Section 8 is teaming up with our friends at ’360 Expeditions’ to run this amazing backcountry ski adventure in Russia.
The Kola Peninsula lies just above the Arctic Circle, a short bus ride from the city of Murmansk on the Barents sea.
The rolling landscape makes for ideal touring terrain, and the northerly latitude ensures long days and a long skiing season, with cold dry snow possible even in late spring. Great descents are possible on many different aspects, ensuring we can search out the best snow conditions from day to day.
Each trip will be accompanied by two guides allowing some people to take an easy day whilst others search out steep and challenging terrain.
Our accommodations will be in the Kuelpor hut, which lies at the low altitude of 275 meters yet is at, or very close to normal snow line, and gives great access to the various local summits all of which are between 1100 and 1200 meters in height.
Itinerary
Day 1. All meet in Murmansk, night in Arktika Hotel.
Day 2. Bus to mountains, snowmobiles to hut. Possibly time to get a few warm up turns in…
Day 3. Ski!
Day 4. Ski!
Day 5. Ski!
Day 6. Ski!
Day 7. Ski!
Day 8. Ski out to transport, travel to Murmansk. End of trip dinner and night in Arktika hotel.
Day 9. All depart Murmansk.
Dates & Prices
April 28th to May 6th 2012
Please contact 360 Expeditions for prices and booking informtion.
What’s included?
-Hotel costs in Murmansk at beginning and end of trip.
- Transport to the mountains.
-Hut costs.
-Food.
-Guide wages.
- Local guide wages.
-Transport back to Murmansk.
What’s not included?
-Airfare to Murmansk.
-Insurance.
-Russian visa.
-Drinks.
-Tips to local providers.
Further information
There are many ways of getting to and from Murmansk. A few are listed below:
-Rossiya Airlines offers return flights for around $500 Canadian from London Gatwick to Murmansk. The airport in Murmansk is called Murmansk Monkey!
-A wide variety of airlines fly to St. Petersburg from where a train runs daily to Murmansk.
-A third option is to take the train from St Petersburg to Apatity where it would be possible to meet the group on day 2 of the standard itinerary. We take no responsibility for delayed trains and missed rendezvous, however we would do our utmost to make this work for you if you decided to take it.
Russian visas are relatively simple to obtain. We would need from you your full name, gender, date of birth (Day/Month/ Year), nationality, passport number, dates of validity of your passport, a fax number, your permanent address, and the address of the Russian consulate where you would apply for your visa. This enables us to provide you with a letter of invitation to take to the consulate for issuance of the visa.
http://www.russianembassy.net will help you find your nearest consulate.
People, wildlife, weather and geology.
The native people of the peninsula are the Saami.
The Kola is rich in wildlife, including reindeer, elk, brown bear, wolf, fox, arctic fox, ermine, and the rare wolverine. Birdlife is similarly varied.
We can expect night time temperatures to fall to around freezing and relatively warm days, up to 14 degrees centigrade.
The mountains of the Kola Peninsula are composed of granite. They were heavily glaciated and have in general the rounded topography one would expect, composed of rolling summits and U shaped valleys with deep lakes.
Other things to see and do.
The stunning city of St Petersburg is easily accessible via overnight sleeper train from Murmansk.
As mentioned above the opportunities for wildlife viewing are extensive.
