- 2 days ago
Episode 2:
Deep in Siberia’s frozen wilderness, Ed Stafford investigates the Patomskiy Crater, a gigantic circular mound discovered in the 1940s that has baffled scientists for decades. Locals call it the “Fire Eagle’s Nest”, claiming it’s cursed—or perhaps extraterrestrial.
Braving sub-zero temperatures, avalanches, and dangerous terrain, Ed teams up with Evenki reindeer herders to reach the site and discover the truth. Could this massive formation be a meteor impact, a volcanic explosion, or something man-made?
This episode combines geology, folklore, and survival in one of Earth’s harshest and most mysterious regions.
Thank you for supporting our channel
Deep in Siberia’s frozen wilderness, Ed Stafford investigates the Patomskiy Crater, a gigantic circular mound discovered in the 1940s that has baffled scientists for decades. Locals call it the “Fire Eagle’s Nest”, claiming it’s cursed—or perhaps extraterrestrial.
Braving sub-zero temperatures, avalanches, and dangerous terrain, Ed teams up with Evenki reindeer herders to reach the site and discover the truth. Could this massive formation be a meteor impact, a volcanic explosion, or something man-made?
This episode combines geology, folklore, and survival in one of Earth’s harshest and most mysterious regions.
Thank you for supporting our channel
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TVTranscript
00:00...cover the secrets of a mysterious crater.
00:03I've gone in alone.
00:05It's 30 degrees below zero.
00:08Frostbite is a massive concern.
00:09And I think I'm losing my mind.
00:15Right now, 1,200 operational satellites are in orbit around our planet,
00:20taking thousands of new pictures every day.
00:23These photographs are revealing some mysterious markings,
00:27and I want to find out what they are.
00:30I live for adventure.
00:32I've walked the Amazon, but there is so much of the world left to explore.
00:36This satellite imagery is bringing up crazy images from all over the planet,
00:40which I just cannot explain.
00:42And the only way to find out what is going on
00:44is to literally pick one, pack my bags, and go there.
00:51The military call this ground truth.
00:53It could be jungle. It could be desert. It could be arctic.
00:57I've no idea how to get there, or what I'll find.
01:01So I'm sure of a genuine adventure where anything can happen.
01:06I've found a satellite image that has me intrigued.
01:17This one is deep in the mountains of eastern Siberia.
01:22Most of it looks very, very similar.
01:23It's forest, it's mountains,
01:24and yet there's what looks like a huge crater
01:27with a sort of conical shape within it,
01:29and then a further crater within that.
01:31It's in the middle of nowhere. It's extraordinarily remote.
01:33This marking does not make any sense.
01:38Siberia is famous for meteor strikes,
01:41but meteors don't usually make craters shaped like this.
01:45All I know is that in central Siberia,
01:48the temperature can drop to 60 below,
01:51and I'm leaving tomorrow.
01:53Three-piece snow shovel.
01:55No.
01:55One pair of gloves.
01:57Two, three, four...
01:58Most of my expedition experience is in the heat of the jungle.
02:02Nine.
02:05Overprepared, Ed?
02:07I have got experience in cold-weather environments
02:09in that I spent about a year and a half in Patagonia
02:11running cold-weather expeditions from an office.
02:18I can't wait.
02:22At 5.30 in the morning,
02:24I meet cameraman James for the first leg of our journey.
02:28A short hop to Moscow.
02:32From there, it's another five and a half hours
02:34to Irkutsk, in eastern Siberia.
02:38But I'm still over 1,000 kilometres from the target.
02:41And with no scheduled flights,
02:43we have to hitch a ride on a cargo plane.
02:46And we're going in via the tail.
02:50And this is the luxury transport.
02:52It's not comfortable.
02:54It's not comfortable.
02:54It's not comfortable.
02:57It's exciting.
02:59Siberia is huge.
03:01It's over three-quarters of Russia's land area,
03:03but it's one of the most sparsely populated regions on Earth.
03:07My target is in the wilderness of southeastern Siberia,
03:10not far from the village of Perubos.
03:12But the nearest airport is 200 kilometres south
03:16in the small town of Bodai Bo.
03:23This place is so typically eastern block.
03:27It's almost like a set.
03:29Not the most intricate of architecture, it has to be said.
03:31I don't speak Russian,
03:34but I need to communicate
03:35to whoever any chance of making it to my target.
03:38I don't think I'll find any English speakers
03:40in a remote place like this,
03:42but I'm hoping that I might have some luck
03:44at the local school.
03:46I know you.
03:47You're from Discovery Channel.
03:49Are you with VR bills?
03:51No, I'm not very well.
03:53There's a lot of people
03:54who obviously watch Discovery Channel here.
03:57Everyone seems to know me,
03:58which is very bizarre.
04:01The students give me a couple of leads,
04:03and a few hours later,
04:05I get a call from an English teacher called Ira.
04:07Okay, so should we go to the statue of Lenin?
04:12Ira?
04:13Yes?
04:14How are you?
04:14Nice to meet you.
04:15Give me a hug.
04:15Lovely to meet you.
04:17I think it's a great chance to practice my English,
04:22to communicate with you.
04:24The school holidays have just started,
04:26so Ira is free to work with me as a translator.
04:28Okay.
04:29The place that we're actually going to
04:31is just in these mountains here,
04:33but we need to get to Peliwaj first.
04:36The road can be difficult there.
04:38It can be dangerous.
04:39How would you go there?
04:40By track, maybe,
04:42with the walkers driving to their gold mines.
04:45There's trucks that belong to the gold mine
04:47that go there each day?
04:49Yes.
04:49Perfect.
04:50Absolutely perfect.
04:52Ira tells me that gold mining
04:53is the biggest employer in Bodai Bo,
04:55and, like most locals,
04:57she has friends in the business.
04:59We've got this big truck here,
05:01which is a gold mining truck,
05:02which we're going to take for the next 10 hours or so,
05:05maybe 11 or 12 hours,
05:06if the weather's bad.
05:08The road north to Peliwaj
05:14goes past some of the largest gold deposits in the world.
05:18I wonder if the crater could be in a band of mines,
05:21but these guys have theories of their own.
05:23Maybe, hmm, space ship there under the ground.
05:30Right, okay.
05:31Seriously?
05:32Yes.
05:33What, the space ship would cause this hole?
05:35Maybe.
05:36Okay.
05:37Um, never say never, I suppose.
05:42This Siberian mystery certainly captures the imagination.
05:46And though it's hard to believe all the stories,
05:48it's 70 years since the crater was discovered,
05:50and geologists searching for an explanation
05:52still haven't found a single theory they can all agree on.
05:56But we have a more immediate concern.
05:59The road is closed,
06:00forcing us to take our seven-ton truck onto the frozen river.
06:04I'm sure it will hold.
06:06However, there are big, long cracks in it.
06:09Which is slightly unnerving, I have to admit,
06:11because it's springtime and everything's melting.
06:20At this time of year,
06:22the weather can change from sunshine to blizzard in an instant,
06:26making difficult conditions deadly.
06:28It takes 12 hours to drive just 200 kilometers,
06:52but finally,
06:52I'm within striking distance of the crater.
06:54We're all shattered after that bus ride.
06:58That was a long time,
06:59in the bus.
07:01Paravos has no hotels,
07:02so the only option is to rent a room from a local family,
07:06the regrettably named Mr. and Mrs. Schitts.
07:08Hello.
07:10My name is Ed.
07:11Ed.
07:12My name is Ed.
07:13I'm Ed.
07:14Nice to meet you.
07:15Olga.
07:16Hello.
07:17Hello.
07:17Leonid and Olga welcome us with open arms.
07:20And not long after,
07:22an open bottle of vodka.
07:25Why are you here?
07:29There's a big crater.
07:30Badansky.
07:31Badansky crater.
07:32I've seen it from an aerial photograph,
07:35and I'd like to see it with my own eyes and go and find it.
07:37He wants to see it himself.
07:38It's on the ground.
07:40It's a big energy there.
07:43No.
07:44Big energy there?
07:45The trees and the grass can't grow there.
07:49Why?
07:50They don't know.
07:52Local legends claim that the crater is the nest of a giant fire eagle.
07:57Some believe it's cursed,
07:58and that those who go there will die.
08:01These colorful stories make me even more determined to see it for myself.
08:06This is the first proper topographical map I've seen of the area.
08:09What's this scale?
08:10One centimeter.
08:12It's one kilometer.
08:13Okay.
08:13My plan is to come up here,
08:17over here,
08:18and drop down into the valley where the crater is.
08:21And this time of the year, it's very difficult.
08:25There is a lot of snow.
08:31Okay.
08:31Over two meters.
08:34Right.
08:35Very difficult or impossible?
08:38No.
08:38It's impossible.
08:39Okay.
08:40I understand that that is really steep,
08:42but this is less steep here.
08:44Am I going to do it?
08:45It'll be all right.
08:45You are crazy.
08:47Thanks, Danny.
08:48I came to Siberia looking to test myself,
08:53to learn from local people and see how I adapt to a new environment.
08:57For me, this is what adventure is all about,
08:59and I can't wait to set off tomorrow morning.
09:01It isn't rocket science.
09:04It's still just the mountains.
09:05It might be called Siberia,
09:06but it's still just a hill that's a bit cold at the end of the day.
09:13Next,
09:13in the extreme conditions of the Siberian wilderness,
09:17I get a shocking reminder of how deadly this place can be.
09:20I cannot go over.
09:22Keep calm.
09:23Keep calm.
09:32The remote Siberian town of Perivos is my last stop before I set off on foot
09:37to find a mysterious crater known locally as the Fire Eagle's Nest.
09:43It's always quite interesting arriving in a town after dark
09:45and then waking up in the morning and seeing it for the first time properly.
09:49Just surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
09:53It's an amazing remote part of the world.
09:57Around here, the air is so cold that diesel fuel freezes.
10:01This guy's making a fire in order to slide under the engine,
10:04to heat the engine up in order to get the truck going.
10:08I can use these conditions to my advantage,
10:11driving up the frozen river to within eight kilometres of the target.
10:16Once I get to the drop-off point, I'll be on my own.
10:19So Leonid is keen to warn me that this region
10:22has Russia's highest concentration of brown bears.
10:26When the bears haven't fed enough before winter,
10:29they haven't flattened up enough,
10:31they actually end up coming out of hibernation much earlier.
10:33What would you do if you were faced with a bear
10:36and you've not got your rifle with you?
10:37Yeah, I was afraid of it.
10:39We don't shout or run.
10:42It's dangerous.
10:44Don't run, don't shout.
10:45So just stand there and look at it.
10:48Don't look at bears.
10:52Okay.
10:52Leonid's also concerned that I don't have the right gear
10:57to cope with two-metre snowdrifts.
11:00He wants me to meet a local tribe who know the area inside out.
11:04The indigenous guys aren't where we were hoping we would meet them.
11:08Problem is, these guys are nomadic,
11:10and so we're just following their tracks now.
11:12It looks like we're here.
11:20What's his name?
11:21What's his name?
11:22Mikhail.
11:23Mikhail.
11:24What's up?
11:24Ed.
11:25He was on with Ed.
11:26There are fewer than 70,000 Avenki spread throughout Russia's frozen expanses.
11:30It's a rare privilege to spend time with nomadic people anywhere in the world.
11:35Despite their modern jackets and mobile phones,
11:37Avenki lifestyle is grounded in a long tradition
11:40of mastering this extreme environment and making it home.
11:43So they've got hide beds and spruce on the floor there.
11:46This is a toasty, toasty warm tent.
11:48Everything is made out of reindeer here.
11:53The harness, the bridle, all of the mats in the tents,
11:56and I suspect, although I haven't asked,
11:58that they eat quite a lot of reindeer as well.
12:00It is the provider of everything.
12:02And they even use reindeer skins on their skis.
12:07Real skins on the bottom so that clearly it will slip forward,
12:10but it won't go backwards so you can go uphill.
12:13That is a piece of kit and a half, isn't it?
12:16They're beautiful.
12:17I'm sure Mikaiu's skis will be incredibly useful.
12:21And it's been fascinating to learn from these guys.
12:26You're saying that the drinking water is all just melted blocks of ice?
12:30But as much as I'd love to stay, I'm on a schedule, and I have to get going.
12:35It's time to get on with the mission at hand and find the crater.
12:38I've got everything I need in terms of equipment,
12:39and hopefully I've got enough experience.
12:42Of course I have.
12:47According to Leonid's map, I should be able to make the target by nightfall.
12:53My plan is to bash up the hill and stay high,
12:56trekking six kilometres along the ridgeline
12:58before dropping into the valley that leads to the crater,
13:02and it's there that I'll camp for the night.
13:03From now on, I'll be totally on my own.
13:09Good luck, man.
13:11Thanks, mate.
13:13Siberia is being kind to me at the moment.
13:15The clouds have parted and the sun is out.
13:18This is the moment I've been waiting for.
13:24I'm heading into one of the coldest and most inhospitable places known to man
13:28to get my eyes on Siberia's best-kept secret,
13:33the Potomsky crater.
13:34It's just a case of picking, picking my way up through the tree line.
13:45I'd allowed myself a couple of hours to reach the top of the hill,
13:48but the route seems much tougher than it appeared on the map.
13:51Keep taking two steps forward and then sliding one step back.
14:00The slope is going to be a little bit tricky.
14:08It's just taking a lot longer than I thought.
14:14I've only gone 400 metres in the last hour,
14:17and it doesn't help that I've got to keep stopping to do the filming.
14:21But I'm most worried about how my trusty mountain boots
14:26are going to cope with the snow.
14:29The leather is just now soaked and starting to freeze,
14:32and my feet are getting very cold.
14:35I'm nowhere near the ridgeline
14:37and over six kilometres from the crater,
14:39but I have to get my tent up before nightfall.
14:42When the sun goes down, it could drop below minus 20 degrees.
14:47But I may have picked the worst possible spot.
14:51It looks like there's bear tracks
14:53going from right to left across the path.
14:57Bears should still be hibernating,
14:59but I've heard stories that if one is on the move,
15:01it means it could be very, very hungry.
15:04And if I'm attacked out here, I'm helpless.
15:06I mean, it's snowed very recently,
15:11so I reckon that this walked through
15:13within the last couple of days.
15:18It needs to be very wary indeed.
15:22But it's too cold to risk moving camp,
15:24and as the sun disappears over the horizon,
15:27the camera lens starts to freeze over.
15:29Nothing like some white...
15:35Okay.
15:38Okay.
15:39Wow.
15:47Okay, one camera down already.
15:50I think the cold has killed it.
15:51I just got quite alarmed by the rate
15:56at which the temperature dropped just then.
15:59Even in my tent, the second camera is icing up.
16:03Yeah, that's frozen, isn't it?
16:07Jungle's the one thing.
16:09You just need a machete and some boots,
16:11and away you go.
16:13Whereas here, it's really inhospitable to life.
16:16So if I put my tent up wrong,
16:20I could die.
16:27Sleep time.
16:32My sleeping bag is insulated for extreme cold,
16:35but overnight temperatures of minus 30
16:37pushed it to the limit.
16:41Very cold night.
16:43Very, very cold night.
16:43I'm going to crank up the cooker.
16:49Just want to heat things up a little bit.
16:57This isn't my environment already, is it?
