Monchegorsk exists because of a rock. Geologists found copper and nickel in the hills of the Kola Peninsula in the 1930s, and a smelter and a town went up in the tundra beside Lake Imandra, well north of the Arctic Circle. The plant, now run by Nornickel, is still the heart of the place, and its smoke over many decades did terrible damage to the surrounding forest. West of town you can see pale, bare slopes where trees once stood, an odd reminder of how industry left its mark on the Arctic.
The landscape around is open and strong. The low, bald ridges of the Monche tundra rise just to the west, Lake Monchegorsk lies at the city's edge, and the huge lake Imandra stretches to the south and east, with the Khibiny Mountains rising on its far shore. In summer the sun does not set for weeks, and the tundra turns green, red and gold with berries and dwarf birch. In winter the polar night closes in for weeks, snow lies deep, and the aurora flickers over the town on clear nights. Reindeer herders and the Sami people have lived here for thousands of years, and some villages keep their traditions.
Riding in the region is sparse and long. The road system is thin, with a few main roads linking the mining towns, and the tarmac can be patched, with frost heaves that appear without warning. Traffic is light apart from lorries from the mines. The riding season is short, from June to early September, and the weather can turn cold and wet at any time. Mosquitoes in July are fierce.
Monchegorsk has about fifty thousand people, so fuel, shops, cafes and hotels are easy, and Olenegorsk, about twenty-eight kilometres away, and the small town of Vysokiy offer some more. Beyond these, services thin out quickly, so fill the tank and carry water. A drive to the viewpoint over the tundra at midnight in June, with the sky glowing orange, is the best reason to be here. Foreign riders should check the current rules for travel before planning.