INTERVIEW MARK KALCH 7 RIVERS 7 CONTINENTS

Some paddlers would consider a source-to-sea descent on one of the world’s longest rivers a once in a lifetime accomplishment. Not Mark Kalch. After completing an Amazon River source-to-sea journey in 2008, Kalch created the 7 Rivers 7 Continents project, pledging to descend the longest river on each continent. Having completed three of the seven descents already, find out how Mark does it and which river will draw him in next.

Words: Whitney Lonsdale / Photography: Courtesy of Mark Kalch / www.7rivers7continents.com

PW: Where did the idea of the 7 Rivers 7 Continents project come from? MK: I mostly blame my girlfriend. After completing a source to sea descent of the Amazon River in 2008, I walked alone across the entire Islamic Republic of Iran from north to south. No paddling involved but an absolutely amazing experience. Upon my return I was tossing around ideas of what expedition to undertake next. All of them were interesting but fairly disparate and not all were paddling focused. My girlfriend suggested a long-term project whose elements were connected to one another. Why not source to sea descents of the longest river on each continent? Why not indeed. The completed Amazon River, as the longest river in South America, would provide an excellent base from which to…

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Kayak Session (Digital) - 1 Issue, Paddle World 2015

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