Expedition Report
The team of five, which included four Imperial students, planned to kayak a selection of rivers in Georgia during September 2019. The initial base was the city of Kutaisi in west Georgia. Here the group experienced the Tvishi gorge section of the Rioni River with grade 3 rapids, followed by the Utsera section of the Rioni, a grade 3-4 boulder garden. The Upper Rioni, was a rigorous continuous grade 4 stretch, and the put-in involved a spectacular, beautiful walk across a glacial plane. Next was the section between the Lenheti Gorge to Tsenkhali were the group were rewarded with 8km of continuous class 4 rapids. For the Khobistskhali the team used a drone to scout a gorge section, and spotted a syphon formed by a giant boulder, which the group portaged around. Following this the driver’s vehicle broke down, so the team had to squeeze 6 boats, 7 people and all their equipment into a local minibus and endure frantic driving around country roads.
The team paddled part of the highly recommended Nenskra river, followed by the third canyon on the Mulkhara, which included rapids and blind drops which were incredibly difficult to scout. Some members became separated from their boats and paddles, which then had to be retrieved. The group had to wait nearly an hour while watching the paddles spin around in the river before they emerged to be retrieved. The entire river then funnelled into a 3m wide gap, an intimidating sight for the kayakers named the Gates of Hell. The narrow canyon and clean drops forced the water to storm through this section.
Following this the team travelled to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia and their next base, enjoying a sulphur hot spring on the way. They headed into the mountains to paddle the Tergi River, a continuous class 3. There was also time spent exploring the city including the Golden cathedral on the hill, and its many underground chambers. The next base was the city of Batumi, where there was a wait for the rain before the group tackled the Kintrishi, a grade 4 river with 4+ rapids. This proved to be totally relentless with blind drops leading into blind drops, and constant inspection necessary. It was 3 hours before they made it through the first 4km, when they arrived at a very long large boulder garden. Then almost the entire river funnelled through a 2m wide slot, followed by several eddies and a main channel blocked by a tree. The 6-hour decent was considered to be one of the most epic rivers they had accomplished so far.
Further rivers explored included the Supsa, with grade 3 rapids and some incredibly large wave trains, and the Gubazeuli, where the lack of eddies made scouting almost impossible, and involved being flushed down some steep grade 4 rapids which were likened to riding a rollercoaster. This was followed by the river Bzhuzha, the Chakvitskali, the Machakhela, and the Tekhuri, which provided a 4+/5- rapid.
In addition to funding provided by the Exploration Board this expedition was supported by the Lord Mayor's 800th Anniversary Awards Trust, the Royal College of Science Association Trust and the Old Centralians Trust.