November 1, 2025
The Katun’s “Stumps”: tall waves, whirlpools, and a “toadstool” that pumps!
Continuing the tales of our Altai summer adventure – next up, we’re edging down the Katun with the final stretch fast approaching…
Today’s rapids – the Teldekpen Rapids, aka “the Stumps” (here) – which, in high water, are probably the most difficult, unpredictable, and genuinely dangerous of the whole river. But let’s start from the beginning…
That morning, we saw that the water was still high (as I mentioned earlier, it had rained non-stop the previous day – raising the river by 130cm). On the flat sections, the current was racing along at around 13km/h (if I remember rightly), so there was absolutely no need to paddle ->
