Abstract. The main feature of the northern territories is their extremely rigorous climate, in some cases, similar to the conditions of the Great icing epoch.  It always puts the indigenous inhabitants of these places on the edge of survival, and demanded from them to develop the special not only physical but also mental qualities to overcome the severe natural and climatic conditions. Since ancient times, peoples of the Russian North accumulated the traditions of development of hard-to-reach lands, based on the life experience of many generations of local inhabitants, as well as on the information received during the communication with relatives who live in other countries, and with representatives of other northern ethnic groups and nations.
Keywords: northern territories, indigenous inhabitants, climatic conditions, hard-to-reach lands.