Recent Posts from Vlad
Chuya-Katun' 2012 - Rafting Legendary Siberian Rivers
I woke up early. There was no rain. I climbed out of my tiny tent into a beautiful Siberian morning. Low clouds hung just above the firs on the other side of the river. Several horses with foals were quietly grazing just behind our camp. I walked down an unbelievably green slope to the river. Yes, probably Tolya was right yesterday, when he told me that the Chuya had a flood in 1961 that people do not remember. Usually, the very simple class III “Burevestnik” rapid...
Vlad's 1980 Sayan Oka River Trip
My first trip to the Sayan Oka was not an easy one. First of all, with the exception of my wife, I went to Oka with people whom I barely knew. In the Soviet sport of rafting I could not officially lead my group to this trip unless I gradually passed through rivers of all classes of difficulty - from first to sixth. Therefore, even with two Class 6 expeditions behind me, I had to find a group going to a Class 4 river and to...
Expedition on Siberia's Kaa-Khem River
Those of you that have done an ECHO trip with Vlad have been lucky enough to hear wonderful stories of floating down the rivers of Russia. This year we've decided to put together an expedition with Vladimir on one of his favorite rivers of Central Asia: the Kaa-Khem River. We chose the Kaa-Khem because of it's similarities to the Middle Fork of the Salmon: it's located in an alpine forest with clear water, great fishing, and Class III/IV rapids. Our 15 day itinerary will include a...