17:04Wow.
17:05It is cold.
17:07Right, time to pack everything up
17:09and get moving.
17:10Progress yesterday was agonisingly slow.
17:16If I'm going to make it to the crater,
17:18I need to change tactics.
17:22Now, although it sounds ridiculous,
17:24I've just been looking at the map,
17:25and I can actually backtrack,
17:28go down the river and up a gentle rising slope.
17:30And I think just because of the fact
17:32that it dropped down to minus 30s last night,
17:35I do need to be relatively careful around here.
17:39I can't just blunder up into the hills.
17:42Frustrating, but it's got to be done.
17:47I wasted my first day struggling up this hill.
17:50But I'm confident there's an easier way to the ridgeline,
17:53not far upriver.
17:55I'm confident there's an easier way to the ridgeline.
17:58I'm confident there's an easier way to the ridgeline.
17:59OK.
18:00Keep calm.
18:02Keep calm.
18:03Keep calm.
18:04The 1 to 100,000 map,
18:06I didn't account for the lack of detail on it
18:10and where I thought I was just going to get
18:12a gentle rising slope,
18:13I've got another wall of snow to go over.
18:17Very steep slope
18:18and a very steep slope
18:20with trees all over it.
18:21I cannot go over it.
18:26I'm not sure if the extreme cold
18:28is messing with my brain,
18:29but Leonid's map doesn't make sense.
18:32This feature here should have finished by now,
18:34but it hasn't.
18:35And that's somewhat confusing me.
18:37I know that I've come 3cm on the map.
18:40So why is the ground not appearing as it should?
18:47Do you ever have heard those feelings
18:48that your mind is playing tricks on you?
18:51Next.
18:55By the time I figure out what's wrong with the map,
18:58it's too late.
18:59Everything is twice as far
19:01and twice as big.
19:03Right now,
19:04I'm...
19:05I'm...
19:05I'm...
19:06I'm alone in Siberia
19:17trying to reach a mysterious crater.
19:19But these snow-covered slopes
19:22have been tough going.
19:24So now,
19:25I'm walking along the frozen river
19:27looking for another way over.
19:29And my map
19:30doesn't make any sense.
19:36In French,
19:37it's another.
19:40Oh, Stafford, you're an idiot.
19:42It's another
19:43incline of,
19:44I don't know,
19:45400 metres.
19:48I'm absolutely sure
19:50that Leonid told me
19:51that the map was
19:51one centimetre
19:52to one kilometre.
19:53What's the scale?
19:56One centimetre
19:58is one kilometre.
19:59OK.
20:00OK.
20:01But unless I've completely lost it,
20:03the scale has to be wrong.
20:05I know that on the map
20:07it's only three centimetres,
20:08so three centimetres,
20:10one to a hundred thousand map
20:11is three kilometres,
20:12a kilometre a centimetre.
20:14But the total distance
20:16that I've covered
20:16is six kilometres,
20:18which means
20:18I've been working off
20:19a one to two hundred thousand
20:21map
20:22rather than
20:23a one to one hundred thousand.
20:24And so everything
20:25is twice as far
20:27and twice as big.
20:30Crikey.
20:32I've got my legs
20:33and I just feel like
20:34I've put
20:36each foot
20:37in a bucket of concrete
20:38and decided
20:39to go for a walk.
20:42I'm halfway
20:43through my second day
20:44and I've only made it
20:45a couple of kilometres.
20:47These mountains
20:48are twice the size
20:49I thought,
20:50but I have to find
20:51a way over
20:51if I'm going to make it
20:53to the target.
20:53I have massively
20:57underestimated
20:58not just in terms
20:59of the extreme cold
21:00but in terms
21:01of the difficulty
21:02getting around.
21:04I've got a lot
21:05of climbing
21:06to do as well.
21:13I'm starting
21:14to get a bit...
21:15Oh, panic's
21:16the wrong word
21:17but I'm starting
21:17to get flustered
21:18and my feet
21:19are freezing.
