ThePADDLER 28
# DAGESTAN _ WHITEWATER PROJECT Discovering new challenging whitewater rivers is what I have dreamt about during my whole kayaking career . That ’ s a special feeling when you put together many skills in different fields to reach your dream goal . The rivers we opened and paddled down while filming the # Dagestan _ whitewater project required the best out of our physical shape and kayaking technique .
It was there when I realized that all those training laps down the continuous Alpine sections , all those thousands of days of kayaking throughout all those years , brought me to a point when I could safely make the first descents of the Upper Kazikuchumskoe Koysu and the Lower Kara Koysu . The same goes for the rest of the team – we have constantly paddled challenging whitewater together for the last 15 years .
TOUGH HISTORY Dagestan is a Russian province with a tough history . It covers a significant part of the Caucasus Mountains , and it borders Georgia , Azerbaijan and the Russian province of Chechnya . Geologically , mentally and even politically , it ’ s as far from central Russia as it could only be . Being in Dagestan feels more like being in other Asian countries like Tajikistan than in the rest of Russia .
Most of the people there are Muslims , 5 % are Russian Orthodox , and it ’ s still possible to meet Persian jews up in the mountains . There are around 50 different languages spoken in Dagestan , and many don ’ t have much in common . The only common language here is Russian . The usual question locals asked us was , “ What ’ s up there in Russia , guys ?” Dagestan was also part of the USSR .
A WAR ZONE During the last decade of the empire , the whitewater enthusiasts started coming there with inflatable catarafts to paddle the two major rivers - the Avarskoe Koysu and the Andiyskoe Koysu . But after the collapse of the Soviet Union , Chechnya became a war zone .