Dressing for the Cold

We had our first snow of the winter last week.  This usually happens in the third or fourth week of October so to have it in the first week came as a bit of a shock.  This summer has been a wash out and with last winter having been relatively mild everyone is saying that we should expect a very cold one this year.  That said people give dire warnings of very cold winters every year and they have been absolutely fine but with the snow showing its face I thought it would be about time to check on our winter coats to see if they need any repairs and to make sure that they still fit the children.  At the moment and for the next few weeks we are still wearing our woollen Autumn coats although we will gradually supplement them with warmer and warmer accessories until the switch to full winter gear becomes inevitable.

A шуба or fur coat is the best option in the cold dry climate that we have here in Astana – it is warm and wind-proof.  I tend to wear a long coat most days as it is the most practical option for living in the city – I can wear an ordinary thin dress underneath and still be warm enough for a long walk.   Cosy lined boots  a warm fur hat, scarf and lined gloves keep all extremities warm.  Mink (норка) is the most popular fur – usually dyed black but sometimes left natural and seen in a stunning white tipped with grey and sometimes in brown.  Fox (лиса) and beaver (бобер) are also popular and rabbit (кролик) is often used for scarves, tippets and trimming accessories. 

Fur is practical in the cold

The downside of fur is the expense. Families here can save up for years to buy a coat and it will be handed down as an heirloom and often shared between family members.  You have to be very careful with handbag straps that can wear the fur, make sure that you do not sit on the same patch of the coat for extended periods and pay for cold storage over the summer.  For many expats fur brings ethical problems to the fore.  It is possible to buy ethically farmed fur and some manufacturers claim that the environmental impact of real fur is much less than that of the manufacturing process for faux fur.  Before we came to Kazakhstan I was adamant that I would not wear it but it really is the most practical option for keeping warm. 

Sheepskin: Heavy and very warm a дубленка or sheepskin coat is a popular and a cheaper option than fur but is, if anything, even warmer.  Sheepskin tends to be more durable, (women can wear a shoulder strap handbag) and does not need to be cosseted to the same extent.    The downside is that a full length coat can be extremely heavy indeed and very very hot as soon as you come inside a building.  Sheepskin does not seem to carry the same ethical dilemma for expats.   My husband tends to wear a sheepskin coat, his is short so if he plans to be outside for a long time he needs to wear thermal leggings under his trousers. 

Down and sheepskin keeps the family safe and warm.

Down:  Down coats are extremely popular – much lighter than the other two options but every bit as warm because of the loft of the down.  Down coats are available for as little as £100 or sometimes even less making them one of the most affordable options around.  The downside is that you can look as though you are walking around in a duvet.  Some of the designs are quite fetching, however, and many women's versions come with an elastic belt to help give some shape and definition.  Astana is dry but of course we do get snow sometimes in the winter and down can loose its effectiveness when it is wet.  Down is also very popular with children mostly because it is light, cheap and effective.  Ours wear down coats with a waterproof outer so that the down is protected when they play in the snow.  Salopettes, warm fur lined hats, mittens and snow boots mean that they are covered head to foot and can stay safe outdoors. 

Waterproofs mean that children can play in the snow without getting the down wet. 

I very rarely wear technical outdoor coats because I find it is just not effective.  It also screams ‘I am an expat’ but there are times when it is necessary.  This is usually when we decide to go skating or sledging outdoors.  Then I swallow my pride and morph into the michelin man, wearing salopettes and a winter-weight wind-proof fleece with waterproof jacket, a warm hat and earmuffs.  I usually find that I have to wear a number of layers underneath to stay comfortable and I am considering giving in and purchasing a ‘down duvet’.

Even the dog has her winter clothes - it is too cold for her to enjoy being outside for long and she needs protection for her feet as the ice can burn her pads.  We have thick warm coat that covers her body and chest (most coats don't protect the chest) and some rubber booties that slide over the feet, she doesn't like the sensation of having them put on but once they are on she does not remove them.  They are malleable enough that she can feel where she is putting her feet but they are protected from the worst of the cold. 

Technical clothes are useful for 'playing' outside.
Even the dog has to wear a coat and shoes.  It may look like a thin layer of snow
but it is a recent fall sitting on a whole winter's worth of ice.

