with the German Embassy, he had to take the...
mehr
March 31, 2010: 180th short message (09:11 p.m. CET)
Uelen surely is different from any other village that we have visited/driven through until now. It seems that time, language, habits and life take different ways here. Life literally happens on the streets here…
We received three...
mehr
March 26, 2010: 179th short message (05:52 a.m. CET)
Don’t give up and make the impossible possible.
Together with some very very special supporters and friends, Victor is in an airplane on his way to Moscow. He is a hero. Nobody except for him, the great people who supported us in...
mehr
March 26, 2010: 178th short message (05:08 a.m. CET) Good days are different.Unexpectedly we had to leave our accommodation the day before yesterday because the person with whom we lived up until now, wanted to take a helicopter that was supposed to arrive but which didn’t arrive in the end....
mehr
March 22, 2010: 177th short message (11:20 a.m. CET) First, the entire team would like to say Thank You for all the congratulations we received. It motivates us, it’s great. Thank you.Regarding the weather it looks really bad at the moment. Chukotka is under control of two low-pressure...
mehr
March 18, 2010: 176th short message (09:41 a.m. CET)8 p.m. Parked the trailers in front of the house, found a box for the cars, ate some warm food. Are going to sleep now. We got an invitation for a speech in the school tomorrow. Additionally, we to take care of several administrative...
mehr
March 18, 2010: 175th short message (05:05 a.m. CET)
What a welcome, what a welcome. Many came, laughed, and were happy with us. The cars received the signatures of at least all children from Uelen ;-) and many others. Lavrentia was immediately informed that we arrived.
Our accomodation...
mehr
March 18, 2010: 173rd short message (00:08 a.m. CET)10.45 a.m. After all, a race on the last few meters. This cannot be true. The storm that was supposed to be here by noon, sends messenger after messenger. The wind increases, clouds cast shadows. Menacing they arrive from all sides, seem to...
mehr
March 17, 2010: 170th short message (07:46 p.m. CET)Had to stop last night at around 2 a.m. Standing, we were alright. I was hardly able to keep my eyes open. Especially now, after five hours of winching and shoveling to get out of the river. But we made it.We agreed to sleep for 30 minutes,...
mehr
March 17, 2010: 169th short message (10:53 a.m. CET)A race against time has begun. According to the weather forecast we will be hit by a storm tomorrow, Thursday, around noon. It will also bring snow. Are fighting our fatigue off. Currently we are standing in a riverbed at N 66°01.777 / W...
mehr
March 17, 2010: 168th short message (06:09 a.m. CET)After six hours we arrived at the highest point of the pass. The view from here is gigantic. In the distance, we can see the end of Russia, the end of Asia. The last mountains before the Bering Strait can be seen on the horizon. For the...
mehr
March 17, 2010: 167th short message (03:30 a.m. CET)We tackled the next pass. Right now, we are stuck below the highest point of the pass for three hours. We are shoveling with our sand sheets, uncoupling, attaching. We are busy. Additionally: F2 only turns until 4000 1/min and F1 only until...
mehr
March 16, 2010: 166th short message (22:50 p.m. CET)How awesome is that?We just drove all the way up!1.5 km later we are now located at N 65°57.574 / W 170°33.869 beneath a hill, aslope in an inclination, heading towards North. We have the most beautiful sunshine and to our right we have a...
mehr
March 16, 2010: 165th short message (10:30 p.m. CET)4 a.m. We were shoveling for 4.5 hours only to get out of the canyon. 12 tons of snow were relocated. ;-) We rectified the inclination. We are literally on our last legs.60 km to go. We will take some sleep now.8 a.m. Sunlight wakes us only...
mehr
For a special person: TRUE FRIENDSHIP DOESN'T SHOW DURING GOOD TIMES, BUT ONLY DURING THE BAD ONES!!! THEN YOU SEE THE TRUE FACE! I would like to thank you for being able to rely more than a hundred percent on you. Matthias
mehr
March 16, 2010: 164th short message (12:01 p.m. CET) 5 p.m. Moved forwards meter for meter. But now there is absolutely no sight for the drivers. Due to the light, snow and haze, we can’t recognize any outlines anymore, even with our yellow glasses anymore. Everything is a white-blue soup....
mehr
March 16, 2010: 163rd short message (05:06 a.m. CET)4 p.m. Another damage on the fan’s engine. It slowed us down. Afterwards we entered the most difficult part of the section: a canyon that is difficult to drive and that ends in the inclination to a pass. Great, we are digging for two hours...
mehr
March 16, 2010: 162nd short message (00:55 a.m. CET) 12 p.m. Are progressing well. Current position: N 65°50.593 / W 170°50.588There’s a storm in Anadyr and Providenia, while we are driving through the most beautiful sunshine. The weather forecast – according to which the storm is supposed to...
mehr
March 16, 2010: 161st short message (00:30 a.m. CET) 8 a.m. After four hours of sleep, a lukewarm cup of coffee and a couple of cookies, we continued our drive. Our way (GPS-track which is usually used be the Vestichot supply drivers) leads us across a large plateau which is – in the distance...
mehr
March 15, 2010: 159th short message (01:36 p.m. CET) We left at 6.30 p.m. On recommendation of vestichot drivers from Lavrentia, we crossed the large bay of Lavrentia – of course on ice – in a western curve. The entire distance on ice: 8 km. No problem, except for some cracks that we could...
mehr
March 15, 2010: 158th short message (08:01 a.m. CET) Just hit the road. Driving in darkness. Had problems with trailer of F2 and the new servo pump of F1 broke down once again. Luckily we had another one. Now it just cannot brake down again. Another 100km to the easternmost place of Asia.
mehr
March 14, 2010: 157th short message (11:50 p.m. CET) We will take off towards Uelen in about three hours. A difficult track with many inclinations and five passes lies ahead of us. Furthermore there will be a narrow spot with open water from a river. Behind us, a storm is building which puts...
mehr
March 12, 2010: 156th short message (05:59 a.m. CET) Following up on the invitation, we visited the school today. There were about 80 children who attended our little speech. Afterwards we were invited to an excellent meal in the school’s assembly hall. Slowly, the preparations for the safety...
mehr
March 10, 2010: 155th short message (08:16 p.m. CET) We received a very warm welcome here in Lavrentia. Immediately after we drove into the city, the head of administration welcomed us. They organized everything for us, a small apartment with kitchen, a warm box in which we can repair the...
mehr
March 08, 2010: 153rd short message (12:56 p.m. CET)
Midnight. We reached the suburbs of Lavrentia. Currently we are three kilometers outside of the city on a hill (current Position: N 65°35.577 / W 171°04.660) and decided to stay here for the night, drive to the city tomorrow...
mehr
March 08, 2010: 152nd short message (06:56 a.m. CET)8 a.m. We started. 15 km on ice and a headland lie between us and Lorino. We hope that we’ll make it today. 4.30 p.m. After eleven days in snow and ice – on a track which, according to our information, has never been covered by cars, let...
