Whitewater Rafting on the Katun' River

"The food was plentiful and good. The crew was fabulous at setting up the kitchen with a roaring fire within minutes. .... loved the hot soup at lunch. The guides were genuinely skilled on the river and we felt comfortable with them and their safety skills and ability to get us down river without complications." William G., San Jose, CA

Rafting down the Katun' you'll be following one of the most famous rivers in all of Russia and Siberia since the Katun' was the first river explored by foreign whitewater rafting enthusiasts. This is one of the most commonly run rivers in the Altai so there are many stories about this run.

The river runs 688 km from its source on the Mount Belukha (14,770 feet) glaciers and cuts through mountains, taiga, and meadows of high grass and flowers. The Katun' rafting run is a high water journey similar to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado.

Our Put-In is at Yaloman village on the Chuyskiy Trakt (highway connecting Russia and Mongolia). The river shows its power even before the major rapids: it is very fast and waves are covering the entire width of this huge river. You can’t relax: any of these mountain-like waves can cause an unwanted swim or even flip of 16 foot raft. There are no Colorado style pools on Katun’. We will travel 4-5 miles per hour even without rapids.

There are few breath taking rapids on the Lower Katun’: Il’gumenskiy and Shabash are the most exciting. You definitely want to try and avoid some of waves in these rapids.
The Katun’ River runs through the beautiful Kadrin Pipe with rocky walls and nice forest on the banks.

Among last rapids you will run are the Teldekpen’ rapids which are locked in black rocky corridor and having enormous whirlpools. The group will be met in Moscow by our representative and will travel to Barnaul from the Domodedovo Airport.

You can view pictures of our most recent Katun trip on our Katun Pictures page.

Trip Itinerary

Day 1:

Our Katun' rafting guides will meet you in the morning at the Barnaul Airport. You will then take a 500 km (10 to 12 hour) trip on a comfortable bus to the River. Breakfast of sandwiches, dairy food, fruit, and juice is in the bus and lunch is on your own in Srostki Village. We will spend the night on a sandy beach along the Katun'. With this in mind, make sure that you have everything you need. This is because even if you have money or your credit card with you, purchasing from stores might be a long shot in this place.

Day 2:

We will begin the day with breakfast around 9 a.m. alongside the Katun' and then pack our personal effects into waterproof dry bags. This will be followed by a safety talk by the river rafting guides who will explain how to conduct ourselves on the water. After a quick lunch we will start rafting down the river to the Ilgumen' Rapids. After scouting and running the rapids we will float down to our campsite on a clearing at the mouth of the Ailagush River.

Day 3:

We will put-in after breakfast and soon reach the Kadrinskaya Truba (The Pipe of Kadrinsk) rapids. After these we will run the Shabash (Sabath) rapids which are some of the most impressive on the river. Our day on the river will end by floating through pine forest and stopping across from the mouth of the Ursula river. Fishermen will want to cross the river and fish the clean Ursula water.

Day 4:

Today several nameless class III rapids are run including the Shiver rapid. We will camp along the Kayancha river on a big clearing on the right-hand bank.

Days 5 to 7:

Rafting more challenging rapids including the Teldekpen and Yeladinskiy rapids down to an unfinished hydroelectric project. We will finish the Katun' rafting trip at a highway to the Chemal Village.

Day 8:

Departure for Barnaul on a comfortable bus. We will stop for lunch in the village of Srostki where you can buy famous Altai honey. Once in Barnaul, we will stay at the Hotel Barnaul.

Tour Includes:

Transfers to and from the Barnaul Airport

English speaking guides

Meals

One night accommodation in Barnaul

Notes:

Scheduled trip date: July 4-11, 2010 and July 11-18. 2010.

We can run a Katun' Rafting trip at any time of the season with a minimum of six participants. If a specific trip date has fewer than six participants the tour price may be increased.

Meals to and from the take out are not included in the tour price.