Often people talk about a coldest temperature of -71.2 C which was
measured in Oymyakon - there are even monuments with that value. But
this value is just theoretical based on a real measured temperature of
-44 C degrees in 1924 and it was obtained by extrapolation method
rather than measured directly. So - not real. The coldest real
measured temperature in Oymyakon was a temperature of -67.7 °C in
1933. This was actually cold enough and finally not so
important for us. We felt it on ourselves that temperature is not just
measured with a thermometer. It is much easier to bear a temperature
of -57 C when you get out of a warm guesthouse in the morning then to
get out of a bus after driving 15 hours into a temperature of just -34
C and heavy wind. The inhibitions of the villages in
Oymyakon and Tomtor basically just leave their houses in the winter
only if it is really necessary, such as to go to work, shopping,
hunting and fishing, or getting their children to school. Most of the people in this area make their living by farming, Yakut
horse breeding, hunting, retails, housing and communal services,
public administration and some also can work for the few tourists
visiting that area in the winter. Otherwise people spend
most of the winter time at home. Yakut people are very skilled hunters
and mostly they eat meat in the winter. Also they breed the so called
Yakut horse or pony which is noted for its adaptation to the extreme
cold climate of Yakutia, including the ability to locate and graze on
vegetation that is under deep snow cover.
