Stolby winter bouldering Festival in Siberia

Climbers from the former Eastern Bloc are famous for their mental and physical toughness, for climbing straight into adversity in the high mountains and it comes as no surprise that their skills are formed throughout the year and in the harshest conditions. Even in winter in Siberia, where ever since 1991 close to the city of Krasnoyarsk the local Stolby climbing club has held its annual winter bouldering festival. If not the oldest bouldering festival in the world, certainly the coldest! Held at the start of January to coincide with Orthodox Christmas, the meeting is truly unique: climbers don’t use ice tools but tricouni (boots with metal nails) or crampons and cotton gloves… As Alex Kichkailo explains "Snow replaces crash pads and climbing becomes very tricky and technical."