So, why the Katun? Why do I raft down it so often?…
Well, it’s simply the most interesting river you can raft down as a non-professional – as long as you’re guided by experienced pros (and ours weren’t just pros – they were Russian rafting champions: how about that?!). But, what do I mean by “interesting”?…
First, the sheer force of the water here is unusual, the rapids and riffles are fantastic, and the flow-waves you encounter here sometimes reach what seemed to us like 2–3 meters high!
Second, the river is relatively safe. There are no whirlpools where you can get spun around forever and all the rapids are passable. There aren’t any dangerous rocks you could get pinned against forever, and no other surprises either. Well, unless you’re in the very upper reaches, where you might end up under a tree hanging over the water; and one of the lower rapids in high water becomes a pretty scary – and dangerous – obstacle. But we’ll get to that…
Third, it’s one of the longest rivers there is for truly active whitewater rafting: from the upper reaches of the Katun all the way down to its lowest rapids you can paddle unhindered (without having to portage around dams or weirs) for more than 500 kilometers. Five hundred-plus kilometers of fast-flowing water – woah! And the total drop in elevation is over a kilometer. Oh my gradient!

So, for me, the Katun is the most… luxurious river I’ve ever rafted. Some real experts even told us that the best rivers for commercial rafting are the Katun, the Zambezi (I can confirm that: it looked real fierce from above), the Colorado, and Chile’s BioBio.

Read on…