I'm just back from an amazing trip to Kamchatka in far East Russia with the Eagle Ski Club, Gordon Nuttall one of the team wrote the following report on the trip.

Land of Fire and Ice

The descent path to the airport at Petropavlovsk is nothing if not spectacular. The night flight from Moscow had carried us through nine time zones to cross the Sea of Okhotsk shortly after dawn. The Ilushin IL-96 rapidly lost height over the Sredinnyi and Vostochnnyi ranges of snow capped peaks, pink with the first light of day. The plane took a wide sweep into the Pacific for its final approach over Avacha Bay. Minutes later we were on the concrete runway and had arrived in Kamchatka.

Andrei, our Russian guide, greeted us. Bruce, our UK guide, had met him on a trip to Kola two years previously. A trip to Kamchatka in 2007 was hatched but failed to get off the ground for want of commitment. Now, here we were, oversubscribed if anything; eleven ski mountaineers plus Russian and UK guides.

Of the 300 or so volcanoes in Kamchatka, 29 remain active. Bruce and Andrei’s plan was to get us to a few of these NE and SW of Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka’s principal town. Early spring thaw had put the (otherwise inaccessible) South Plateau onto the itinerary. Before further snowfall put it out of reach, it was decided to go there first.

6th May. We travelled by ex-army 6x6 truck to Nadhezda on the Paratunka river. The accommodation was basic but was blessed with a glorious hot spring which guaranteed a luxurious soak at the end of each day plus clean clothes for those who wanted them.

Three days of indifferent weather kept us from the South Plateau but did not prevent Andrei from finding us good, even superb, downhill skiing each day. Boomerang Couloir, aptly named, was an exhilarating descent from Babiy Karmen (woman’s stone – 1052 m) at the back of the hut. An excursion to 1200m on the Vilyuchinsky volcano gave us access to a less intimidating couloir but an excellent ski descent of 1000m to our vehicle at the roadside. The ski descent from the summit of Mutnovsky pass (using the 6x6 as a means of ascent for another run) was just as good, finishing with tree skiing on great spring snow.

9th May. A cold day. Clear skies and an early start saw us onto our tour of the South Plateau. The road journey of 20km to the Mutnovsky Pass took an agonising 2 hours through deep rutted snow. But then we were out into the sunshine and skiing down through our first powder onto the plateau, a featureless expanse of volcanic lava. The horizon was dominated by two volcanoes, Mutnovsky (2323m) and Goryely (1828m). Our tour across the plateau took us through a col at 1150m on Shaliskaya, a minor peak. We ate lunch at the col with stunning views to 360 degrees, all the while wondering whether a splendid looking descent to the Mutnovsky geothermal energy plant was deteriorating each minute under the warm spring sun. We set off not a moment too early. Down we skied through deep, heavy snow, visiting hot springs on the hillside before meeting Vadim and his 6 wheeler at the plant.

The following day was reserved for the journey back to our apartments at Yelizovo, but the morning was spent on the ascent of Gorychaya (712m) near to the hut. The 600m descent, mostly through trees, was well up to Andrei’s exacting standards. Whatever else we did on this trip, no-one could complain of lack of downhill skiing.

12th May. We journeyed by minibus, 6x6 truck then Snow Cat up the bed of the Avacha river to the Avacha hut, a (probably) Swiss import with proper beds and proper mattresses. An afternoon tour took us by skis and scrambling to the summit of Verblyud (The Camel – 1550m) The descent from the saddle through wet, heavy snow left everyone but the guides scattered and sprawled in various poses on the mountainside. To the east silently smoking from the summit was Avachinsky (2741m) our principal objective.

We hit the jackpot first time. Next morning we were up before 6 and off by 7 am. The weather was cold and clear and the skinning up to about 2400m straightforward albeit we were on steep ground when we kicked off our skis and proceeded with sticks up the final 300m to the summit. This was agony, over steep, frozen and slippery volcanic debris. A cruel wind from the north blew up spindrift and livened up the ascent considerably. Refuge of a sort was found sitting on warm, damp red sand inside the crater at the summit, but there was spindrift everywhere which made hanging around wet and miserable. So it was about turn, now against the full blast of the wind, into the descent. Everyone summited, then skied down through good powder at first, giving way to crust that was easily avoided. A great day.

Koryasky was our secondary objective though the summit at 3451m was not on the programme, involving as it would over 2500m of ascent with difficulties at the summit. The guides decided against the summit back to back with the ascent of Avachinsky. Instead, Andrei had planned a skin up to about 2300m from where there was an easy traverse to the main couloir on this side of the mountain. This was to be our descent route. For me this was the highlight of the trip. We enjoyed a fantastic ascent in glorious spring sunshine followed by a couloir descent that surpassed all expectations. Unfortunately, our Snow Cat descent from the hut was scheduled for 5pm so time prevented our skiing the couloir out. We traversed out about 2/3rds of the way down, casting no more than a cursory glance at the vast area of deep, untracked snow we had left behind. The same transport, in reverse order, got us back to Yelizovo.

16th May. A helicopter had been booked to take us back to the South Plateau and the main crater of Mutanovsky. Another glorious day. Unlike the usual situation in which one is dropped off and skis down, we were landed on the mountainside from where we climbed up. We skinned up for about two hours, firstly to a minor, then the main crater. To the uninitiated volcanologists (and perhaps to those more experienced) it was a memorable visit. We passed steam jets, pits of bubbling mud and eventually scrambled up to the rim of the giant crater where we perched ourselves, 3 or 4 at a time, with legs dangling over the abyss, all manner of high temperature nasties several hundred feet below.

By now the weather was getting warmer and the snow rapidly disappearing. Andrei made a spirited attempt on a minor peak in the west of the peninsula named Gorylaya but two gymnastic river crossings either way, with a tangled ascent through dwarf birch trees in between persuaded us to give it best. On our final day we did manage a small, un-named hill (now Eagle Peak) which brought proceedings to a satisfactory close. A mammoth airplane journey (just avoiding the Euro-Final football crowds in Moscow) brought us back home.

In future I would go earlier to get better snow and more of it, though I make no criticism or complaint against those who chose the dates. Kamchatka, after all, has more snow than anywhere on the planet. It would be difficult to plan a trip without a Russian agent. Ours was New Route of St Petersburg (www.marchroute.com)

I felt that we had but scratched the surface in Kamchatka. There is still a huge amount to see and do. Summer trekking trips should not take place before 1st September to avoid the terrible plagues of mosquitoes. Though it is a long way to go, I would not have missed it for anything.

Party: Bruce Goodlad (guide), Andrei Nikiforov (local guide), John Barnard, Ric and Mandy Bartlett, Dave Carr, Stu Gallagher, John Goodwin, Val Hennelly, Martin Josten, Gordon Nuttall, Harry Salisbury, Roger Upton.