The Katun’s “Stumps”: big 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 ->

And the weather finally started to clear up a bit:

Just beautiful! Especially compared to recent days…

Ahead of us: the Stumps, where the Katun is squeezed into a rocky canyon just 20–30 meters wide; like so:

There’s a suspension bridge spanning the Katun at this narrow spot ->

We stopped and then walked across the bridge to check out the river from above:

During low or moderate flow, this section is pretty comfortable. Sure, there are some small whirlpools, manageable challenges, and even cute “toadstools” – jets of water shooting straight up to the surface, but that’s it. It’s relaxed and almost meditative. Something like this (photo from 2020):

But at high water it’s a whole different story. Have you ever seen the torrents released from a dam or the streams gushing out of hydroelectric turbines? Well, here it’s even more intense! Whirlpools that threaten to suck in an entire raft, and toadstools that don’t just flood your raft but tip it over. In short – all rather extreme…

Getting out of the first drop is no picnic, either:

But let me break it down step by step.

Yes, that muddy water color is thanks to the heavy rains – runoff from the mountain slopes is far from clean.

So we took a look from the riverbank, sized it up, and headed back to the rafts. We weren’t going to bypass this section. We’d go through, fair and square.

Still, as a precaution, we had the few women in our group walk around the rapids.

Then it was back into the boats – and off we popped!

Normally, in middling water, you get a decent set of rapids here, but when the river is high…

Once you enter the rapids, there’s no turning back…

Sure enough, a crowd had gathered on the bridge to watch the show.

At one point, the other raft – which was just ahead of us – was nearly flipped, and then spun a full 360° by an eddy:

A truly remarkable place! Especially with the river this high…

And for dessert – a huge toadstool on the left:

Phew – we made it through…

I forgot to mention, we did the rapids together as a group – just in case anyone flipped or got tossed out of a raft.

That’s not all, though – for there’s a second drop. It’s a little easier, but still challenging…

Scouting is absolutely essential in high water!

Time to get the drone in the air. There it is – top left:

From above, the river’s wildness is all the more apparent:

Here’s the plan: first, there’s a diagonal wave from the right, so the raft needs to head to the right. Then, in just a few seconds, there’s a powerful toadstool on the left – meaning you have to move left. It’s a lot of paddle work (I got blisters on my hands this day)…

The water’s beautiful – but brutal:

That’s where we’re headed ->

Let’s go! Everybody – put your backs into it!

And that was that: yet another wild Katun roller-coaster ride! Wow, that was something else!

After the Stumps the river became mostly flat and fast, with hardly any real obstacles. Like this:

And the gorgeous scenery just keeps on appearing:

Here, the Katun grows calmer and more predictable. Roads start to appear along the banks bringing busloads of tourists to go rafting on these safer waters. There are full-day or half-day trips, but I’ve no idea who organizes them.