21:21This isn't going
21:22how I expected it to
21:23at all.
21:25I'm not even sure
21:26if I've got enough
21:26food to keep me going.
21:30I've got to admit...
21:32Right now,
21:34I'm...
21:35I'm...
21:35It's one of those moments
21:38where you just have
21:38to stop yourself
21:39and go,
21:39hang on,
21:39you're blundering
21:40through here, Ed.
21:41Just maybe stop.
21:42Maybe a change of plan
21:43is needed.
21:47I'm making no progress.
21:49I've got limited supplies
21:50and I'm wearing
21:51the wrong boots.
21:53Carrying on like this
21:54would just be foolish.
21:56Hello, mate.
21:56Can you hear me?
21:59A couple of hours later,
22:00the guys picked me up
22:01pretty much
22:02where I started yesterday.
22:04You all right?
22:05Yeah.
22:06Yeah.
22:07I know that the change
22:08of plan is the right call
22:09but it still annoys me.
22:11I hadn't accounted
22:14for how slow
22:15it was going to be
22:16underfoot
22:16and how exhausting
22:19that would therefore be
22:20but yeah,
22:20I mean,
22:21a couple of hours,
22:22one I did 400 metres,
22:23one I did 300 metres.
22:25In an hour.
22:26In an hour, yeah.
22:28Now I know
22:29why Leonid thought
22:30I was crazy
22:31to go over the mountain
22:32but I guess
22:33the scale of the map
22:34got lost in translation.
22:36Don't think this map
22:37is one kilometre
22:38is one centimetre.
22:39No, no, no, no.
22:41No, no, no.
22:41No, no, no.
22:41No, no, no.
22:42No, no, no.
22:43I thought you said
22:43one for one.
22:44Yeah.
22:46It's three, mate, basically.
22:48In one centimetre,
22:49two kilometre.
22:50Doesn't matter.
22:51Doesn't matter.
22:52It says what it is.
22:55I need to warm up,
22:56reset,
22:57and go out again
22:58tomorrow morning.
23:01But first,
23:02I'm going to need
23:02two things.
23:04A shorter route
23:04to the crater
23:05and some warmer boots.
23:09Whoever wins,
23:12we give each other
23:13our boots.
23:14All right, bye.
23:20Yeah!
23:24Yes!
23:27Yes!
23:27Oh!
23:29What the f***?
23:33Morning, it's 7 a.m.
23:35just um woken up my right toe um it's definitely onset of some sort of frost net so i need to be
23:41really really careful with that and make sure they don't get cold again the best treatment for
23:46frostbite is rest and warmth but i'm not about to give up it's a new day new start and there's no
23:52way i'm going to leave here without getting to the target area leonard wants to take me along
23:58the river as close as possible to the crater but as we go further into the mountains the ice becomes
24:04too thin to carry on by car but there is another way to travel in siberia
24:15the avenki nomads are moving camp and they say i can hitch a ride with them there's not many
24:20places in the world where the best option of transport is to go by reindeer sled but i think
24:25in this case it is it really is i'd absolutely love to live like these guys
24:31their setup is so simple that it doesn't take long to get everything packed up
24:39slates are all loaded we're ready to go let's just hope i can drive this thing
24:43this is going quite well um these reindeer are following the reindeer in front and therefore
24:57i'm not actually having to steer really i'm just keeping balance so so far so good
25:04the avenki's next camp is 10 kilometers up river
25:08from there i should be able to continue along the valley on foot all the way to my target
25:13the reindeers are actually dragging the sled through water where the snows and the ice is melting
25:19which is causing problems in itself because then spraying up and getting everything wet obviously the
25:23one thing i don't want to be in this temperature is wet we're making good progress but i can't afford to
25:30get too soaked you lose 30 times more body heat in wet clothes than dry
25:38it's just such a penalty changeable unpredictable environment really
25:54from this point i have to say goodbye to these guys sadly because i'm going in search of the crater
25:58it's amazing my whole jacket is actually solid with ice at the moment
26:06it's been a few days mate don't die all right i'm on my own again and i'm determined not to let
26:13the conditions beat me a second time this is my last opportunity to get eyes on this crater
26:18and um i'm not going to waste it new footwear on more food so um feeling very buoyant very positive
