Our trusty UAZ van...this thing can get through almost anything! - Dave Burne
What springs to most people’s minds when they hear the word ‘Siberia’ is an inhospitable wasteland full of ice and snow where unfortunate individuals would be exiled during harsher times. This is completely contrary to the incredibly beautiful, rather hot yet very welcoming area of Russia that we ventured to this July/August. Getting to the Altai region can be quite an adventure (4hr flight from Moscow followed by a 14hr drive in a van) but it is completely worth it for the epic multi-day whitewater in stunning canyons, even the food is pretty good!
Due to the fact that none of us spoke Russian and we were all working full time in the lead up to the trip we thought it easier to book on with Two Blades Adventures rather than organise all the logistics ourselves. Whilst this led to a different on-water dynamic than most of us were used to it did mean that we fully maximised our time out there and got to follow world-class paddlers Tomas, Egor and Alona down the classic runs of the area thus saving lots of time in scouting as they knew all the lines!
Due to the fact that none of us spoke Russian and we were all working full time in the lead up to the trip we thought it easier to book on with Two Blades Adventures rather than organise all the logistics ourselves. Whilst this led to a different on-water dynamic than most of us were used to it did mean that we fully maximised our time out there and got to follow world-class paddlers Tomas, Egor and Alona down the classic runs of the area thus saving lots of time in scouting as they knew all the lines!
Put on for the Mazhoy Gorge - Dave Burne
Chuya (Upper Section and Mazhoy Gorge)
This could possibly be the best big-water day run on the planet! The Upper Chuya involves around 1 ½ hours of almost non-stop big water rapids that get steadily more challenging until you are zig-zagging side to side trying to avoid giant pourovers and rather sticky holes. If you don’t manage to avoid them the holes can dish out quite a beating (I nearly got pulled out of my boat) and offer a great introduction to the style of boating in the Altai Region.
This could possibly be the best big-water day run on the planet! The Upper Chuya involves around 1 ½ hours of almost non-stop big water rapids that get steadily more challenging until you are zig-zagging side to side trying to avoid giant pourovers and rather sticky holes. If you don’t manage to avoid them the holes can dish out quite a beating (I nearly got pulled out of my boat) and offer a great introduction to the style of boating in the Altai Region.
The last rapid on the Mazhoy Gorge - Dave Burne
The Mazhoy Gorge is a step up again and although more pool-drop in character the rapids are pushier than the upper and slightly more consequential as the steep-sided canyon makes escape from the river quite a challenge. This is where the mens’ finals of the infamous King of Asia race are held and to put it in perspective 2 out of the 10 competitors who qualified swam in the final. The lines require you to punch some holes, surf giant curlers and avoid heinous pour-overs. Once you know the line the section can be run in about half an hour (with one rather large landslide portage), but that half hour will be incredibly intense! At the end of the run you arrive at a lovely campsite where a traditional Russian sauna, complete with birch-branches to beat each other with, can be held.
On the walk-in to the Karagem
Karagem-Argut-Katun (Birthday Trip)
Our first multiday was to be a three-river epic running the glacial Karagem river into the beautiful yet challenging Argut then finally running out on the Katun, a popular rafting river. Getting to the put-in was an incredible adventure in itself and thoroughly impressed on us that UAZ ‘Buhankas’ are the best vehicles in the world. A 5km walk-in lead us to a beautiful meadow, apparently a secret-service training site back in the Soviet times with a hunting hut where we camped for the night and celebrated Dave and Ben’s birthday with a fine bottle of 3 pound vodka around the fire. The next morning I was given a lovely hand-made birthday card (thanks Niamh) and ‘cake’ before putting on the very cold Karagem river. I disagree with Ben’s description of the Karagem as ‘a chossy ditch’ thinking it was great fun fast flowing boulder dodging that slowly ramped up in volume as you descended. The most fun rapids were towards the end where the waves got bigger and it became a little easier to manoeuver fully-loaded boats. The Karagem took up most of the first day and we stopped for a late lunch just before the confluence of the Argut. This river didn’t really show its character over the first few hours lulling us in to a false sense of security with wide open easy rapids but impressive volume. We camped above the beginning of the harder section and settled down for Ben’s favourite dish of buckwheat accompanied by cow in a can.
