What are hummocks on Baikal. Baikal. Ice splashes, hummocks and grottoes

SIGHTS OF ICE BAIKAL

Transparent Baikal ice and sparkling hummocks are especially impressive in spring. After a thaw and a strong wind that blows away all the snow, the ice becomes perfectly polished. Through it, stones at the bottom are perfectly visible in shallow water. If there is a lot of snow during the winter, there are not so many open areas of mirror ice on the lake. From the end of February to the beginning of April, most trips are made on the ice of Lake Baikal. This is the ideal time to travel on the ice: warm, you can ride, for example, on a bicycle in light clothes, without gloves, and even briefly undress to a T-shirt. The sky is blue-blue, the sky is clear, and the snow-capped mountains of the opposite coast are clearly distinguished down to the details, as if they are nearby.

In recent years, it has become popular to go skiing, skating or cycling to make long journeys from the south of Baikal, from the village. Kultuk, to the north - to Severobaikalsk.
At the end of March, the ice becomes rough, snow deposits harden, which makes it possible to ride bicycles without special studded tires. In general, riding a bike on smooth ice is quite a difficult task, it is worth pedaling a little harder, and the bike is guaranteed to slide to one side. The practice of conducting tourist trips on the ice on cars, snowmobiles, the Khivus-10 amphibious hovercraft and dog sleds is quite new for Baikal, such tours have been regularly held only since 2003. to get to remote places on the coast, usually accessible only from the water. For example, to get to the Baikal-Lena Reserve on a boat, you need to swim continuously for about two days, in winter all this is available in a five to seven hour drive from Irkutsk.
Winter Baikal leaves an indelible impression. At the end of winter, a powerful shift of ice occurs, and individual hummocks can exceed the height of a person. Hummocked fields attract the attention of photographers with an unusual heap of sparkling ice. The mirror-like Baikal ice and the amazing blueness on the chips of ice blocks amaze all visitors. The exceptional transparency of the ice allows you to see the bottom near the shore and look into the blackening mysterious depths of the lake. The thickness of even thick ice is imperceptible and is determined by eye only in places dotted with cracks.

Coastal cliffs in winter are decorated with multi-meter high ice splashes sparkling in the sun. The thickness of ice on coastal stones reaches several tens of centimeters, and the height of such ice splashes on rocks on the windward side during a strong autumn storm sometimes exceeds tens of meters. Numerous grottoes are decorated with many large icicles and ice columns. Such ice sculptures are created anew every winter. Particularly spectacular splashes of ice and sokui are found on the rocks of the Ushkany Islands, the capes of Olkhon Island - Kobylya Golova, Sagan-Khushun, Khoboy. Every year, powerful ice thrusts form exceptionally beautiful hummocks near Cape Rytoy.

Sagan-Khushun - "white cape" - an extremely picturesque rocky cape, located on Olkhon Island, about 1 km long, made of light-colored marble, densely covered with red lichen and therefore having a burgundy hue. In winter, it is impossible to drive past him on the ice without noticing. Winter road, as a rule, passes near the rocks. At the foot is a heap of transparent ice floes, rocks to a height of tens of meters are decorated with openwork branched icicles. In a small stone bay between the rocks, tens of meters up, every year, when the lake freezes, spreading ice stalactites are formed, similar to the branches of Christmas trees. Near the north is an 8-meter grotto, like in the fairy tale of the Snow Queen, fantastically decorated with transparent ice icicles, stalagmites, ice crystals and patterns. All this beauty sparkling in the sun is difficult to convey in a video or photograph. The ice laces of the grotto are especially spectacular at sunset, when for a short time sunlight illuminates the interior of the grotto.

BAIKAL ICE

Baikal freezes over every year, and roads are built over the ice every year. With the onset of cold weather, at air temperatures below -20 ° C, in the first 3-4 days, ice grows by 4-5 cm per day. In the waters of the lake, the ice thickness ranges from 70 to 113 cm, while a pattern has been revealed: the more snow, the thinner the ice. It is believed that ice broken by a storm when the lake freezes is less durable than homogeneous and monolithic. But even homogeneous and monolithic ice can suddenly crack. Broken ice moves apart, in the cold the crack freezes very quickly, it is slightly covered with snow, and a dangerous trap for cars with 2-centimeter ice appears on the road with milestones. Therefore, the ice crossing from the mainland to Olkhon is open only during daylight hours: from 9 am to 6 pm.

Ice 50 cm thick can withstand a weight of up to 15 tons, and about a meter thick - the weight of a helicopter or steam locomotive. In the history of Baikal, the fact of laying a rail track on the ice between Baikal and Tankhoi stations in the especially severe winter of 1903-1904 is known.

Usually they go out on the ice early in the morning to catch the moment of the enchanting sunrise. The first rays of the rising sun fill the usually crystal clear ice hummocks with a mysterious golden glow. The desire to see this winter beauty beckons to the ice, away from the winter road laid on the ice to unusual hummocks or icy rocks. But it is better not to take risks and not leave the winter road unless absolutely necessary, but in places where steam and cracks are possible, move with a local guide who knows the characteristics of the ice well. The difference between roads on ice is dense snow blows, on which, like on a springboard, a car bounces. When overcoming frozen cracks and snow-covered hummocks, the suspension of the car often experiences strong shocks. Only at first glance, from a distance, the ice seems smooth as a mirror, in practice it is often found that it is impossible to drive straight across the ice due to winding cracks, hummocky fields and snowdrifts.
Local residents and fishermen have long and confidently mastered the ice expanses for moving by car. There are ice roads between the coastal villages, and where there are no roads, in most cases you can drive, preferably with a guide, around hummocks and cracks.

In March, one can observe a rare phenomenon - powerful ice thrusts, with a hydraulic shock, individual ice chips fly up like a cannon and scatter far across the ice. The silent balance of the hummocks crumbles at the same time with the rustle of revived ice. Right before our eyes, ice floes are squeezed out from under the ice. All this is accompanied by a continuous rumble, like during an earthquake, the sound comes right from under the feet, frightening with its power. The hummocky seam of the crack moves noticeably, individual ice floes fall and crumble into small pieces. The movement of ice can be figuratively compared to the work of a millstone - as if tightly clenched jaws break the ice into small crumbs. It happens that at such moments, water rushes onto the ice and in a short time covers it by 4-5 cm. After three or four minutes, everything usually freezes, and complete silence sets in.

In April, intensive ice melting begins. In a matter of days, and sometimes even hours, the car trail completely disappears, becomes covered with water, and you have to drive through deep puddles at random, in a cloud of spray, like from a glider. It happens that after lunch the snow on the ice is so crumbled that it is impossible to even find your morning car trail.

ICE TRAPS

Numerous car tracks on the ice in all directions create the illusion of safety. However, one should not deceive oneself - no matter how reliable the ice may seem, its deceit is unpredictable. Even the roads marked with milestones sometimes bring unpleasant surprises.

Open steam holes - polynyas are visible on the ice from a considerable distance, you just need to look carefully and be able to distinguish them. It is more dangerous when the steams are hidden by a thin crust of ice, and after a snowfall they are powdered with a layer of snow. In this case, it is difficult to detect them. If the steams are caused by the release of deep gases, then under the ice, if it is clean and transparent, gas bubbles can be seen. Steams formed by thermal waters, springs or the inflow of warm waters of tributaries are more difficult to notice. To do this, you need to carefully examine the ice in a suspicious place and test its thickness with a pick or other sharp object. Best of all, local ice features are known to old-timers-fishermen from these places.
Every year, in the same places, standing cracks appear - a kind of temperature seams in the ice cover. They are formed in the same places, as a rule, in a straight line between neighboring protruding capes. Separate through cracks can reach a length of up to 10-40 km and a width of up to 4 m, but most often the cracks are from 0.5 to 1-2 m wide. The appearance of these cracks is caused by linear expansion or contraction of ice during daily temperature drops, sometimes reaching 20 -30 C per day. It is calculated that when the ambient temperature changes by 1 degree, the linear expansion of ice reaches 70 mm per 1 km of ice.

The danger is cracks and crevices 0.5-2 m wide, extending for tens of kilometers. Many of them do not freeze all winter, periodically narrowing or expanding. Not a single crack, even the simplest one, crosses on the move. Before each of them, you need to stop and check the condition of the ice with the help of a pick - a special forged sharp lance with uneven edges so that it does not stick to the ice. Often there are cracks with thin ice, easily broken through to the water with an ice pick. Such cracks easily jump over cars at speed. To soften the impact, the edges of the cracks are covered with a pick. A meter-long gap with water is clogged with pieces of ice, the acceleration car drives off 200-500 meters, a gate is set up - a guide for the driver, where the car will jump through the gap, then rapid acceleration to 70-80 km per hour - and jump through the gap.
Ice thickness is also affected by undercurrents, which reduce its strength. For example, in the Olkhon Gate Strait, for this reason, no ice crossing is made. In winter, there are many cracks and steams on the ice here. The crossing to Olkhon is marked with milestones, they are regularly cleared with a grader and the thickness of the ice is checked. In different years, an ice crossing is arranged either from Kurkut Bay or from the mainland after the Sarma river delta. The pointer with the arrow "Ice crossing" will help you to go to the ice in the right place.
At the end of March, when the sun begins to warm up, it becomes dangerous to drive close over the ice to the rocks, near which the ice melts faster than in the open water area of the lake. You should also know that, despite frosts and thick ice, if a lot of snow fell and it quickly melted, such ice, due to the absorption of melt water and changes in its structure, is less reliable and homogeneous than ice on which there was no snow.

WINTER ROADS ON BAIKAL

Official winter roads on the ice of Lake Baikal are marked with poles frozen into the ice and numerous signs at the exit from the shore: "Permissible carrying capacity of vehicles is 5 tons", "Distance between vehicles is 200 m", "Stopping is prohibited", "Recommended speed is 10 km/h", "Time work from 9.00 to 19.00". But usually most of the roads are laid by fishermen and do not have any warning signs. Experienced drivers always prefer to stick to the trail in the right direction, and if they go straight, they try to avoid cracks and suspicious places that differ in the grayer color of the ice from afar.

One hundred percent reliability on ice roads does not happen even with a guide. Several cases are known when cars fell through on permanent winter roads between the villages of Listvyanka and Bolshie Koty, at the backbone crack, which starts immediately from the shipyard in Listvyanka. Much more often cars go under the ice, moving on the ice at their own peril and risk. In 2002, the expedition of the Ministry of Emergency Situations carried out a special search for sunken objects in the summer and registered 15 unlifted vehicles in the waters of the Small Sea alone. According to local residents, there are from 25 to 50 cars at the bottom of the Small Sea.

Usually in South Baikal the road makes its way from Baikalsk to the village. Kultuk and from the village. Kultuk to the village. Marituya. There are fewer roads in the middle Baikal. Most often, they drive on ice from the village. Listvyanka in the village. Koty (18 km), from the village. Bolshoe Goloustnoye to Peschanaya Bay. Sometimes local residents, if the winter was cold, break through the winter road across Lake Baikal from the mouth of the Anga River to the eastern shore. An official crossing, equipped with signposts and signs, is organized annually between the mainland and Olkhon Island. Most of the roads on the ice of the Small Sea, these are mainly fishing roads to ice fishing places, but there are also permanent roads from the village. Khuzhir, along the island and in the village. Onguren, to the cordon of the Baikal-Lena Reserve on Cape Solnechny and further to Zavorotnaya Bay. Every year, a winter road is laid on the ice in the northern part of Lake Baikal between the city of Severobaikalsky and the village. Ust-Barguzin across the Chivyrkuisky Bay.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN DRIVING ON ICE

As knowledgeable people say, falling through the ice occurs unexpectedly and rapidly. In a matter of seconds, the car dives with its nose and instantly finds itself under the ice. When the car falls through, the main thing is not to panic and have time to open the doors. Already when diving to 2-3 meters, the excess pressure from the outside makes it difficult to open doors and knock out windows. When hammering on the glass from inside the car under water, the glass bends, but does not break. Lowering the glass and jumping out through the window in winter clothes, overcoming a powerful oncoming flow of water, not everyone will have time. If the depth is known and insignificant (10-15 meters), it is recommended to wait for the car interior to be filled with water and the pressure to equalize, then the doors can be opened. There is enough time to take off the high boots and collect the essentials - documents, matches, a knife. If you manage to get out of the water onto the ice, there is a danger of simply freezing in the cold and wind until you get to the saving warmth of a nearby dwelling. Be sure to have a knife in your pocket to get out onto the ice, and a lighter to make a fire on the shore.
Most often on the ice, excessive confidence and drunk driving are ruining. Even experienced drivers are not immune from insidious ice traps. In warm winters, especially at the end of winter, cracks do not freeze, and if they are covered with thin ice and powdered with snow, they become extremely dangerous for cars. In cold weather, on the contrary, they freeze almost instantly, but the thickness of the ice in such a place is insufficient to support the weight of the car.
Usually, fishermen, ignoring the danger and prohibition signs, drive on the ice of Lake Baikal in all conceivable directions. Unjustified self-confidence often ends in tragedy.

HOW DROKEN CARS ARE RAISE

Both local residents and specially trained teams of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Irkutsk diving company "Aqua-Eco" are engaged in lifting drowned cars. You can raise the car from a depth of up to 40-50 m, a depth of 60-80 m - this is the limit for the work of divers. Divers say that for some reason, cars most often stand at the bottom on wheels, rarely turning over onto the roof. And if the car is not strongly crushed when lifting, it will remain in excellent shape. To lift, divers hitch the vehicle at one point, usually on a frame or outpost. Then, with the help of an arrow or a home-made structure of three or four logs frozen vertically in the form of a hut into the ice, at the upper point of which a cable block is installed, the car is lifted from the bottom and pulled onto the ice.

Sometimes they do without an arrow, as, for example, it was with the village that failed opposite. Angosolka with a light LUAZ. In that place there is a shallow bank, and the depths of 130 m immediately begin, the car fell 1.5-2 meters from the edge of the cliff, in this place there is a strong undercurrent and the springs beat. The ice was too thin and did not allow the car to be raised in the usual way. The rescuers decided to bring an uninflated rubber boat into the passenger compartment, which was then pumped up through a hose from ice from a cylinder of compressed air. This was enough for LUAZ to surface. If the ice is thin and does not allow organizing the lifting of the car, it is removed from the water in the summer with the help of a boat that tows the sunken car to the shore. And already there it is pulled ashore by a tractor.
The Buryats get the car out of the lane with the help of the gate. A hole is made according to the diameter of the chock, a gate with a long rope is tied to the chock inserted into the hole. One end hooks onto the frame or outpost of the vehicle at one point to bring the vehicle to the surface either nose or rear. At the edge of the lane, an arrow is built from thick logs or a specially welded iron structure up to 6 meters long, usually the length of the car. The boom is installed on the edge of the ice, at an angle of 45 degrees above the water, and with the help of a winch or a gate it rises together with the machine above the ice to a vertical position, after which it overturns on the ice together with the machine, which is accompanied by a strong roar when the machine gets on wheels.
If it is warm outside, the car raised from the bottom is towed without draining the oil and fuel. If the temperatures are low, it is necessary to prevent the freezing of water that could get into automotive units. To do this, engine oil, brake fluid, fuel and axle oil are immediately drained. All filters and spark plugs are replaced.

Here's what the process of pulling a car out of the ice looks like:

ICE ROADS OF BAIKAL

There is such a profession on Baikal - an ice captain. These are real "ice wolves", who know almost everything about the winter Baikal, its ice shell, undercurrents and winds. The main task of ice captains is to choose the road on the ice of Lake Baikal so that it is as safe as possible for driving in winter. On Baikal there is the so-called "League of Ice Captains", who in the winter season determine the location of winter roads on Baikal and are engaged in caravans on the ice of the lake. The basic principles of road transport on the ice of Lake Baikal were laid down by Alexander Yuryevich Burmeister in 1964. Having once got into a difficult ice situation, he survived himself, and brought people out. Since then, he has systematically studied the ice situation in the northern and middle parts of Lake Baikal. His observations formed the basis of a unified system of safe passage in the difficult navigational conditions of Lake Baikal. League of Baikal Ice Captains - e-mail: [email protected]

Here are the most popular car routes along the winter roads laid on the ice of Lake Baikal:

1. Expedition on the Baikal ice "Big Ring"

Route lasting 5 days: Irkutsk - Elantsy - Small Sea - the coast of the Baikal-Lena Reserve - Zaimka in Zavorotnaya Bay - Chivyrkuisky Bay - Irkutsk. The distance is 1200 km, of which 750 km are on the ice of Lake Baikal.

The format of this route might be:

First day. 260 km on asphalt, 60 km on a good gravel road, 60 km on the ice of Lake Baikal. Visiting shaman serge and ancient rock paintings. On the way, lunch at the cafe "Buryat cuisine". Accommodation at the tourist base in Zama or at the tourist base of Olkhon Island. Russian bath. Festive dinner.
Second day. About 200 km on the ice of Lake Baikal. Olkhon Island: inspection of splashes on rocks and icy grottoes. Journey across the ice to Cape Khoboy and seal caves. Crossing the Small Sea with a guide. Picnic at the sacred cape Ryty, where powerful multi-meter hummocks are formed every year. Visit to the seal cave on Cape Sagan-Moryan. Overnight at the castle in Zavorotnaya Bay.
The third day. Crossing Baikal. A trip to the hot springs in the Chivyrkuisky Bay in the Zabaikalsky National Park. The famous Ushkanii Islands are the favorite rookery of the Baikal seal. In the evening, a Russian bath with brooms and swimming for those who wish in an ice hole.
Fourth day. Fishing for grayling. In advance, a hole in the coastal hummocks will be hollowed out with a pick. The bait is poured - a drill. If you sit quietly and look into the hole, you can see how the grayling swims and how it takes the bait. This is one of the most exciting winter types of fishing. Fresh fish is prepared on the site of the ear or splitting.
Fifth day. Early departure and return to Irkutsk.

2. On the ice to the bay "Peschanaya"

3. To the ice grottoes of the Small Sea

The trip can be completed in two days with one overnight stay in warm conditions either on Olkhon Island (Bencharov's estate) or at the Enkhok individual recreation center (Thin Cape, western coast of the Small Sea). The total mileage is 750-800 km. The trip is interesting by visiting the ice grottoes, which are visible only from the boat in summer. Bicycles or a snowmobile taken with you will serve as an excellent safe additional transport for excursions, they can be safely used outside the winter road, moving near rocks, for example, Cape Khoboy (336 km from Irkutsk), which is quite difficult to drive close to by car due to the large number of cracks and hummocks on ice.

In winter, a winter road is laid from the mainland to the island, marked with poles and road signs. Cars, including heavy trucks, drive through it all winter.
From Irkutsk to the coast of the Small Sea, the road (250 km) takes 3.5 hours. You can refuel in Bayanday and Elantsy. In Elantsy, it is necessary to fill in at least one can of gasoline in stock. In the village Elantsy has a cozy cafe "Olkhon Gates" (after the gas station, to the right of the road), where it is advisable to have a bite to eat before leaving for the ice.
Before reaching the MRS (45 km from the village of Elantsy), you need to turn to the Sakhyurta base to the Kurkut Bay or to the river. Sarmu at the sign "Ice crossing". The binoculars clearly show the ice track with landmarks on the ice and road signs. The road is regularly cleared by a grader, and it is quite easy to spot it. The road is laid every year in approximately the same safe place, 15-20 km long. The hummocky areas in front of Olkhon Island are cut off by a bulldozer, so it is comfortable to drive along the ice road even in foreign cars. In the Olkhon Gates, where the distance to the island is much shorter, the crossing is not made due to undercurrents in the strait, as a result of which the ice there is not uniform in thickness and is a danger to cars. Near Cape Kobylya Golova, a stalk crack also forms annually, starting from a large steam hole near the cape itself. Cape Khorin-Irgi is separated from the peninsula Kobylya Golova by a sheer crevice to the very surface of the water and resembles a horse's head from afar. In winter, this crevice is clogged with ice taller than human height. The heavily iced cliffs of the cape attract attention from afar, but it is not recommended to drive up close to them, especially closer to spring, when intensive ice melting near steep cliffs begins. Ice splashes - sokui are formed on the rocks when the lake freezes. Ice splashes due to the frequent autumn wind here at Cape Kobylya Golova are the largest on the Small Sea.

You can stay overnight in the village. Khuzhir in a hotel, private estates or forestry. For help with accommodation, you can contact the information center in the estate of Nikita Bencharov, they will always help with accommodation. In winter, there are practically no tourists, and it is easy to find accommodation in the village even without prior arrangement.
In the evening, before sunset, you can walk on the ice around the famous Shaman Rock near the village. Khuzhir.

On the south side of the Shaman Rock, with a certain degree of imagination, one can see the image of a dragon with a head and a tail. In the morning of the next day, you can continue your journey on the ice of Lake Baikal to the northern tip of the island, Cape Khoboy. The exit to the ice is located to the right of Cape Burkhan or immediately from the pier, depending on the ice situation. It is clearly visible from above. The road to the north is not signposted. Basically, it is rolled by fishermen, so the roads on the ice, as in the Mongolian steppe, sometimes fan out. The principle of movement is the same - keep rolling and not go without a track. Worthy places to visit will be Cape Sagan-Khushun and Cape Khoboy, which have grottoes, ice splashes on the rocks, and Cape Khoboy - and powerful ice thrusts with large hummocks.
To Cape Sagan-Khushun on the ice from Khuzhir is 35 km, from Sagan-Khushun to Cape Khoboy another 4 km. On the way, you will definitely meet fishing Kamchatka - fishermen's camps with tents and cars. Cape Khoboy is the northernmost cape on Olkhon Island, difficult to access in summer due to poor dirt roads (4-5 hours from the village of Khuzhir), and in winter it will take no more than 40 minutes to drive across the ice of Lake Baikal.
It is sometimes difficult to drive close to Cape Khoboy because of the difficult ice conditions, and the last hundreds of meters must be walked. From the side of Big Baikal near the rocks, almost every year large sheer swells of broken ice are formed, which are even difficult to climb. Many large hummocks and fresh cracks. There are two grottoes on the northern side of the cape at the water level. One of them goes under a rock for 21 m, and you need a flashlight to visit it. Like all grottoes of Baikal, formed by the wave-cutting process, it has a rather large entrance hole in which you can stand upright, and a gradually narrowing passage, the end of which can only be reached by crawling. Throughout the grotto is abundantly overgrown with ice and icicles. Especially spectacular is the entrance, which has a palisade of ice pillars of different diameters.
In addition to the grottoes of Cape Khoboy and Sagan-Khushun, grottoes are known on the mainland of the Small Sea: on capes Kurminsky, Aral, Khaltygey.
From Cape Khoboy, the road goes along the ice of Lake Baikal to the mainland Cape Rytom and to the Baikal-Lensky Reserve. From there they go to the Ushkany Islands, the Chivyrkuisky Bay, to the north of Lake Baikal.

An extended version of this route is a car run around Olkhon Island, which can be completed in 4-5 hours, carefully bypassing the cracks and ice steams in the northeastern part of the island near Mount Zhima.

