The coldest point in the world is Oymyakon. Life at the Pole of Cold. A resident's story. Very much!! Oymyakon, Russia. The coldest place in Russia

Oymyakon appeared on the map of Russia not so long ago - in 1935. The village became a regional center, uniting several nearby villages - Olchan, Sarylakh and others - into a single territorial unit.

In 1954, the regional center moved to the urban-type settlement of Ust-Nera. Today the region (ulus), with an area of ​​over 92 km², is part of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

Nevertheless, the village retains the status of a socio-cultural center, which is not surprising given such a unique history.

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Origins

The first mentions come at the beginning of the 17th century. In the Indigirka Valley, just above the mouth of the Kuente, the water of underground springs magically does not freeze in severe cold.

This phenomenon gave the name to the valley, and then to the village (Oymyakon - Warm Key from the Even language) where yurts stood in groups. The nomadic habitation was almost constant, the yurts were located at a distance of 80 km from Oymyakon to Tomtor.

A native of the village of Taryn-Yuryakh, Nikolai Osipovich Krivoshapka, was the last successor of the merchant family and, like his ancestors, was engaged in the fur trade - an extremely successful trade in those days.

It is important to know: The name of the remarkable philanthropist and educator N.O. Krivoshapka, who devoted strength and resources to his native ulus, was given to one of the Yakut schools. Although some residents of the village believe that ascetic labor deserves greater fame.

The childless philanthropist built churches and chapels, supported public education, and built schools. With his funds, the Sakha Omuk library was built and bridges were erected across Aldan and Taattu.

Geographical position

For our contemporaries there is a strong association: Oymyakon is a pole of cold. Clarification is required here.

The Oymyakon Valley is rightfully considered one of the harshest places on Earth. Locals joke: “Here, even vodka turns into ice,” but people live here all the time, as they always have.

The name Oymyakon often combines two settlements of the Russian Federation - Oymyakon and Tomtor. This is the so-called “Pole of Cold”, they are located in the Oymyakon depression.

The depression itself, where cold air flows, is a unique geological phenomenon. The bowl formed by tectonic movements consists of an icy bottom (valley) with the walls of hills. The kingdom of cold and frost are normal phenomena for the area, and no one knows where it is colder - in what exact place.

Note: The expression “pole of cold” was rather coined by tourists. After all, no serious meteorological surveys have ever been carried out here. There is only one weather station at Oymyakon airport, 40 km from the village, near Tomtor. And the cold pole is a triangle connecting the city, Verkhoyansk and the Oymyakon Valley.

The pole is located on the continent of Eurasia. The location coordinates are 63°27`00` north latitude and 142°47`00` east longitude. The village is located in the subarctic continental climate zone.\

Climate and weather

And yet, it’s not for nothing that this area is called the pole; it is the coldest point on our planet. Let's find out why.

Winter record numbers are marked with commemorative obelisks. And the lowest, -77.8°C, was recorded in the village itself in 1938. The average temperature in January here is also extremely low - January frosts stay at over 50° for weeks.

It's better not to turn off cars in winter

However, information about temperatures in different sources differs greatly. The average daytime temperature is -43°, the minimum is -65°. Oymyakon competes with Verkhoyansk, where the record was 68° in 1933, and which has the right to be called the coldest populated area. But is it worth starting such disputes?

But summer also comes to these harsh places, and the temperature can rise to +30°! And at night the temperature can drop to +5°-10°. The absolute summer heat record of +32.6 was recorded in July 1989. Summer is short, only 1.2-2 months, winter lasts forever.

As Wikipedia says, the village is located at an altitude of 750 m above sea level. In summer, a day lasts 21 hours, in winter only 3 hours. The area ranks among the first in the world for fluctuations in winter and summer temperatures.

Airport

The airport is an important component of the entire infrastructure of the ulus.

The villages of Oymyakon and Tomtor are located as if in a dead end; the Kolyma highway once passed here, now it goes through the regional center of Ust-Nera, much north of Tomtor, towards. The old road is no longer maintained and there are no bridges. Air travel is the only way to reach these places.

This is what the airport looks like today

Today the airport, 4 km from Tomtor, is just an airfield. And just 30 years ago it was a legend: an airport with two runways was part of the Alaska-Siberia air route, accepted up to 100 aircraft, even Yakutsk did not accept such a number.

