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Exploration, expeditions, personality training

I have organized 30 expeditions into some of the most remote, isolated, and logistically demanding mountain ranges and plateaus, focusing so far on North & East Siberia and Siberian Arctic, usually solo, both in summer and in winter.

A general statement of reason I conduct expeditions because I like to solve challenging multifaceted problems in exploratory mountaineering and in polar exploration in very remote and hard-to-reach mountain ranges and plateaus. Moreover, I use expeditions as a propeller for more effective and more efficient research activities. Specifically, my expeditions develop personality strength, mental resilience, perseverance and tenacity, resourcefulness, resistance to stress, and leadership skills. They have greatly enhanced my research activities: all the mental and psychological resources developed and trained in very hostile environments can be directly reused when tackling demanding deadlines and any other research challenges. The expeditions are also a great lesson in efficient risk management and decision making: one must learn how to quickly and efficiently make many decisions that may have important consequences: a bad decision may lead to death, a good decision may save one's life. Here, solo expeditions are of particular value: one learns how to fully rely on oneself, not take anything and anyone for granted, and take full responsibility for one's actions.





General goals & profile of expeditions I am most interested in: (a) climbing remote peaks in deep winter conditions in January–February (usually previously unclimbed in winter) in the coldest parts of Siberia, and (b) traversing the most isolated mountain ranges and plateaus. Selected target regions: Yakutia, Kolyma, Chukotka, Taimyr Peninsula, Central Siberian Plateau, Evenkia. I particularly like solo expeditions, because these are the most challenging mentally. Sometimes I organize stationary expeditions, working on research projects and intense readings in the isolation of inspiring views and with no distractions.

Targeted destinations As my targets, I select mountains and plateaus that are as remote and isolated from nearest civilization outposts as possible, hard to get to, challenging logistically and topographically, and mostly unexplored (having seen little to no exploratory attention). An example is Byrranga Mountains, an absolutely pristine and equally harsh mountain range in the Siberian Arctic located more than 500km from the nearest reachable village, where I organized solo expeditions. Byrranga is the northernmost continental (mainland) mountain range on Earth. Other examples are various Yakutian mountain ranges in winter, such as Verkhoyansk Mountains, Suntar-Khayata Mountains, or Chersky Mountains: very far away from civilization, and unique due to their extremely low winter temperatures, reaching levels around -70 Celsius.

Why the mountains of North Siberia and Siberian Arctic specifically? Because this is a hostile and unyielding environment, very challenging, virtually unexplored, and completely pristine in most parts. Both summers and winters come with numerous mental and physical challenges related to weather, climate, terrain, for example: deep valleys full of swampy and impassable taiga forests, vast, gloomy, and severe plateaus with ferocious winds, unexplored crevassed glaciers, violent and wide rivers, grey and bleak polar deserts, endless marshy tundra, sheer cliffs and deep canyons (sometimes deeper than 1000 meters), technically demanding mountain ridges and faces, temperatures as low as -70 C (without the windchill factor) and as high as +40 C, deep, soft, and unstable snow, vast fields of sharp stones, wild animals, ultimate isolation and solitude, and many others.


Selected explored mountain ranges and plateaus, for a total of nearly 30 expeditions:

self portrait

self portrait



The maximized metrics in my expeditions are: (1) the isolation and the distance from nearest civilization outposts (and thus indirectly logistics and transportation challenges) as well as (2) the severity of weather and climate.

Some of the most interesting expeditions so far are as follows (more details are in the CV):


Awards and honors related to exploration are also listed in my CV.

Some selected impressions and situations:































































































A link to the main exploration website: LINK