February 8th, 2015 , 10:46 am

SIGHTS OF ICE BAIKAL

BAIKAL ICE

ICE TRAPS

WINTER ROADS ON BAIKAL

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN DRIVING ON ICE

HOW DROKEN CARS ARE RAISE

Here's what the process of pulling a car out of the ice looks like:

ICE ROADS OF BAIKAL

Here are the most popular car routes along the winter roads laid on the ice of Lake Baikal:

1. Expedition on the Baikal ice "Big Ring"

The format of this route might be:

2. On the ice to the bay "Peschanaya"

3. To the ice grottoes of the Small Sea

ICE KINGDOM

Winter Baikal leaves an indelible impression. The exceptional transparency of the ice allows you to see the bottom on the shelf near the shore and look into the blackening mysterious depths of the lake. The thickness of even thick ice is imperceptible and scares with its uncertainty. Because of the transparency, it is scary to go out on the ice, although its thickness can exceed a meter. You can read newspapers through the Baikal ice and take portraits of people like through glass. Winter trips across Lake Baikal are often associated with extreme conditions: strong winds and frost on open ice are a serious test for a traveler. There is nowhere to hide from the piercing cold far from the coast, so winter clothes should be as warm as possible and not blown in the wind.

At the end of winter, there is a powerful shift of ice, individual hummocks can exceed the height of a person. Frozen vertically transparent ice floes attract the attention of photographers with their unusual shape and sparkling chaotic heaps. The mirror-like Baikal ice and the amazing blueness on the chips of ice blocks amaze all visitors. On smooth ice they travel on skates and iceboats, on a snow-covered lake - on skis and on foot.

Splash ice whimsically freezes on the rocks

Coastal cliffs in winter are decorated with multi-meter high ice splashes sparkling in the sun. The thickness of ice on coastal stones reaches several tens of centimeters, and the height of such ice splashes on rocks on the windward side during a strong autumn storm sometimes exceeds tens of meters. Numerous grottoes are decorated with many large branched icicles and ice columns. Such ice sculptures are created anew every winter. Particularly spectacular splashes of ice and sokui are found on the rocks of the Ushkany Islands, the capes of Olkhon Island - Kobylya Golova, Sagan-Khushun, Khoboy. Every year, powerful ice thrusts form exceptionally beautiful hummocks near Cape Rytoy.

Transparent Baikal ice and sparkling hummocks are especially impressive in spring. After a thaw and a strong wind that blows away all the snow, the ice becomes perfectly polished. From the end of February to the beginning of April, most trips are made on the ice of Lake Baikal. This is the perfect time to travel: warm, you can be on the ice in sunny, calm weather in light clothes, without gloves, and even briefly undress to a T-shirt. The sky is blue-blue, the sky is clear, and the snow-capped mountains of the opposite coast are clearly distinguished down to the details, as if they are very close. During this period, ice routes along the coast of Northern Baikal are interesting - mirror ice and snow-white pointed peaks give a unique flavor to a winter trip.

Ice floes frozen in hummocks amaze with their exceptional transparency

In March, a rare phenomenon can be observed when, with a powerful shift of ice, a water hammer occurs, individual fragments fly upwards, as if from a cannon, and scatter far around on a frozen lake. The silent balance of the hummocks crumbles at the same time with the rustle of revived ice. Right before our eyes, ice floes are squeezed out from under the ice. All this is accompanied by a continuous rumble, like during an earthquake, the sound comes right from under the feet, frightening with its power. The hummocky seam of the crack moves noticeably, individual ice floes fall and crumble into small pieces. The movement of ice can be figuratively compared to the work of a millstone - as if tightly clenched jaws grind ice into small crumbs. It happens that at such moments water rapidly comes out onto the ice and in a short time covers it by 4–5 cm. After 3–4 minutes, everything usually freezes, and complete silence sets in.

At the end of March, the ice becomes rough, the snow deposits harden, which makes it possible to ride bicycles with studded tires. Riding on smooth ice is a rather difficult task, it is worth pedaling a little harder, and the bike is guaranteed to slide sideways. The practice of conducting tourist trips on the ice by cars, snowmobiles, the Khivus-10 amphibious hovercraft and dog sleds is quite new for Baikal, such tours have been regularly held only since 2003. to get to remote places on the coast, usually accessible only from the water. For example, to get to the Baikal-Lena Reserve by boat from Listvyanka, you need to sail continuously for about 2 days, in winter all this is available in 5-7 hours by car from Irkutsk.

The speed of movement depends on the ice conditions, so, according to GPS navigators, in one of the car trophy raids, 1537 km were covered on ice, the average speed was 45.1 km/h, the maximum on smooth snow-covered ice was 102 km/h h.

When driving on ice, you need to listen to the weather forecast so as not to fall into a snow trap after a snowstorm. It is sometimes impossible to get out after a heavy snowfall without a beaten track for passenger cars.

Local residents and fishermen have long and confidently mastered the ice expanses for moving by car. Between the settlements on the coast there are ice roads, and where they are not, in most cases you can carefully drive around the hummocks and cracks. But it is better not to take risks and not leave the winter road without extreme necessity, but in places where steams and cracks regularly form, move with a guide. The winter months are the most difficult time for traveling, the corners of the coast of Northern Baikal, remote from settlements, are completely deserted, there are no tourists or fishermen, only ice and a burning frosty wind. It is premature to say that vacationers will flock to this cold land in the coming years, there are neither warm bases nor roads on the coast of Northern Baikal. A pedestrian crossing from the northern tip of Olkhon to the Ushkany Islands, for example, will take about 2 days, and this will not be a fun ride on skates or skis, but an exhausting sports hike through fields of ice hummocks and deep snow blows with a heavy load of winter equipment and autonomous food.

The peculiarity of the March hummocks is that, thanks to the spring sun, the snow has already partially melted, the ice floes have thawed, and the piles of pure broken ice become mobile. Walking through such fields is a real torment. Shafts of broken ice and hummocks sometimes reach a meter height, and each step is preceded by preliminary upholstering and clearing of fragments of places where the foot steps. Going through difficult hummocks without additional support on ski poles is very risky. But even the use of sticks does not protect against falls. The legs constantly slip and manage to get stuck among the ice floes in such ridiculous poses that when in a hurry, you can stretch the ligaments or twist the leg. Failing to fall, you can break your ski pole and hurt your elbow on the ice. It sometimes takes more than 40 minutes for a 150-meter crossing through a strip of hummocks. Behind the strip of hummocks you can find mirror ice, which reflects the coastal cliffs; you can move on such polished ice by sliding on the soles, like on skates.

