Cool feat as Land Rover takes to sea

Aug 25 2008 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Steve Burgess, 53, from Mirfield, has just written himself and his Land Rover Defender into the record books by becoming the first person in history to successfully cross the Bering Strait in a road vehicle. ANDREW BALDWIN reports on Steve’s brave adventure

I’d watched other people before me try to do it – rich people, big companies, and I thought ‘how am I going to square up to these people? But I showed them how it’s done...

IT’S a fairly bizarre record to hold – but Steve Burgess has achieved the feat nonetheless.

He put himself and his Land Rover Defender into the record books when he became the first person in history to successfully cross the Bering Strait in a road vehicle.

The 53-year-old farmer from Mirfield travelled 10,379 miles in 50 days to the easternmost tip of Russia to reach the crossing.

Icy tundra and frozen riverbeds with temperatures as low as -46ºC were encountered in some of the most remote places on earth.

Then, in a masterstroke that differs from others who have tried and failed to cross the Strait while it was covered in ice, Steve simply waited for it to melt in the summer.

Once the ice had gone, he strapped two huge floats on the sides of his Land Rover, added a motor and propeller on the back and sailed across the 56-mile stretch of water.

He was forced to pause on the island of Little Diomede as the weather closed in, before continuing a few weeks later when conditions improved.

Finally, he landed at 1am local time on the beach of Wales, Alaska – earning his place in history.

Steve says: “It was a brilliant feeling. It was the culmination of nine years’ work and to be the first to get across was incredible.”

He and girlfriend Nicky Spinks, 40, are on an epic trip to the southernmost tip of South America with fellow adventurers Simon Dedman, 44, also from Mirfield, and 38-year-old Dan Evans, of Skipton.

Previous attempts by Sir Ranulph Fiennes and explorers Steve Brooks and Graham Stratford to cross the Bering Strait ended in failure after damage to their Snowbird 5 vehicle.

“I’d watched other people before me try to do it – rich people, big companies, and I thought ‘how am I going to square up to these people?’

“But I showed them how it’s done,” says Steve.

The team set out from Mirfield on January 29, taking in Europe en route to Moscow before driving to the Yakutsk region on the eastern tip of Russia.

Their sponsors included Brighouse-based Millers Oils, which supplied specialist oil and anti-freeze to keep the Land Rover moving in severe temperatures.

There were times when the Land Rover was kept running overnight and the four slept inside it as it was too cold in their tent.

“I can’t say it was all enjoyable – I wouldn’t do it again – but it has been incredible. We were on ice roads virtually all the way from Moscow – thousands and thousands of miles,” says Steve.

From Yakutsk it was a drive of 2,500 miles to the Bering Strait, that narrow stretch of shallow sea which links the two land masses of Asia and the American continent.

Speeds of more than 60mph were no problem despite the tough terrain – a fact Steve puts down to the excellent vehicle and its Cooper tyres.

“They gave us unbelievable traction,” he says.

The red floats which were attached to the Land Rover were enormous and sat on either side of the vehicle. Both were flown in to Yakutsk and transported behind the Land Rover in other vehicles.

Successful tests on the design had been carried out on Coniston Water, in the Channel and on the Irish Sea.

The Land Rover was stripped to its essentials at the Bering Strait to keep the weight down and had just a two-man crew for the crossing, Steve and Dan Evans. A safety boat accompanied them.

Thirty feet waves lashed the Bering Strait when they were forced to take refuge on Little Diomede, an island with a population of about 140.

As they waited, Steve took a boat to Alaska and flew home to the UK to raise extra cash for the trip.

Finally, a break in the weather gave them the opportunity to get away and make a six-hour journey to come ashore in Alaska.

They had done it.

“I couldn’t believe it,” says Steve.

Discounting the break on the island, the crossing was completed in a total time of 18 hours and 50 minutes.

The next stage of the journey is on dry land, driving through North, Central and South America to Cape Horn.

But that’s not until the winter.

In the meantime Steve will be back in Mirfield running his farm and its herd of 85 Aberdeen Angus cows.