The Goliath Expedition

5th May 2006

Karl and Dimitris’ appeal hearing was heard at the court in Anadyr on 5th April May. It was decided at that time that the initial deportation order should be overturned. K & D will now be allowed to walk through Russia. It is believed that once they have retrieved the equipment held by the authorities they will return to Alaska, where Dimitri can return home and Karl will have the chance to re-equip and begin getting together the paperwork for his return to Russia. In the best possible case he will return to Uelen at the very start of next winter to begin the walk where he was picked up by the authorities. He has decided to cross that region during the winter, despite the extreme cold, as it has numerous rivers, lakes and wetlands which would make a crossing in summer even more difficult.

A great weight has now been lifted from Karl’s shoulders and the courts generous decision is the icing on the cake that was the Bering Straits crossing. The expedition as a whole thanks the authorities of the Chukot region for allowing Karl to continue his dream.

1st May 2006

Well, at last K&D have managed to make it down to Anadyr. Last Friday they got just 10 minutes’ notice and quickly found themselves saying goodbye to Lavrentiya. I received a short e-mail from Karl stating they were busy sorting out accommodation and speaking to the media. He is somewhat concerned at leaving all the equipment behind but pleased that they can now rectify the money situation and buy what they need. Once again we hope that the appeal will be heard within the next week or two .

Below is part of a write up from Tass

ANADYR, April 30 (Itar-Tass) - Travelers Karl Bushby and Dimitri Kieffer, detained in the Chukchi Peninsula for violation of border crossing rules, will mark May Day in Anadyr, the capital of the Chukotka Autonomous Area. It is an additional day for them in waiting for a reply to the question how their case will be reviewed. Kieffer and Bushby arrived in the capital of the Chukchi Peninsula on Friday from the village of Lavrentia so as to be present at the examination of their appeal by the county court. In Anadyr, the travelers feel “much better than in the village of Lavrentia”. “This is a modern city and looks as a real capital,” Kieffer said. “There is a wide range of foodstuffs at shops,” he noted. Besides, the travelers can use their credit cards in Anadyr. Bushby and Kieffer visited on Sunday the local sports center where a championship in northern all-round competitions is nearing completion. They saw the most exotic event - jumps over sledges. This is the second event, connected with traditions of native residents, which they witnessed in the peninsula: the foreigners saw a race of dogs-drawn sledges in the village of Lavrentia. Weather will help Bushby and Kieffer to get acquainted better with Anadyr. It has improved in the capital of the Chukchi Peninsula. A thaw replaced literally in one day cold weather with temperatures dropping to minus 20 degrees Centigrade. It is bright sunshine and no wind in Anadyr on Sunday. Nearly each resident in the city with a population of 10,000 tries to go for an outing or stroll along the streets on such days.

24th April 2006
Unfortunately Karl and Dimitris’ money has run out so they are unable to make phone-calls and as we are unable to phone them, then we are relying on very limited e-mails for information. While it has been extremely difficult to get any money to them, we may be able to rectify that problem shortly and they could have some money by Monday (24th). Which will be good news to them as they have had to tighten their belts somewhat recently. Dimitri had picked up an infection on his hip last week which was dealt with immediately by the hospital and necessitated him staying there for the weekend. It would appear that all will be OK though. It was hoped that Karl and Dimitri would be down in Anadyr by now but as there is only one aircraft per week hopefully they may get a flight on Wednesday. We are still working on the premise that the appeal hearing could be heard within the next couple of weeks. Just a quick apology for not updating that ‘latest photos’ for a while. Because of the court cases the authorities have had to hold on to the cameras and consequently we have no shots of the Bering Straits crossing.

17 th April 2006 
At this time Karl and Dimitri are still in Lavrentiya. As a good number of you will know. the result of the court case was a disaster, especially for Karl. Both K & D are to be fined 2000 roubles ($72 / £41) and deported from Russia. It was stated that they would be given leave to apply for re-entry in five years’ time. I received a telephone call this morning, (17th April), from Karl stating that they will lodge an appeal on Wednesday. Two weeks after that they have to move down to Anadyr, the provincial capital, as this is where the case will be heard. There is a good chance that will take place within a month of the appeal being lodged. 