mehr
March 07, 2010: 151st short message (09:00 a.m. CET)The last 5 km were really tiring. We had to uncouple and attach the trailer about 40 times, made a track, drove back, etc. But now we reached the utter end of the headland at N 65°29.027 / W 172°04.992. This means that only 15 km are left...
mehr
March 07, 2010: 150th short message (07:26 a.m. CET)6 p.m. We arrived at a spiritual place of the Chukots. Our position is N 65°27.359 / W 172°06.597. At this place on the narrow headland, bones of whales are sticking up into the air for meters.They were erected here as a spiritual memorial....
mehr
March 07, 2010: 149th short message (05:01 a.m. CET)At N 65°24.934 / W 172°09.521, we just arrived at a refuge for fishermen. There we met two hunting parties from Lorina who are hunting seals. Warm welcome. Now we have about another 25 km to Lorino. We take a short break, then we have to...
mehr
March 07, 2010: 148th short message (01:33 a.m. CET)9 a.m. The weather is better. We can see around 60-80 m, less wind, less snow.Now, after some hours of sleep, we will continue.Our position: N 65°20.891 / W 172°12.383We just met two hunters with a russian snow mobile, who were pulling a...
mehr
March 06, 2010: 145th short message (09:39 a.m. CET)8.30 p.m. Just now we took a break after a difficult inclined drive and a rise with many snow drifts from the shore all the way to the seafront. We drank some warm coffee and ate something.Outside is a raging storm again and we also turn...
mehr
March 06, 2010: 143rd short message (01:29 a.m. CET)11 a.m. We dug F1 out and are now trying to make a track. The burner-lamp doesn’t work. Even the Webasto jet that we are trying to point at the axles gets blown away by the storm. Thus we cannot heat the oil up – we have to try it like...
mehr
March 05, 2010: 142nd short message (08:46 p.m. CET)6 a.m. After the third night, on the third day, the storm finally slowed down. Less snow is in the air. The sight is about 50-60 m.We will start to dig out the cars and defrost the axles and gear box with the Webasto hot-air jet (the oil...
mehr
March 03, 2010: 141st short message (01:46 a.m. CET) 7 a.m. The storm slowed down for awhile. This gave us the chance to repair the fan of F2 in five hours. We have to further protect F2 with snow and built a protection for the “restroom” (igloo style). All of it to better the conditions in...
mehr
March 04, 2010: 140th short message (08:31 a.m. CET)Captured in the blizzard, we are sitting tight. It’s not really that nice and takes a lot of nerves. The storm is pulling on the vehicles, the protection, the constructional systems. We hardly see anything, our clothes are wet, partly...
mehr
March 03, 2010: 139th short message (07:16 p.m. CET)4 a.m. It is still storming madly. By now, the snowdrifts around us are like a sandcastle. Without taking the wind into consideration, it’s a severe cold of about -30°C. With this wind this could easily be -40°C or lower. We can only take...
mehr
March 03, 2010: 138th short message (06:26 a.m. CET)11 a.m. Are driving for quite a while at 5-10 meters sight. Only the GPS navigates. But we have to continue. The blizzard now is just the foretaste of the two low-pressure systems which are expected to be here no later than two days from...
mehr
March 02, 2010: 137th short message (09:45 p.m. CET)Bad, bad.Last night, after we heard a clicking noise from the left rear, we noticed that four of five stud bolts had fallen off. On closer inspection we realized that the stud bolts on the right side were also loose, just like the ones on...
mehr
March 01, 2010: 136th short message (07:06 p.m. CET)3 a.m. We are progressing well. We just finished a little pass behind Jandrekinot and slept for three hours. We are already driving again because we have to make use of the weather. We are winding between two little mountain ranges and...
mehr
March 01, 2010: 135th short message (07:30 a.m. CET) 5 p.m. We just arrived at the mainland and thus in Jandrekinot. Awesome! We are all happy to have made it through the bay. Great team!Right away we were welcomed by a Skidoo. A father with two boys. Immediately after the police arrived. We...
mehr
March 01, 2010: 134th short message (07:22 a.m. CET) We are currently at N 64°51.821’ / W 172°43.365’. Yesterday evening we managed to place both cars and both trailers together on a secure section of “watersnow”. Then we fell into a deep sleep. Later that evening, when two Skidoo drivers and...
mehr
February 28, 2010: 131st short message (00:22 a.m. CET) Have been on the ice of the bay for 24 hours now. It is an unbelievable drudgery. F1 and F2 broke completely into water traps. 200 m in 13 hours. What a bummer!We were able to free ourselves from the worst water trap. We didn’t sleep since...
mehr
February 27, 2010: 130th short message (11:24 a.m. CET)How does it work, what we are doing here right now? Tires 0.1 in the front and 0.2 in the rear. First we try to get F1 through the deep snowfields by shoveling and with sand sheets. Then we winch the F! trailer with the rear winch on F1...
mehr
February 27, 2010: 129th short message (10:14 a.m. CET) F1 broke really badly into the snow. It sunk more than one meter into the snow. Underneath is water. It took us three hours to get it out again. We are still at that place, trying to get over the crack that seems to be underneath. We move...
mehr
February 27, 2010: 128th short message (06:23 a.m. CET)04.30 p.m. F2 subsided. The water pushed into the right trail. We had to react fast. We managed it with a very long rope on the trailer of F1 and lots of winching. Now we are driving again.05.30 p.m. A Skidoo driver is going back to...
mehr
February 27, 2010: 126th short message (04:30 a.m. CET)08.30 a.m. Yesterday we made it up to 2.5 km in front of the bay. Since everybody was exhausted, we stopped to go to sleep. Weather is okay, winds with drifts at the ground (we are located in a valley, so downslope winds would be worse),...
mehr
February 26, 2010: 125th short message (10:58 a.m. CET) Got stuck for about 1.5 hours. We had to take the twin-tires off because the rims were breaking. Right now we are in the deep snow between New Chaplena and Sinavinslkie bay. We are accompanied by our two Skidoo drivers Vladimir and...
mehr
February 26, 2010: 124th short message (07:51 a.m. CET) We just arrived in New Chaplena. But we will not stop and continue our drive right away to make use of the night light (very good view due to moonlight) and the icy temperatures of up to -35°C. We hope that the deep snow that now goes 20 km...
mehr
February 26, 2010: 123rd short message (05:43 a.m. CET)12 p.m. After saying goodbye to the administration, to many many people and friends, we left. 1 p.m. Another damage on the axle on the F2 trailer. It took us 4 hours. Are ready to start again. The wheel bearing including drum broke off and...
mehr
February 25, 2010: 122. short message (12:53 p.m. CET) The test is over. The team has struggled, it has struggled very hard. A crack in the relationship between two people could – despite all friendship that connected and still connects our team – not be fixed. After such a long time of...
