Ski expedition participant lost in tundra

The expedition should have taken place during four winter seasons. The brave adventurer is going (or was going) to ski around the North Polar from the Kola Peninsula to Chukotka. Such a one-man ski trip is unique; it was going to be the first ever, so it would with another Guinness Book record. Last year, Savin covered a part of that distance, having started from the northwestern part of the Kola Peninsula. This year, Savin was going to start the expedition in the city of Arkhangelsk and try to reach the Polar Circle line. The last message from him was received from the village of Volonga (the Nenetsk autonomous region). Stepan Savin’s whereabouts are not known now: his radio-beacon is silent.

However, EMERCOM specialists say that one should not believe that something dreadful happened. The current year is rather an unusual one for the Nenetsk region: the snow melted all of a sudden, so it is impossible to ski there (although there are usually tons of snow until June). Maybe Savin found himself in the no-snow area and changed his route, trying to reach a settlement nearby. Severodvinsk rescuers have recently received a letter from Stepan Savin, dated April 19. The letter was sent from the Nenetsk village of Oma, so Savin was there, and rescuers still have a hope.

On the picture: Stepan Savin before the expedition.

Andrey Mikhailov PRAVDA.Ru Severodvinsk

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov