Samara Scene

		Samara Scene
The city of Samara in Western Russia - locked in snow and ice under a cold winter sun for 5 months of the year.		< click here- 1st website >		A city of stirring patriotic monuments, great avenues and enormous open spaces of parade grounds and parks.
	At the end of a snowbound avenue,an original 1943 Russian fighter plane stands - another stark reminder of a wartorn history		The figher plane is only a 100 yards from the typically utilitarian Russian block where I live, shown here in the background.
		On a high plateau overlooking the river Volga stands this beautiful old church in typical Orthodox style.
	Both myself and my friends couldn't resists gettings some pictures posing by the plane on a sunny but very cold day in March.		An awesome winter sun slowly descends below the horizon and glitters off the icebound river Volga.
		Forest Picnic

	It's a kinda chilly (-20C!) Sunday morning in February and I'm taking part in a slightly mad Russian tradition which involves heading far out into the forest to celebrate "Maslinetsa". After finding a suitable snowy clearing, we proceeded to build a big table from snow, on which we layed out a feast of food. Also collected lots of wood for a big bonfire (for the BBQ) and for for burning the "Babushka" scarecrow which they built. Someone had also brought a sledge so the day progressed as a zany mixture of sledging on the hill, dancing & singing, all intermingled with lots of eating and drinking.

	At the height of the feasting and merriment we took this picture of myself and the very hilarious and slightly unhinged Lena.		My good friends in the group.. Me, Olga, Lena, Anton, Lena & Mrs Babushka - the "soon to be ignited" scarecrow



	A sturdy Alder tree stands firm on the banks of a wide, icy expanse that is the river Volga.The beautiful blue skies bely the fact that it's 15 below zero and the scene of blizzard earlier	Volga Climb	Standing in the middle of the river Volga looking North to the distant hills.The water in this picture is actually solid ice (2ft deep).The bitter wind blows the snow into spindrift and is effectively -40C. .

		Yep, it's me posing halfway up the snow-covered cliff face where we had come to practice rock climbing.
		.
	Well it's a gloriously sunny, but very cold Saturday in February and my friends Oleg, Akkadi & Sergei have invited me to go with them out into the hills on the banks of the river volga to practice rock climbing on the icy cliffs there whilst being freeze-dried by the 30mph winds and blinded by the occasional spindrift storms which blow the surrounding snow into blizzards that temporarily blind us. The views across the Volga from halfway up the cliff are awesome and the way the winter-sun glittered off the river through the small blizzards will stay in my memory for ever! The skies were deepest blue I have ever seen and the only sound there was the raspy rushing of the wind blowing sheets of snow across the ice. There was no sign of mankind whatsoever in this region and despite it's incredible beauty, the perilous cold made the whole expanse very forbidding. No life could survive here long. . . .
	We remained by the cliffs for only about 3 hours before beginning the 2 hour trek back to the road, however it was truly icy and I've never experienced such cold!		I was genuinely impressed being with these Russian guys. They've enormous fortitude to practice climbing insuch conditions. Inspiring skill they're oblivious to the cold!



		A beautiful sun shines through the trees, but you wouldn't want to relax & sunbathe! My hands were totally numb after the 30secs to take these pictures.



	Oleg displaying his extraordinary stamina and tenacity as he pulls himself up the vertical cliff-face using his two ice-axes - useful as every handhold and foothold is covered in ice!		On the left the river becomes momentarily enveloped again in a mini-blizzard, eerily illuminated by the sun. While on the right the guys setup the safety ropes on the cliff.
	Heading back, the weather rapidly deteriorates meaning a hard hour trudging along the ice against strong blizzards and striving not to lose sight of the others while shielding the face. I was without crampons which often resulted in being blown backwards on the ice.		Sergei runs into difficulty approaching a crest near the top. Each Climb is very tiring, owing to the enormous energy needed to pull oneself up the cliff using iceaxes and crampons. I succeeded in only making it halfway up each time before my body was numb with cold.