mehr
February 22, 2010: 120th short message (11:39 a.m. CET) Both test drives were successful!!!Test with trailers were successful as well!!!Now we start loading the vehicles. This will be a long night again. Tomorrow we will fill up the tanks, clean up the apartment, go grocery shopping, load the...
mehr
February 22, 2010: The repairs take a lot longer than what we had originally planned. Again and again the tools are a perfidy. Instead of using special tools, we have to find new ideas over and over again to replace the missing special tools. But these ideas...
mehr
February 18, 2010: 119th short message (12:53 p.m. CET)We are working on the vehicles at full blast. Could it be any different? Right now our plan is to leave again on Saturday or Sunday. First we want to reach Novoe Chaplino and then – after a short stop – go about the longest ice test on sea...
mehr
February 16, 2010: 117th short message (00:13 a.m. CET) It’s hard to believe. Just now we received the news that the airplane with our spare parts left Nome and that it will be here in about an hour. Victor is on its way to the airport. He will take care of everything. Jefgeny will help him....
mehr
February 15, 2010: 116th short message (11:44 a.m. CET) Definitely no flights today. Bering Air declined – and again we hope that it will work tomorrow. I think this is generally the main problem for this special part of the world. Any kind of transport either depends on weather, extremely...
mehr
February 14, 2010: Thursday has been a great day. So far we kept ourselves afloat with lots of discipline and “hang-in-slogans”, but on Thursday afternoon we finally received good news. First we received an official invitation for a conversation by the leader...
mehr
February 09, 2010: 114th short message (11:43 a.m. CET) “Robota robota robota” as they say for work in Russian (written as pronounced). Today we continued with the modifications on the trailers. We did it in a huge hall for ships at -30°C. We will do it again tomorrow/ the day after tomorrow. I...
mehr
February 08, 2010: 113th short message (12:41 p.m. CET) Concerning the delivery of the spare parts I have decided that I will not ask the people from AEWC for help any longer. We found another possibility to bring the parts to Providenia. I hope that they will arrive on Thursday, even though we...
mehr
February 07, 2010: 112th short message (02:40 am CET)On Friday we were invited to visit Providenia’s court. We learned a little bit about the Russian law and saw what a court room looks like. Afterwards we had a very interesting conversation with the judges which proved the trust in us once...
mehr
February 07, 2010: 111th short message (02:27 a.m. CET) Today, a story about Victor which he allowed me to tell. As a former helicopter pilot, Victor knows many people in Tschukotka and just as many know him. He often gets recognized; even when his last flight to that place was ten or more years...
mehr
February 04, 2010: 110th short message (02:26 p.m. CET) The past two days cost me a lot of nerves (are there any left in the first place?). A tough pass with snow is easy compared to the last days. Oh well. At the moment we don’t make any progress with the flight, also regress with one of our...
mehr
February 01, 2010: 109th short message (11:23 a.m. CET) Great, our friend Dimitri sent his acquaintance “Oleg” to our apartment today. He’s a man with best connections in satellite lines. :-) Via TV he made us an internet connection at its best and now we can – finally with a prospect of success...
mehr
January 31, 2010:  The past days were affected by extreme telecommunication around the clock and around the world. Crazy, really. From Providenia to Egvekinot, Anadyr, Moscow, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Limburg, Mainz, Los Angeles, Anchorage, Nome, Barrow and...
mehr
February 30, 2010: 108th short message (03:09 a.m. CET) By now, a lot of different parties are asking the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to take our two travel bags along on their empty (!!!!) flight from Nome to Providenia – of course we will pay for it. They categorically refuse. We don’t...
mehr
January 29, 2010: 107th short message (01:12 a.m. CET) We’ve got our hands full and try desperately to find a solution for the transport of the damaged axle parts. Please excuse that I didn’t write that much. Whoever wants to help us and has according contacts or wants to write, could talk to...
mehr
January 22, 2010: 106th short message (11:50 a.m. CET) This morning we were shown once again how welcomed we are here, how hospitable the people in Tschuotka are. We received a call from the mayor, that a “warm box” has been found on the part of the first minister. We were asked to come to the...
mehr
January 21, 2010: 105th short message (09:43 a.m. CET) Trailers are safely stored inside / in front of a hall. On the part of the very friendly mayors, we found an accommodation that we can use for the entire duration of our stay. It is empty but warm, has a bathroom with shower and carpeted...
mehr
January 21, 2010: 104th short message (03:34 a.m. CET) We are still on the street in Providenia. We are talking, negotiating, looking for a parking space for the trailers and a place to repair the vehicles. Many people have come outside. They welcomed us, considered how they could help us,...
mehr
January 15-20, 2010: bermuda report Here the missing experiences/incidents: Everything started on the 15th, when the v-belt fell off again only 300 meters away from the fishing hut. Shortly before, we broke into Nalid Ice with F1 and had to accelerate a lot to get through it....
mehr
January 20, 2010: 103rd short message (03:22 p.m. CET) 3 a.m. After a difficult final stage, we arrived in Providenia. The brake pipe on F2 fell off, there has been a tire failure on F2, the trailer of F1 has a deformed axle, we broke into Nalid Ice. All team members are exhausted but doing...
mehr
January 20, 2010: 102nd short message (11:05 am CET)Spent the night and today well. The weather is still stable. Today or tomorrow, we will winch and pull ourselves over the pass with our Russian helpers and then try to drive over the ice of the Providenia Bay to Providenia. If the ice...
mehr
January 19, 2010: 101st short message (05:04 a.m. CET) 800 m before the pass, after what seemed like endless days, nights and efforts: problems with the axles on F1 and F2. Right now we are organizing support and a rescue vehicle. Team is great. Have to retain our composure. We gave everything,...
mehr
January 19, 2010: 100th short message (00:16 a.m. CET) Have to get out of here. Yesterday we received a bad weather report – on January 21/22, there is expected to be a storm with snow, snow drifts and wind speed 9-10 as well as hurricane blasts. We only have two days left. We have to make it....
mehr
January 18, 2010: 99th short message (12:49 p.m. CET) Are literally walking on our last legs. This godawful pass.It’s enough. Gosh. A little while ago, I was so angry. Oh well, after that, the snow had a realization. It froze a little more and we could move 800 m in two hours. Now we are...
mehr
January 18, 2010: 98th short message (08:06 a.m. CET) Today, we accomplished 1.6 km. The pass is now 1.9 km away. Endless powder snow. We winch and shovel – toughest strains for each and everyone. Cold, endeavor, shortness of sleep, but everyone does their utmost. Just great this team. No...
mehr
January 17, 2010: 97th short message (09:42 p.m. CET) Today, we accomplished 2.1 km. It was very tough work. We had to look for paths and get through snow fields for what seemed like forever. But driving around worked out. F1 is still running without any problems. The team is okay.
