SARYJAZ GRAND TREK Heavy Loads: Contemplating Ethics and Style in Expedition Kayaking

Call it stupidity, determination, ego, arrogance, inspiration. Whatever got them here, hiking kayaks up and over the 3500-meter passes of the Tian Shan Mountains, it wouldn't help them now. Driven by a shared style, love for wild places, and a desire to experience rather than conquer a river, Tomass Mamies, Kristof Stursa, Nouria Newman, Luka Rebersak, and Michiel De Ruytter went to the Sary Jaz focused not on some of the world's most remote and challenging Class V, but on the hike out.

Nouria Newman

Imagine five colorful little dots lost in the immensity of Kyrgyzstan's Tian Shan mountain range. That's us. Miles away from a navigable river, carrying our loaded kayaks up and over 3500 meters passes. Why? We've asked ourselves that question many times, yet none of us has a clear answer. It's also unclear when this all started. Was it when we gathered around a table and started scheming the trip? When we put on the river? Or sometime in between? One thing we can say with certainty is that it began with a common wish: paddling the Saryjaz and experiencing this place. On paper, our team might have seemed marginal, a bunch of kayakers that didn't really know each other, all from different countries with different backgrounds, ages, cultures, and personalities.…

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Kayak Session (Digital) - 1 Issue, Summer 2023

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