# Russian Rafting



## hojo (Jun 26, 2008)

I suppose this is the proper "NEW" forum to post this in.

Дроперы on Vimeo


----------



## yesimapirate (Oct 18, 2010)

That's like class I rapids in Russia, right?


----------



## cupido76 (May 22, 2009)

That was rowdy.

It kind of reminds me of skiers who huck their meat of huge cliffs without ever really intending to land the jump fluidly, rather than someone like Seth Morrison who will lang huge drops fluidly and in control.


----------



## Jahve (Oct 31, 2003)

всегда существует способ!


----------



## hullflyer (Aug 22, 2004)

...and we were worried about USSR taking over?


----------



## k2andcannoli (Feb 28, 2012)

The ingenuity of the former ussr river runners is unsurpassed by anyone. Tough dudes (and some ladies) over there.


----------



## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

Russia has a ton of class 4-5 big rivers, the problem is getting there. These guys travel by helicopter and 4wd for days to get to the put in. 

The original video is of the team from Moscow, the river they are running is in Kirgystan, which is ~1,000 miles away.


----------



## yesimapirate (Oct 18, 2010)

I was waiting for the resident Russian to chime in! Have you visited Kirgystan or any of the other beasts in the homeland? Or did you pick up water sports in the states?


----------



## yesimapirate (Oct 18, 2010)

And the logistics of a trip like that is probably insane!


----------



## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

yesimapirate said:


> I was waiting for the resident Russian to chime in! Have you visited Kirgystan or any of the other beasts in the homeland? Or did you pick up water sports in the states?


Picked it up here, where I am from there were no mountains or whitewater 

I am glad the sport is picking up over there. Russians might not have brains, but they sure have guts and vodka. Put those together and anything is runnable. More vodka and bigger pfds will do the trick!


----------



## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Say what you will about the size of their brains, their balls are enormous--only slightly smaller than their PFD's!

What kind of music is that, Alex? 
Sounded kind of like a combination power ballad/death metal? What's the gist of the lyrics?


----------



## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

MT4Runner said:


> Say what you will about the size of their brains, their balls are enormous--only slightly smaller than their PFD's!
> 
> What kind of music is that, Alex?
> Sounded kind of like a combination power ballad/death metal? What's the gist of the lyrics?


Actually it is about wild whitewater river and rafting. The music/song in the video is a remix by someone. This is the original:

Надежда Кадышева и Антон Зацепин - Широка река (live) - YouTube

Here are the lyrics to the song (translated by Google)


Anton Zatsepin, KADISHEV HOPE



Lyrics Broad River

Broad River, Deep River 
Do not swim you since the berezhka. 
low clouds hide the moon 
Fly to me, but I have no wings.


In raw evil forest fire boils 
horse blacker than the night of the fire is. 
hoof beats it, look for the rider 
pushed off that horse our shores.

Chorus:
knock on the house uninvited pain 
Here it is, love is cursed. 
while away the long nights we 
Unloved with unloved.


Black water flows away 
blew paddle, but broke the raft. 
were swallows, crows have 
met sooner, later realized 
A new Veri not break the hinges. 
And one problem we bed spreads 
Broad River, a long echo. 
horse blacker than the night walking around.

Chorus:
knock on the house uninvited pain 
she's cursed love. 
while away the long nights we 
Unloved with unloved.


Broad River, Deep River 
Do not swim you since the berezhka. 
low clouds hide the moon 
Fly to me, but I have no wings.


In raw evil forest fire boils 
black knight than a night by the fire is. 
hoof beats he is looking for a rider 
pushed off that horse our shores.

Chorus:
knock on the house uninvited pain 
she's cursed love 
we whiled away the nights are long 
Unloved with unloved. 
knocked at the house uninvited pain 
she's cursed love 
we whiled away the nights are long 
Unloved with unloved.


----------



## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

kazak4x4 said:


> Actually it is about wild whitewater river and rafting.


Badass!!


----------



## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

MT4Runner said:


> Badass!!


With the sport so big in the states, I am surprised there is no more music about river, rafting, whitewater kayaking, etc.


----------



## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

No kidding.

I wasn't excited by the music of the original, but loved the remix and the lyrics.


----------



## carvedog (May 11, 2005)

More by the same vimeo person. Sick surf at 3:25 on this one. Plus the usual badassness that comprises the russian rafters I have seen. Thx for the translation on the lyrics Alex. 
Makes me like it even more. 

Огородные доны, элита палаточного кемпинга on Vimeo


----------



## GoodTimes (Mar 9, 2006)

Next level stuff right there!!! Pretty awesome...I particularly liked the shot of the dude getting smashed against the wall at about 0:35.

Where can I find a PFD like that?? BEAST

I know I raft, kayak, and do dumbass stuff better when I have vodka around.


