Outdoor Research Verticulture » The Kamchatka Project http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com Get Stoked! Outdoor Research Verticulture Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:23:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Return to Petroplavosk http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/2010/07/return-to-petroplavosk/ http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/2010/07/return-to-petroplavosk/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:02:20 +0000 Bryan Smith http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/?p=3833 We have just returned to Petroplavosk, the capital of Kamchatka after completing our second source to sea first descent of the Karimsky River to the North. This was an absolutely incredible trip. We put in next to an active volcano that was erupting every 5 minutes and found hot springs at the rivers edge. We had seen this river on the flight into our first source to sea on the Semalyichik and knew we would have several solid days of whitewater. The upper section consisted of long stretches of flat water punctuated by giant waterfalls and slides and as we approached the ocean we found amazing class 4 read-and-run whitewater. Simply put, it was as perfect as exploratory trips come. The logistics here have been as exciting as the rivers we have paddled. This trip consisted of taking a giant Russian MI8 heli to the put-in and then using a sailboat to make the 20 hour journey back to the capital. To have completed two incredible source to sea descents in just under two weeks, we are feeling tremendously successful. It is hard to convey how wild this place truly is. Waiting on the beach for our sailboat we combed the beach next to countless brown bear and wolf tracks. There have been no signs of humans on these rivers, just the wildlife that call Kamchatka home. While we have been excited about the pure exploration of these rivers we have also begun collecting hydrological data that the kayaks are lending themselves to do very well too. From here we will transition into exploring rivers that are prime salmon and trout habitat.




Continue following the team in Kamchatka here on VertiCulture and on their website.

]]> http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/2010/07/return-to-petroplavosk/feed/ 0 The Semelyichik http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/2010/07/the-semelyichik/ http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/2010/07/the-semelyichik/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:32:54 +0000 Bryan Smith http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/?p=3786 An update from Bryan and the Kamchatka Project Team:

“We completed the Semelyichik in three days from source to sea. We took a heli in and met a sailboat at the takeout. On the flight there we spotted another river that looks amazing, but very difficult. We fly in this morning at 8am and will hopefully be out to the ocean in 5 days…”




Check back for updates on VertiCulture from Bryan, Jeff, Jay, Shane, Ethan, and Rob, including a new interview with Fitz Cahall coming up this week. You can follow they team on twitter as they descend the river. Go to the Kamchatka Project site to sign up.

]]> http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/2010/07/the-semelyichik/feed/ 0 Waylaid in Moscow http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/2010/07/waylaid-in-moscow/ http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/2010/07/waylaid-in-moscow/#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:44:05 +0000 Robert Bart http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/?p=3647 How we handle the unpredictability of traveling is what separates adventure from disaster. We missed the final leg of our flight to Kamchatka by five minutes as a result of a very slow customs line and a few bags that showed up three hours after the rest of our gear. With no flight till the next afternoon and limited time to learn about lodging options, we wound up setting up a bivy in a downtown luxury suite for the night.

After 30 hours of traveling we had no reason to sleep, so we set off to explore. As a social studies teacher, I have shown my students pictures of the former Soviet Empire countless numbers of times and could not have been more excited at the opportunity to see this place first-hand. Moscow boasts the highest concentration of billionaires in the world, and its streets are filled with BMW’s, fashionable stores and huge billboards—signs of capitalism that have only been a feature of this city for the past twenty years. Signs of the old communist rule seem few and far between downtown, and while I was initially grabbed by the history of the place, it was a little tough to concentrate on landmarks and statues with the literally hundreds of gorgeous women clad in mini-skirts and sundresses enjoying the summer evening.




After an hour of eating tapas and gawking at women, we made our way to Red Square to film and take pictures. The history of the area is almost hard to grasp; our jovial experience standing on the black cobble stones of Red Square along with other tourists and locals stood in stark contrast to the pictures I have shown my students of thousands Soviets soldiers high stepping through the square backed by huge tanks and missiles glorifying the decaying empire. The Kremlin, which frames one side of Red Square, is massive: huge red brick walls tower 40 feet above the square creating a fortress of impenetrability that has to be witnessed to understand the true magnitude of the Cold War.

Around 1am we headed back up the streets away from the former square marveling at how the streets were still packed with people making their way to and from night clubs which would have been non-existent twenty years ago. As with so many places in the world, until you have seen it for yourself, words and pictures cannot do justice to the scope of a place, and as we prepare to leave Moscow I have a whole new set of pictures to add to my history lessons, and a new perspective of the history of this place. Next stop Kamchatka.

]]> http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/2010/07/waylaid-in-moscow/feed/ 0