Northern pilots worked miracles, lifting and landing icy vehicles into the air every day. Mitchell B-25 bombers and Airacobra P-39 fighters landed here, and belly landings were made here.

When the landing gear froze to the hatches, airport workers rolled large quantities of barrels onto the runway and the plane rolled over them, landing safely without landing gear. Wartime and post-war valor.

Today there is no basic infrastructure, there is no waiting room, dispatchers in a small room are freezing in the cold and getting wet in the rain, the roof is leaking. Old equipment and other problems. But even now the airport is operational, the famous Cheburashkas, L-410 aircraft and other small aircraft fly.

Tourist comment: In winter, planes do not fly to Yakutsk. You can get to Ust-Negra, from there further to Yakutsk, from there to Moscow and many cities in the country. In the summer from May to September, a plane flies to the capital of Sakha once a week.

In winter, people travel to the regional center and other populated areas via a winter road.

The village with a population of 521 people lives its life, measuredly and silently. Local residents are not talkative, but they are friendly and hospitable. The climate contributed greatly to the formation of customs and traditions. Here are some features of this region:

• The equipment of the local police is distinguished by the absence of batons. The material from which they are made cannot withstand frost;
• school closes at temperatures of -60°;
• Cars are not uncommon in the village, but in winter they work constantly. If you turn off the car, there is a risk that it will no longer start, especially if it is left in the cold for more than 2 hours;
• residents wear clothes only from natural fabrics. Even cows wear warm clothes; special bags are sewn for them so as not to catch a cold in their udders. In Soviet times, cows of the Yakut breed were bred, whose udders were covered with life-saving wool, but the milk yield of the northern cows did not suit the management. Attempts to replace the breed led to the death of the dairy herd;

This is interesting: a wonderful festival “Pole of Cold” is held here, where you can see alys, a ritual performance from the life of reindeer herders, a spectacle of mesmerizing beauty and primitiveness, ride a dog sled, try national cuisine, for example, snow sheep meat.

• The village does not register colds or viral diseases; germs do not survive in the cold;
• Near the village there flows non-freezing water, a spring with amazingly clean water, like something out of a fairy tale, living or dead. The source with the river can be seen in pictures in books and on the Internet;
• there is a monument with a temperature record, a single store with very high prices, a school, and a gas station at the entrance to the village;

Interesting fact:“The Kingdom of Permafrost” is the main attraction. The space carved out in the cave is subordinate to Chychkhaan, which is the name of the character in the Yakut epic - frost. He kindly greets visitors, shows them his possessions, ice utensils, furniture, allows them to ride down the slide and relax in the ice bar.

• in Indigirka, a river with crystal clear water, you can see swimming fish, the famous vendace, omul, seal, and muksun and broad whitefish are found here. Fishing is good, any time of the year is suitable for it, but hunting is allowed only in winter;
• There is an ethnological museum near the village at the Chochur-Muran tourist center; the toponymy of the ulus will reveal interesting stories. Here, man-made ice caves created by Yakut sculptors open up the embrace.

How people live

The regional center is located 900 kilometers from the village. A plane ticket costs approximately 27,000 rubles. In winter, people travel to Yakutsk by taxi; the minibus journey takes more than 16 hours. Oymyakon residents go to the capital on their business.

The people here are seasoned and strong. They eat the meat of deer and horses, and hunt and fish. The Yakut horse is a unique animal: it lives on the street, does not need a barn, and feeds by digging roots out of the frozen ground.

This is a free animal, lives next to its owners and helps them because they feed it. Its meat contains vitamins and microelements that allow a person to receive complete nutrition without vegetables and fruits.

Houses without amenities. Ordinary Russian huts are heated with coal and wood. For heating 8 months of the winter season they pay 50,000 rubles. There is electricity.

We have long been accustomed to the fact that batteries quickly run out in the cold, ink gets cold, and cars are equipped with double glass. They bury the dead in permafrost. Before digging a grave, fires are burned for three days to warm the ground.

The Oymyakon Valley became home to 29 camps during Stalin's times, which left its dark imprint on this beautiful land. The Tomtor Gulag School Museum can tell you a lot. These dark times will never be forgotten.

But life goes on, children are born, tourists come. The Pole does not freeze because the Indigirka carries its waters and warm springs gush out.

