Stolby

Later in March, on probably the last day of beautiful fresh snow before the thaw began, N and I decided to go for a 17 km hike with some people we know at the world famous Siberian Stolby. Our seven year old, A2, was determined to come with us, and did very well – only starting to complain at about the 15km mark!

The Stolby National Park is only a few kilometres from us across the river as the crow flies, however the journey by car is closer to an hour. Stolby means pillar, and this incredibly beautiful part of the Siberian taiga has many such large rock outcroppings—pillars—that rock climbing enthusiasts come from all over the world to climb. You can find anchors screwed into sheer cliff faces, but seemingly no self-respecting Russian would think to use ropes or carabiners, and most wouldn’t even have specialised shoes. Many people free-solo climb even 5.9 climbs (this is a grading where most climbers would normally use safety gear and a slip/fall usually means certain death). Apparently there is an average 1 death per month, and broken limbs are quite common

This short blog entry was written by the first Americans to climb Stolby nearly 10 years ago. It gives great insight into exactly what it’s like there. I have been to Stolby in summer too and it is a mass of people scrambling over rocks, with apparently no fear for life and limb.

However, we did not go to climb, but to enjoy the pristine and awe-inspiring scenery. I felt so close to God, surrounded by the harsh wilderness, probably only a skip and a jump from where the bears where hibernating. The freshly fallen snow of the day before coated everything in the purest white and the sun glinted off the small ice-crystals so that my heart just wanted to sing.

Come visit us and I’ll take you to one of the most beautiful places on earth!

You can see video of the rock climbing madness here.

You can read more about the national park here.