Thursday, December 3, 1998

The setting is at least picturesque. Nezhdaninskoye's sagging log cabins, four-story apartment blocks, monstrous heating plants and junked mine equipment line the frozen Tyry River in a gorgeous valley. A pale winter sun creeps along the ghostly white horizon, casting a primrose glow off wooded peaks named Fairy Tale and Sleeping Beauty before setting in early afternoon.
      A walk here at this time of year requires frequent blinking. At minus 40, the slightest wind evokes tears, which freeze almost instantly. When the mercury dips below minus 65 degrees Fahrenheit, as it does here most winters, frostbite can destroy an unprotected hand or nose in minutes.