STORY: MIKE KRUTYANSKY

Photos:
Sergey Khvostenko &
Yankovskaya Olena

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Mike Krutyansky’s ww river guide to Turkey – the land that straddles two continents

Turkey is the bridge between Europe and Asia. We use Turkish Airlines to fly pretty much anywhere in the world with our kayaks, but what of the country itself? Why was it left out of interest for whitewater paddlers? It’s not wholly in Europe, but it’s still easily reachable with a van. Turkey’s mentality is just as the geographical position dictates – somewhere on the intersection between the Western and Asian worlds.

There are two main whitewater regions in Turkey. The north-east borders Georgia; where the rivers are fed by snow and rainstorms from the Black sea. The mountains and the rivers here are very similar to their Georgian counterparts and, in fact, to many Alpine regions. The season starts in late March and extends to the end of May.

The southern region around Antalya is special. It’s karst limestone with deep canyons and significant plateaus. It’s warm, and the season here is winter and early spring, where the rivers are mainly rain-fed.

The Mediterranean coast of Turkey has a vibrant and long part in human history. It was under the Greek empire for many centuries, and that legacy hasn’t been destroyed. Many landmarks and towns still have ancient names and so do the rivers.

Unlike the common belief in modern times, this southern coast of Turkey does not only host the ‘all-inclusive’ package hotel tours, but it’s also here where the magnificent Taurus Mountains are. Kayakers have been exploring these mountains since the 1980s.

There is no significant Turkish whitewater community, but the Köprüçay River is the working ground for dozens of raft companies. However, not surprisingly this fact barely helps in building a community of whitewater kayaking enthusiasts. Serkan Konya is the most recognised Turkish kayaker. He discovered several whitewater sections in the area, and he is the man with the local knowledge and experience.

Christoph Scheuermann has been very active in the region in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He’s done many exploratory runs here and fell in love with the area. He organised trips in southern Turkey and named his company ‘Toros outdoors’ after the mountains. This company still runs trips in Europe and Georgia with a base and kayak shop in Munich, Germany.

And then the dams came.

It’s happening almost all around the globe, but it happened relatively recently in Turkey, and the hit was severe. Unlike the situation in the Alps, if they destroy a river in Turkey, they destroy it entirely from top to bottom, leaving huge lakes and no water in the river bed. When driving around the northern region of Rize, one can see the power of industry and the vulnerability of nature.

The work is still in progress in many valleys, although the rivers have been already destroyed. There are cement and gravel factories around every corner, and the primary emotion is to leave this valley and move on further. In the south, the valleys are deeper, and the roads are longer, so even a quick look on Google Earth is enough to exclude the whole valleys and areas from the itinerary. Luckily there are still free-flowing bits of rivers left. And these sections are precious!

This all sounds very depressing. There is no surprise that the few groups travelling to Turkey during the most intensive hydropower works left a rumour that the whitewater paradise of the past had been destroyed. So the kayakers listened to the rumours and stopped coming to Turkey at all. They forgot to tell the world about the pristine oases left untouched for whatever reasons.

Mike Krutyansky and Evgeniy Smirnov were very surprised to find a winter paradise in the Antalya province of Turkey. Since the beginning of 2021, more than ten groups have followed their advice and come to paddle the triple crown of the Mediterranean coast: The Köprüçay, The Alara and the mother of all Turkish rivers, the mighty Manavgat.

Köprüçay is famous for its commercial class II+ section. Still, not many people know that just below there is a fantastic class V canyon with some big rapids, stout boofs, the ultimate must-runs, and, yes, syphons at certain water levels. This is a true gem of a river because it runs any time in winter in spring, and the class II+ section is running all year round. Above the commercial section, several huge canyons with 500m tall vertical walls haven’t been discovered yet.

Alara is a classic free-flowing river in the gorge, which has many grade II+-IV+ sections with sometimes complicated access. It’s 55 km of kayaking with the best section being the ‘Roadside Narrows’. It resembles the KaiserKlamm in Austria, and it’s perfect for a whitewater race and advanced courses when the water level is low.

Manavgat is the true heart of the Turkish whitewater. It has a massive dam in the end and a small dam on one of the tributaries, but it still has to offer seven different sections! The upper sections are runnable only at very specific flows, and they have some class V must run drops and cataracts. Not something that gets run often! After an excellent grade III section, the main event comes.

The lower canyon is a five-star class V big volume pool-drop run in a deep gorge. It’s as good as one can only imagine! Everything goes at some water levels. It’s here where the big mystery is – an underground tributary that brings 5-30 CMS of water! This river is born 100 km away in a lake and dives underground straight away. It doesn’t even have a valley!

Thanks to this underground tributary, the amazing class IV run out of the gorge is runnable throughout the season. It’s a perfect quality all day long adventure for the advanced grade IV groups.

When the river flattens after the gorge, it’s not over yet. There is still a short but incredibly intense canyon to go to the dam. This canyon has only been attempted a couple of times by Mike and Evgeniy in 2021. It has huge class V+ big volume rapids, monster syphons, and a good old 100% must run right at the exit.

These three rivers are fed by rains, a rich groundwater network, and snowmelt. They drain slowly, providing enough water to paddle pretty much any time after the season’s first significant rains/snowfalls.

Apart from this ‘triple crown’, a few smaller creeks are only runnable after heavy rainfall.

The best set-up for a grade II+-IV trip would be to rent a place on the sea coast and drive up the different valleys every day. Camping is also possible, but it can get cold and rainy/snowy in the mountains. It’s a way to go for a class IV-V trip since more challenging sections are often higher up. SUVs and 4×4 are recommended.

The north

The northern region of Turkey is probably less attractive for many kayakers, and it’s less special and unique than the south and the season there is when all other European rivers are at their best. The Firtina River, with its tributaries, is a gem and suits all levels of kayakers, especially class IV+ ones.

Trips

Mike Krutyansky is organising whitewater schools and trips in Turkey in February, March and April; if you want to come or have any ideas contact him at @mike_krutyansky, Whatsapp +972528834617.