Between two oceans

LOWA PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD KIENBERGER CROSSES EURASIA IN WINTER

Between 2 oceans

"My personal equipment proved its worth. Above all, the two pairs of LOWA shoes I had with me on the tour were ideal. The RENEGADE ICE GTX became my everyday shoe. Nice and warm, yet flexible enough to drive a car in." Richard Kienberger

Russia - It was a dream that LOWA photographer and journalist Richard Kienberger had cherished for years that came true in spring 2018: he wanted to cross the double continent of Eurasia in one go - in winter of all times.

The journey was to connect Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of Europe on the mainland, with Magadan. This Siberian harbour town lies on two bays of the Sea of Okhotsk and can be reached from Yakutsk via the Kolyma Strait. The biggest problem in realising the travel plans: for most people in St. Petersburg or Moscow, the Russian Pacific coast is something of a distant continent that they have heard of, but hardly know anything about.

TRAVELLING IN THE ICY COLD

What's more, the Pacific port of Magadan still has a dubious reputation in Russia because in Soviet times it was considered the gateway to the Gulag - the infamous Siberian penal camps. The first part of the journey took Kienberger through Portugal, Spain, France and Belgium to Lake Baikal in Russia. The further he travelled, the more the cold posed a problem - less for him than for his vehicle.

Kienberger travelled as far as the formerly forbidden garrison town of Chita, not far from the border with China.

"The winter was extremely cold and snowy in Russia this year. In Yakutia, which is something like the icebox of Siberia, the thermometer dropped to an unimaginable minus 60 degrees in January. At the time I was there, the temperatures were still minus 45 degrees at night." Richard Kienberger

THE LAST STAGE

It is too dangerous to drive the 2,000 kilometre-long Kolyma road, which passes through just a handful of settlements, on your own. Because of the cold, even the local safari providers, who have specially equipped vehicles, cancelled their operations. Kienberger therefore decided to fly to Yakutsk and Magadan. There, the LOWA YUKON ICE GTX HI model was used in temperatures of up to 35 degrees below zero during the day.

Richard Kienberger spent a total of 64 days on the road "Between 2 Oceans", covering around 26,000 kilometres. He was particularly impressed by the landscape and the encounters with the people.

"The area around Magadan is really beautiful and a paradise for nature photographers." Richard Kienberger

Between two oceans

Between 2 oceans

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