mehr
January 17, 2010: 96th short message (05:32 a.m. CET) 5 p.m. ARE STILL MORE OR LESS AT THE SAME SPOT LIKE YESTERDAY. THE DISTANCE TO THE PASS IS STILL AROUND 5 KM, BUT NOW WE ARE ON THE RIDGE. Last night it took us eight hours to winch the two cars and trailers up the hill. This morning I took...
mehr
January 16, 2010: 95th short message (08:37 a.m. CET) Bermuda!!!We are located somewhere between steep hills on a river. Meters of snow. No end of technical challenges. No time to relax. Hardly any sleep. It cannot get any harder. 600 meters in 24 hours: In the cold, we spent 5 hours rasping...
mehr
January 16, 2010: 94th short message (00:15 a.m. CET)Are currently at N 64 35‘866“ / W 173 37‘777“.The team is alright but very tired. We are fighting to move forward step after step. Technical problems hinder our progressing significantly. At the moment we are 32 km away from Providenia. We...
mehr
January 15, 2010: 93rd short message (03:35 a.m. CET) 1:30 p.m. We arrived at a fisher base 70 km away from Providenia. Current position is N 64 39’047” / W 174 02’183”. Are driving at most with 2000 rotations per minute in all gear reductions, to ensure that the 1 cm v-belt will remain...
mehr
January 15, 2010: 92nd short message (00:00 a.m. CET) 8 a.m. Are driving again. 9 a.m. Reached broad delta. There is a huge deep snow area in front of us with the dimensions of at probably 1 by 2 kilometers. We will try to drive around it. When we left the fisher camp at around 2 p.m...
mehr
January 14, 2010: 8 p.m. Right now we are in the Bermuda area. Pre mysticism / stories that are written by the expedition. Lead text: Durng the crossing of the lake, there has been a crackling intense tension. Everybody was nervous and wanted to know if the...
mehr
January 14, 2010: 91st short message (07:59 a.m. CET) 6:30 p.m. Finished repair attempts. Three belts should keep together on F2 – which is manned by Wolfgang and Rudi, and thus completely northern Bavarian – what usually welds do. F1 is manned by Jefgeny, Viktor, Matthias at the moment. Great...
mehr
January 14, 2010: 89th short message (03:16 a.m. CET) 1 p.m. We reached a fisher camp at N 64 48‘254“ / W 174 53‘804“ We made a fire for an hour, warmed up, drank some tea and coffee. Just started again at 2 p.m. Very difficult track – called Bermuda – ahead of us. First, we have o drive 13 km...
mehr
January 13, 2010: 88th short message (09:51 p.m. CET) 8:30 a.m. We took off. There are 220 km of nothing ahead of us on our way to Providenia – including one of the most difficult tracks through the mountains with difficult passes, etc. Let’s hope that we can do it. A couple of days ago, a...
mehr
January 13, 2010: 87th short message (02:11 a.m. CET)1 p.m. We are fighting our way through a delta. We already managed 30 km. Again and again we have to winch, detach the trailer from the vehicles, cross small/medium/big river arms. Sometimes we break into the ice, but only for about 30 cm....
mehr
January 12, 2010: 86th short message (10:16 p.m. CET) 9 a.m. We took off. We are accompanied by two Skidoo drivers from Providenia, our friends Vladimir and Konstantin and a driver from Enmelem, who joined us (together with two others who sit on his sleigh – I believe they do this in order to...
mehr
January 12, 2010:
In the morning of the 11th, after being able to sleep outstretched in the school, we were surprised by about 60 children who wanted to see us. They even quickly organized a special concert and a dance show for us. Great. The principal,...
mehr
January 10, 2010: 85th short message (05:37 a.m. CET) We wouldn’t stand a chance without spikes. They helped us a lot so far – amazing. Besides rivers and lakes, which can hardly be crossed by foot, the spikes once again proved their worth today. After the crossing of the last delta and before...
mehr
January 10, 2010: 84th short message (05:08 a.m. CET) 4 p.m. We just crossed the last broad delta before Enmelem!!!!!! We were expected. A delegate from Enmelem expected us at the side of the river that is oriented towards Enmelem. It was a hearty welcome. He said that everybody is happy to...
mehr
January 10, 2010: 83rd short message (03:06 a.m. CET) 2 p.m. We just finished our first refueling without having to be completely covered from head to toe, without headlights, without thick mittens and without frozen fingers. We have beautiful weather. It would even be possible to climb on the...
mehr
January 10, 2010: 82nd short message (01:05 a.m. CET) 12 p.m. Had a bad night. Nasty storm that made us fear that one of the trailers or a car would be blown over. That’s how strong the winds were. Decided to change places again and chose a safer one outside of the delta. Then, this morning,...
mehr
January 09, 2010: 81st short message (01:03 p.m. CET) 11:45 p.m. We are standing in front of a very broad delta with three main arms. Tried to cross. F1 broke into the ice. We were able to get back by our own power. Decided to stop for today and spend the night at N 65 16‘891“ / W 175 48‘000“....
mehr
January 09, 2010: 80th short message (11:33 a.m. CET) 10:30 p.m. Found our way around the lake. Afterwards, difficult crossing of a river. Had to test the ice for a long time in order to find a good way to go. Both cars are tied together to secure them. Everything worked out well. We are about...
mehr
January 09, 2010: 79th short message (05:21 a.m. CET) 10 a.m. Our two tschukot friends have turned and drive back to Konergina. We just left the delta. We are trying to find our way to a Vestichot track towards Enmelem over a high plateau. Three lakes in front of us which have to be crossed....
mehr
January 08, 2010: 78th short message (10:26 p.m. CET) 9 a.m. Blizzard is over. 1,5 m snow drifts all around the cars. It’s amazing to see where we maneuvered last night without any visibility. The gods of nature to whom we sacrificed cigarettes and vodka in a traditional ceremony with...
mehr
January 08, 2010: 77th short message (11:52 a.m. CET) It has been a crazy day. Into the bargain, we also got in a heavy blizzard. At no visibility, we fought our way from the shoreline through a delta near Neran. Overall accomplishment for the day: 23km in 15 hours. What a number. We are now...
mehr
January 07, 2010: 76. Short message (06:16 a.m. CET) Very difficult mission. Had to pass a long slant from the shoreline, which was deeply blown over. For 300 meters we had to shovel, winch, pull and detach the vehicles from the trailers. This took us 3,5 hours. Very very cold with stormy...
mehr
January 07, 2010: 74th short message (03:08 p.m. CET)Are standing at current position N 65 28'942" / W 176 76'613" - In front of us is a steep hillside shelving all the way down to the sea. We have to go down there but will wait for daylight to minimize the risk. Team is doing good, cars are...
mehr
January 07, 2010: 73rd short message (02:12 p.m. CET)Very strong, icy winds. Continue to move forwards. Were able to cross two long land bridges in the gulf of Anadyr. Partially, 80 cm thick ice plates wildly thrown on shore. Also snow flurries and sometimes hardly any visibility. We are...
