Has winter completely disappeared? Even in January, childhood memories of huge snow falls are exposed to ridicule by rain and sleet, while the polar bears and walruses are perspiring as the arctic ice melts at the North Pole. Has global warming completely destroyed all hope for colder times? Has it become impossible to find a place on earth where you still can experience a real winter with respectable snow falls and ice in the moustache? I decided to investigate the matter and set course for the worst the northern hemisphere has to offer: the Oymyakon village in North-Eastern Siberia. Here people have to endure nine months of winter every year, and the average temperature in January drops to minus 50 degrees Celsius. In this place, spit freezes into a pellet in mid-flight, and breath audibly crystallises, that is, if you have not had enough Vodka to drink. The way to Oymyakon is via the Kolyma Highway, also known as the “Road of Bones”. In the spring – when the snow melts and unsettles the surface of the road – you can sometimes see human bones and skulls sticking out of the earth. These are the remains of prisoners who were buried in the road during the time of Stalin, when in frigid weather they succumbed to hunger and inhumane working conditions.