----------



## jennifer (Oct 14, 2003)

Wow, wearing a life jacket like that would drive me crazy! I wonder why most WW porn seems to cut out the carnage, but in Russian videos they only have carnage??? 

If the SUP craze makes it to Russia, there will be some very interesting videos! I imagine them running/swimming the same class V but with even larger vests.


----------



## k2andcannoli (Feb 28, 2012)

They take pfd to a whole 'nother level


----------



## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

For the water and hydraulics that big I'd want all the flotation I can get. These guys don't seem like they are strapped in like a Creature Craft would be, so I am sure they swim a lot of these rivers. I much prefer flotation over comfort personally.


----------



## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

I contacted the person who shot the video and he corrected me that the footage was taken in Norway and not southern Russian as I assumed. He said the logistics were quite simple and it was close to the road. His team did decent Kirgystan (Southern Russia) rivers and I am waiting for that footage from him.

There you have it... now we need to explore Europe for aggressive whitewater


----------



## John the welder (May 2, 2009)

Had a chance to paddle one of those boats on Deso for a few minutes. Very quick and the frame flexes a lot. They have thigh straps to keep you on the tubes. His first boat was made from truck tarps that they traded vodka for. Had soccer ball in it for flotation.


----------



## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

the Balkans and Caucasus' areas are ripe for exploration....Balkans have settled down but Caucasus is rough neighborhood..was watching Globe Trekker about Georgia. The host was getting into some the most remote and culturally primitive areas of Europe to do some mountaineering.It showed them crossing or driving along a bunch of sweet looking creeks.They get sick amounts of snow and the mountains are bigger than the Rockies.The next winter Olympics in Sochi may help open up the area more.Nice Mediterranean climate with beaches on the Black Sea right next to high mountains.The Russians definitely have massive sacks.

Don't know if you really want Americans singing about whitewater...the video 'Creekin USA' tried that and it was pretty corny.Off the too of my head one lyric went :

I seek the falling waters,
to me it 's all that matters,
I 'm going creekin ',
Creekin ' Uuu -Ess -Aaaay

with generic bar chord rock ...I kinda like that Russian metal...good early kayak lorn though...


----------



## Otterwolf (Feb 24, 2013)

wow... these have to be the best video's I've seen in quite sometime, I mean they totally get it and have all their skills rock solid.

Yeah, I agree - flotation over comfort anyday 

Lee turned me on to these Safegard Kivva Type V Universal Adult Lifejacket, made in USA and I have to say they are indeed quite comfortable, although nothing compared to what the Russians are using.

Wonder if they designed those vests themselves since they seem a pretty inventive lot??


----------



## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

Otterwolf, I asked the guy who made those videos, waiting on his response. Will let you know.

Also, if you like that pfd you posted, check this one out: MTI Big Buoy High Flotation Lifevest the one you listed is 25lbs of flotation, mine is 26.5, not much of difference, but it has nice pockets where I stick my SPOT, carabiners and first aid kit in which makes it useful.


----------



## hojo (Jun 26, 2008)

I didn't notice, until the second video, that they were on their knees. More o f a C4?!? lol. Awesome.


----------



## yesimapirate (Oct 18, 2010)

kazak4x4 said:


> I contacted the person who shot the video and he corrected me that the footage was taken in Norway and not southern Russian as I assumed. He said the logistics were quite simple and it was close to the road. His team did decent Kirgystan (Southern Russia) rivers and I am waiting for that footage from him.
> 
> There you have it... now we need to explore Europe for aggressive whitewater


Would be awesome if somehow we got those guys over here. Although, they would probably find our western waters quite bland.

Can't wait to see their other footage.


----------



## leo_amore (May 30, 2006)

response from a friend in the Ukraine...
"Crazy Russians in Norway. Probably normal rafting for Russian people with iron balls."


----------



## willieWAO (Jun 14, 2005)

it looks like they have a wetsuit on with a base layer maybe for thermal protection, but then they have pants and jackets that look like they add both flotation and impact protection for when they smash the rocks, which happens a lot apparently


----------



## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

willieWAO said:


> it looks like they have a wetsuit on with a base layer maybe for thermal protection, but then they have pants and jackets that look like they add both flotation and impact protection for when they smash the rocks, which happens a lot apparently


Whitewater expeditions are fairly new to Russia, so a lot of it is put together by people themselves. But with ease of internet I don't doubt some of the protective clothing could be ordered online.


----------



## carvedog (May 11, 2005)

After seeing that one falls that endered the dude right front right into the overhanging cliff I can see why they want extra padding and floatation.


----------



## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

I've been keeping up with the dude who filmed that video. This is what they use for flotation and protection:

Life jacket is around 60 lbs of flotation: http://raftservis.ucoz.ru/sp6.swf

The clothes that they wear is similar to here. Wetsuits and dry tops, or something like this in case a lot of rocks are expected:


----------

