Dmitry Shparo
Encyclopedia
Dmitry Shparo is a Russia
n Arctic
explorer and endurance skier. He is internationally known for twice reaching the North Pole
on snow skis.
In 1979, Shparo led the first ski expedition from Eurasia
to the North Pole. In 1988, he completed a full traverse across the Arctic Ocean
from Russia to Canada
via the North Pole. In 1998, Shparo and his son, Matvey, became the first people in modern times to ski across the Bering Strait
, from Russia into North America.
, Russia, in 1941, shortly after the Soviet Union
was invaded by German troops
. Shparo was the son of Igor and Nina (née Gimers) Shparo. His father was a journalist and a fiction writer, while his mother was a mathematician.
In 1927, when Shparo's mother was only three years old, her father was arrested and declared an "enemy of the nation". He was sent to a labor camp
in Siberia, where he disappeared, never to be heard from again.
In 1953, following Joseph Stalin
's death, Nina Gimer got a job at the Institute of Applied Mechanics, where she was involved in calculating the trajectories
of both the first Soviet cruise missile
and the first artificial satellite, Sputnik.
Educational background
In 1967, Shparo graduated from the Moscow State University
, earning a PhD
in Mathematics
. Following graduation, he began teaching full-time at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys
(MISIS).
, to Cape Cheluskin (the northernmost point of Asia
) via the islands of Komsomolskya Pravda
in the Laptev Sea
. Following completion of this expedition, Shparo was recognized by the national press and news affiliates. Newspapers published his journals and announced their sponsorship of a new polar expedition, with Dmitry Shparo leading the way.
In 1973, Shparo developed an interest in Arctic exploration. At this time, explorers were viewed with a great deal of suspicion in the Soviet Union. Their routes had to be approved by the Communist Party
committees and local KGB
offices. Following Soviet approval, Shparo led several low-profile expeditions up the outskirts of Russia.
Soviet authorities were taking the Arctic Region seriously. The Polar Ocean was a place d'armes of the ongoing military competition with the US
. The Kremlin
wanted to see victories in this battle field and not defeats. The stakes of the proposed ski-trip to the North Pole were such that the final decision rested with the Politburo
. Its response was laconic: the expedition to the North Pole was "unsuitable and pointless". In March 1979, Shparo left to the North Pole on skis secretly, without the Politburo’s permission.
In late April, when news of the flagrant disobedience finally reached the Politburo, its conformist majority was outraged. Kremlin leadership urged the Chief of the KGB, Yuri Andropov
, and the Minister of Defense
, Dmitriy Ustinov
, to send out military helicopters in order to return the escapees and punish them accordingly. Shparo and his teammates were halfway there and Mihail Suslov, the Party’s chief ideologist, suggested that chances of their successful arrival to the Pole were quite high. Shparo was allowed to finish his trip, and reached the North Pole on May 31, 1979.
Soon after Shparo's name went into the Guinness World Records
, he undertook a new trip, crossing the Arctic Ocean during the Arctic night
in total darkness. He walked in the night for two months, from the drifting polar station "North Pole-27" to another drifting polar station "North Pole-28". His 700 km (435 mi) route lay through constantly drifting and crashing ice, and temperatures dropped as low as -70 C. In February 1986 he arrived at the pole, becoming the first man to reach it on skis.
His projects include an expedition to Franz Josef Land
where the winter home of Fridtjof Nansen
was found; an expedition to the Commander Islands in Kamchatka
, where the grave of Vitus Bering
, a world famous navigator, was discovered, and many others.
, before glasnost
and perestroika
.
In 1988, Shparo co-led the Soviet-Canadian expedition, first to cross Arctic Ocean from Russia via the North Pole to Canada. The Ice Curtain that for half a century seemed to be so monumental and eternal, now became ephemeral
In 1989, Shparo and his American colleague, Paul Shurke, led the Bering Bridge Expedition from Siberia
to Alaska
in an attempt to reconnect Arctic cultures separated by the Cold War
. Until World War II
, the Inuit
of Siberia and Alaska had traveled back and forth across the Bering Strait to hunt walrus and visit relatives. However, in 1948, the Stalin and the Truman governments locked down the border. Shparo and Shurke asked the Kremlin and the White House
to open the border to a sled dog
expedition.
