The whole area around was wiped out off the map of the outdoor destinations for many years .
Whitewater paddlers returned to Chechnya and Dagestan only a couple of years ago , and the catarafters again started the new era . They ’ ve made numerous first descents recently , including the easier sections of the rivers we were heading to . Finally , the time has come for the kayakers .
The idea of a first descent mission in Dagestan came into my mind in 2017 for the first time . I ’ ve spent hours with all kinds of satellite maps and old data from the Soviet time ’ s whitewater explorers .
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COVID Back then , the idea sounded a bit crazy and dangerous considering all the conflicts . But since then , the situation has constantly been improving . When the Covid hit , I had to stop my international journey and reconsider exploring the home country . In the fall of 2020 , we visited the more ‘ classic ’ part of the northern Caucasus and made two major first descents there . That ’ s when I finally decided to give another go to my Dagestan project . Finally , in 2021 , I got a green light from NRS , and a professional outdoor filmmaker Mikhail Burov was down for the movie project with us .
The team was Ilin Sergey , Lukin Alexey , Trifonov Artem and myself . At the last moment , Voskoboynikov Egor crossed the border from Georgia to join us after being locked up there for over a year . Because of the Covid restrictions and permit issues , only Russians were allowed on the trip . It ’ s exciting to witness how the process of making the first descents has changed in the last couple of decades .
DRONE BENEFITS On the one hand , fewer and fewer unexplored rivers are left every year for the obvious reasons . One has to go deeper to the inaccessible valleys and unsafe countries to find the new rivers . That ’ s why it feels more and more precious to discover easily accessible world-class whitewater . On the other hand , we are fortunate to use all the benefits modern drones give us . I was not only getting nice slow-mo high-quality air shots but also scouting the canyons fast and efficiently .
THE UPPER CANYONS The lower Kazikumuchskoe Koysu has been run before by the catarafts , so that ’ s where we warmed up . The water level was high , but the rapids turned out to be easier than described in their report . So we headed up the valley to the perfectly shaped upper canyons . The drone saved us hours and days of scouting . There were two unrunnable sections with no portage options , even if you stopped way in advance ! But the canyons further upstream looked stout but possible .
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