submitted by Jim Shrimpton

The first descent of the Litang River has been a complete success, the team took six days completing 100 miles of river. The first three days ran through an unspoiled Tibetan region, with hot springs, geysers, and red pandas. An eventful first night included a midnight attack on camp by rock slinging bandits from the far bank.

Highlight of the trip was day three and four, culminating in 20 miles of continuous read and run grade 4-5+. Rapid styles varied from box canyons to steep boulder gardens.  Around every bend the team expected the portage that never came.

Day five started off innocuous although soon dropped into incredible but surreal white water as it ran into an enormous dam construction site. The flow doubled, the river banks constricted and we had the added risk of large earth moving machinery sending down boulders into the river as well as rebar and industrial debris littering the rapids. By a stroke of luck we navigated this entire section with no portages or flattened paddlers!

Day six was characterized by an even steeper gradient, larger and longer rapids, two portages and finally taking out at the nearly complete Shawan Dam.

The team is now repacking and restocking in the snowy town of Litang, birthplace of the 7th Dalai Lama.  We are now setting out tonight for the Yalong River, perhaps the Yangtze’s largest tributary, with an expected volume of 15,000-20,000 CFS. Expected time on the river should be eight days, and hope to cover 150 miles before taking out in advance of the soon to be completed massive Jinping I Hydropower Project.

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