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FOLLOWING THE TRACES
OF EDUARD von TOLL
Gerhard Hampel's Family Expedition
 In
spring 2007 Gerhard Hampel together with his son Christian
Hampel attempted to carry out the expedition dedicated to
the memory of Eduard von Toll, German Baron and Russian polar
explorer.
On March 9, 2007 Gerhard and Christian started from the Arctic
Port Tiksy. The explorers planned to travel along the edge
of Eurasia and over the ice of the Strait of Dmitry Laptev
to come to the Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island (Novosibirsky Islands),
and then to reach the Kotelny Island via the Sannikov Strait.
En route they were using a dog sled (as before) and a snowmobile
(for the first time).
In spring 2005 Gerhard and Christian made the first attempt
to travel along this route. The expedition was dedicated
to the memory of Eduard
von Toll (1858-1902). Baron Toll, a Baltic German
by origin, was one of the most outstanding Russian polar explorers.
He made significant scientific discoveries in the fields of
geology, geography and zoology. In 1900 he headed the First
Russian Polar Expedition, organized by the Academy of Sciences.
The objective of this Expedition was a search of new lands,
in particular – a mysterious Sannikov Land. The Expedition
had achieved significant scientific results, but Eduard Toll
and his three companions perished and their bodies were not
found.
On April 10, 2007 the participants (father and son) had
successfully reached the Nerpichja Bay at the Kotelny
Island, where in 1901-1902 a schooner Zarya of Eduard Toll
spent the winter. In Russia the Adventure Club was responsible
for support and organization of logistics of the expedition.
The family team:
- Gerhard Hampel, 58. The author of the Project.
Professor, Doctor of Medicine. Since 1993 Gerhard has been
actively involved in traveling on dog sleds. He has his
own huskies and he carried out several successful expeditions
during the last years:
- along the east coast of the Baffin Land, Canada (1997);
- series of journeys along the Swedish Lapland (1998-2001);
- an expedition along the North-West territories of
Canada (2002);
- the Expedition "Yakutia" – one thousand-kilometer
route along the East Siberia from Tiksy to Yakutsk (2003).
- Christian Hampel, 20, a student. He started to
travel with his father since he was 11 years old. Christian
participated in the serial journeys along the Swedish Lapland.
In 2002 Christian together with his father covered 1000
km along the North-West territories of Canada.
See also: www.siberia-expedition.com
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