Stolby Natural Reserve: Siberia's Own Piece of Switzerland

In my previous article I talked about Krasnoyarsk and some of the interesting things the city has to offer. However, I think the greatest thing about Krasnoyarsk is Stolby, a beautiful natural reserve some 20 km from the city. The word Stolby is the plural form of Stolb, the Russian word for a “pillar.”

Founded in 1925, Stolby is one of the oldest natural reserves in Russia. The name Stolby was given to the park due to extraordinarily shaped mountains that resemble pillars attached to each other. Millions of years ago, the pillars appeared from chilled magma underground, but due to erosion the mountains were pushed out and got the shape they have now.

The first thing one immediately notices when in Stolby is just how much the landscape resembles the famous Swiss Alps… or so I was told by my Swiss friend Matthias.

As Stolby is very close to the city, many Krasnoyarsk residents spend their free time hanging out and rock climbing in the park. There is said to be over 100 different rock pillars, ranging between 60 – 90 meters in height.

The first people who climbed the main pillar at Stolby were children from one of Krasnoyarsk’s orphanages. In 1851, the brave orphans led by Veniamin Kapin climbed a mountain using wooden rock climbing equipment.

Anastasia Kachalova became the first person to climb a pillar named Slonik, one of the highest and hardest mountains to climb in the natural park. In 1894, a young woman did something that nobody thought was possible. The secret of Kachalova’s success wasn’t only her amazing rock climbing skills, but also her unique shoes: the woman used a pair of lapti, bast shoes traditionally worn by Russian peasants, to conquer the mountain.

Having Stolby right next to Krasnoyarsk made rock climbing a popular sport in the city. To this day, climbers from the Krasnoyarsk Krai are highly respected within the international rock climbing community.

Out of all the wild animals living in the nature reserve, the most dangerous beast in Stolby is the tick. Forget about bears and wolves, it’s this little predator that has everyone around Krasnoyarsk on edge. Every year, a lot of people get infected with tick-borne encephalitis in Stolby. Without proper treatment the disease can be fatal.

But with proper clothes and general precautions, ticks aren’t a problem. The problem for me was the lack of time I had in Stolby. I wish I could spend more time in the park and learn to climb the unique pillars that Stolby has to offer.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.