 The idea for "The Snowstorm" dates back to January, 1854, when Tolstoy was lost all night in a snowstorm about 100 versts (~107 km or 66 miles) from Cherkassk and thought to write a story about the event.It was two years later before he carried out his plan and wrote the story.The unnamed narrator of the story and his manservant Alyeshka start on an evening trip by sledge from Novocherkassk in the Caucasus to a destination in central Russia.