"Seven Strong Men"

Found these guys surfin, thought I would bring them back here for those that might marvel as I did. I have never seen or heard of these before.


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Absolutly ominous giants of this plateau in the Ural mountains of Russia they
are known as " The Seven Strong Men "


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They are one of Russia's "Seven Wonders' and there is no explanation for them.
Some seem to defy gravity.



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Frozen in the freezing fog these "monsters of rock" become even more mysterious.


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Just when you think you've seen it all. After finding these I decided to give up thinking I've seen it all. From now on I will wonder what else I havn't seen.


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Let's here some explanations ATS!


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[edit on 10-12-2009 by randyvs]

reply to post by randyvs


Is that first picture fake?

reply to post by nine0099thousand


It certainly does look like it but no It really isn't.

The easiest explanation I could come up with is..........

Photoshop.

Especially the first pic.

reply to post by nine0099thousand


i dont think it is, looks like yellow snow thats all.

i will be wrong though haha

Do people bother to do any research before decrying something fake? I mean, seriously. You should be ashamed.

Columns of Erosion

Set in the Troitsko-Pecherskiy region, in the Komi Republic, the Columns of Erosion, or Manpupuner as they are known in Russia are one of the country’s most mysterious attractions. The “7 Strong Men” as the locals call them are 7 massive rock towers bursting out of a flat plateau. Their height, that reaches 42 meters, and their abnormal shapes make them inaccessible to even the most experienced rock-climbers.


Not much is known about these mysterious “7 Strong Men” and on an international level they are virtually unknown. Although very hard to reach and set in a harsh environment, Manpupuner offers a great sight to its visitors. Many say that while there you feel no need of water, food or rest, all you want to do is stare at these masterpieces of nature, where locals say spirits used to gather in ancient times.

blog.hotelclub.com...

This is a pretty out-there thought -- many some of them actually look like frozen plumes of smoke that were instantly solidified or something. Especially the way the bases are smaller and the tops larger.

Very cool find!!
S & F!

Originally posted by lpowell0627
Do people bother to do any research before decrying something fake? I mean, seriously. You should be ashamed.

Columns of Erosion

Set in the Troitsko-Pecherskiy region, in the Komi Republic, the Columns of Erosion, or Manpupuner as they are known in Russia are one of the country’s most mysterious attractions. The “7 Strong Men” as the locals call them are 7 massive rock towers bursting out of a flat plateau. Their height, that reaches 42 meters, and their abnormal shapes make them inaccessible to even the most experienced rock-climbers.


Not much is known about these mysterious “7 Strong Men” and on an international level they are virtually unknown. Although very hard to reach and set in a harsh environment, Manpupuner offers a great sight to its visitors. Many say that while there you feel no need of water, food or rest, all you want to do is stare at these masterpieces of nature, where locals say spirits used to gather in ancient times.

blog.hotelclub.com...

This is a pretty out-there thought -- many some of them actually look like frozen plumes of smoke that were instantly solidified or something. Especially the way the bases are smaller and the tops larger.

Very cool find!!
S & F!

I wasn't calling it fake, I just thought the first picture was fake. It almost looks like someone did a painting of it.

Not trying to derail the thread or anything, but I thought you may also want to take a look at this:

Link: englishrussia.com...

One of the cool natural breath-taking places in Russia are the “Lena’s stone forest” or “Lena’s Stone Pillars”.
Many spend a lot just to get there and to take a look. This place is where the virgin Siberian woods stand untouched and the only way to get there is to take a four day journey from Moscow city.

reply to post by nine0099thousand

I wasn't calling it fake, I just thought the first picture was fake. It almost looks like someone did a painting of it.

Completely understandable I thought the same thing myself. In fact
you fell for it. I put that one first for a reason. lol

[edit on 10-12-2009 by randyvs]

reply to post by lpowell0627


You know what pal thank you very much for posting that.
You can derail all you want with stuff like that.

Ipowell0627

Not much is known about these mysterious “7 Strong Men” and on an international level they are virtually unknown. Although very hard to reach and set in a harsh environment, Manpupuner offers a great sight to its visitors. Many say that while there you feel no need of water, food or rest, all you want to do is stare at these masterpieces of nature, where locals say spirits used to gather in ancient times

That is cool.

[edit on 10-12-2009 by randyvs]

Pretty awesome rock formations, I too can admit that I haven't seen it all either, not even close really and this just goes to prove that. So what keeps them from falling over? Would it be like an iceberg where what you see is only a small fraction of it?

nice find .
i wonder if they are random or like a stone circle ,
a google view will be good ///

reply to post by bigern

Pretty awesome rock formations, I too can admit that I haven't seen it all either, not even close really and this just goes to prove that. So what keeps them from falling over? Would it be like an iceberg where what you see is only a small fraction of it?

The site I found them on, I don't know, said their are no definitive explanations so I was asking ATS to see what they could come up with.

They seem to be completly out of place to be even formations of erosion.
Not matching the ground they are sitting on.

They seem as if to be giants, who have been turned to stone by the Gods.

reply to post by dashar


OK...so this was originally in German -- which I don't speak -- so according to Google Translate, here is a map of the area where these stone formations are. I think.

Link: wikimapia.org...

[edit on 10-12-2009 by lpowell0627]

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Fantastic Stuff there Randy

I had never heard about these til now. I would think that they probably go quite deep underground to be able to keep upright like that.


By the way that snow picture was incredible

reply to post by OzWeatherman

I had never heard about these til now. I would think that they probably go quite deep underground to be able to keep upright like that.

Thank you Oz, glad you like them. I thought they were awesome.

Yes they did say they jut up from deep in the earth.

You know I am looking at Russia in a completely different light since finding these. Maybe not so blahse' after all.



[edit on 10-12-2009 by randyvs]

This is probably one of the few times where I can actually see why folklore states them as being god-like creatures frozen / turned into stone. Usually, I never see the connection.

However, if you look at the various angles of some of these formations, they really do look like they have raised heads looking towards the skies. Even the smaller one looks like someone kneeling before them that, too, was frozen. Some of them even have "formed heads" with a slit for a mouth.

Here are two stories about their origin and meaning that I thought I would share:

One of them [stories] is described in the book of Professor Vera Varsanofevoy "Living Mountains": "Voguls, wandering here with their herds of reindeer, they say, that these stone pillars were once giants of the family-Samoyeds, who walked through the mountains to Siberia, to destroy Vogulsky people. But when they climbed to the summit, now known as Man-Pupu-Ner, and their leader - the shaman saw the Yalping-ner - Vogulsky sacred mountain.

Terrified, he threw his drum, which fell on the high conical peak, rising south of Man-Pupu-inequality and called Koypom what it means in Vogulsky drum. And the shaman and all his companions were petrified with fear. "

There is another version of the emergence of pillars. Six mighty giants pursued one of the tribes Mansi, leaving a stone belt of the Ural Mountains. In the origins of the Pechora River in the pass giants almost caught up with the tribe. But they barred the way of the shaman with a little white as lime, face and turned the Giants into six stone pillars. Since then, every shaman of the tribe Mansi necessarily come into a sacred tract, and drew from him his magical power.

Link: russiamania.net...

reply to post by lpowell0627

I believe you mean something like this a Powell?

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[edit on 10-12-2009 by randyvs]

They were probably formed in volcanic chimneys and everything around them eroded away. The correct term make be dike but they are basically volcanic vents.
Do you know what type of minerals they are made of?