For more information about the benefits of cold, watch the following interesting video:

The village of Oymyakon is an iconic place in Yakutia. It is located at an altitude of more than 740 meters above sea level, but lies in a kind of basin where cold air accumulates in winter. There is no wind in the village, however, according to local residents, the cold penetrates much more strongly to the very bones.

According to various measurements, the minimum temperature in the village ranges from minus 78 to 82°C! Meteorologists are constantly arguing about which point in Yakutia is considered the northern pole of cold: Verkhoyansk or Oymyakon. According to the latest data, the absolute annual minimum in Oymyakon is almost 4°C lower than in Verkhoyansk.

The temperature difference between winter and summer reaches 104 degrees. According to this indicator, Oymyakon is ahead only of Verkhoyansk. The highest temperature in this village was recorded in the summer of 2010. It was almost +35°C. The Oymyakon summer is characterized by a colossal temperature difference: during the day the thermometer can show +30°C, and at night it can be below zero. Almost 230 days a year there is snow cover in Oymyakon.

The shortest day here in December is only three hours. But in the summer there are white nights in Oymyakon - it’s light outside all day and night.

Population of Oymyakon

Only 520 people live in the village. Local residents are engaged in cattle breeding, fishing and reindeer herding. Despite the terrible cold, the population lives a completely normal life. The village has cellular communications, the Internet, shops, a hospital, a school, a gas station and even an airport, which was built during the Great Patriotic War. Prices in Oymyakon stores are significantly higher than in Moscow.

Sights of Oymyakon

Tourism in this village has been developing rapidly recently. Foreigners and Russians are attracted by local museums, nearby Gulag camps, Lake Labynkyr, Moltanskaya Rock and, of course, the biting frost itself. The nature of Oymyakon is truly unique. There are streams here that do not freeze even when the air temperature is minus 70°C, and ice fields that do not thaw in the heat of +30°C.

Every spring a festival is held in Oymyakon, which attracts Santa Clauses from all over the planet. It traditionally attracts crowds of tourists. The latter are recommended to dress very warmly: hats with ear flaps, cotton pants, fur sweaters, high fur boots made of reindeer wool and a scarf to wrap your face will come in handy here.

Local residents claim that in severe frost, if you hit metal hard against metal, you can create a spark. This is why it is extremely dangerous to refuel cars in Oymyakon.

Local police do not have batons, because in the bitter cold they harden and treacherously burst upon impact, like glass.

Residents of Oymyakon take wet laundry outside only to freeze, not to dry. A minute later it stands up like a stake.

Education in local schools is canceled only when the temperature drops to minus 56°C.

Of all the animals, only horses, dogs and reindeer can withstand the local cold.

The Pole of Cold is a place on planet Earth where air temperatures drop to record lows. In other words, it is the coldest place on the globe.

On the territory of Russia, the pole of cold is located in the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia near the village of Oymyakon. The lowest temperature officially recorded here in February 1933 is -67.7 °C. According to other sources, the minimum recorded temperature on Oymyakon was -77.8 °C in 1938, although this information is disputed.

Why is Oymyakon called the pole of cold of the northern hemisphere?

Since 1926, two settlements have been competing for the title of “Pole of Cold” in the Northern Hemisphere - the village of Oymyakon, and more specifically the village of Tomtor, 30 kilometers to the southeast, and the city of Verkhoyansk, where the absolute minimum of the Northern Hemisphere -67.8 °C was recorded in January 1885. After that, a meteorological station and the Pole of Cold local history museum were organized here.

The Russian Pole of Cold - the story of its discovery.

If geologist Sergei Obruchev had not started conducting research on the Indigirka River, it is likely that Verkhoyansk would have remained the only contender for the role of the coldest city in the Northern Hemisphere. During the expedition, the scientist noticed a strange noise, which turned out to be his own breathing. According to him, this noise resembled the sound of grain spilling or snow falling from tree branches. This unusual sound appears when the air temperature drops below -50°C, local residents call it the “whisper of the stars.” Hearing this “whisper,” Obruchev began to think that, due to its geographical location, this area could break Verkhoyansk’s records. The Yakut village of Oymyakon is located in a depression, surrounded on all sides by mountains, its geographical location is quite interesting. In fact, Oymyakon is located higher above sea level than its competing city, but due to the mountains surrounding it, it is located in a pit, which is why cold air lingers here longer and heats up more slowly. Based on all this, Obruchev concluded that this is where temperature records should be expected.