mehr
January 07, 2010: 71st short message (04:10 a.m. CET) 2 p.m. Arrived at a fishing hut at our current position N 65 35‘309 / W 177 06‘790“, made a fire, drank some warm tea. Pressure line lasted; not completely perfect, but it worked good. Vehicles are checked; will set off again in an hour and...
mehr
January 06, 2010: 68th short message (00:30 a.m. CET)6 p.m. Stopped. F1 broke down. Cannot continue our journey without risking further damages. Servo pump (main fan-belt for all units runs over that) is threatened to overheat. Will build windbreak so that we can try a repair at wind speed 8...
mehr
January 06, 2010: 66th short message (04:27 a.m. CET) It is 3 p.m. and the team gets on well. We did 60km in 7 hours. There is an icy wind with strong flurries at about -28°C and no snowfall. The team is doing great and everything is within the bounds. The landscape is unbelievable! Our huge...
mehr
January 05, 2010: 65th short message (11 p.m. CET)At 8 a.m. we started with dream weather and -28°C. Yesterday, after we bought a reindeer, cut it into smaller pieces and ate parts of it with the people in Konergina, now there are two Chukots accompanying us today. So now we have guests in...
mehr
January 05, 2010:We woke up on a reindeer farm which served our vehicles as a place to stay for the night. Actually it’s more a place for the last hours of those beautiful animals, because here they are processed into food. At the crack of dawn, hundreds of...
mehr
January 04, 2010: 64th short message (12:55 p.m. CET)10.30 p.m. 6km away from Konergina track bar adapter on the front of F2 broke. Steering virtually impossible. Made emergency repairs with straps and try to continue driving slowly. Tomorrow we have to weld. Will spend the night 1.5km from...
mehr
January 04, 2010: 63rd short message (03:55 p.m. CET) 1.30p.m. Reached the middle of the bay. 2 p.m. Reached other bank. Exit easier than entrance. Only cracks but no water. Yippie yeah. 2.30 p.m. Raised the tire’s air pressure from 0.3/0.4 to 0.6. Are currently driving – after getting...
mehr
January 04, 2010: 62nd short message (01:38 a.m. CET)12 p.m. Reached bay and managed entrance. F1 with both axles in the water. Pulled F1-trailer difficultly trough water-flooded tracks. F2 made new tracks without any problems. Following progress 2x through water-flooded tracks. Are currently...
mehr
January 04, 2010: 61st short message (00:26 a.m. CET)9 a.m. Took off after a cup of coffee and a bread. First difficult obstacle: a riverbed with lots of snow. After about one hour of shoveling successfully crossed. Are 1km away from the bay. Wind gets stronger. First light snowfall. Met two...
mehr
December 29, 2009-January 03, 2010: We hit the roadAt best weather which is supposed to last for another three days, at temperatures around -15°C and almost still air, we left Egvekinot, the city which welcomed us so nicely in all aspects and where we found many friends. We just had some...
mehr
December 29, 2009: When angels travel…
… goes a famous saying. By no means we claim to be angels, but everything worked perfectly – just unbelievable.
Wolfgang and Rudi from Munich and myself from Frankfurt to Moscow. Very very cooperative airport staff who...
mehr
December 15, 2009:
Cars are – except for a couple of things that need to be done as soon as the team finally arrives on December 26 – pretty much ready to go.
Started my trip home on December 15 via Anadyr, Moscow, Frankfurt. Just like the...
mehr
December 11, 2009:
It just happened, but it could have happened any other day as well: I wake up, it is 8 am. I am completely beat-up. Signs of illness. Since my arrival I have more or less worked 16-18 hours a day in the cold of the garage. I have been...
mehr
November 25-26, 2009: Customs
Yesterday afternoon the weather cleared and the helicopter was allowed to fly. Right before dawn customs welcomed us at the airport and brought us to their external storage area. That’s where the container with all our material is...
mehr
November 24, 2009: It’s jinxed…
It’s Tuesday morning and it seems as if it’s jinxed.
7.00 am – I go to 800 meters to the only international fax. With -18 °C it is downright warm and windstill. I was thinking: This is going to be a good day....
mehr
November 20-27, 2009:
I had to spend a couple of days in Anadyr to take care of customs formalities and the import of our spare parts. Full schedule with endless unpacking of packages in freezing cold, repacking, running from one department to the next, etc....
mehr
November 18, 2009:
The expedition continues. When I arrived in Moscow, Russia welcomed me with its usual friendliness. Jefgeny Konstantinov, our old and new team member, picked me up early in the morning and took care of several necessary formalities with...
mehr
November 18, 2009: Continuation
With tools, spare parts and lots of best wishes in my luggage, I flew out of Frankfurt yesterday. Right after my arrival in Moscow I was greeted by Russian friendliness and heartiness. With my team member Jefgeny I take care of all...
mehr
March 26, 2009: 60th short message (11:50 p.m. MEZ)In the last night, we reached Egvekinot with front drive and a missing back wheel. It was an amazing "strange handicap run".
We met two Ural truck drivers on the way, who stayed and helped us. One of them let me cut of his dirt trap of...
mehr
March 26, 2009: 58th short message (06:39 a.m. MEZ)Marco and Konstantin on their way to Egvekinot in the truck. Ulli and Matthias try to break through with the Jeep. Meanwhile lost tire and linchpin rear-left. We provisionally blocked and mounted the tire with belts. I am curious how a...
mehr
March 25, 2009: 56th short message (04:17 a.m. MEZ)First one-third with front-drive done. We reached a mine after appr. 61 hours and 108 km behind Vacarem. Since hours we are waiting for a truck which tries to reach the mine of Egvekinot. We will decamp when it arrives in order to use the...
mehr
March 25, 2009: 55th short message (02:07 a.m. MEZ)What a drudgery. Team to some extent 46 hours awake - reaching personal limits. 24 hours and 100km with "two-step". 2m forward, 1m backward in order to take a run-up. Continuous shoveling due to snow drifts. We just slept some few hours...
mehr
March 24, 2009: 53rd short message (01:30 a.m. MEZ)We try to leave Vacarem as soon as possible before the storm starts over again. We fixed F1 rough-and-ready in 12 hours outside night work. Now it is at least movable. We literally try to punch through to Egvekinot by front drive only....
mehr
March 22, 2009: 51st short message (12:57 p.m. MEZ)How much effort did we invest and with us so many others, but ...The "Paris / New York - Transcontinental 2009" - expedition currently came to a stop. Yesterday evening the journey was ended by a heavy hit at F1. We do not know the reason...
mehr
March 22, 2009: 49th short message (01:59 a.m. MEZ)Perhaps it is the right time for news I normally do not write, but it reflects our feelings. Certainly the expedition is currently in a difficult situation. Due to the global economic crisis we have to bare big losses. Exhausted of many...