Dimitri will launch an appeal as he wishes to return to Uelen in March 2007 to ski / make his way on foot to Magadan, some 2,500 kms / 1550 miles to the south. From there he wishes to take a cycle westwards. 

Karl states that life’s a bit of a roller-coaster at the moment with one day seeming quite positive and the following negative and full of confusion. Consequently, he’s decided to take it just one day at a time, but remains resolute that one day he will walk back onto English soil.

11th April 2006 
E-mails have been received from both Karl and Dimitri, still in Lavrentiya (population 1200). It would appear that within the next day or two a federal judge will decide if and when this case will be brought to court. The charge will be entering the country at a none authorised entry point. They have a local lawyer to defend them and also a translator. Some of their possessions have been returned to them, including their passports (unstamped). However, all their electrical equipment, as well as skis, poles, dry suits, underwater gloves and sled have been retained for examination. These will be examined by experts as part of the current investigation. K and D state that they are OK and get lovely home-made meals from their friend Father Leonid, the Orthodox priest who gave them a place to stay. They have managed to find a radio station from Anadyr that plays a mixture of Russian/ US rap and rock which helps to pass the time. They are progressively learning Russian in order to be able to adapt to their new surroundings, relying heavily on a phrase book and dictionary borrowed from the local library. 

The map shows their starting point on Cape Prince of Wales (W), the landing point near Uelen and their location now at Lavrentiya (L).

4th April 2006
Today the balloon went up when I received a call at 07:00 stating that two foreigners (no names given) had been detained by border guards on the Chukot Peninsula. It would appear these people did not have the correct entry stamps on their visas, or in fact exit stamps on their American visas / passport. They also had with them detailed maps, navigation equipment and a handgun, as well as satellite communications and a digital video camera. It would seem they were detained in the town of Uelen and later moved to the town of Lavrentiya some 50 miles to the south. 

Later in the day I received an e-mail from a journalist who had spoken to Dimitri. In a short, non private conversation he stated that they were in an apartment and being interviewed by FSB officials. However, their health is good, their spirits up and they were getting well fed and cared for, (so it would appear they are better off now than they were a week ago!). Here in Hereford things took off like a rocket. Telephone calls to both Andy and I were literally non-stop. I have had two film crews (one Russian) at my house filming interviews, and both of us have given a number of radio interviews. It would seem there is intense interest in Russia itself, so we now await the authorities decision. Don’t hold your breath, the bureaucracy could take some time. It would appear our dynamic duo have been treated well and correctly, with the border guards only doing their duty. Given where Karl and Dimitri were leaving from in Alaska and arriving in Russia, this problem had been foreseen but there appeared no way around it, as 12 months of enquiries into the acquisition of special permits got us absolutely no- where. 

I’m sure the boys are taking full advantage of the beds, showers and food…. More when we get it!

31st March 2006

I got a call from Karl this morning (09:00 UK) (23:00 Thurs AK), stating that from yesterday’s location they had made it to within half a mile of the shoreline but had to stop due to lack of light. They had come across some open-water with a 9ft wall of ice on the opposite side. They managed to find a way around this then discovered they were on ice that was attached to the shore. It was quite the roughest they had seen so far, however it was old ice and not going anywhere so they were quite confident they wouldn’t just drift away during the night.

I had to wait until 22:00 (UK) for Karl to come back to me with the confirmation they had reached land. His first words were “Terra Firma!” It would appear they had landed before noon and were on a thin strip of land running along the coast. Needless to say they were elated and mightily relieved. They were then going to make their way down to the settlement of Uelen (see the attached maps), some 3.5 miles away. The settlement is probably just a collection of huts and if anybody lives there then this should give the inhabitants something to talk about for the whole of next week.

