Watch: Saranskaya Bay, Kamchatka
Gotta admit, Kamchatka's been on the wish-list for quite a while now.
Ever since I traced my finger over the rough, 1,250-kilometre-long peninsula north of Japan, I've always wondered what the surf might be like. It's so close to the birth region of enormous weather systems that bathe the entire North Pacific basin with groundswell - but is it too close?
Google Earth eventually opened a pandora's box of possibilities, and there's been a couple of surf trips over the years - including those of travelling longboarder/filmaker Cyrus Sutton - but every time, they've each left me wondering whether its potential will ever be truly tapped.
Here's another video to whet the appetite.
Comments
Back in the early 90's in my first career in travel I put together a Kamchatka expedition for a bunch of geologists. It was the first ever western group into this secure zone after the wall came down. Luckily all the group were hardened expeditioners because the Russian standards were minimal comfort and maximum physical challenge.
Later through the 2000's in another career in travel i manged a series of trekking adventures and everyone returned saying it was the toughest, most basic but still most fulfilling adventure they had ever experienced.
By most reports the travel industry in Kamchatka has really evolved - but dont expect luxury or service. Its still a land where self sufficiency and challenge dominate every experience!
Tell me about it
I can see that you registered over seven months ago.
You've been very patient waiting for a zinger like this.
Looks like he may only get the one chance....LOL
Some very nice gulags in proximity for talky mouths such like you
hahaha! patient indeed! and then to be upstaged by another commentator
classic thread ha ha
I see an opportunity here Chris, PW & PS combination.
looks pretty dangerous all things considered - not a legrope in sight
I's be temped to take the skidoos up the hills and find some powder turns on a snowboard first then maybe finish with a splash in that just for the novelty and pure beauty of it.
Lovely
With mountains like those I would be doing more snowboarding then surfing.
Done plenty of trips with two snowboards packed in the old boardbag. Looks fun though...I think they may have done some crazy bomb testing there ?
Seen a doco on sbs about it years ago?
What I thought, LD. World class skiing, and fat little longboard waves.
Not a hard choice for me.
Gee that is really keen. A for effort, Z for feeling and brains. Why would you do it as said above, those mountains look the go if you are into snow boarding or skiing, the waves on the other hand combined with air and water temp, ahhhh nup. And you northerners bag us for the cold in winter, that is totally ridiculous.
If you lived next to a world class empty break that worked everyday, id imagine you might jump on the random hill that got covered with a shitty dusting of snow.
Agree on the snow side of things, right in the path of the Siberian snow conveyor belt.
It could be that I'm hazy on a Monday, but I have a nagging memory of a snowboard film including a segment on Kamchatka? I'm thinking it was one of Travis Rice's?
Fits with his sort of movie and how nuts he is!
Yep but didn't hey get denied, as they hadn't cleared their arrival with the Ruski's? Bad planning by the film producer.
Landed but couldn't leave the heli?
that sounds familiar Craig
maybe why i can't remember any footage
There is a Red Bull Perceptions episode about it too
looks like they skunked on that one too
looks like surf n snow are the same...very iffy and easier, quality options elsewhere
Hokkaido back country looks like an easier option!!
Ha ha! True that.
Just goes to show you how much out their is too be discovered.
Hey Tim.
Do you think you’ll ever start a YouTube channel with your back catalogue like Taylor Steele is doing ?
You’ve had some epic movies through the years.
Have you been surfing there a lot? When is the best time to go there?
Yes I surf there spend one month there. The best time is autumn I think. Because waves already like in winter, but temperature of air like summer. But Water is cold anyway.
Do you have many surf spot? Do you have many coasts to still explore? Is it crowded?
Its almost uncrowded everywhere and so many potential for explore. For now we have 5 active surfing regions and each one have around 5-7 places to surf.
What are the names of these regions?
This is from west to east – Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Vladivostok, Kamchatka. We also have another places, but there is no surf community for now and people may be just try to surf few times.
Love the singular Q&A hillsintas - had me confused there for a while!!! Sounds like you and JosephStalin could be good mates!!
Not my words,
but from this link.
http://surfholidays.ru/en/surfing/news/site/detail.php?ID=8315
Вы много серфили там? Когда лучшее время для поездки туда?
Да, я там провожу месяц. Лучшее время осень, я думаю. Потому что волны уже нравятся зимой, а температура воздуха - летом. Но вода все равно холодная.
У вас есть много мест для серфинга? У вас есть много побережий, которые еще предстоит исследовать? Это многолюдно?
Его почти не переполнено везде и так много возможностей для изучения. На данный момент у нас есть 5 активных регионов для серфинга, и у каждого есть около 5-7 мест для серфинга.
Как называются эти регионы?
Это с запада на восток - Калининград, Санкт-Петербург, Сочи, Владивосток, Камчатка. У нас также есть другие места, но пока нет сообщества для серфинга, и люди могут просто попробовать заняться серфингом несколько раз.
Vy mnogo serfili tam? Kogda luchsheye vremya dlya poyezdki tuda?
Da, ya tam provozhu mesyats. Luchsheye vremya osen', ya dumayu. Potomu chto volny uzhe nravyatsya zimoy, a temperatura vozdukha - letom. No voda vse ravno kholodnaya.
U vas yest' mnogo mest dlya serfinga? U vas yest' mnogo poberezhiy, kotoryye yeshche predstoit issledovat'? Eto mnogolyudno?
Yego pochti ne perepolneno vezde i tak mnogo vozmozhnostey dlya izucheniya. Na dannyy moment u nas yest' 5 aktivnykh regionov dlya serfinga, i u kazhdogo yest' okolo 5-7 mest dlya serfinga.
Kak nazyvayutsya eti regiony?
Eto s zapada na vostok - Kaliningrad, Sankt-Peterburg, Sochi, Vladivostok, Kamchatka. U nas takzhe yest' drugiye mesta, no poka net soobshchestva dlya serfinga, i lyudi mogut prosto poprobovat' zanyat'sya serfingom neskol'ko raz.
Great video. Enjoyed that a lot.