FEATURES OF TRAVELING ON THE ICE OF THE LAKE

It is hard to resist the temptation to ride in a car with a breeze on the smooth and thick Baikal ice, so much so that fluffy snow scatters like a fan from under the wheels. In sunny weather, the frozen lake simply irresistibly beckons to go out onto the ice and drive up close to the sparkling heap of hummocks or to the coastal rocks, fancifully decorated in height with splashing ice and icicle lambs swirling in a storm wind. Numerous car tracks in all directions create the illusion of safety. However, one should not deceive oneself - no matter how reliable the ice may seem, its deceit is unpredictable. Even the roads marked with milestones sometimes bring unpleasant surprises.

Ice rules should not be neglected - their observance will secure the trip. The main ones are: before leaving the ice, ask local residents about the features of the road, do not drive on the ice at night, do not drink alcohol while driving. On the Baikal ice, there are dangerous backbone cracks, powerful ice thrusts and gullies that are dangerous for cars. Who laid the road is often unknown, so not every car trail can be reliable. On the ice, traces of beginners may remain, at the risk of driving into a dangerous place. Live cracks can be filled with ice, and it is not certain that the ice plug will withstand the next car. The reliability of broken frozen ice in cracks must be checked using a pick or crowbar.

Ice about a meter can withstand the weight of a helicopter

Baikal freezes over every year, and roads are built over the ice every year. With the onset of cold weather, at air temperatures below -20 °C, in the first 3–4 days, ice grows by 4–5 cm per day. At the end of October, shallow bays freeze, on January 1-14 - deep water areas. Usually the Small Sea is covered with solid ice in December, the entire Baikal freezes by January 15–20, although there are rare warm winters when these dates are postponed by a whole month. Large fluctuations are observed in the periods of freezing of Lake Baikal over the years. There are known cases of lake freezing in Listvennichny Bay, for example, in early February (1899, 1932, 1952, 1959, 2004). In the southern part, Baikal is covered with ice for 4–4.5 months, in the northern part – for 6–6.5 months. In the waters of the lake, the ice thickness ranges from 70 to 113 cm, while a pattern has been revealed: the more snow, the thinner the ice. It is believed that ice broken by a storm when the lake freezes is less durable than homogeneous and monolithic. But even homogeneous and monolithic ice can suddenly crack. Broken ice moves apart, in the cold the crack freezes very quickly, it is slightly covered with snow, and a dangerous trap for cars with 2-centimeter ice appears on the road with milestones. Therefore, the ice crossing from the mainland to Olkhon is open only during daylight hours: from 9 am to 6 pm.

Hummocks are usually 1.5–3 m high, but some of them can reach 5 m. winter roads are laid on the ice of Lake Baikal. According to the instructions for the construction of ice crossings, for a car with a total mass of 10 tons to pass, the ice thickness must be at least 30 cm, 15 tons - 35 cm, 20 tons - 40 cm at an average daily air temperature of at least 10 ° C. In warm winters, ice at river crossings can grow artificially, which allows vehicles up to 5 tons to cross. At positive temperatures, the structure of the ice changes within 2–3 days, and its carrying capacity decreases by 20%. In shallow water and near rocky shores, ice melts faster, and gullies can appear at any time.

Official winter crossings, such as those from the mainland to Olkhon Island, are marked with poles frozen into the ice and are regularly checked for safety by the road service.

Every year, in the same places, standing cracks appear - a kind of temperature seams in the ice cover. They are formed, as a rule, along the shortest distance between neighboring protruding capes. Extended cracks can reach a length of up to 10–40 km and a width of up to 4 m, but most often the cracks are from 0.5 to 1–2 m wide. 30°C. It is calculated that when the ambient temperature changes by 1 °C, the linear expansion of ice reaches 70 mm per 1 km. Many of these cracks do not freeze all winter, periodically narrowing or expanding. Their appearance is often accompanied by a strong "artillery" crack, often frightening people on the ice. In the Irkutsk chronicles about “remarkably large ice breaks, or so-called cracks” in 1890, it is reported: “Even old-timers will not remember such long and wide cracks. The explosions were accompanied by a terrible rumble, instilling panic fear in the inhabitants of Listvennichny. It seemed that the high mountains surrounding Baikal were ready to collapse.”

Cracks and crevices 0.5–2 m wide are a danger. Many of them do not freeze all winter, periodically narrowing or expanding. Not a single crack, even the simplest one, crosses on the move. Before each of them, you need to stop and check the condition of the ice with the help of a pick - a special forged sharp spike with uneven edges so that it does not stick to the ice. Often there are cracks with thin ice, easily broken through to the water with an ice pick. Such narrow cracks of the car jump over at speed. To soften the impact of the wheels, the edges are upholstered with a pick. Then a gap with water is clogged with pieces of ice, the car drives off for 200-500 m for acceleration, a gate is set up - a guide for the driver where the car will jump, then rapid acceleration to 70-80 km per hour - and a jump through the crack.

In addition to the slits, the danger for vehicles is the steam that occurs on the ice at the exit points of underwater thermal springs and gases. Propariny, covered with a layer of snow, is almost impossible to detect. Open steam holes - polynyas are visible on the ice from a considerable distance, you just need to look carefully and be able to distinguish them. It is more dangerous when they are hidden by a thin crust of ice, and after a snowfall they are powdered with a layer of snow. If the steams are caused by the release of deep gases, then under the ice, if it is clean and transparent, gas bubbles can be seen. Steams formed by underwater springs or the inflow of warm waters of tributaries are more difficult to notice. Therefore, it is better not to leave the winter road marked by the coast, and where steam and cracks are possible, move with a guide who is well aware of the characteristics of the ice in this area. Suspicious places should be carefully examined and the ice thickness tested with a pick or other sharp object.