Of course  in addition to coats warm accessories are a necessity.  We have just about every different type available from mittens to lined gloves and wrist warmers  to be worn in just about every permutation depending on the severity of the cold and the activity we are planning outside.  My pride and joy is a handmade fuzzy Orenburg scarf bought on a trip to Moscow.  It is incredibly warm and the yarn so strong that I can hold the whole scarf from a single fibre of fuzz.  They are not elegant but I also have my eye on some валенки (traditional felt boots) which are reputed to be very very warm.  

Unless you are coming from somewhere equally cold there is little point in buying winter clothing in your home country.  Astana is set up for the cold weather so the stuff you buy here really works.  Before we came we bought some gadgets called ‘yaktracks’ a pair for my husband and a pair (designed to fit over heeled shoes/boots) for me.  Sold as an essential in the UK we have never used them here, the boots come with more than enough grip.  

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Coping with Snow and Cold in Astana

Coping with snow is big business in Astana as the city lives at temperatures below freezing from November through to March.  Of course the cold brings some advantages because other than the very start and end of winter when the temperature can get warm enough to bring some melt water to the streets we do not have problems with freeze-thaw.  Astana is typically very dry so we do not get too much snow, this year we have had much more than usual making the job of clearing much more difficult but the city has kept functioning. 

Astana is beautiful in the winter

All that said the snow, even heavy snow, really does not affect daily life at all.  When we were living in the UK a single fall of was usually enough to keep everybody indoors.  Having grown up in Norway it tends not to faze me but our neighbours would marvel that I was ‘brave’ enough to drive to town following a 5cm snowfall.  Here life goes on, even in the extreme cold or after a very heavy, sudden snowfall. 

The reason life is able to go on so well here is that  Astana has a huge team responsible for clearing the roads and some wonderful pieces of machinery to help them along (794 specialist units and 227 units for courtyard clearance and snow removal according to the city authorities).  The snowploughs go out in convoys of about 7 or 8 staggered one behind the other to make sure that a whole road of multiple lanes can be cleared in one go.  They drive around the city on a continuous cycle.  The snow that has been pushed to the side of the road is then collected either by a combination of an excavator and snow truck or with one of the amazing snow elevators that shovels the snow up onto a conveyor belt and into a snow truck.  

Snow Conveyors waiting for the snow trucks to start loading

Keeping the Park Paths Clear of Snow

It is a very well run operation and quite a pleasure to watch, particularly the conveyors which have moving 'mandibles' at the front to push the snow onto the conveyor belt.  The car park for the park opposite our house is used as a rest stop for the ploughs and snow trucks over the winter so we can watch them come and go.

Snow builds up on the sides of the roads

Which is then collected by specialist equipment and sent to landfill

All the roads are kept open although to what extent depends on the part of the city – our children’s school is out in a newly developing area.  It is serviced by broad avenues but as there is still very little accommodation out there the ploughs clear only 2 of the 4 lanes of the road, enough to keep the roads open.  We did have one morning, following a very heavy snowfall, where we drove in before the ploughs had been through but they came through about two hours later.   Even the airport is kept clear.  I have flown out of Astana despite heavy snowfall and low visibility that would shut many others.  It is not unknown for people to be grounded in Europe while the airport in Astana continues working safely in much worse conditions.  The biggest problem for the aircraft is the lack of hangar facilities.  Flights that land and then return don’t suffer because they spend very little time on the ground but flights that originate in Astana can be delayed in very cold weather because it takes so long to warm them. 

Road out to school just before the ploughs clear the open lanes.
The lamp posts on the right show the right edge of the road

As well as having snow to deal with over the winter Astana suffers from very low temperatures - it is the second coldest capital in the world..  We have had a very warm winter - mostly above -20 but just before Christmas we had temperatures below -40 for some days. Last winter we had much colder weather for a much longer period of time.  The quid-pro-quo being that we had less snow.

When we first arrived in Astana it was the middle of summer and beautifully warm at +30.  I struggled to imagine how the city would cope over the winter.  From about October the fountains are drained and covered and the flower beds dug up.  The malls which have wide open doors in the warmer months start to change their entrances.  Most seem to have an 'airlock' system of sequential doors.  You go in one side, say the left and enter an outer hall, walk to the right and go in to the next hall, there can be up to 3 or 4 zigzags in some buildings depending on how cold it is. Once inside it is very warm and every mall, attraction and restaurant will have a fully staffed and efficient garderobe for outdoor clothes.