The question of which settlement will rightfully be called the pole of cold is still considered open to this day. Supporters of Oymyakon and supporters of Verkhoyansk continue their disputes on this issue. The absolute minimum temperature of -68°C at Oymyakon in Verkhoyansk was included in SNiP 23-01-99 “Building Climatology” from January 1, 2003.

Weather in Oymyakon, Yakutia.

Interestingly, the village has a somewhat ironic name. The word "oymyakon" translated into Russian means "unfrozen water", although perhaps this name was given in honor of the hot spring located nearby. Local residents are used to the harsh Oymyakon climate, for them -50°C is considered warming, since the average temperature for these places is -65°C.

In 2012, the population of Oymyakon was 512 people; today this number has not changed much. The terrible frosts of these areas do not particularly attract tourists. For the most part, people who come here are either scientists or journalists. Only a few extreme sports enthusiasts and lovers of unusual sensations choose these regions for relaxation. Oymyakon residents heat their houses with wood or coal; there are practically no amenities here, but the entire territory of the village is covered with a Wi-Fi network, but there is no mobile communication at the Pole of Cold in Oymyakon, Unfortunately no.

Climate of Oymyakon and length of day.

The length of the day in Oymyakon varies depending on the time of year; in summer it is almost 21 hours, and in December no more than 3. Summer in this harsh pole of cold is beautiful with its white nights, when the sun shines throughout the day. In addition to differences in day length, the largest fluctuations in air temperature per year for Eurasia are also observed here - over 100 degrees, that is, from -67.7 ° C in winter and up to + 45 ° C in summer.

In Oymyakon, not only the climate is surprising, but also the local fauna. Unusual horses are bred here, whose body is covered with thick hair 8-15 cm long. Thanks to this, the Yakut breed of horses is incredibly frost-resistant, even in winter they continue to live in the fresh air, no matter how much the temperature drops.

There is almost no wildlife in these areas; you need to be an experienced hunter to know where and who to look for, otherwise you can freeze to death trying to track down any game. Also, practically nothing grows here, so people eat the meat of deer and horses. At the Pole of Cold in Oymyakon, there is only one store open, and local residents work as fishermen, shepherds or hunters.

Are you complaining that you are cold? Be thankful that you don’t live in the village of Oymyakon! In January, the temperature here can stay firmly at minus 50ºC for weeks, so it is not surprising that this settlement is rightfully called the coldest in the world. The lowest temperature in the history of Oymyakon was…-71.2ºС!!!

(Total 20 photos)

1. About 500 people live in the village. In the 20s and 30s it was a stopover for reindeer herders.

2. However, the Soviet government, in an attempt to “settle down” the nomads, because considered them ungovernable, made this settlement permanent.

3. Here, who is not so cold in such frosts!

4. Ironically, the word Oymyakon means “unfrozen water” - in honor of the nearby hot spring.

5. This monument marks the mark of the lowest record temperature in the history of the village.

9. 52-year-old Alexander Platonov, a retired teacher, went to the toilet, which is located behind his house. Many travel companies offer to visit the village and try to live in such conditions.

10. By the way, the only local school closes only at temperatures below -52ºС.

11. Oymyakon lies about two days’ drive from the city of Yakutsk, the capital of the region.

12. It is served by two airports; the capital has a university, schools, theaters and museums. In the photo: the road to Oymyakon, which was nicknamed “The Road of Bones”.

13. Toilet at a gas station on the road to Oymyakon.

14. And this is a Yakutsk student at a bus stop in the capital.

15. Common problems that Oymyakon residents face every day: ink in pens freezes, batteries lose power, and many locals leave their cars running all day because... They are afraid that they simply may not have them anymore.

16. Another problem: funerals. In this cold weather, it can take up to three days to dig a grave in the frozen ground. In this case, you first need to warm the ground with a fire and place hot coals around the edges.

17. And here is the gas station on the road to Oymyakon.

Incredible facts

Welcome to Oymyakon - the coldest village on Earth, where the average temperature in January is -50 C, and the eyelashes of local residents freeze as soon as they step outside.

Oymyakon is best known as one of the “Poles of Cold” on Earth.