After that they will be making their way down the coast, a couple of hundred miles to the settlement of Provideniya where they hope to sort things out with the authorities! That could be a whole other adventure. Dimitri hopefully plans to fly back to the US from there. Unless K&D can find some sort of internet connection / or telephones in the settlements along the coast then communications could become somewhat sporadic. If we have to rely on the satphone then we’ll have to be extremely frugal with airtime as Karl only has three batteries left. But, you never know what’s going to turn up around the corner with this expedition and we’ll keep you updated as best we can.

31st March 2006
I got a call from Karl this morning (09:00 UK) (23:00 Thurs AK), stating that from yesterday’s location they had made it to within half a mile of the shoreline but had to stop due to lack of light. They had come across some open-water with a 9ft wall of ice on the opposite side. They managed to find a way around this then discovered they were on ice that was attached to the shore. It was quite the roughest they had seen so far, however it was old ice and not going anywhere so they were quite confident they wouldn’t just drift away during the night.

I had to wait until 22:00 (UK) for Karl to come back to me with the confirmation they had reached land. His first words were “Terra Firma!” It would appear they had landed before noon and were on a thin strip of land running along the coast. Needless to say they were elated and mightily relieved. They were then going to make their way down to the settlement of Uelen (see the attached maps), some 3.5 miles away. The settlement is probably just a collection of huts and if anybody lives there then this should give the inhabitants something to talk about for the whole of next week.

After that they will be making their way down the coast, a couple of hundred miles to the settlement of Provideniya where they hope to sort things out with the authorities! That could be a whole other adventure. Dimitri hopefully plans to fly back to the US from there. Unless K&D can find some sort of internet connection / or telephones in the settlements along the coast then communications could become somewhat sporadic. If we have to rely on the satphone then we’ll have to be extremely frugal with airtime as Karl only has three batteries left. But, you never know what’s going to turn up around the corner with this expedition and we’ll keep you updated as best we can.

30th March 2006
Well…. what a difference a day makes! There is good news and good news. It would appear that the batteries are OK and there was a fault with the satphone. However, it was fixed last night and consequently we now have coms again.�

Shortly after setting off yesterday (Wednesday) they reached an area of relatively flat ice pans. With the newly lightened sled they took full advantage of this and made an excellent 11.5 miles. Almost twice what had been considered a good day up to this point. Needless to say their morale took a much-needed boost. The weather is cloudy at times with some snow, but just at the moment there is no wind and no ice drift.�

The satellite photographs show there’s still a good amount of ice in their area and no major open water. It is in fact breaking up in the areas they have come through and they said that last night the moving ice sounded like a freight train. There is, however, a thin ‘pencil line’ of probable open water between the floating ice and the old, solid ice stuck to the Russian shore. It’s possible that this could be hundreds of metres wide but seems to be intermittent and is hard to decipher from the high altitude photographs. This is to their south-west (directly to their front) but it seems more solid to their west. In this case I think we will have to rely on the dynamic duo assessing the situation on the spot.�

The saga continues….

29th March 2006
Tuesday was, at its very best, disappointing. As they near the Russian coast the ice appears to be even more broken / ‘lumpier’. I received a call from Karl at midnight last night, (14:00 Tues AK), stating that it had taken them 4 hours to drag the sled just one mile. Having already shed some equipment they had decided to leave the sled behind, make backpacks from the discarded equipment and take with them only equipment necessary for survival. When I spoke to him again this evening, (08:30 Wed AK) he said they had tried this approach but found that it was even more difficult to get over the obstacles carrying weight on the body. They therefore returned to the sled and are proceeding as before. 

Karl also has a problem with the batteries for the satphone. He took five batteries along. One he has already used, the second is partially used and he has now found that the three remaining batteries appear unserviceable. Given that he will need the satphone in an emergency, it may well be that we don’t get any updates for the next few days as he tries to conserve this battery. We could really do without this as the next three or four days will be critical and I will be unable to pass on weather and ice conditions. 

Spare a thought for the boys at this time, and an extra one for Karl as it’s his birthday today.