Our first multiday was to be a three-river epic running the glacial Karagem river into the beautiful yet challenging Argut then finally running out on the Katun, a popular rafting river. Getting to the put-in was an incredible adventure in itself and thoroughly impressed on us that UAZ ‘Buhankas’ are the best vehicles in the world. A 5km walk-in lead us to a beautiful meadow, apparently a secret-service training site back in the Soviet times with a hunting hut where we camped for the night and celebrated Dave and Ben’s birthday with a fine bottle of 3 pound vodka around the fire. The next morning I was given a lovely hand-made birthday card (thanks Niamh) and ‘cake’ before putting on the very cold Karagem river. I disagree with Ben’s description of the Karagem as ‘a chossy ditch’ thinking it was great fun fast flowing boulder dodging that slowly ramped up in volume as you descended. The most fun rapids were towards the end where the waves got bigger and it became a little easier to manoeuver fully-loaded boats. The Karagem took up most of the first day and we stopped for a late lunch just before the confluence of the Argut. This river didn’t really show its character over the first few hours lulling us in to a false sense of security with wide open easy rapids but impressive volume. We camped above the beginning of the harder section and settled down for Ben’s favourite dish of buckwheat accompanied by cow in a can.
 A Russianesque birthday cake courtesy of Niamh |  My birthday card |
The second day of the trip got straight down to business as we entered the harder section of the Argut. A few scouts were required, but mainly it involved following Tomas weaving around holes and trying not to get pushed around too much by big waves. The crux of the run (Kalashnikov’s waterfall) appears quickly in the middle of a continuous stretch of whitewater, by the time you spot the house-sized pour-over you better already have eddied out on River Left to scout, and most probably portage the next couple of hundred metres before taking the biggest volume sneak line you’ve ever done through the run out. Once past the crux things don’t ease up right away as you have more big volume rapids and scouts including an intimidating rapid where you ride along a curler with a giant hole on your left and a cliff face on your right! By the time the river did ease off we were rather hungry and so stopped for Russian lunchtime (4pm) where team North America decided that they would like to spend another night on the river and Team Brit like true alcoholics decided we’d like to bust back to the Chuya to make the King of Asia closing party, and celebrate with Dom and Niamh who had remained behind to take part in the races. The run out of the Argut led us on to the Katun River and although Tomas had promised us a 5hr flatwater paddle out it turned out to be about 2 ½ hrs of fun grade 3 (aka Russian flatwater).
The King of Asia party was another excellent Russian experience where the bar served only vodka in various ‘cocktails’ which seemed to involve vodka with jam, vodka with coffee and vodka with vodka. The atmosphere was great considering it was basically 30 people in a field, but the size of the speakers made up for the lack of people and we were soon getting involved with the evening’s entertainment which consisted of midget throwing (and sometimes, but not always, midget catching), falling off the bar and hoping to be crowd-surfed, standing in a semi-circle and drinking vodka, some dancing, standing in a circle and drinking vodka, falling flat on your back and taking an impromptu nap (Dom Burrow special), accidentally stumbling into the swampy lake, bum grinding against other males to which they take offence and think you’re a homosexual (Dave Burne special), dad dancing (Ben Beddingham special) and of course standing around drinking vodka. The inability to mix your drinks due to the only one being available being vodka actually worked out well for us and we woke up feeling far less hungover than we deserved and got to splash about swimming in the river before heading off for a lap down the Mazhoy, all in all a very worthwhile celebration!