mehr
March 21, 2009: 48th short message (11:18 p.m. MEZ)The plan was to decamp at 5 a.m., but due to a delay with the welding repair at F1, it is now 10.30 a.m. Wind is starting to blow. The predicted next storm arriving. Visibility appr. 300m, we eventually have to stay here until the storm is...
mehr
March 21, 2009: (09:16 p.m. MEZ) Many things happened which not only engrossed but also upset me. With unbowed will, we stick to the continuation of the expedition. On the day after tomorrow we will try to reach the Bering Strait (which is appr. 400km behind Vancarem) with...
mehr
March 15, 2009: 47th short message (03:04 p.m. MEZ)We did it. We reached Vacarem at the Arctic Ocean, which is inhabited by Chukchi people, after shoveling, track scouting, deflating, winching and so on. Temperature appr. -30°C, storm force 4, light snow fall. Team in good health, fuel...
mehr
March 15, 2009: 46th short message (09:54 a.m. MEZ)We are struggling for every further kilometer in direction of Vancarem. Currently we are appr. 55km in front of the village. So far, we needed 13 hours for 130km. Since the last mine, which was located appr. 90 km behind the roadcamp, there...
mehr
March 14, 2009: 45th short message (11:40 p.m. MEZ)We changed the differential under most difficult conditions and just started over again - 42 hours after the breakdown. We kept on repairing and hardly slept. We hope to reach Vacarem at the Artic Ocean. Weather conditions perfect. Appr....
mehr
March 13, 2009: 44th short message (01:48 p.m. MEZ)We reached the roadcamp after 6.5 hours of driving. The situation with the differential is really such annoying that the nerves of team were all on edge. To make matters worse, all drivers are on the winter ways and the house was locked. We...
mehr
March 13, 2009: 43rd short message (01:14 p.m. MEZ)Just now we drove the 1600th km with the Goodyear Wrangler MT/R on both vehicles with an air pressure not above 0.5 bar without any damage. Additionally there was no tire damage at any vehicle or trailer since Paris. That means 26123...
mehr
March 13, 2009: 42nd short message (10:06 a.m. MEZ)Big setback / again heavy damage. Again a broken accessory differential. The manufacturer says they seem to be too weak for the expedition vehicles. Stronger ones should have been used. We were standing for hours somewhere in the deep snow...
mehr
March 13, 2009: 41st short message (03:48 a.m. MEZ)After some administrative tasks and the last refueling in Russia (enough for 2700l of bioethanol mixture) we returned to the road department yesterday. Just now we left this camp near Amguema and try to reach the village of Vacarem at the...
mehr
March 08, 2009: 39th short message (07:14 a.m. MEZ)We thank all Russian friends who we were able to meet in the mine and who helped us wherever possible. Starting with the possibility to sleep in the rooms of the workers, further the donation of the last available 300l fuel in the mine (it...
mehr
March 07, 2009: 38th short message (10:32 a.m. MEZ)We started and try to reach Egvekinot.We already wanted to decamp yesterday, but after a scouting at the first mountain with a chain-driven vehicle we realized that there was no chance. Today morning at 10 a.m., we noticed the first D10...
mehr
March 05, 2009: 36th short message (11:57 a.m. MEZ)Trapped between mountains It is really stressful. On the one hand we are trying hard to find and modify a 12v fan engine, one the other hand the weather conditions appr. 30km outside of the mine are such extreme, that we are not able to...
mehr
March 05, 2009: 35th short message (00:54 a.m. MEZ)We are currently trying to fix Kaspar's fan. No continuation without fan. I am not able to tow F2 and trailer for hundreds of kms. We fixed everything on the vehicles so far. Due to the damages of the storm (removed all the ice out of the...
mehr
March 03, 2009: 34th short message (05:45 p.m. MEZ)We made it. We reached the mine of Valonisti. The small community, built due to the situation of being stuck in the snow just started to prepare for difficult days (food was gathered und divided, we provided the pot/the men of the other...
mehr
March 03, 2009: 33rd short message (12:01 p.m. MEZ)The fuel reserve of the bulldozer is getting scarce. The dozer team decided to decamp. After 20 hours of stagnation we started again. F2 is permanently getting hot due to the damaged fan. We removed the isolation at the radiator grill, but...
mehr
March 03, 2009: 32nd short message (08:23 a.m. MEZ)Still no progess. No movement for the last 12 hours. Force of storm has increased once more. We needed to refuel. Therefore we have 2 full main tanks appr. 200 l reserve at the moment, which means one additional refueling of the main tanks...
mehr
March 03, 2009: 31st short message (00:49 a.m. MEZ)The expedition got stuck in an intense snow flurry together with other people. The driver of the D10 (upload/bilder/newsticker/CAT.jpg - Source: usedequipmentunlimited.com) tried the whole night to break through the snow masses...
mehr
March 02, 2009: 30th short message (03:57 p.m. MEZ)We just passed the thousandth kilometer of most difficult offrad track, snow, and ice with temperatures never above -20° and minimum -56°C with 0.5 bar air pressure or less with 8 MT/R tires on each vehicle - without any damage!!!! Thanks...
mehr
March 02, 2009: 29th short message (06:37 a.m. MEZ)After 6.5 hours of shoveling and winching, we just reached the pass summit (19km away from the emergency shelter) of the so-called third pass to Pevek. Awesome! An unbelievable beautiful panorama up here! The tracks of the dozer were...
mehr
March 02, 2009: 28th short message (00:09 a.m. MEZ) The team of the emergency shelter had radio contact to Valonisti this morning. Yesterday evening the contact permanently broke off. We heard that a rescue team is on the way to the two trucks which got stuck in the snow ahead of us. The...
mehr
March 01, 2009: 27th short message (10:18 a.m. MEZ)We reached the emergency shelter 30 km before the third mountain pass, where a bulldozer is positioned. We had to debate how to go on. The pass is totally covered in snow. "No chance to come through" said the dozer driver. He cleaned the...
mehr
March 01, 2009: 26th short message (06:08 a.m. MEZ)We crossed the second mountain pass. We are currently in front of the third pass. Weather cleared off and exactly as predicted by the German Weather Service, we had a short influence of a high pressure area on our driving route today. More...
mehr
March 01, 2009: 25th short message (02:19 a.m. MEZ)After four hours of sleep, we had a lot of drudgery at the next difficult inclinations. We are currently appr. 500m away from the pass summit, shoveling and winching for hours. The only possible way: trying to bring F1 backwards on top, if...
mehr
February 28, 2009: 24th short message (04:01 p.m. MEZ)
We struggeld through most dense snow flurry, kilometer after kilometer. So far, we were not able to stop, otherwise we would be totally covered in snow by tomorrow morning. We tried to reach the emergency shelter appr. 200km away from the...
mehr
February 28, 2009: 23rd short message (08:00 a.m. MEZ)I lost my chassis snow protection while breaking through a big snow drift. We just finished a 5 hour repairing period. Naff. We continue at starting snowfall. Team strained. Vehicles ready for use. GPS cords: N 68 22´51" / E 174 58`12"...