26:28and uh feels like i'm back on track everything i've learned in siberia tells me that it would be a
26:36massive mistake to try and blast over the hills so this time i'll stick to the river as long as possible
26:46so you can hear that as i walk forward
26:55that is the sound of ice cracking
27:01that's not a good sign as i'm getting further at river the spring melt is uh is causing the ice to thin
27:09if i fall through with this heavy pack on i might get swept under the ice
27:18there goes again even if i pulled myself out a full immersion in ice cold water could send me into
27:24hypothermic shock slowly to the tree
27:33i do not want to get wet i absolutely do not want to get wet
27:41at the next river bend i see how close i came to disaster there's open water there
27:47i would have gone straight through the ice the last thing i wanted to do was push myself through
27:54snowdrifts again but i have no choice
28:02this is taking the person out i think the skis are needed
28:06the problem is the skis don't fit my new insulated boots they're too big for the leather bindings and
28:15keep sliding off
28:19but i've got to make them work if i want to get to the target before sundown
28:24okay so far so good okay they work didn't so much as you're on top of the snow
28:31i'm not gonna waste any more time on this it's just annoying
28:40enough enough enough enough messing around
28:46i'm only three kilometers from the crater but progress is painfully slow and my frozen feet
28:52feel like they've been hit by hammers
28:53i can feel my right toe throbbing it's not dead dead as in completely normal
29:07frostbite is a massive concern that is not what i wanted
29:15next i face a tough decision when i discover i've got frostbite
29:23i'm alone in the siberian wilderness on my second attempt to find a mysterious crater known locally
29:37as the fire eagles nest i've lost feeling in my toes and fear i have the beginnings of serious frostbite
29:45i must get my camp set up soon to survive the freezing nighttime temperatures
29:50i'm at the foot of the very very final ridge line that will take me up tomorrow morning to um
29:58to go and see the crater so tonight i'm gonna camp around here and um
30:04and i'm exhausted i'm absolutely exhausted
30:18fire fire fire fire first thing
30:21small branches covered in lichen are an ideal fire starter
30:26they've got very very fine tender and the smallest grade of kindling all in one
30:31meeting the indigenous evenki tribe has inspired me to abandon all my modern kit
30:36and rethink how i'll survive the brutally cold night
30:40i'm going old school i'm not going to use my tent i've got it as a safety measure but i've just
30:45figured this is how you're meant to live in siberia
30:49i'm much happier making a fire and building a lean-to shelter
30:52then crawling into a nylon tent with only a little gas stove to keep you warm
31:01all you really need is a lighter and an axe
31:05this is the way to camp
31:11that'll protect me from the wind reflect back the heat of the fire so that i'm not just heated on one
31:16side i'm heated on both sides and that is war underneath above my head i need to close all of
31:22these gaps instead of filling the gaps with small branches i'm using a heat blanket from my emergency
31:28survival kit it's a lot of work involved making a camp like this
31:38however making a pretty damn good shelter there's something satisfying about that especially because
31:45it's natural it's traditional it's the old way of doing things and you know what it works better
31:50and right behind me i have a crater to attack in the morning so much fun
31:59now that is a proper fire
32:03temperature's dropped massively now outside um outside you're outside ed up and humbled
32:12quite a few times on this trip i really have i am i've never pretended this is my field of expertise
32:17however i do claim to be competent in the outdoors in all environments and need to know that i have
32:23got the sort of capabilities of our ancestors who lived in the forest who chopped wood who built
32:29themselves shelters who made fires
32:31the forest in the forest in the forest in the forest in the forest in the forest i've learned never to
32:39underestimate the siberian weather extreme cold strikes in a heartbeat and if you're not prepared
