International Transcontinental Off-Road Winter Race

23.12.2005 

The annual adventure race “Expedition-Trophy” is held from February 23 till March 8, from Murmansk to Vladivostok, from far Polar West side of Russia to Far East side. Up to 70 crews have to travel about 16 000 km within 14 days to get the Grand Prize — 10 kg of pure gold. A crew includes 3 persons (2 men and 1 woman) and goes by 4x4 vehicle.

The route is divided into several stages. In 2006 amount of parts will be enlarged from 7 to 11:

• 1 stage: Murmansk (February 23) — Karelia (Kem town) (February 23);
• 2 stage: Karelia (February 24) — Saint Petersburg (February 25);
• 3 stage: Saint Petersburg (February 25) — Moscow (February 25);
• 4 stage: Moscow (February 26) — Perm (February 27);
• 5 stage: Perm (February 28) — Yekaterinburg (February 28);         
• 6 stage: Yekaterinburg (March 1) — Novosibirsk (March 2);
• 7 stage: Novosibirsk (March 2) — Irkutsk (March 3);
• 8 stage: Irkutsk (March 4) — lake Olkhon, lake Baikal (March 4);
• 9 stage: lake Olkhon (March, 5) — Shilka (March 6);
• 10 stage: Shilka (March 6) — Blagoveschensk (March 7);
• 11 stage: Blagoveschensk (March 7) — Vladivostok (March 8).

Between all these stages team-briefings and press-conferences will be held. Moreover, teams are expected to pass special zones — in Karelia (near Kem-town), Moscow, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, on Lake Olkhon, near Shilka and Blagoveschensk. Special zones are “trophy” stages, quite difficult for passing. For example, in the Race-2005 special zones were on Onega lake, Baikal and Amur river. Next year there will be city special zones also. “Night megapolis orienteering” will be organized in Moscow and Yekaterinburg.

Fully equipped vehicles Mitsubishi L 200 will be afforded by the Organizers for the Race-2006. Also crews are allowed to participate on their own cars.

Participants will start the race as crews (1 car, 2 men + 1 woman). Throughout the competition from the beginning of the second stage, crews have to link up into teams so they are travelling in two-car formations (2 cars, 6 persons). At the end of each stage some teams will be eliminated. The crews must then re-group to continue with another. And only before the last stage, in Blagoveschensk, teams have to come apart. Thus only 1 crew (3 persons) will get the first prize — 10 kg of gold.

In addition to the Grand Prize of 10 kg of gold, two other prizes are on offer: prize “Expedition”, which will go to the crew displaying the best spirit of the competition as voted by all crews participating in the race, and a “Culture Navigation” prize. Even those crews eliminated in the progressive stage of the race may choose to continue and take part in this competition. In the race-2006 different cultural and historical places of Russia will become control points in contrast to the first race.

For example, in Nizhiy Novgorod in a friary there is a unique planetarium. An old town of treasures Cherdyn is in Perm region. In Chelyabinsk there is a monument of a beggary. In Toliatty — a monument of a German shepherd. The first jet airplane was built in Tumen region.

The crew gets the prize “Culture Navigation” if gathered maximum points.

Besides, “Expedition-trophy 2005” became the record-holder in 5 nominations:

• The most massive concert event on ice of the deepest lake in the world (Baikal);
• The longest route of a winter automobile competition;
• The longest train route in the world (Moscow-Murmansk-Vladivostok-Moscow);
• The biggest amount of feminine-participants in winter automobile competition in the world;
• The fastest passing the longest winter race route in the world.

We filed an application on all these nominations to the Guinness World Records Book.

On the 24-th of September 2005 at the International Extreme Projects Festival “Extreme Verges” the project “Expedition-Trophy 2005” got two main rewards: national premium “For an important contribution in adventure sports development” and an award “The best project of the year”.

For more information, please, check our web-site: www.expedition-trophy.com.

Tatyana Stepanuk, PR-director
tel. +7 (095) 788-96-91
mob. +7 (916) 497-97-90
stepanuk@e-xpedition.ru

Yana Zhatkina, PR-manager
tel. +7 (095) 788-96-91
mob. +7 (926) 320-90-70
zhatkina@e-xpedition.ru

Natalia Pertsova, press-attashe
tel. +7 (095) 788-9691
mob. +7 (903) 524-16-60
npertsova@e-xpedition.ru