Along with the preparation of dogs and sleds, Shparo and Shurke had drawn a protocol of intentions and talked the Governors of both Alaska and Chukotka
into signing it on the ice on the Bering Strait. According this protocol, native Chukotkans
and Alaskans
were allowed to travel, hunt and trade freely again. The protocol was signed at the end of April 1989, several months before the Berlin Wall
collapsed. The border was reopened and presidents Bush
and Gorbachev
both prized Shparo and Shurke for their achievement. Disintegration of the Ice Curtain did not receive the same high profile treatment as the collapse of the Berlin Wall, yet the main goal of the expedition had been achieved: Inuit families across the border were reunited.
In 1996, Shparo attempted to cross the Bering Strait again – this time on skis and in the company of his two young sons. The expedition failed when overnight the coastal ice
had carried the sleeping adventurers 16 mi (25.7 km) away into the open Bering Sea
. Shparo, conceding defeat, set off the rescue beacon, and awaited rescue. A United States Coast Guard
(USCG) C-130 Hercules
was dispatched from Kodiak
to pin down the location. To the horror of the USCG they found approximately 20 polar bear
s, and the group was feared lost until they were finally spotted, and rescued by USCG helicopters from Nome
. In 1997 a second attempt failed when Nikita, the oldest of Shparo’s children, fell through the weak ice and sustained severe frostbite
. In 1998, in the course of the third attempt, Dmitry and Matvey Shparo managed to successfully cross the Bering Strait, becoming the first people to do so by skis and thus securing another spot in the Guinness World Records and personal congratulations from presidents Clinton
and Yeltsin
.
In 2005, Prince Albert of Monaco
chose Dmitry Shparo, along with son Matvey as partners and advisers in his April 2006 North Pole dog-sled expedition aimed to highlight global warming
and to commemorate his great-great-grandfather, Prince Albert I
, who made four Arctic trips a century ago.
, a Canadian paraplegic
athlete and activist for people with spinal cord injuries
, founded Adventure Club. It is a Moscow-based charity foundation, that in the past 17 years, sponsored countless adventures for disabled athletes and disadvantaged children all across the world. Under the personal leadership of Shparo, blind
, deaf
, amputees
and quadriplegic
people have ascended mountain peaks and crossed deserts, including the ice ones.
Dmitry Shparo also stood behind the parachute jumps on the North Pole, running races to the top of Europe
– Mt. Elbrus, round-the world ZiL
truck expedition, Moscow – Uelen
– Seattle
– Toronto
– New York City
– London
– Kaliningrad
– Moscow and circumnavigation in the yacht Apostol Andre. The Cruising Club of America
's Bluewater Medal 2001 was awarded to the crew in New York. In 2005 Dmitry Shparo with the World Race Trust co-organized The Great Russian Race
- a 15-week, 7000 mi (11,265.4 km) charity ultra-marathon relay from Vladivostok – at the intersection of North Korea
, Russia and China
, 7 time zone
s east of Moscow – to St. Petersburg – near the border of Finland
and Russia. $340,000 were raised for the benefit of abandoned, orphaned and homeless children in Russia.
, the highest national decoration of the former Soviet Union, (other prizewinners include cosmonaut
Yuri Gagarin
, Fidel Castro
, and Nikita Khrushchev
), the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
, the prestigious UNESCO
award, Fair Play, and gold medals from several geographical societies.
, defending Cook's achievements and reputation which had been strongly questioned by other historians and biographers.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
explorer and endurance skier. He is internationally known for twice reaching the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
on snow skis.
In 1979, Shparo led the first ski expedition from Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
to the North Pole. In 1988, he completed a full traverse across the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
from Russia to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
via the North Pole. In 1998, Shparo and his son, Matvey, became the first people in modern times to ski across the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
, from Russia into North America.