If we take into account some parameters, we can say that the Oymyakon Valley is the most severe settlement on Earth.

Temperature in Oymyakon

Winter 2017-2018 turned out to be so severe that the new electronic thermometer broke as soon as it registered 62 degrees Celsius.

The official weather station at the cold pole recorded -59 degrees, but local residents say their thermometers showed the temperature dropped to -67 C, which is 1 degree above the permissible temperature for a place with a permanent population.

A digital thermometer in Oymyakon was installed in 2017 to help attract tourists, but record low temperatures caused it to fail.

Oymyakon on the map

1. Today the village is home to about 500 people. In the 1920s and 1930s, reindeer herders stopped here so their herds could drink from the thermal spring. This is where the name of the village comes from, which translates as “water that does not freeze.”

2. In 1933, a temperature of -67.7 C was recorded, which is still the coldest temperature in the northern hemisphere. Temperatures dropped lower only in Antarctica, but there is no permanent population there.

3. Daily problems faced by local residents include pen paste freezing, glasses freezing and then sticking to the face, and batteries draining quickly.

4. They say that local residents do not even turn off their cars, since it will be impossible to bring them in. Truckers even work for several months without turning off the engine. However, sometimes even this does not help, since after a 4-hour parking the car simply freezes and its wheels turn to stone.

5. The average life expectancy in this village is 55 years, and what residents fear most is funerals. The fact is that it is very difficult to bury the deceased due to the fact that the earth is hard as stone. To soften it, a fire is first lit, after which the hot coals are pushed aside and a small hole is dug. This process is repeated for several days until the hole is deep enough for the coffin.

6. To get to Oymyakon from Moscow, you need to fly for 6 hours to Yakutsk, then drive another 1,000 km along a snow-covered highway. But in the summer you can try to fly to the village by plane, but you will have to land at your own risk, since the airport is old, there is an abandoned kindergarten nearby, and all this is surrounded by a large unplowed field on which planes land.

Oymyakon – pole of cold

7. Children here are wrapped up so that they are unable to move independently. Here is one example:

* First, they put on warm underwear and woolen pants on top, after which they put on thicker cotton pants.

*Knitted socks and felt boots must be worn on your feet.

* After this, the child is wrapped in a tsigey fur coat, first one hat is put on his head, and on top of that is another tsigey hat.

* Rabbit mittens are put on the child’s hands, and a scarf is tied very tightly around his face so that only his eyebrows and eyes remain visible.

* They put a fur coat on the stove, which is then laid on a sleigh, the child is carried out in their arms, put on a sleigh and taken to the kindergarten.

8. In winter it is very dreary here, since the day lasts only 4 hours, but people still stay in their houses and warm themselves by the stove.

9. You can go to school until the temperature drops to −60 degrees. At the same time, schoolchildren sit in their coats, and together they warm the pens with their breath so that they can write with them.

10. All the clothes of local residents are made from natural fur, since everything artificial simply breaks down in the cold. High boots, which are made from the skin of the lower part of a deer's leg, are worn on the legs. It is better that the fur coat reaches the shoes, since if it is shorter, you can seriously freeze your shins and knees. Only a hat made of mink, arctic fox or fox is put on the head.

Oymyakon, Russia

11. The most favorite holiday of all local residents is the holiday of the North. Especially on this day, three very important and long-awaited guests come to Oymyakon - Grandfather Frost from Veliky Ustyug, Santa Claus straight from Lapland, as well as the Yakut Grandfather Frost Chiskhan, who is considered the keeper of the cold.

12. All foreigners are shocked by what they see. Many people don’t know what felt boots are, and to help them, locals hang “right” and “left” signs on each felt boot.

13. Women here, like all women in the world, want to look good. Therefore, even at a temperature of -60 C, some people wear stockings, high heels and a short skirt. In this case, of course, they put on a very long fur coat on top.

14. Residents do not need refrigerators, since local residents simply keep fresh-frozen fish, butter, meat and berries on the veranda of their house.

15. All village residents are aware of the rules for living in very low temperatures. One of them says that a person is able to withstand low temperatures if he is not afraid of them, or rather, not afraid of freezing. According to scientists, a panicky fear of freezing speeds up the freezing process, and if a person has given himself a clear instruction “I’m not cold!”, then such a psychological technique significantly increases the period of survival in the cold.