The Kamchatka Peninsula
East of Siberia, with the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk making up the eastern and western coastlines, the Kamchatka Peninsula, a 1,250km (780 mi) long peninsula in the Russian Far East, is also known as the "Land of Fire and Ice”.
The Kamchatka River and the surrounding valley are flanked by massive volcanic belts that include 160 volcanoes! The extreme weather, the heavy snow, and the high density of volcanoes has resulted in its' description as the land of fire and ice. Mountains are covered in ice and snow in winter months, active volcanoes dotting the landscape offset by frozen barrens make this one of the most unique and dynamic landscapes on Earth. Six UNESCO World Heritage List sites are located in the Kamchatka Peninsula, the most volcanic area of the continent.
Kamchatka is also famous for the abundance its' brown bears. In the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, there are estimated to be three to four bears per 100 square kilometres.
The Team
Ray Zahab - Expedition Runner
Ray is a Canadian Adventurer, Ultra Distance Runner and Founder of non-profit impossible2Possible. A recent recipient of the Meritorious Service Cross of Canada, Ray is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Explorer in Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. In 2015 Canadian Geographic recognized Ray as one of Canada's Top Explorers.
After completing a 111 day, 7500km run across the Sahara Desert in 2007, Ray decided to leverage his future adventures to support impossible2Possible (i2P), an organization he founded that inspires and educates youth through adventure learning, inclusion and participation in expeditions, using virtual technology. National Geographic tracked the Sahara expedition by web, as well as the documentary film "Running The Sahara", was produced by Matt Damon, in an effort to raise awareness for the drinking water crisis in North Africa. Ray has gone on to complete multiple expeditions all over the world, running over 14,000kms across the world's deserts- a complete list can be found at www.rayzahab.com/about
Ray speaks internationally at events such as 'The Economist Magazine", World Affairs Council, TED, the Royal Geographical Society and multiple corporate events. Ray recently hosted the reality based television series The Project Guatemala, and has appeared on Jay Leno, The Hour, CNN, BBC, Discovery and many other networks. He has written two books, and continues as a volunteer with impossible2Possible. Ray is passionate about utilizing the latest technology and visual capabilities to connect his expeditions with classrooms and living rooms all over the world, his goal to inspire others to take on adventures of their own!
Stefano Gregoretti - Expedition Runner
Stefano has been passionate about endurance sports since he was a child, growing up playing in the Italian Alps. An accomplished climber, endurance athlete and skier, Stefano developed an early passion for ski mountaineering in the Dolomites. Since those early days, Stefano has gone on to complete multiple Iron Man competitions in Europe and the United States, and top finishes in ultramarathons all over the world.
Stefano founded the European branch of non-profit impossible2Possible in 2012, and has guided many Italian i2P Youth Ambassadors on learning based adventures of their own.
In 2014, Stefano completed a winter crossing of Baffin Island with Ray Zahab, and since that expedition, they have completed multiple projects together, including - 1,000km run across the Patagonian Desert, an unsupported fat bike across the Arctic Ocean and Baffin in winter, 1,850km run from south to north across Namibia, in summer, and multiple other Arctic projects.
Support
Jon Golden - Photographer
Jon Golden is a freelance photographer based in Charlottesville, Virginia. He studied at the University of Virginia and works locally and internationally. He is a founder of the Look3 / Festival of the Photograph. He was most recently published in Virginia Quarterly Review and the December 2012 issue of Italian Vanity Fair. He has lived in Sydney, Australia, and more recently Oslo, Norway. He has made photographs and videos around the globe with a particular interest in cold northern latitudes.
Mr. Monkey
Mr. Monkey started joining Ray on expeditions in 2009, when his daughter Mia secretly packed him in a duffle bag that was headed to Antarctica with Ray and the the team headed to the South Pole. Mia felt that Mr. Monkey could keep Ray company, and share some stories with her upon his return to Canada. Since that first expedition, Mr. Monkey has been on numerous expeditions all over the world, sharing with younger students his adventures- and all the exciting things that happen while exploring the world! Watch for his blog posts, and photos of his adventure!
I2P Home Team
Our extended team at home works tirelessly on numerous priorities, such as communicating and connecting our expeditions to schools, keeping our partners in the loop, compiling footage and photos for school access, managing media requests, and making sure we keep on track! We couldn't do this without them!
#Trans
kamchatka
This expedition is in support of impossible2Possible (i2P) (impossible2possible.com) an organization that aims to inspire and educate youth through adventure learning, inclusion and participation in expeditions. Youth Ambassadors are selected from around the world, and then participate, at no cost, in all aspects of an expedition, from logistics and running to creating educational content and team support. All i2P Youth Expeditions have included various challenge based initiatives through an Experiential Learning Program, in which thousands of students participate as active ‘team members’ during the expeditions, from classrooms all over the world. This program and its technology is also provided at no cost to the students or schools participating. Since its inception, i2P Youth Expeditions have included 14 gruelling expeditions; Baffin Island, Tunisia, the Amazon, Bolivia, India, Botswana, Utah, Peru, Chile, Italy, California, Greece, Death Valley and Canada. The programs and expeditions are 100% free of cost.
Limitations are 90% mental and the other 10% is all in your head.
– Ray Zahab