Personal background
Dmitry Shparo was born in MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia, in 1941, shortly after the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was invaded by German troops
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Shparo was the son of Igor and Nina (née Gimers) Shparo. His father was a journalist and a fiction writer, while his mother was a mathematician.
In 1927, when Shparo's mother was only three years old, her father was arrested and declared an "enemy of the nation". He was sent to a labor camp
Labor camp
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...
in Siberia, where he disappeared, never to be heard from again.
In 1953, following Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's death, Nina Gimer got a job at the Institute of Applied Mechanics, where she was involved in calculating the trajectories
Trajectory
A trajectory is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function of time. The object might be a projectile or a satellite, for example. It thus includes the meaning of orbit—the path of a planet, an asteroid or a comet as it travels around a central mass...
of both the first Soviet cruise missile
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
and the first artificial satellite, Sputnik.
Educational background
In 1967, Shparo graduated from the Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
, earning a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. Following graduation, he began teaching full-time at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys
Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys
National University of Science and Technology "MISIS" is Russia's primary technological university in the field of steelmaking and metallurgy. It was established in 1918 as a part of the Moscow Mining Academy. In 1930, it became independent...
(MISIS).
Arctic exploration
In 1970, Shparo traveled from Lake Taimir, the largest freshwater body in Eurasia north of the Arctic CircleArctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
, to Cape Cheluskin (the northernmost point of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
) via the islands of Komsomolskya Pravda
Pravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
in the Laptev Sea
Laptev Sea
The Laptev Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with co-ordinates of 79°N and 139°E, and ends at the Anisiy...
. Following completion of this expedition, Shparo was recognized by the national press and news affiliates. Newspapers published his journals and announced their sponsorship of a new polar expedition, with Dmitry Shparo leading the way.
In 1973, Shparo developed an interest in Arctic exploration. At this time, explorers were viewed with a great deal of suspicion in the Soviet Union. Their routes had to be approved by the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
committees and local KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
offices. Following Soviet approval, Shparo led several low-profile expeditions up the outskirts of Russia.
Soviet authorities were taking the Arctic Region seriously. The Polar Ocean was a place d'armes of the ongoing military competition with the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Kremlin
Government of the Soviet Union
The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was the de jure government comprising the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Union from 1946 until 1991....
wanted to see victories in this battle field and not defeats. The stakes of the proposed ski-trip to the North Pole were such that the final decision rested with the Politburo
Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Politburo , known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966, functioned as the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.-Duties and responsibilities:The...
. Its response was laconic: the expedition to the North Pole was "unsuitable and pointless". In March 1979, Shparo left to the North Pole on skis secretly, without the Politburo’s permission.
In late April, when news of the flagrant disobedience finally reached the Politburo, its conformist majority was outraged. Kremlin leadership urged the Chief of the KGB, Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
, and the Minister of Defense
Minister of Defence of Soviet Union
-List of defence ministers:-See also:* Heads of military of Imperial Russia* Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation...
, Dmitriy Ustinov
Dmitriy Ustinov
Dmitriy Feodorovich Ustinov was Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death.-Early life:Dimitry Feodorovich Ustinov was born in a working-class family in Samara. During the civil war, when hunger became intolerable, his sick father went to Samarkand, leaving Dimitry as head...
, to send out military helicopters in order to return the escapees and punish them accordingly. Shparo and his teammates were halfway there and Mihail Suslov, the Party’s chief ideologist, suggested that chances of their successful arrival to the Pole were quite high. Shparo was allowed to finish his trip, and reached the North Pole on May 31, 1979.
Soon after Shparo's name went into the Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
, he undertook a new trip, crossing the Arctic Ocean during the Arctic night
Polar night
The polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours.-Description:...
in total darkness. He walked in the night for two months, from the drifting polar station "North Pole-27" to another drifting polar station "North Pole-28". His 700 km (435 mi) route lay through constantly drifting and crashing ice, and temperatures dropped as low as -70 C. In February 1986 he arrived at the pole, becoming the first man to reach it on skis.
