"Beringia": race and book

The book opens with a greeting from race commentator Dmitry Guberniev, who calls Beringia an Olympic-scale race. “As a passionate fan of Beringia, I try to do everything so that as many people as possible, both those who love sports and those who are indifferent to it, know about this phenomenon. Both the race itself and the book about it will certainly be of interest to a wide audience. The authors made every effort to convey the spirit of Kamchatka, to acquaint all of us with the amazing Beringia and its unusual, but now so familiar and understandable participants, ”writes Guberniev.

Governor of the Kamchatka Territory Vladimir Ilyukhin greets readers from the pages of the book. He said that sled dogs have always occupied a special place on the peninsula: “It is impossible to imagine Kamchatka without dogs. Until the mid-1950s, teams were the only means of communication between northern settlements: they delivered mail, brought food and medicine to the most remote corners of the region. Today, thanks to the development of sled dog breeding, we are gradually restoring the Kamchatka sled dog breed - a hardy and reliable dog, in whose veins wolf blood flows ”.

Presentation of the book “Beringia. Anatomy of a Race ”took place in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The book was presented by Aleksey Voitov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kamchatka Territory, Chairman of the organizing committee of the dog sled race "Beringia-2015".

A lot of films, videos and photo albums have been shot about Beringia. But there was not yet a full-fledged, beautiful book about the race. Therefore, this year the Kamchatka news agency and the PressPass publishing house not only came up with such an idea, but also brought it to full completion. The book has been published, ”said Alexey Voitov. The book is dedicated to sled dogs and sled dog racing - an extreme sport that is extremely popular both in the Russian North and in the USA, Canada and Europe. The reference and entertainment publication is divided into three chapters: the first, "Mushers", tells about the preparation of mushers ("drivers" of teams) for the competition; the second, "Dogs," - about sled breeds and their qualities, about the practice of preparing dogs for races; the third, "Routes", gives an idea of ​​how the race is held on the territory of Kamchatka and where similar races take place elsewhere in the world. Each chapter is preceded by autobiographies of the mushers; their comments accompany the narrative. Many mushers are representatives of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North and talk about the traditional economy, of which sled dogs have long been an integral part.

Margarita Bayshuakova, the first woman to take part in Beringia at the traditional Esso-Ossor distance of 950 km, shares her impressions of the race: “There is a kind of spiritual connection between the Beringia participants. I love everyone with whom I raced. We have been in contact throughout the year, miss each other and look forward to the next Beringia. “When the race became an integral part of my life, I realized that Beringia was reviving the customs of the indigenous peoples of the North,” her words are quoted in the book. “We must preserve our traditions - the Even language and dog sled racing, which are in our blood.”

Another hero of the book, Andrei Semashkin, a three-time winner of Beringia, is convinced that sledding is not just a hobby, but a special way of life. “We lived in the village of Esso, Bystrinsky District, where I spent my childhood and youth. Dogs were the main mode of transport, reindeer herders used them to move from the village to herds, and the rest of the inhabitants successfully mastered this mode of transport. It was later that snowmobiles, tractors appeared, the roads became better ... And in those years, not only adults, but also children rode dogs - they hooked up from two to four dogs and went fishing like that. They also often came to school by sledges: they picked up small sledges, drove up, the dogs were tied to the fence and went to study. The animals left under the windows were fighting, howling, rushing about - and we constantly had to run out into the yard to separate them. Then, of course, such a “school” transport was banned, ”says Andrey.

The book was written by a team of authors, provided with infographics and comments from experts in the field of sled dog breeding: veterinarians, dog breeders, judges and race organizers. The publication is richly illustrated with author's photographs of famous Russian photographers, including Alexander Kutsky, Vasily Rusin and Viktor Gumenyuk. Edition “Beringia. Anatomy of a Race "prepared for publication by the Moscow publishing house PressPass with the support of the government of the Kamchatka Territory and the information and analytical agency" Kamchatka ". It is part of the Anatomy book series about sports and healthy living.

Beringia 2015 starts on March 8 in the village of Esso, Bystrinsky District. Eighteen mushers will have to walk 935 km on dog sleds to the village of Ossora in the north of Kamchatka. According to the organizers, the total prize fund will amount to 7,5 million rubles. The winner will receive 3 million rubles, the musher who came to the finish line second will get 2 million, the prize for the third place is 1 million rubles.