Climbers Make First Winter Summit of Highest Peak in Polar Arctic
Two climbers have successfully completed an ascent of Gora Pobeda (Pik Pobeda), the highest mountain in Siberia, in the Polar Arctic Circle, the coldest inhabited place on earth.
Tamara Lunger and Simone Moro successfully reached the mountain’s 3003m summit on Sunday, 11th February at 3.37pm then returned to their base within a total time of 11 hours, covering 27.3km and 2047m of elevation gain whilst avoiding the need to camp out in the extreme conditions. Had they fallen, a rescue would have been impossible.
“It snowed all day long, but luckily there was good visibility. It was cold but thankfully cloud cover was in our favor, warding off the extreme temperatures. Low wind and -30/35 is what we can realistically say about the summit day conditions, however, during the entire expedition we experienced as low as -50! Our Non Stop Alpine Style climb had been designed specifically to avoid an overnight in potential extreme conditions” said Simone.
Tamara added, “This was an environment like no other. The journey alone was crazy – we had to take 3 planes just to get to Sasyr, the town closest to Base Camp, and even there temperatures averaged around -35/-40 degrees. We had just 3 days of good blue sky weather throughout the whole expedition. In any case the solitude and remote area showcased it’s astounding natural beauty.”
Speaking for both of them, Simone Moro added: “We are very grateful to the herdsmen who really supported us throughout the whole trip – it would not have been possible without them. We’re ecstatic to have summited what is quite likely be one of the coldest mountains on earth.”
The duo are sponsored by The North Face and a film will be released on the brand’s YouTube channel this autumn documenting Tamara and Simone’s achievement.