Ice thickness is also affected by undercurrents, which reduce its strength. For example, in the Olkhonskiye Vorota strait, for this reason, they do not make an ice crossing. In different years, the crossing is arranged either from the Kurkutsky Bay, or from the mainland after the delta of the Sarma River. The pointer with the arrow "Ice crossing" will help you to go to the ice in the right place. The official crossing to Olkhon is marked with frozen landmarks, regularly cleared with a grader and the thickness of the ice is checked. There are signs on it: "Permissible carrying capacity of machines is 5 tons", "Distance between machines is 200 m", "Stop is prohibited", "Recommended speed is 10 km/h". Most other winter roads are laid by fishermen and do not have any warning signs. Experienced drivers always prefer to follow the trail in the right direction, and if they go straight, they try to avoid cracks and suspicious places that differ in gray color and are visible from afar. One hundred percent reliability on ice roads does not happen even with a guide. Several cases are known when cars fell through on permanent winter roads between the villages of Listvyanka and Koty. Cars moving at their own risk go under the ice much more often. In 2002, the expedition of the Ministry of Emergency Situations carried out a special search for sunken objects in the summer and registered 15 unlifted vehicles in the waters of the Small Sea alone. According to local residents, there are from 25 to 50 cars at the bottom of the Small Sea.

At the end of March, when the sun begins to warm up, it becomes dangerous to drive close to the rocks, near which the ice melts faster than in the open water area of the lake. You should also be aware that, despite the frost and thickness, if a lot of snow falls and it melts quickly, due to the absorption of melt water and changes in its structure, the ice becomes less reliable and uniform than ice on which there was no snow.

Usually in South Baikal the road is laid on the ice of the lake from the village. Kultuk to Baikalsk and to the village. Marituya. There are fewer roads in Middle Baikal. Most often, they drive on ice from the village. Listvyanka in the village. Koty (18 km), from the village. Bolshoe Goloustnoye to Peschanaya Bay. Sometimes local residents, if the winter was cold, break through the winter road across Lake Baikal - from Cape Krestovsky to the eastern shore. An official crossing, equipped with signposts and signs, is organized annually between the mainland and Olkhon Island. Most of the roads are on the ice of the Small Sea, these are mainly fishing roads to ice fishing places, but there are also permanent ones - from the village. Khuzhir, along the island and in the village. Onguren, to the cordon of the Baikal-Lena Reserve on Cape Solnechny and further to Zavorotnaya Bay. Every year, a winter road is laid on the ice in the northern part of Lake Baikal between the city of Severobaikalsky and the village. Ust-Barguzin across the Chivyrkuisky Bay.

Ice breaking begins at the end of April from Cape Bolshoy Kadilny, opposite which melting occurs under the influence of ascending flows of warm waters from underwater sources. Lastly (June 9-14), the northern part of the lake is freed from ice. At the beginning of summer, in June, on the blue surface of the lake in the northern part of Baikal, clusters of dazzling white ice floes float, on which seals like to bask in the sun.

STAND SCREW. Through cracks on the ice of Lake Baikal are formed annually in the same places and persist throughout the winter. With daily fluctuations in air temperature, the ice expands or contracts. The width of the gap during the day can vary significantly. They most often have a width of 0.5 to 1–2 m and a length of up to 10–30 km. They are most often found in the middle part of Lake Baikal between Olkhon Island, the Ushkany Islands and the Svyatoy Nos Peninsula. They pose a danger to vehicles. They overcome them with the help of thick boards or jump over at speed.

SOKUY. This is one of the types of ice on Baikal, which forms along the shores during the initial freezing phase of the lake in the form of a thin ice edge - zaberezh, as well as ice formed in autumn from splashes of waves on rocks and stones. The thickness of the ice on the rocks sometimes reaches several tens of centimeters. During a strong storm, windward rocks can be covered with splash ice up to a height of 10 m. The ice shell binds the stones and decorates the branches of trees and shrubs close to the water with bizarre icicles.

ICE PUSH. In March, the ice movement, enhanced by the wind, can squeeze the ice onto the coast at a distance of 20–30 m and rise to a height of 15–16 m. Ice thrusts remain unmelted on the coast until the end of May, when the entire lake is already free of ice. In 1933, ice thrusts blocked the railway near the station. Tankhoy and pushed the freight train along with the locomotive off the rails.

From Irkutsk to Baikal

We are rushing along the road from Irkutsk to, perhaps, the most famous lake on Earth - overboard a strong wind raises a snow-white suspension, in which our snow-white Audi Q5 quattro® seems to dissolve and become invisible, and only four black wheels with all-wheel drive take us out of difficult winter turns on the Baikal shores. The ice crossing to Olkhon Island is visible from the high shore of Lake Baikal from afar. Geometric lines are more like strange man-made communications that connect the island and the mainland with an umbilical cord.

At the very edge of the coast, there is a ship frozen into the ice with the mysterious name "First Fish" ... Strange creatures in spacesuits are painted on the sides, and it seems that this ship is an alien from outer space. This feeling does not change, even if you know that a few years ago it was just a rusty trough, and after the Baikal Festival of Contemporary Art it turned into an art object.

Perfect Grip

In our snow-white Audi Q5, we silently move past the cosmic figures on board. The guards of the "First Fish" let our perfect car pass, and we roll out onto an equally perfect creation of nature - the Baikal ice. Not a single body of water on the planet freezes like Baikal - a perfectly smooth ice surface covers the entire space of the lake, and by February it is already a meter thick, and there are ice caves along the shores. When you look at the rocks with icy foothills, they seem to be a single sculptural sculpture...

Here you can accelerate to breakneck speed, quattro® technology provides perfect traction and allows you to maneuver subtly even on the icy surface of Lake Baikal. A classic waltz is playing in the car, and we wind the laces on the ice right to the beat of the music in the cabin, past the islands frozen into the ice and ice grottoes on the Olkhon cliffs.

Baikal Sea

We go further along the coast of the Small Sea - that is the name of the bay between Olkhon and the shores of Lake Baikal. For local residents, Baikal is the sea; for them, it remains a lake only on the maps. In fact, by its nature it is a sea, there is even a rare species of seal - the Baikal seal, and the nature of the huge lake is more severe, marine than lacustrine.