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Chulishman
The next multi-day on the list was the Chulishman and this involved packing up and leaving our base at the Chuya and driving a few hours to camp at the Bashkaus. An evening run down the Upper Bashkaus offered a chiller, less stressful paddle than we’d become accustomed to and was very enjoyable…we even spotted a bear! The next day we boarded a monster truck as we were assured that it was the only vehicle around capable of making it to the put-in, 5 hrs later we were no longer doubting this and de-bussed ready to put on the Yazula canyon, at above average flows…story of the trip! The Yazula canyon offered every form of excitement from pushy rapids to scary portages and sticky holes. Niamh took one for the team and kindly knocked me out of one of these stoppers only to get surfed herself leaving me feeling a little guilty and her rather wet. It was a long afternoon on the water after the big drive and we never even had lunch yet the drama wasn’t quite over. The Americans had decided to walk out of the canyon due to the stresses of the day and we agreed to meet at the alternative put-on for the Chulishman below the canyon stretch. Whilst waiting for them it was beginning to get dark and we were looking at the possibility of camping at this access point. The Russians however were very reluctant to do this however, as there is history of tourists being shot at this spot by drunken locals on horseback! Luckily the Americans arrived in time for us to jump on and cruise downstream for half an hour to find a safer camp-spot in the river-side woods.
The next multi-day on the list was the Chulishman and this involved packing up and leaving our base at the Chuya and driving a few hours to camp at the Bashkaus. An evening run down the Upper Bashkaus offered a chiller, less stressful paddle than we’d become accustomed to and was very enjoyable…we even spotted a bear! The next day we boarded a monster truck as we were assured that it was the only vehicle around capable of making it to the put-in, 5 hrs later we were no longer doubting this and de-bussed ready to put on the Yazula canyon, at above average flows…story of the trip! The Yazula canyon offered every form of excitement from pushy rapids to scary portages and sticky holes. Niamh took one for the team and kindly knocked me out of one of these stoppers only to get surfed herself leaving me feeling a little guilty and her rather wet. It was a long afternoon on the water after the big drive and we never even had lunch yet the drama wasn’t quite over. The Americans had decided to walk out of the canyon due to the stresses of the day and we agreed to meet at the alternative put-on for the Chulishman below the canyon stretch. Whilst waiting for them it was beginning to get dark and we were looking at the possibility of camping at this access point. The Russians however were very reluctant to do this however, as there is history of tourists being shot at this spot by drunken locals on horseback! Luckily the Americans arrived in time for us to jump on and cruise downstream for half an hour to find a safer camp-spot in the river-side woods.
Campsite on the Chulishman - Dave Burne
The next morning we set off down the classic section of the Chulishman which started off with easy meanderings through some stunning countryside but slowly stepped it up into a full-on section of 5 of the biggest rapids we’d seen in Russia/ever. The first rapid involved catching a tongue to avoid an humongous hole then cruising through some massive standing waves before eddying out in time to get the beta for the next rapid. Here is where some miscommunication lead to not everyone making the sneak line down the next rapid and Niamh dropping in to a hole the size of a small bungalow and subsequently swimming down some of the gnarliest whitewater of the trip. Luckily she’s a strong swimmer and got herself to the side quickly, but the boat headed on downstream with Tomas in pursuit. Any walk-out in Russia is a major undertaking and it was looking like Niamh might be going for a long hike to the campsite so she set off downstream on the river right whilst the rest of us inspected the rest of the big-water section and made a small portage round a tree stuck mid-river. During the portage Dom set down his watershed with his camera inside and forgot to pick it back up again, only realising his mistake 20min downstream and having to go for a mission back up-river to reclaim it. Meanwhile we had made it through most of the challenging rapids and Tomas had managed to find Niamh’s boat, but we had lost Niamh! A little searching along the bank and we were all reunited and cruised down to the beautiful campsite at the takeout where we were to spend a peaceful evening eating some tasty food and drinking some beers. The Chulishman had already delivered plenty of excitement, adventure and adrenaline but had more to offer the next day.