32:45it can kill you by nightfall it's already minus 25 degrees this sort of ominousness about this place is
32:53somewhat lifted by fire it somehow tames the whole wildness makes you feel safe
33:05it's gonna work you know this is gonna work
33:10it's siberia and i'm sleeping outside
33:16my only worry is that after warming up next to the fire my toes still feel frozen to the bone
33:23it's okay okay well
33:30definitely i've got a fresh nip on my toe
33:36fresh nip fresh bite crystals of ice have formed in the flesh unless they're treated the blood flow is
33:44cut off and as the tissue dies the toe turns black extreme cases require amputation
33:53it does show what a mistake what a real mistake traveling in leather boots that weren't insulated
34:04was that has caused me frostbite in my toes
34:08okay that's me out of chat um signing off for the night see you in the morning
34:19i won't lie potentially losing my toe is a bit of a worry
34:30but siberia has one more trip up her sleeve
34:32in the night the wind changed direction blowing smoke into my shelter
34:41i've slept some i've slept some
34:46i've had such bad luck on this trip i am beginning to think this crater really might be cursed
34:51if i don't want my frostbite to worsen i should really get urgent medical treatment
34:58but i didn't come 6000 kilometers just to quit at the last hurdle
35:08final ridge um
35:10three four hundred meters i think straight up over by the bridge crater should be there
35:20let's go it's been a very very long journey so far
35:30okay last push
35:32the whole journey has come right down to the basics it's me versus the mountain my one objective is
35:42getting eyes on the crater
35:47this climb is absolutely littered in fallen trees and uh that means that i have to climb over everything
35:56i don't think i want to go
36:06my big toe on my right first is causing me no problems at all because i can't feel it
36:14which is a bonus in terms of getting up the hill but a slight worry in terms of getting out of here and
36:21just keeping on top of my health
36:26my voice speech is starting to slur a bit the cold this morning is extraordinary even though i'm
36:33exerting myself to an extreme it's slowing my brain down it is literally it's like my brain is working
36:42too treacle
36:53i reckon 300 meters was a underestimate i've still got maybe 300 to go
37:02keep going edward keep going
37:05pig-headed determination destroyed my chance of reaching my target on my first attempt but right
37:16now it's the only thing driving me on
37:26i've probably come up 400 meters now maybe last 100 to push very very cheeky little last leg this one
37:42is very cheeky indeed it's going to stop
37:58very thick forester
38:03dropping down towards this target
38:06oh yes
38:14that is a crater
38:17oh my goodness
38:21i'm so exhausted i'm so exhausted and i think i might have a lie down before i explore it
38:27finding this crater on foot has been an adventure i'll never forget
38:36now i'm finally here the feeling is indescribable
38:45what looked intriguing on a satellite image is breathtaking in real life
38:49now that is satisfying i'm in the crater
38:59no picture could convey the scale of this massive pile of shattered rocks
39:03it must be over 150 meters across
39:07standing here i see why it's inspired so many crazy stories from a fire eagle's nest to an alien
39:13spaceship's landing place it's one of the most mysterious targets that i've ever had to investigate
39:19but i'm certainly not surprised that this place is considered so mystical because
39:23it is such an anomaly this huge white donut of rock in the middle of a vast landscape it is
39:31so incongruous and yet it is so magical really
39:37who knows if this incredible crater will ever reveal its secrets i don't know if i even want an answer
39:44i'm just grateful for what the journey here has shown me all thanks to one intriguing image from space
39:50yes
39:55geophysicists argue that the crater's donut shape rules out a meteor strike
40:00and some rock samples that i took for analysis backed us up
40:03i'd have stayed longer but i couldn't risk losing a toe
40:06my
40:07my
40:12you
40:12you
40:14you
40:16you
40:18you
40:20you
40:22you
40:24you
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