January 25, 2026

World's Coldest Place Gets Its Time in the Sun


World's Coldest Place Gets Its Time in the Sun
Ah yes, Dutch. What a delightfully weird and strangely comprehensible language. FrankVD, YouTube.

On Jan. 23, Russian state news outlet Izvestia reported with pride that a Dutch "survival YouTuber," FrankVD, has brought a new level of attention to Yakutia.

FrankVD, famous for his survival challenges that place him on desert islands, in the middle of the ocean, and deep in the jungle, spent, according to the clickbait-y title of the video, a hundred hours in Yakutia. During his time, he apparently met with locals, visited a local street market (no refrigeration required), experimented with ice, and wondered at permafrost, which had frozen the earth solid more than six feet under the surface. He even tried an ice bath.

Yakutia, and its capital, Yakutsk, are among the coldest places on earth, with average annual temperatures of just 17.6 degrees Fahrenheit. During his time there, Frank experienced temperatures as low as -50 degrees F.

With that in mind, we suppose that spending some time in Yakutsk in January qualifies as a survival video.

Perhaps the best part is the following faux-Dutch comment on the video: "Deze guy is de meest underrated youtuber in Europa denk ik deze man doet zooooo veel extreme challanges en survival's."

It's no wonder that some Yakutians have turned to unique measures to keep themselves, and their livestock, warm.

 

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