A winter swimming club in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk gathers people of all ages and professions who share a love of bathing in the extremely cold waters of the Yenisei River during the Siberian winter. The Cryophile club – named after organisms living in cold temperatures – has nearly 300 members.
Above: Nikolai Bocharov, 77, an amateur hunter and a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, walks with his dog Laika and a gun in the Taiga district outside the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, December 1, 2015.
Above: Mikhail Shakov, 23, who recently left the army and is a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, plays guitar for his girlfriend Svetlana Andreeva as they ride on a chairlift at the Bobrovy Log ski resort in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 27, 2015. For him, swimming is a way of disconnecting from daily life and putting aside its troubles.
Above: Mikhail Sashko, chairman and one of the founders of the Cryophile winter swimmers club looks at a picture taken by Mikhail Shakov (right), as he celebrates his 68th birthday on a bank of the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 21, 2015.
Above: Mikhail Shakov, 23, a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, enters the icy water of the Yenisei River on the first day after returning from military service in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 21, 2015. The air temperature was some minus 27 degrees Celsius.
Above: Liza Broverman, 6, and her sister Yulia Klimenkova, 16, members of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, play in the snow before bathing in the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 15, 2015. The air temperature was around minus 16 degrees Celsius.
Above: Visitors watch as Grigory Broverman, a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, pours a bucket of cold water over his 6-year-old daughter Liza during a flash mob, part of a celebration of Polar Bear Day at the Royev Ruchey Zoo in a suburb of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 29, 2015.
Above: Nikolai Bocharov, 77, a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, rubs snow on his body as he sits on a snowdrift after bathing in the icy water of the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 21, 2015. The air temperature was around minus 27 degrees Celsius.
Above: Liza Broverman, 6, and her sister Yulia Klimenkova, 16, members of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, bathe in the icy water of the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 15, 2015.
Above: Members of the Cryophile winter swimmers club walk outside the wooden clubhouse on the banks of the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, October 25, 2015.
Above: Mikhail Shakov (left), 23, a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, greets another member on the banks of the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 21, 2015.
Above: Nastya Usachyova, 9, and her mother Natalia, 39, members of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, warm up before swimming in the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 14, 2015. The air temperature was about minus 24 degrees Celsius.
Above: Mikhail Sashko, chairman and one of the founders of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, bathes in cold water during a flash mob, part of a celebration of Polar Bear Day at the Royev Ruchey Zoo in a suburb of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 29, 2015.
Above: Young members of the Cryophile winter swimming club and their trainer (left) throw snowballs on the banks of the Yenisei River before swimming in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, October 25, 2015.
Above: Women follow Mikhail Sashko (left), chairman and one of the founders of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, during a celebration of his 68th birthday in the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 21, 2015.
Above: Members of the Cryophile winter swimmers club gather inside the wooden clubhouse on the banks of the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, December 13, 2015.