mehr
February 28, 2009: 22nd short message (03:16 a.m. MEZ) We are already driving since 700 km with 0.4 - 0.6 bar with the Wrangler MT/R. Average speed 5-25 km/h. Vehicle weight appr. 3.5 t plus trailer. No damage or weakening at all. Current position in a narrow valley after the weather station....
mehr
February 27, 2009: 20th short message (01:16 p.m. MEZ)Difficult hill incident with continuous winching action directly followed after the formerly mentioned circumstances at the inclination. From time to time we have to pull the trailers, the cars, or even both out of deep snow. If we would...
mehr
February 27, 2009: 19th short message (11:19 a.m. MEZ)A really hard fight. We started today at 10 a.m. after a coordination about the way together with the mining company. Afterwards it took us 9 hours, whereas 7 hours at one point (uphill, inclination to the right and gradient to the...
mehr
February 27, 2009: 18th short message (02:14 a.m. MEZ)Even more snow and strong wind. In more detail: I drive in the lead with F1, Kaspar is appr. 15m behind me (the length of one of our jeeps with trailer). He can hardly see my tracks which I left in the snow 30s before. We move forward with...
mehr
February 26, 2009: 17th short message (02:58 p.m. MEZ)Had to stop. Extremely tough section, huge snowdrifts, snowfall and strong wind. We were able to get through some of them. Others were just too high. It took us 5 hours to manage 14 km. Within minutes our own traces disappeared. It’s crazy...
mehr
February 26, 2009: 16th short message (08:53 a.m. MEZ)Fantastic weather due to ridge of high pressure. Amazingly beautiful landscape. An impressive arctic desert. 2 hours ago we arrived at the gold minig city Komsomolsk. About 200 very friendly people of a mining company are still living...
mehr
February 25, 2009: (00:27 a.m. MEZ)We were well informed by the German Weather Service and knew, that a low-pressure area could cause trouble for us. The decision to leave Bilibino was based on the general weather situation which forecasted good weather for Wednesday,...
mehr
February 23, 2009: 12th short message (02:36 p.m. MEZ)Difficult and extreme track. We have to bash into snow drifts in full speed from time to time in order to come through them. In between deep snow and old snow blurred tracks vom Urals or Kamaz trucks in which we suddenly broke into. All of...
mehr
February 23, 2009: 7th short message (02:23 a.m. MEZ)No horizon, no shrub, no more outlines visible, everything white, moderate snowfall, only a wooden bar or an old barrel every couple hundred meters to indicate the direction, always passing on the right side, that's what I expected from...
mehr
February 22, 2009: 6th short message We are between the first and second pass. Snowfall is getting heavier. Take a break for about 4 hours at GPS-coordinates: N 68 36`49" / E 168 26`16" Team and vehicles are doing well.
mehr
February 22, 2009: 5th short message
Just arrived at first pass. Many snow drifts. Not too long before us a GAZ truck broke through, therefore deep tracks and stirred up snow. Reached the top after many attempts. Partially steap and inclined.
GPS-coordinates: N 68...
mehr
February 22, 2009: 4th short message We arrived at the bulldozer clearance team. Due to the fact that it has to clear the winter road for the trucks and often has to move a lot of snow, we passed it as agreed with the driver. There are two Kamaz trucks following the dozer. F1...
mehr
February 22, 2009: 3rd short message We just reached the timber line. The last Asian trees on our way to America. There will be nothing but busches til Alaska. GPS-coordinates: N 68 12`58" / E 166 51`56"
mehr
February 22, 2009: 2nd short message Start of the Extrem Events task force Bilibino news from today: We have direct contact to the roadmaker - Due to heavy snowdrift at two passes, the track to Pevek is not usable - even not for the heavy 8x8 trucks. There are already trucks...
mehr
February 19, 2009: (3)
We did not know what to expect in Bilibino. Will we have an accommodation, perhaps a small hotel, a garage? How will the authorities react when we arrive? What will we manage to complete?
We were slowly approaching the city. It is...
mehr
February 19, 2009: (2)
Then, the course of the road led us north-east on the Kolymar River and one of its channels for many kilometers. The temperatures were below -50°C when during a pee stop at some point during the night we noticed that a wheel...
mehr
February 19, 2009: (1) It was a tough section to Bilibino with many obstacles. But finally, we made it. The team is in Bilibino, just like the vehicles and trailer.Crazy things happened to us on our way behind Shishmaref. F1 had and has no engine power; we had to...
mehr
February 11, 2009: (2) There was no time where we didn’t receive hospitality and helpfulness from the Russian population. It will be very difficult up to impossible without those friendly Russian helpers. You suddenly need a special tool, welding equipment, a...
mehr
February 11, 2009: (1)We are crawling forward with 3 mph - actually too slow. The extremely intense, hard, and bumpy winter ways do not allow higher speeds. After approximately 3 days of non-stop driving behind Ustnera (we always slept only few hours in the...
mehr
February 07, 2009:
I miscalculated narrowly.
Waking up in the morning was not due to the alarm clock ringing or because we were well-rested, but because of the engine shut down of F1. We did not want to refill the tanks at night and in icy temperatures. I...
mehr
February 06, 2009: SasyrThe little bridge resisted the weight of our Jeeps. Additionally we passed a large area of Nalid Ice without any problems because it was already frozen again. The day was saved. A difficult section was completed.Along our further way we...
mehr
February 05, 2009: Start of the winter roads  After having loaded about 850 liters of fuel and produced the correct bio-ethanol mix ratio, we left Ustnera at around 10 a.m. Temporarily we felt like captains of a ship: With initial 1.2 bar air pressure (lateron we reduced to 0.7 bar due...
mehr
February 04, 2009:
We had to rearrange our plans and decided to spent the day in Ustnera. After all, five hours of sleep is not enough to make up for the 60 hours that we have been awake, to face the dangerous 400 kilometers to Syrianka. Everybody advises...
mehr
February 01-03, 2009:
Sometimes I am wondering if certain incidents can be called normal or coincidental, for example Kaspar Mettler. Only a few days before my departure, Kaspar called and let us know that he wanted to take part in the most challenging parts...
mehr
January 28-February 01, 2009: 
During the last three days there was a lot of work and organization as well as arrivals/absence of team members going on.
On the 28th early in the morning, I picked up Ulrich Kaifer - our photographer - from the airport. He arrived in...
mehr
January 27, 2009: Strip my trailer
„Does everything has to upset me?“ That were my thoughts when the „Sesaria” hotel (written in German as I understand it in Russian) all of a sudden wanted to charge us with a doubled price. I hate stuff like that....
mehr
January 23-25, 2009: Back on track
It was a troublesome start - hopefully now everything bad is covered right from the beginning.