Underground parking is very popular in the winter because of the strain the cold places on the car battery and engine block.  Most cars have automatic starters which people activate before they start getting their outdoor clothes on so that the car warms up for them. If a car is not in a garage this has to be done every few hours to make sure that it stays healthy.  Our starter is broken so we try to park indoors as much as possible.  Entering and leaving the underground parking is done through a series of garage doors to retain the heat and I have noticed that hospital ambulance bays have a similar system.  

The last week or so the temperatures have been creeping up and there is an unmistakable feeling of spring in the air.  The snow is starting to look rotten and the other day I noticed the tiniest of buds on the trees, despite a temperature of -22.  The following day the thermometer was reading +1 and we had rain for the first time in months. Unfortunately this means that the pavements and roads have become very treacherous because the temperatures soon plummet again giving sheet ice with no traction at all. 

The Akimat – the city authorities have been making a concerted effort to clear away as much of the snow as possible before the melt sets in proper in order to minimise the effects of flooding.  Although snow is cleared from the parks and pavements and sent to landfill throughout the winter the process really steps up in March.  I read on the city website that over 4 million cubic meters has been removed from the city to landfill this winter.  We can now see hedgerows and benches in the parks that were hidden for the past months, another sign that winter is drawing to a close and Astana has started its annual metamorphosis from a snow city to a garden city.

The thaw creates problems on the roads

As much snow and ice as possible is removed before the melt

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Astana's Ishim Embankment, Perfect for a Traditional Sunday Stroll

We have always enjoyed a Sunday afternoon stroll after lunch.  From treks through the Bush in Nigeria to strolling along the River Tigris in Turkey or the dunes in the Netherlands our Sunday Stroll has been a family tradition.  

Traditional Family Sunday Stroll

When I was a child in Norway we would walk for hours through the mountains even in the coldest winters but Norwegian winters look positively toasty when compared with the temperatures we experience in Astana.   We were very worried when we moved to Astana, that we might have to sacrifice this tradition in the winter.  Sadly we were right in one respect – it is not so easy to get out to the countryside to stroll by a lake or in the woods during the winter but there are plenty of alternatives in the City.  As long as the wind keeps down it is possible to enjoy a walk in temperatures down to about -20 with kids and -25-28 for adults.   Our dog does not always join us in the winter.  She has a coat and winter boots but does not like to go outside below about -15 and even then asks to go back inside after only a few minutes.  She dreams of the warmer weather when she enjoys spending the days outside. 

Our dog wears a thick coat and booties but still feels the cold very badly.

The Ishim’s course through Astana is very heavily managed and in the Winter it is frozen from November through to about mid March.  The river is lined with embankments which  are kept clear of snow making them  a lovely place to walk.  They are a wonderful place to people watch - older couples and effortlessly elegant Kazakh women with their husbands and babies wrapped up warm in their prams come here to enjoy the winter sunshine.  

People Watching on the Ishim Embankments

You can also go down onto the River itself, many people ski or snowmobile along here,  there are ice rinks where children play hockey or just skate for fun and every now and then you come across little tents covering holes kept open for ice fishing. There is something disconcerting about walking on the river, it feels as though it should be dangerous but it is frozen solid to quite some depth and is very safe.

Ice Fishing on the Ishim

Snowmobiles power along the river and perform flips on the banks.

The city constructs ice slides from the top of the embankment down to the river at set places every year.  These are fairly vertiginous and very fast.  With a good fast sledge (wax it for optimum performance) you can get about halfway across the river.  The builders, in their wisdom have built walls on either side of the slide. Steering the sledges is almost impossible because the slides are made from ice rather than snow and I speak from experience when I say that it hurts to bang against these.    We have seen little children as young as 2 or 3 send themselves down these slides on their sledges without fear but a couple of near misses, one of which resulted in broken glasses, mean that we now send our kids down the snow by the side of the slides instead.

Children enjoying the Ice Slides 

As you walk along the embankment you get to the statue of Kenessary Khan, a national hero who led the fight against the Russian occupation until his death in 1847.  In the summer we would cross the river and go into the Astana Park – a fairground and pleasure park near the Circus, before walking home, but in the Winter we stop off at Rafe, a Café near the Kenessary Statue that does a very tasty and warming hot chocolate.

Kenessary Khan

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