Noon. We are standing on the ice, when suddenly the rumble of breaking ice floes is heard next to us. The crack is so close that even the car shudders from the vibrations of the ice... Some mysterious mechanisms of the Earth come into action, and cracks, hummocks appear on the ideal ice, and Baikal turns into a territory that only quattro® can handle.

Like Baikal ice, Baikal cracks are another mystery of the lake. Either under the influence of currents, or because of strong winds, huge ice fields, tens of centimeters thick, begin to shift. In some place, the slab splits into two, and one part begins to crawl onto the other, crushing the first one under itself. This is how hummocks are formed from huge plates of transparent turquoise ice several meters high. Huge transparent blue ice floes line up in long ridges. Such cracks are called stand-offs, and they sometimes reach tens of kilometers in length - because of them, crossing Baikal is not so easy as it might seem.

To us, butt cracks are dangerous because they may not be visible from afar. Therefore, it is possible to accelerate and write out pirouettes on ice only after reconnaissance - otherwise there is a risk of staying overnight in the middle of the lake.

Early in the morning we get out onto the ice in order to pass the shores of the Small Sea and find ourselves on the outer side of Olkhon. But as soon as we missed the fork in the icy road in the morning light, we found ourselves in a maze of tracks leading in the opposite direction from the capes we were supposed to reach. Only a few hours later we were able to extricate ourselves from the icy web and find the right path. But even here it was impossible to weaken attention: a stick stuck in the ice is a sign of danger. This means that the old backbone crack passes exactly here, and although dozens of cars have already rolled it out, it is still very dangerous to jump over the hillocks at speed.

Cracks in the Baikal ice are patterns of amazing beauty. You can wander for a long time on the black ice, examining the cracks that cut through the black transparent ice to a depth of a meter. And only thanks to them you can understand how thick you are.

The most interesting points are right on the coast. During winter storms, while Baikal has not yet frozen over, waves wash up ice on the rocks. Up close, they look like huge cream sculptures. Sometimes ice grottoes form in them, where you can climb and see how the ice looks from the inside. These are places of absolute silence, where there is not even a wind, where it seems that you find yourself in the other world.

Mystery of the polynya

Many people call Baikal the energy center of the earth, Buddhists are waiting for the gates of Shambhala to open here, but we are trying to see our Audi Q5 quattro® through the prism of unique ice: we drive the car into ice caves, raise clouds of snow on the ice, we drive into labyrinths of hummocks in the middle of the lake. And then suddenly we find a polynya near one of the capes of Olkhon. Apparently, the current here is especially strong and is tearing apart the ice cover of almost a meter thick. The water is so clear that stones and flashing silver fish are visible at the bottom. Frames directly from the polynya are obtained as if from the border of two worlds.

There is something magical in these places - you don’t want to leave here. The white silence is addictive, you want to listen to the silence, and the crackling of the ice floes evokes an absolutely fantastic dream. Probably, it is the shamanic shores of Olkhon that hide some ancient history. It is not surprising that Europeans come here in droves in winter, and some stay for months and admire the virgin expanses of a unique Siberian lake.

We again get out to the mainland coast, behind there is a mystical coral and a Buddhist stupa on a tiny island, again the howling wind spins white clouds over the road and our Audi Q5 dissolves in the endless white expanses of the Baikal coast.

hummocks

Huge ice floes or ice mountains floating in the polar seas.

Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. - Chudinov A.N., 1910 .

hummocks

huge ice floes or ice mountains (several hundred arshins in circumference) floating in the polar seas.

Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. - Pavlenkov F., 1907 .

hummocks

lat. torus. Polar ice.

Explanation of 25,000 foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language, with the meaning of their roots. - Mikhelson A.D., 1865 .

hummocks

ice rocks of the Arctic Ocean.

A complete dictionary of foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language. - Popov M., 1907 .

See what "THUMBS" are in other dictionaries:

Heaps of ice floes formed as a result of compression of the ice fields of the seas, lakes and rivers. Height up to 10 20 m ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Heaps of ice floes formed as a result of compression of the ice fields of the seas, lakes and rivers under the influence of winds, currents and waves. Edwart. Explanatory Naval Dictionary, 2010 ... Marine Dictionary

This term has other meanings, see Toros. Hummocks on the Gulf of Finland Hummocks are a heap of ice fragments, up to 10 20 meters in height, which are formed as a result of compression ... Wikipedia

Heaps of ice floes formed as a result of compression of the ice fields of seas, lakes and rivers. Height up to 10-20 m. Height up to 10… … encyclopedic Dictionary

hummocks- heaps of ice floes on a relatively even ice cover. They are formed as a result of its deformation during shifts caused mainly by wind and tidal currents. Ridges of hummocks are located at the junctions of ice fields. When ice is pressed on ... ... Marine encyclopedic reference book

Heaps of fragments of ice floes in the ice cover of the seas, rivers, lakes. They are formed as a result of the lateral pressure of ice fields on each other, as well as on the coast and on shallow areas of the bottom, and the resulting breaking off of their edges. Most…

Heaps of ice floes formed as a result of compression of the ice fields of seas, lakes and rivers. high up to 10 20 m ... Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

Adj., number of synonyms: 1 busted (1) ASIS Synonym Dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary

App., number of synonyms: 1 hummocked (1) ASIS Synonym Dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary

- (from Greek arktikys northern) the northern polar region of the globe, including the outskirts of the continents of Eurasia and North. America and almost the entire North. The Arctic Ocean (except for the East and South of the Norwegian Sea) with all its islands (except for coastal islands ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Books

Ice bullet, Zverev, Sergey Ivanovich, The struggle for hydrocarbon deposits is gaining momentum. The richest deposits of the Arctic shelf are turning into theaters of war. Several northern countries are throwing saboteurs on ... Category: Domestic Series: arctic base. polar special forces Publisher: Eksmo,
Ice Bullet, Zverev S., The struggle for hydrocarbon deposits is gaining momentum. The richest deposits of the Arctic shelf are turning into theaters of war. Several northern countries are throwing saboteurs on ... Category: