"Siberia, you're going to bloody Siberia to ski active volcanoes? Are you guys crazy?" I remember a work colleague asking. At the time I remember thinking well maybe we are but it's going to be a hell of an adventure. Well after nearly suffocating in our tents due lack of oxygen after five days of constant blizzard; being held up, searched and questioned for four hours by the Russian military after we skied into their secret military base; or after standing on the summit of the 'Orange alert' volcano we made the journey to climb and feeling it erupt beneath our feet maybe you could say we were crazy - but hell we made it!

Heading to the distant Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Siberia, our expedition dived long and deep into a range of volcanoes on the infamous 'Ring of Fire'. Kamchatka was closed to all foreigners until 1994 because of the secret air force and military bases in operation during the cold war… well they might be secret but we still found one! We did as much research and study on the area before going and found that a circle of 4 volcanoes surrounding the Bogdanavich glacier had not been skied nor little explored by locals or foreigners in winter. The tallest of these volcanoes is the active Klycheveskoy at 4750m, the highest volcano in Eurasia and we made it our aim to complete the first climb and ski descent of these four volcanoes. What we did not quite count on was the weather!

Being Australian, many foreigners believe we spend our entire lives either sitting on a beach or under a tree in the desert, believing we have neither snow fields nor mountains (maybe they are substantially true!) This may have been our demise… it was cold, especially for us Aussies it was really cold! The scales on our temperature gauges bottomed out at around -30oC and for many mornings it was well below that mark!

Anyway, after sitting in our remote Russian hotel/hostel for 9 days waiting for the weather to clear we finally got the nod from the pilots and the rotors of the Russian MI11 started to spin. That 45 minute flight into the mountains was certainly one of the highlights of the trip, from the rattling and shaking of the old machine when in flight to the first glimpses of the volcanoes themselves it was an experience never forgotten. Then suddenly, with a flurry of snow and a whirl of sound, we were alone in what can only be described as an truly awesome landscape. With two perfect cone shaped volcanoes standing side by side, whose summits were more than 2 kilometers over our heads and several other steaming peaks around us, it was like nothings else.

After a couple of days establishing camp and dropping a load of food and equipment at a high camp we got to the top of our first peak, a rounded volcano called Ushkoveski at 3903m. With the late afternoon sun catching the steam gently wafting from fumaroles on the summit it was as nicer a little summit as you'll find anywhere… little did we know of the conditions to come.

For the next five and a half days we were beaten into submission by one hell of a blizzard. Our lives revolved around our sleeping bags, the odd meal or two in the battered igloo, a game of cards and the wind blown assault of digging the tents out three times a day. Both tents were repetitively covered by a foot of snow that not only made them far smaller and less comfortable inside but blocked out the oxygen from getting to us inside. On more than one occasion I remember trying to figure out why I was panting whilst lying in my sleeping bag at just 2800m… time to get up and dig it out again.

When the weather finally did clear, and we were able to regain our senses and see Klycheveskoy above us we decided to give the weather one last run for its money before it closed in again. After moving camp up a level and watching a beautiful sunset amongst these amazing peaks we were feeling pretty pumped for the summit attempt the next day. Despite a severe cold of -35oC, the following morning was calm and the only way up as we pressed on for the summit. After Steve and Stuart turned back 1/3 of the way up, Dan, Jarrod and myself topped out at around 4:30 that afternoon, completing what many of us had almost given up on after the weather experienced over the last three weeks.

There are many memories of this expedition, many stories to tell and experiences to recount but few are greater than that of standing on top of that volcano. Steam, sulfuric gasses, smoke and cloud swirled in obscurity, the view drifting in and out with the slight breeze on top. Whilst all breathless for the altitude and beards coated in ice, we could not hide the joy from our faces. For Dan this had been the culmination of a five-year dream and to glimpse into the crater 700 m beneath us an honor not afforded to many. All summits are filled with awe and power but it was not until we heard an eruption in the depths below us that we really became aware of just what we were standing on. This mountain was a living thing, connected to the very earth's core it was alive beneath us and just reminding us who's boss. On that note we got the hell out of there!

Having skinned/carried my skis to the top it was with great excitement that I finally pointed them towards the tents 1400m below me. Although the snow was not perfect, the feeling of a powered up telemark turn on an active volcano in the middle of Russia having just stood on it's summit was better than sex! Stopping several times on the descent we could not help but enjoy the incredible views in front of us, with smoking volcanoes scattered towards the horizon and our accomplishment behind us we really felt on top of the world. Whoops, hollers and grins welcomed us back into camp as we relayed the news to Steve and Stuart; the trip had been a success and a world first completed - the first climb and ski descent of Eurasia's highest volcano.

Expedition facts:
Departed: 24 March 2004. Returned: 23 April 2004
1st climb and ski (telemark) decent of: Ushkovesky 3903m (Sam Maffett and Jarrod Paine)
1st climb and ski (telemark) descent of Klycheveskoy 4750 (Sam Maffett)
Length of time spent waiting for the weather: 14 ½ days
Lowest barometer reading during the blizzard: 973mb (Normalised for sea level)
Number of Uncle Tobies muesli bars consumed by the party: ~450
Amount of Russian known prior to leaving: <20 words