Dropping in on Upper Chulishman
Tomas showing the lines on the Chulishman
After a good feed and an excellent night’s sleep in what must be one of the most stunning campsites in the world equipped with its own backyard gym we felt ready to hit up the Lower Chulishman. A lot of the team were keen for a rest day so this ended up being a Brit trip plus Stas who luckily knew some lines. Whilst definitely the chiller section of the river there are still some quality rapids in between the cruisy meanders to keep you on your toes. After the paddle came the most difficult part of the Chulishman trip…exiting the valley. Due to the steepness and quality of the road we had to walk a good few km up the hill and meet the van and trailer at the top (Tomas the beast ran up). At this point the team split up and myself, Dave, Ben, Dom, Egor and Tomas headed towards the Bashkaus.
Getting the gains at the Chulishman campsite Bashkaus Book of Legends
We were already aware from the rivers we’d already paddled that levels in the area were relatively high. It is quite difficult to accurately judge the level of the Bashkaus from the put-on and it is not until it gorges up that you get a true idea of the river level. The beginning of the book of legends section begins with windy grade 2 shingle rapids offering a pleasant paddle towards the entrance to the gorge. Once the walls steepen things quickly get more serious and the first real rapid is a good indication of what awaits in the gorge. After this rapid we quickly arrived at the campsite high up on river left a little apprehensive of what awaited the next day. When questioned as to exactly how high the river was our guides divulged that one had never paddled it this high whilst the other had but only once, with the adidas sickline team! We cooked another meal of mystery meat in a tin + carbs and settled down under the tarp for a nervous night’s sleep.
We were already aware from the rivers we’d already paddled that levels in the area were relatively high. It is quite difficult to accurately judge the level of the Bashkaus from the put-on and it is not until it gorges up that you get a true idea of the river level. The beginning of the book of legends section begins with windy grade 2 shingle rapids offering a pleasant paddle towards the entrance to the gorge. Once the walls steepen things quickly get more serious and the first real rapid is a good indication of what awaits in the gorge. After this rapid we quickly arrived at the campsite high up on river left a little apprehensive of what awaited the next day. When questioned as to exactly how high the river was our guides divulged that one had never paddled it this high whilst the other had but only once, with the adidas sickline team! We cooked another meal of mystery meat in a tin + carbs and settled down under the tarp for a nervous night’s sleep.
Reading the book of legends
Despite a little rain overnight luckily the river didn’t really rise any higher and we got up early prepared for a long day of hard paddling and potentially portaging. Almost immediately we arrived at our first portage of the day (this rapid does get run at lower flows) before scrambling up a steep scree slope to the book of legends and its accompanying memorial. It is fascinating reading this book and its messages from paddlers and rafters over the last 40 years or so giving tribute to those lost on the river. We added our own words and also the names of those on the BUKE expedition years previously who missed the book on their own descent before descending back to river level to tackle what the Bashkaus had in store. The rapids proved pushy but mostly manageable with only one more portage other than the ginormous landslide at the end of the day. Some heart-in-the-mouth moments were had when I took a good surf in a hole early on and Dom had a nasty encounter with a siphon around midday. Other than that the river tested us but was generally manageable and we began to enjoy the amazing canyon and the whitewater it offered. Before expected we arrived at the takeout to a delicious lunch prepared by Alona and Niamh and Egor quickly disappeared to scout out the local vegetation returning with a big smile!
Tomas and Egor showing us the lines on the Bashkaus
It was time for our trip to come to an end and we headed back for one last night at the Mazhoy gorge camp before beginning the long drive back to the airport with a hospitable stop at our driver’s house with a traditional Russian sauna and Egor losing to me at ping-pong! We arrived late at the airport and set up camp on the floor to await our flight back to Moscow then home to the UK. It had been an awesome trip with excellent whitewater, great scenery, good company and quality banter. I cannot recommend 2 blades adventures highly enough if you want a smoothly run trip with the guys who know these rivers best, I can’t wait to go back or check out other paddling destinations in the area. Thanks to Dave for all the photos! Any not captioned are from him!
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