Ice walking in Shiretoko Peninsula

Every winter, sea ice forms off the Russian coast and drifts south across the Sea of Okhotsk until it packs against the Shiretoko peninsula — the lowest latitude on earth where drift ice reliably reaches land. For a few weeks it turns the sea solid, and in a supplied drysuit you walk out onto it, deliberately break through, and float between the floes in water that should by rights be lethal.

It is a strange, exhilarating thing to do, and the setting makes it stranger: Steller's sea eagles and white-tailed eagles gather on the ice as the drift brings prey close to shore, watching you from a few metres away. This is a UNESCO-listed wilderness, and in February it feels like the edge of the world.

The ice arrives on a window of only a few weeks, its timing shifts year to year, and it has been growing less reliable. Drysuit walks run through licensed operators in the Utoro area only — book around the ice, not the calendar.

The ice arrives on a window of a few weeks and its timing shifts year to year — and has been getting less reliable. Drysuit walks run through licensed operators only.