Winter road-trip 2026: as per plan – back in Magadan!

People sometimes ask me: “Eugene, why are you so drawn to the North? What is it about deep-frozen Siberian cities likes Yakutsk, or just-as-cold Far-Eastern ones like Magadan, and the treacherous winter roads that connect them?

It’s like this. In the Arctic and near-Arctic it’s always winter – even when it’s summer. But the “real” winter – December to February – is just so much colder. Still, there are no gnats, mosquitoes, or other bloodsuckers, and that, to me, more than makes up for the cold. (And anyway – a Russian afraid of the cold? That would be like… a burger patty being afraid of buns.) Curiously, southern/central Yakutia (the Sakha Republic) is well away from (well south of) the Arctic, but in winter it can get much colder there. If you don’t believe me, look at the temperature data by region. For example, compare the climate of Tiksi (on the north coast of Russia – inside the Arctic Circle) with that of Yakutsk. Who knew?! So yes, the climate is a harsh one, and not to many folks’ taste. Not to mine in and of itself, but there’s something else – besides the lack of hungry insects – that makes up for the intense (-60°C and below!) cold in winter: central Yakutia – for example along the Kolyma highway – only gets prettier. It becomes a deep-frozen, absolutely white, winter-wonderland scene that’s simply unique. I’ve enthused and raptured about it plenty before (see my MYM (2021) and MYB (2022) expedition series of posts). Unfortunately (!), this year the winter was extremely warm, with average temperatures around just (!) -20/-30°C (which is very unusual for late winter), so the views, alas, weren’t so magical.

Nevertheless, extremely cold or no, when you head out early in the morning for another day’s drive, you’re immediately overcome by some kind of special northern hypnosis. And sunrises only intensify the feeling:

The sun rises really slowly over the horizon, it blinds you a bit but it’s bearable, while the views all around are frozen stiff, beautiful and endless…

Here’s the turn onto the “Arctica” winter road – the one we took back in 2024 driving all the way to Tiksi! ->

The traditional stop at the “1111” sign ->

Even allowing for the warm weather, just look at these photos – both the magic and beauty were still present. Endless, mesmerizing, hypnotic roadscapes. Yep, that’s the Kolyma Highway for you…

There are many wonderful, beautifully designed, stunning, mind-blowing places on our planet. And among them, without a doubt – is Russia’s northeast!

The turn onto the 44N-4. This road is an alternative route to Magadan – it runs off to the side of the main Kolyma Highway…

This road is trickier (it traverses a full six or seven mountain passes – each with the respective hairpin bends to get up them), but at the same time it’s more contemplative-meditative. Especially through the driver’s eyes. On top of that, given the abnormal weather the ice on the roads of the southern passes had become real slippery.

It’s just so beautiful there. A winter fairy tale!…

Someone might argue that the roads in the Alps are just like this in the mountains. No, they’re different here. I’ve driven across the snowy Alps too, but there there weren’t such distances, such frost, such whiteness everywhere, or the accompanying emotions. Here it’s just better!…

The Gavryushka Pass ->

A few more photos from the 44N-4:

Special respect to the road maintenance services…

They do a great job: everything’s cleared, smoothed out, and sprinkled with sand where needed:

And here’s the turn back onto the main Kolyma Highway ->

That’s it, we’ve arrived in Magadan ->

To be continued!…