TASS, March 6. The Northern Path 2019 snowmobile expedition, which had started on January 11 from Murmansk, drove on the Lena River’s ice to get to Tiksi - Yakutia’s northernmost settlement, the project’s coordinator Igor Smolin told TASS.
The expedition’s route of about 17,000 km crosses Russia’s eight regions.
"On the first day, they drove from Yuryung-Hai to the Ust-Olenyonok polar station, and then it took them two days to drive on the Lena to get to Tiksi," the coordinator said. "On the Lena’s shore, they stayed overnight at a fisherman’s and on the next day they drove to the river’s another arm, where they saw that the snow layer was good for driving."
On Thursday, he continued, the travelers will head towards Chokurdakh. "The distance to Chokurdakh is about 1,000km," he said. "If everything is fine, they’ll make it within four days."
Three travelers from Magnitogorsk - Alexander Tabakov, the leader, navigator Gennady Chernukha and mechanic Evgeny Berdnikov - plan to cross the Russian Arctic from Murmansk to Kamchatka within three months. The expedition participants are experienced travelers.