This year, spring in the southern Urals came early. So the season of ski tourism and winter activities has come to an end. Oleg and I managed to make an interesting winter activation in mid-March. There is a very interesting area in the southern Urals, where are the mountains not so high, but very unusual in terms of relief.
On Oleg’s old, but still quite fast car, we got to the small village of Uzyan.
At this point, the ski part of our activation began. The ascent to the summit was interesting. We walked along the mountain ridge.
In some places the snow was blown away by strong storms.
But on the slopes, in the middle of the forest, the layer of snow was thick. So much so, that there was threat of avalanche danger on the mountainsides without forest. We didn’t see any avalanches. But we met traces of the previous ones - broken trees, gathered in heaps at the foot of steep slopes.
Fortunately for us, there was a suitable place at the top for setting up antennas and a tent.
We planned to spend the night at the summit and be QRV on several bands. A small snow canopy protected our tent from the wind that constantly blows from the southwest. Several trees made it possible to install a dipole for 7 and 10 MHz. But our main antenna on this activation was the GP from the fishing rod. We were almost not late for the announced time. But to my surprise, almost nothing was heard on the 14 MHz band, even the usual - light noise. I have doubts about the antenna. But everything was in OK, including SWR. Turning on the preamp, transmitted the first CQ from SO-107. Quickly enough the band came to life. But the signal levels, at first, were quite weak. It was especially hard with S2S. Suprisingly, the total number of S2S QSOs for this time was a record for me - 9! I want to thank my fellow activators for their patience and skill. It was unforgettable!
Then Oleg replaced me at the transceiver. While he was on SSB, 14 MHz, I was cooking. After dinner, a dipole with balanced line for 7 - 10 MHz was installed. The weather at this time began to deteriorate noticeably.
The sky turned overcast. It was much more comfortable in a tent warmed by a gas burner than outside. In the evening there were interesting QSOs on 7 MHz.
At night, the weather gave us a surprise - the wind changed direction. The snow cap stopped protecting our tent. So we woke up from the strong noise of storm and upcoming raging blizzard. I had to fasten all the storm ropes and put the backpacks in the tent. The windstorm could easily blow them away. I couldn’t close my eyes that night.
In the morning the snow stopped.
But the storm continued to buzz in the ears and rustle in the trees. Fortunately for us, the wind began to weaken while we had our breakfast and packed all things without getting out of the tent.
Taking advantage of the break between gusts of wind, we quickly got out and rolled up our tent. During the night, the blizzard slightly changed the terrain around us. Snowdrifts appeared, and our yesterday track was hidden from our eyes. The wind blew away the clouds, the bright sun illuminated the mountains around us.
Driven by the wind, we packed our backpacks and went downhill…
I want to once again thank all the chasers for their interest in this activation.
Special thanks for S2S:
SV2RUJ/P, Stavros
SP15OTA, Jarek
HB9BIN/P, Juerg
HB9/IK2LEY/P, Fabio
DL6FBK/P, Paul
9A8RA/P, Ante
DL3TU/P, Roman
F6HBI/P, Gerald
It was a real SOTA celebration!
73 de RX9WT
