British explorers conquer frozen Lake Baikal

Fri, 30 Mar 2007

An intrepid team of British explorers – husband and wife, Conrad (51) and Hilary Dickinson (53) plus friends Alistair Guthrie (36) and Anthony Baird (44) – today at 9.36 BST (8.36 GMT) completed their 700 kilometres (435 mile) traverse from the southern to the northern shore of the frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia.

Although the team intended to become the first team to kite ski the frozen surface of the world’s largest lake, as luck would have it, they have only been able to use kites for two and a half hours of their three week long arduous trek. Instead, they’ve had to rely on skates, skis and snowshoes.

They clocked up a very impressive 42 kilometres (26 miles) yesterday (March 29) and have completed 32 kilometres (20 miles) this morning (Friday March 30) at Nizhneangarsk.

In a despatch on the expedition website (www.northernspiritsiberia.com) Antony Baird said, “The last 10 days we’ve been pulling 50-80 kilo (8–13 stone) sledges over 20 miles a day through increasingly hostile conditions.

“Yesterday it was -33ºC and we had to heave and haul the gear for miles and miles in very rough snow. I am totally exhausted! With only 32 kilometres to go, we hope to reach the end of the lake at Nizhneangarsk tomorrow evening. I’m looking forward to the end.”

Lake Baikal is the biggest lake in the world, and is roughly the size of France. At 1,637 metres deep it holds over 20% of the planet's fresh water supply - more water than all of North America's Great Lakes combined.

Over 400 rivers flowing into the lake feed the crystal clear waters, while just one river flows out. This remote and wild location is deep in the heart of Siberia, close to the Mongolian border and is surrounded by huge mountains and tree covered foreshores.
The Northern Rock sponsored team has spent every night in tents on the creaking ice. The team set out from Slyudyanka on the southern shore on March 10.