Pole of Cold expedition

[haven]

Three explorers are about to embark on a 3 month, 30,000 km drive across northern Europe and Russia in the dead of winter. The nominal goal is to drive to the town in Siberia that has the lowest average temperature of any habitable place outside Antarctica. The team also will "explore the social, cultural and physical implications of Winter on the communities along the route, looking at different attitudes to the cold."

From the map posted on the web site, the team will visit Oymyakon on the River Lena, along the infamous Road of Bones, about halfway between Yakutsk and Magadan in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Siberia, Russia. The weather station near Oymyakon recorded a low temperature of -90F / -68C in 1933. Oymyakon has recorded temperatures of -60F or lower for the entire month of January. Brrrr!

The team picked up a Defender 110 last month. The vehicle was specially modified for the trip by Land Rover engineers. I couldn't find any details about the modifications. The team plans to leave England in late November 2013. Read more about their plans at http://www.poleofcold.com/

The Defender looks pretty stock to me. No Iceland-style oversize tires for glacier driving.

The expedition is sponsored by the Royal Geographic Society's Land Rover Bursary fund, which provides vehicles, technical assistance and financial support to adventurers who include a Defender 110 in their project. The deadline for next year's funding is the end of November. Read more about the fund here
http://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Grants/E...ependent+travel+grants/Land+Rover+Bursary.htm

 

[Dan Grec]

Right around -55C is when metal will start to fatigue.

Up here in the Yukon most mines have learned the hard way and shutdown operations when it's -50C or colder.

If they don't, they be using their big cats right through -50, -55, -60 and the steel will form tiny fractures.
Some amount of time later, massive parts like blades and shovels snap in half.

Should be an awesome adventure!

-Dan

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Very cool, will be neat to watch! That area is calling me back... perhaps on 2 wheels... and in the summer.

 

[haven]

With a little Internet searching, I found a web page posted by a Russian travel agent, photographer and guide who arranged for a trip to the "Pole of Cold" back in January 2010. The web site has lots of photos and a Youtube video of the event. The road looks passable to any four wheel drive vehicle. The same guide has three trips from Yakutsk through Oymyakon to Magadan and back in Winter 2013-14. I believe his vehicle is the passenger van version of the UAZ 452.
http://askyakutia.com/travel-events-yakutiasiberia/roadtrip-oymyakon-poleofcold-january2010/

 

[Scott Brady]

This is a great trip. One of the participants (lead driver and mechanic) Gisli is a personal friend from Iceland. We were able to provide some logistics support from our recent trip to the Pole of Cold last fall.

They are in for one fantastic adventure!

 

[OttawaXJ]

Based on those pictures I'd say any 2 wheel drive could do it too. 4x4 would be nice but doesnt look required.

 

[Scott Brady]

Based on those pictures I'd say any 2 wheel drive could do it too. 4x4 would be nice but doesnt look required.

The old summer road to the Pole of Cold requires 4wd. That is the last 170 miles or so. The first water crossing kills several locals per year. A family died just a few weeks before we crossed.


The old bridge, long since washed away by the main flow of the river.

 

[OttawaXJ]

if thats it there and theres a slope to get down to the river and the river is less than 2 feet deep, 2wd can do it. 4x4 would be nice to have but drivers skill would be fine based on that picture.

 

[762X39]

The old summer road to the Pole of Cold requires 4wd. That is the last 170 miles or so. The first water crossing kills several locals per year. A family died just a few weeks before we crossed.The old bridge, long since washed away by the main flow of the river.

Since you have been there and I have not, I will defer to you first hand experience. I get the feeling that you did not cross using the bridge proper but a water fording. What was the other 169 miles like?

 

[Scott Brady]

The bridge is only decorative now. The first crossing was the most difficult, and the deepest. Even the locals treat is with some respect and often wait for larger trucks to pull them across. It was about hood deep on the Land Cruisers and late in the year.

There are multiple water crossings to Tomtor, most of the bridges out. The road is in reasonable condition, but obviously low traction in the snow and mud. It is the bridge bypasses that require clearance and traction. There were more bypasses than I can remember.

 

[Scott Brady]

I suppose what is important to note is that the Pole of Cold and Tomtor are on the old summer road. There is a new road that goes north and around to Magadan. That can be driven by a 2wd in ideal (i.e. dry) conditions. The old roads built by the Gulags are the interesting ones.

 

[Sirocco]

That bridge no longer exists. Fording the rivers 3 channels is now the only way. We were going to drive it in September but th region was short on diesel so we had to play it safe and leave it after waiting 24hrs. Diesel never came and we had to buy it from the guys constructing the new bridge. Plus the fact the area had the worst floods in 80 years! Doesnt help when your 1 vehicle. If your not local to the area 2wd would be asking for breakages and getting stuck. We towed many locals through road construction areas that were flooded and boggy

Sent from my GT-N5100 using Tapatalk

 

[Wainiha]

-90F is a far cry from the temps here on Kauai. Wow. I've walked in -60F in Montana, the coldest Ive been.

I have only seen Siberia from a ship. Sailing off Kamchatka on a cargo ship.

 

[Arktikos]

The extremes are impressive, but it's the average temperatures that really tell the story. Siberia's average annual temperature, summer included, is about the same as Montana's average low temperatures in winter. The Pole of Cold
is an appropriate name for this expedition.

 

[MattScott]

I'll see these guys at the RGS this week—will be good to ask them a few questions about the trip.