A few kilometres from the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, there are a cluster of bizarrely-shaped rocky outcrops in the middle of the forest.
These are the stolbi (literally “pillars” in English) that are visible from
almost any window in the city. For centuries, they served as a hideout for
criminals and revolutionaries and in the late Soviet period they were a centre
of local counter-culture.Now
they nurture an ever-growing climbing community. Stolbisti traditionally climb without
ropes, risking broken limbs and death in case of a fall — although many these
days take the safer option of proper climbing equipment. Recognisable by their
climbing shoes and guitars, as well as their athletic ability, the Krasnoyarsk
movement has its own special norms of behaviour, its own language and unwritten
rules about forest living. Many do not consider stolbism just a sport — more a
way of life.