His projects include an expedition to Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...
where the winter home of Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a...
was found; an expedition to the Commander Islands in Kamchatka
Kamchatka Peninsula
The Kamchatka Peninsula is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of . It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...
, where the grave of Vitus Bering
Vitus Bering
Vitus Jonassen Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering (also, less correNavy]], a captain-komandor known among the Russian sailors as Ivan Ivanovich. He is noted for being the first European to discover Alaska and its Aleutian Islands...
, a world famous navigator, was discovered, and many others.
Goodwill ambassador
As a mathematician, Shparo insisted that the North Pole, as an ever-shifting spot, existed only as a mathematical concept. But even with such an abstract goal in mind, his trips always had a very practical component. Shparo had become one of the earliest Soviet ambassadors of goodwill to the WestWestern world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, before glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
and perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
.
In 1988, Shparo co-led the Soviet-Canadian expedition, first to cross Arctic Ocean from Russia via the North Pole to Canada. The Ice Curtain that for half a century seemed to be so monumental and eternal, now became ephemeral
In 1989, Shparo and his American colleague, Paul Shurke, led the Bering Bridge Expedition from Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
in an attempt to reconnect Arctic cultures separated by the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
of Siberia and Alaska had traveled back and forth across the Bering Strait to hunt walrus and visit relatives. However, in 1948, the Stalin and the Truman governments locked down the border. Shparo and Shurke asked the Kremlin and the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
to open the border to a sled dog
Sled dog
Sled dogs, known also as sleigh man dogs, sledge dogs, or sleddogs, are highly trained types of dogs that are used to pull a dog sled, a wheel-less vehicle on runners also called a sled or sleigh, over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines.Sled dogs have become a popular winter recreation...
expedition.
Along with the preparation of dogs and sleds, Shparo and Shurke had drawn a protocol of intentions and talked the Governors of both Alaska and Chukotka
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , or Chukotka , is a federal subject of Russia located in the Russian Far East.Chukotka has a population of 53,824 according to the 2002 Census, and a surface area of . The principal town and the administrative center is Anadyr...
into signing it on the ice on the Bering Strait. According this protocol, native Chukotkans
Chukchi people
The Chukchi, or Chukchee , ) are an indigenous people inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula and the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean within the Russian Federation. They speak the Chukchi language...
and Alaskans
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
were allowed to travel, hunt and trade freely again. The protocol was signed at the end of April 1989, several months before the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
collapsed. The border was reopened and presidents Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
and Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
both prized Shparo and Shurke for their achievement. Disintegration of the Ice Curtain did not receive the same high profile treatment as the collapse of the Berlin Wall, yet the main goal of the expedition had been achieved: Inuit families across the border were reunited.
In 1996, Shparo attempted to cross the Bering Strait again – this time on skis and in the company of his two young sons. The expedition failed when overnight the coastal ice
Drift ice
Drift ice is ice that floats on the surface of the water in cold regions, as opposed to fast ice, which is attached to a shore. Usually drift ice is carried along by winds and sea currents, hence its name, "drift ice"....
had carried the sleeping adventurers 16 mi (25.7 km) away into the open Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
. Shparo, conceding defeat, set off the rescue beacon, and awaited rescue. A United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
(USCG) C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
was dispatched from Kodiak
Kodiak, Alaska
Kodiak is one of 7 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline...
to pin down the location. To the horror of the USCG they found approximately 20 polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
s, and the group was feared lost until they were finally spotted, and rescued by USCG helicopters from Nome
Nome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...
. In 1997 a second attempt failed when Nikita, the oldest of Shparo’s children, fell through the weak ice and sustained severe frostbite
Frostbite
Frostbite is the medical condition where localized damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas...
. In 1998, in the course of the third attempt, Dmitry and Matvey Shparo managed to successfully cross the Bering Strait, becoming the first people to do so by skis and thus securing another spot in the Guinness World Records and personal congratulations from presidents Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
.
In 2005, Prince Albert of Monaco
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco is the head of the House of Grimaldi and the ruler of the Principality of Monaco. He is the son of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and the American actress Grace Kelly...
chose Dmitry Shparo, along with son Matvey as partners and advisers in his April 2006 North Pole dog-sled expedition aimed to highlight global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
and to commemorate his great-great-grandfather, Prince Albert I
Albert I, Prince of Monaco
Albert I was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 10 September 1889 until his death.-Early life:...
, who made four Arctic trips a century ago.
Disability advocacy
In 1989, Dmitry Shparo influenced by Rick HansenRick Hansen
Richard M. Hansen, CC, OBC is a Canadian Paralympian and an activist for people with spinal cord injuries. Following a car crash at the age of 15, Hansen sustained a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him from the waist down. Hansen is most famous for his Man In Motion World Tour...
, a Canadian paraplegic
Paraplegia
Paraplegia is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek: παραπληγίη "half-striking". It is usually the result of spinal cord injury or a congenital condition such as spina bifida that affects the neural elements of the spinal canal...
athlete and activist for people with spinal cord injuries
Spinal cord injury
A spinal cord injury refers to any injury to the spinal cord that is caused by trauma instead of disease. Depending on where the spinal cord and nerve roots are damaged, the symptoms can vary widely, from pain to paralysis to incontinence...
, founded Adventure Club. It is a Moscow-based charity foundation, that in the past 17 years, sponsored countless adventures for disabled athletes and disadvantaged children all across the world. Under the personal leadership of Shparo, blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
, deaf
Hearing impairment
-Definition:Deafness is the inability for the ear to interpret certain or all frequencies of sound.-Environmental Situations:Deafness can be caused by environmental situations such as noise, trauma, or other ear defections...
, amputees
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
and quadriplegic
Quadriplegia
Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is paralysis caused by illness or injury to a human that results in the partial or total loss of use of all their limbs and torso; paraplegia is similar but does not affect the arms...
people have ascended mountain peaks and crossed deserts, including the ice ones.
Adventures for people with disabilities
- 1991 – a marathonMarathonThe marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
in wheelchairWheelchairA wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
s: Moscow – KievKievKiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
– Kryvyi RihKryvyi RihKryvyi Rih or Krivoy Rog is a city in central Ukraine. It is situated in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, to the southwest of the oblast's administrative center, Dnipropetrovsk, at the confluence of the Inhulets and Saksahan rivers...
, 1400 km (869.9 mi) - 1992 – marathon in wheelchairs, VladivostokVladivostokThe city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
– Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, 11000 km (6,835.1 mi) - 1993 – marathon in wheelchairs, St. Petersburg – AlmatyAlmatyAlmaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...
, along 15 countries of Commonwealth of Independent StatesCommonwealth of Independent StatesThe Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
and Baltic statesBaltic statesThe term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
, 9000 km (5,592.4 mi) - 1995 – an ascent of the Mount Kazbek 5047 m (16,558.4 ft), the third highest mountain in GeorgiaGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, by disabled sportsmen in wheelchairs - 1996 – the ecological marathon in wheelchairs SemeySemeySemey , formerly known as Semipalatinsk and Alash-kala , is a city in Kazakhstan, in the northeastern province of East Kazakhstan, near the border with Siberia, around north of Almaty, and southeast of the Russian city of Omsk, along the Irtysh River.-History:The first settlement was in 1718,...
– ChelyabinskChelyabinskChelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...
– ChernobylChernobylChernobyl or Chornobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in Kiev Oblast, near the border with Belarus. The city had been the administrative centre of the Chernobyl Raion since 1932....
, 10000 km (6,213.7 mi) - 1997 – an ascent of Mount KilimanjaroMount KilimanjaroKilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...
, TanzaniaTanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, 5895 m (19,340.6 ft), made by a team of disabled sportsmen - 2000 – a ski crossing GreenlandGreenlandGreenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
by a team including an athlete with spinal cord injury - 2002 – an ascent of Mount McKinleyMount McKinleyMount McKinley or Denali in Alaska, United States is the highest mountain peak in North America and the United States, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.- Geology and features :Mount McKinley is a granitic pluton...
, Alaska, at 6194 m (20,321.5 ft) the highest peak in North America by disabled sportsmen in wheelchairs
Adventures for children
- 1990 – a scientific expedition to Chukotka for the observation of a total solar eclipseSolar eclipseAs seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...
- 1992 – kayakKayakA kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
expeditions along rivers in the US and Canada - 1997 – a scientific expedition to the Chita OblastChita OblastChita Oblast was a federal subject of Russia in southeast Siberia, Russia. Its administrative center was the city of Chita. It had extensive international borders with China and Mongolia and internal borders with Irkutsk and Amur Oblasts, as well as with the Buryat and the Sakha Republics. Its...
for the observation of a total solar eclipse - 1998 – a youth ecological expedition to Mount ElbrusMount ElbrusMount Elbrus is an inactive volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia. Mt. Elbrus's peak is the highest in the Caucasus, in Russia...
- 1999 – a youth ecological expedition to Kamchatka
- 2000–06 – youth ecological camp in the Republic of KareliaRepublic of KareliaThe Republic of Karelia is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is located in the northwestern part of Russia, taking intervening position between the basins of White and Baltic seas...
Dmitry Shparo also stood behind the parachute jumps on the North Pole, running races to the top of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
– Mt. Elbrus, round-the world ZiL
ZIL
ZIL and similar may refer to:*Zil, a village in the Tabasaran rayon of Dagestan, Russia*Zil stands for Zulfikar Industries Pvt. Ltd. Pakistan, a Chemical factory in Pakistan producting soaps and related chemical products since 1976...
truck expedition, Moscow – Uelen
Uelen
Uelen is a rural locality in the Chukotsky District, just south of the Arctic Circle in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Far East. Population: 776 in 2003, with 595 Chukchi and 72 Yupik. Located near Cape Dezhnev where the Bering Sea meets the Chukchi Sea, it is the easternmost settlement...
– Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
– Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
– New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
– London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
– Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
– Moscow and circumnavigation in the yacht Apostol Andre. The Cruising Club of America
Cruising Club of America
-History:It was launched in the winter of 1921-1922 by a handful of experienced offshore sailors interested in cruising and the development of the cruising type of yacht....
's Bluewater Medal 2001 was awarded to the crew in New York. In 2005 Dmitry Shparo with the World Race Trust co-organized The Great Russian Race
The Great Russian Race
The Great Russian Race was a relay run from Vladivostok to Saint Petersburg, starting in Vladivostok on 28 May 2005 and ending in St. Petersburg on 8 September 2005. As well as the running challenge, the event aimed to pioneer and develop the culture of charitable giving and sponsorship in an area...
- a 15-week, 7000 mi (11,265.4 km) charity ultra-marathon relay from Vladivostok – at the intersection of North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, Russia and China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, 7 time zone
Time zone
A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
s east of Moscow – to St. Petersburg – near the border of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Russia. $340,000 were raised for the benefit of abandoned, orphaned and homeless children in Russia.
Honors and awards
In recognition of his polar achievements, Dmitry Shparo has received several honors and awards: the Order of LeninOrder of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
, the highest national decoration of the former Soviet Union, (other prizewinners include cosmonaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961....
, Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, and Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
), the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour was an order of the Soviet Union for accomplishments in labour and civil service. It is the labour counterpart of the military Order of the Red Banner. A few institutions and factories, being the pride of Soviet Union, also received the order.-History:The Red...
, the prestigious UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
award, Fair Play, and gold medals from several geographical societies.
Published works
Shparo’s career as an author has developed alongside that of explorer. Among his books are A Way to the North, To the Pole! and Three Mysteries of the Arctic. In 2006, Shparo completed a biography of Frederick CookFrederick Cook
Frederick Albert Cook was an American explorer and physician, noted for his claim of having reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908. This would have been a year before April 6, 1909, the date claimed by Robert Peary....
, defending Cook's achievements and reputation which had been strongly questioned by other historians and biographers.