The winter tourist season in Yakutia, the coldest region of Russia, peaks in February. However, temperature above -30°C may frustrate it. Tourists from all over the world travel to the Pole of Cold. Yakutia has been consistently ranked among the top exciting destinations on the planet in the last 10 to 15 years, thanks to the development of travel video blogs.
While frost seems to be over the extreme limit, thrill-seekers and video bloggers travel by car, bicycles, and even jogging. Regular tourists who are bored with resorts also find Yakutia appealing. "They are so excited to see real snow and experience our frosty weather that they don't need any special programs," a guide from Oymyakon told Russkiy Mir.
Running keeps you warm
Everyone in Russia is aware that running makes you get warm when it is cold. Paolo Venturini was born and raised in hot Italy. So, he discovered the truth about the warming properties of running during a marathon in Yakutia. The former Italian policeman and rescuer arrived at the Pole of Cold after jogging in the Iranian desert where the air temperature had been close to +70°C.
Photo courtesy of Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba
Having experienced that, it was quite natural to get the idea of an ice marathon. When Venturini arrived in Yakutia to train before the race, it was minus sixty degrees below zero. He started with an hour-long run, then proceeded to an hour and a half, two hours, and so on. Step by step, the Russian north embraced the Italian guest. So, on the marathon day, the extreme temperatures gave him a green light, and the ultramarathoner had a successful race wearing huge goggles similar to a diving mask.
The athlete had a successful endeavor, whereas the cameraman who had been filming the marathon was hospitalized with hypothermia. Paolo Venturini returned to Yakutia on the cinema screen two years later. The region hosted the premiere of Monster Frozen, a documentary that tells not only about the runner's achievements but also about the region and its population.
It turned out that running through the Russian frost was also beneficial for diplomatic relations between Russia and Italy. The Moscow premiere of the documentary was attended by the Italian ambassador to Russia.
Traveling across Yakutia on bicycles
Stefano Gregoretti and Dino Lanzaretti, Venturini's compatriots from Venice, chose the coldest month in Yakutia for their bicycle trip. The cycling expedition commenced on January 15, 2022. It started in Oymyakon, while Verkhoyansk, a town 746 miles away, was set as the final destination.
Photo courtesy of Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba
The Italians brought a tent for overnight stays and a three-week supply of food. The aim of their trip was to raise global awareness of climate change. Stefano and Dino's bicycles resembled loaded mules. It was not the first time the travelers came to the north of Russia, and they have years of experience in traveling under any difficult conditions.
Yakutia welcomed them in a friendly way. However, the Italians faced a number of difficult issues on the way. It turned out that well-prepared persons with a well-trained will can do anything, still, the equipment can let them down. After a couple of dozen miles, the bearings on the wheels failed to turn and needed to be heated.
Photo courtesy of Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba
The Italians shared on their social media pages that they had offered requests to Yakut shamans along the way. "We realized the limits of mechanics, we overcame the limits of the body," Dino Lanzaretti wrote. “This is no longer a touring; this is survival itself". The traveler said that he had felt like a primitive man in the wilderness while lighting a fire in the evening after a day of spinning the frozen pedals. And he admitted that that's why he had come to Yakutia.
Cycling in Yakutia has been gaining popularity in recent years, and Oymyakon has unexpectedly become the bicycle capital of the region. Some tourists bring here a film crew. They are accompanied on their way by the Yakut spirit of frost Chyskhaan (for the sake of a pretty picture).
Photo courtesy of Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba
While embarking on the two-day trip, Valerian Romanowski from Poland said he had taken 48-hour rides before, although he had never been on a long journey in the winter before. "After four hours I had barely any power, I had used all the energy during the day, and I had to look for internal reserves," he said. "Luckily, everything was successful."
Not everyone succeeds though. At the beginning of the year, Spanish cyclist Juan Menendez Granados started his trip from the village of Chersky. He had planned to finish in Yakutsk but reached the village of Kolymskoye with freeze burns. The Spaniard was treated via telemedicine.
Stories of a guide
The native of the Oymyansk region with the long name of Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba has witnessed the history of Yakutia's exploration by foreign tourists. He said that he was the one who had come up with the idea to develop tourism in his native land back in his school years.
“In 2000 we hosted the first international Pole of Cold Festival, I was in the 9th grade then,” he told a reporter from Russkiy Mir. “Guests came here from all over the world, including the United Arab Emirates, Africa, Germany. That was the first time I saw dark-skinned people and foreigners in general. I thought that this field had potential and could become my business.”
Photo courtesy of Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba
Having graduated from Yakutsk State University as an ecologist, Tumen-Erilik successfully defended his graduation thesis "On the Development of Tourism in the Oymyakonsky District." He returned home and became a guide on hiking and rafting routes. Later on, he opened his own travel agency. There are actually only two travel agencies in Oymyakon; they do their best to compete with large companies from Yakutsk that bring tourists from all over the world to the region. According to Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba's estimates, he has already received guests from twenty countries.
Photo courtesy of Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba
– “A lot of bloggers, TV crews, and journalists come," he said. "Nevertheless, there are plenty of regular tourists as well. They come from the European part of Russia, as well as from foreign countries, such as Germany, France, and Japan. Many Chinese visitors used to come before the pandemic but now there are fewer of them. Our peak months are January and February. People want to experience our winter, see white snow (pure white, not like in the city), feel the Yakut frost. Guests from our region mostly visit in summer. they come to hike in the mountains and fish.”
Photo courtesy of Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba
Tourists are offered bathing in warm springs, a meeting with Chyskhaan, racing on snowmobiles, reindeer, and Yakut horses, fishing, visits to a mine with ice figures, and local museums, as well as concerts by local bands.
"People do enjoy Yakut cuisine," notes Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba."And I've noticed that foreigners are more interested in it than Russians. Their curiosity is stronger than their wariness about unfamiliar food. They taste everything and admire it. They like the fact that everything we have is natural, it is real food.”
Yet, the frost is still the main attraction feature of the region; tourists even feel frustrated if the temperature is below forty degrees Celsius. Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba starts out touring the frosty environment with the group by making the guests change their clothes. Most of them come to Yakutia wearing winter clothes suitable for their cities (two sweaters and three pairs of socks are not sufficient) or buy a tulup at a souvenir store.
Photo courtesy of Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba
“We make sure the tourist change their clothes especially if we are going to ride snowmobiles," he says. "It is either their shoes are light, or their scarf and mittens are thin, or they don't have any face protection. We provide them from our stockpile.”
Tumen-Erilik Kyryarba feels that insufficient development of infrastructure and high ticket prices are the factors that hinder tourism development in the region so far. These issues are being solved in neighboring regions of Kamchatka and Sakhalin. This is why there are more tourists. "I'm building a tourist center now", he said with pride. "I'm building it the way I see it. If we don't, who will."
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