First of all we had to pay almost 1500 € for our excess luggage at Frankfurt Airport, which should not be the case. Furthermore we...
mehr
December 21-27, 2008: Jakutsk - Magadan How to build a rear axle differential on Christmas due to boredomI was still in Aldan on the 24st to repair the expedition vehicle F1 and drive it together with the trailer MJ46 to Jakutsk - which finally was successful (arrival 25st 1.00...
mehr
December 15-21, 2008: Chita - Jakutsk
XXL-section with obstacles
Shortly after our departure from Ulan Ude, the outside conditions became even more difficult than in Mongolia: Temperatures of down to -52° Celsius were extremely straining for people, machinery and...
mehr
December 09-12, 2008: Hustai – Ulan Bator 
From the national park into the million resident metropolis
We all agreed as we drove along the short asphalt road, right before Ulan Bator: “That was our most beautiful track so far“. 200 kilometres of hilly nature...
mehr
December 03-05, 2008: Hovd - Gobi - Altay  Along the desert towards the hydroelectric power plant Matthias already awoke with the feeling that the vehicles had to be checked after 200 kilometers of humpy earth road. Intuitional driving: The feeling was correct! Both exhaust...
mehr
December 02, 2008: Olgy - Hovd  Tract leg with mountain actionDifferent strokes for different folks: Our day started with an entirely unlikely breakfast. We ate shish kebab and soup in a Turkish restaurant. - Who knows when we will get such a square meal for the next...
mehr
November 25-28, 2008: Novosibirsk Busy in Siberia’s capital Right from the start we scheduled a stop in Novosibirsk for several days. The reason for that: Here, our vehicles and trailers were supposed to be modified for the cold. Spikes have been attached to all tires...
mehr
November 24, 2008: Omsk The sun of Omsk We were not mistaken when leaving Tyumen: The sun that came shining from Omsk was a good sign. Right in the morning Joachim and the Russian journalists made several stops to take photos. It was not only that the light of the...
mehr
November 20-22, 2008: Yekaterinburg - Tyumen Two cities – two successful days Shortly after our overnight arrival in Yekaterinburg, the first light snow fall started: The next morning when we looked out of the windows, a thin snow layer covered our vehicles. Unfortunately the...
mehr
November 17-19, 2008: Kazan – Ural  First continental border crossing Unlike planned, we did not take the route via Perm but instead via the city Ufa to Yekaterinburg. We had to cross 1,200 kilometres in order to arrive in Yekaterinburg on time for the presentation of...
mehr
November 14-17, 2008: Moscow to Kazan  Unsuspicious driving“We should not drive a fourth round if we do not want to seem suspicious“, is how we reproved ourself by the third turn around the Kremlin and the Basilica in the center of Moscow. So we exercised ourselves in...
mehr
November 05-08, 2008: Berlin The expedition quintet moved into a small but lovely summer residence at the Spandauer area in Berlin. Since we arrived late there was only one last task, to arrange a “wake up call” from the colleagues in Limburg and to go to bed for a...
mehr
October 29, 2008: Budapest “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you get”. We planned a seven-hour drive for today’s 400 kilometers. Due to the excellently developed highway towards Budapest we reached our goal already after half of the estimated...
mehr
October 28, 2008: Croatia We would like to condole about the death of the German Ambassador in Croatia, his Excellency Mr. Hans Jochen Peters who recently passed away. On the recommendation of the German Embassy, the University of Zagreb took over the...
mehr
October 27, 2008: From Milano to Zagreb
Already at Euro Camp Jeep 2008 we have noticed that our expedition-Jeeps cause quite a stir. It is not even out of the ordinary that camera phones are being pulled out. But what we experienced in Milano seemed to take on a whole different...
mehr
October 17-18, 2008: Italy 
Unfortunately our journey to Vidigulfo did not go as smoothly as the last 6,500 kilometers. In a narrow highway construction site our third Wrangler (F3) grazed a water-filled barrier, started lurching, reached an extremely inclined...
mehr
October 16, 2008: Madrid
At the crack of dawn and after a short night we started to head the 650 kilometers westwards on the highway to Madrid. For a section of 200 kilometers we were accompanied by a journalist of a 4x4-magazine. That way she got a very close...
mehr
October 15, 2008: Barcelona The night time driving through France smoothly continued and we reached Barcelona in the evening. The Catalan capital city is covered with creations of Antoni Gaudi and rife with small alleys so that it even was an adventure for us to...
mehr
October 14, 2008: Switzerland
After the farewell in Limburg we left southwards early in the morning. Our destination: Switzerland – more precisely our partner Alcosuisse in Delémont and IBS in Thun. The factory manager of Alcosuisse was able to 100%...
mehr
October 13, 2008: Limburg 
The short break back in Limburg has been used extremely effective. As already two weeks ago, right before the expedition started, our technicians were juggling tools and labels to finish the precision work. Screws have been retightened,...
mehr
October 8, 2008: Luxembourg 
Early in the morning we set out for Luxembourg. Needless to say we felt safe and in good hands in our large Jeeps. While we were thoughtfully handling the “weaker” passenger cars, our wariness towards trucks seriously grew...
mehr
October 7, 2008: Rotterdam It was a short night and after the breakfast we started right away with our tasks for the day in the seaport of Rotterdam. The morning was characterized by appointments regarding the banner exhibition which we presented in the Goethe...
mehr
October 6, 2008: New situations
Travelling also means to face new situations and to adjust to them – that is exactly what the expedition demanded from us in a democratic way today! The press conference – which has been prepared excellently by the Representation of the...
mehr
October 5, 2008: Encounters on the way to Brussels
Early this morning, we left from Antwerp to the photo shoot in Brussels where we - as a funny coincidence - met two young Englishman on their way to the North Cape.
For me, the gathering was like a closing circle in my life....
mehr
October 4, 2008: Our way to AntwerpThe day starts with a jam-packed breakfast hall. It is weekend and we are staying in a Disneyland hotel. Many families are once more using the weekend to visit the theme park and with around 150 people they are a huge part of this morning...
mehr
October 3, 2008: Car Show Paris
Slowly creeping through the Paris traffic of the inner city, we are surmounting the roofs of the other cars – accompanied and thronged by the crossing scooters and motor bikes. Our cars are sticking out of the crowd, which is...
mehr
October 2, 2008: START OF EXPEDITION
Finally! Starting as a vision in the head of Matthias Jeschke some years ago and realized by an expanding and motivated team in approximately 15 months, the expedition has now become vivid and tangible. Today is the...
mehr
|
So many people wished us good luck. Either with words, in writing or presented us with lucky charms. Actually, up to now we have not suffered of anything crucial. Perhaps that is due to all the good blessings we received with all those...
With the Amazons to the lama-school
A really hard decision had to be made today. Due to a contact of the German Embassy in Moscow – who we would like to thank again for his dedication – we met Slava Bulatow in Ulan Ude. He...
Mountains, snow and another border!In the afternoon we hit the road from Novosibirsk towards the Mongolian border with the completely re-packed and frost-resistant vehicles and two new expedition participants – in Novosibirsk, the...
