#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The Norilsk Development Agency (NDA), together with the Nornickel and the municipality, plans to develop several tourist routes to the first ore and coal mining’s sites on mount Schmidt. The destinations will fall into the industrial tourism category and will tell about how Norilsk began.
The first coal mines’ ruins, old production buildings and an abandoned narrow-gauge railway have already become a pilgrimage site for historians, travelers, enthusiastic researchers and citizens.
They say that even ‘northern lights hunters’ gather in these places. Anyway, an extensive view of the Norilsk, Talnah, the Haraelah mountains and the Putorana plateau’s spurs opens from here in good weather.
A group of enthusiasts and specialists from the ARN set out the goal to use these opportunities civilly to attract more guests here and to satisfy the growing curiosity and requests.
The NDA, administration and travel companies’ representatives and experts examined the mount Schmidt’s slope and assessed the prospects for creating several observation platforms here at different levels, building several stairs to historical places.
A heated platform will be equipped for rest after climbing and a more comfortable territory’s observation at the very top, at the end of the route. This place could be a convenient point for observing the northern lights.
“The project is rather complicated, because such initiatives are being implemented in the territory for the first time. Many nuances have to be taken into account including the location in an industrial zone, the sanitary zones’ presence and abandoned buildings that are potentially dangerous”, said the NDA head Maxim Mironov.
Visiting these places is planned to be free, except for the winter period, when staying here is dangerous due to snow, avalanches and low temperatures.
The plan will be implemented in stages. The organizers plan to develop the project by the end of the year and finally launch it next season.
“The idea of creating such tourist zones in Norilsk has been around for a long time, but the decision to implement the project has only just been made. People regularly visit these places, and we want to make these trips safe and create our own attraction center for the city guests”, said the Norilsk head’s adviser Alexander Yakovlev.
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Text: Denis Kozhevnikov, Photo: author
