A book about Scott Lindgren's expedition to the Tsangpo River in Tibet. I can't put it down. The Tsangpo Gordge is the most inacessible place on the planet. :skull:The gordge is three times deepr and eight times steeper than the Grand Canyon in the United States. The paddlers included Scott Lindgren, Steve Fisher, Dustin Knapp and more.

Anyone else read it? Let's read this book and talk about it in a forum.

The back of the book reads as follows:

\"A grand adventure! An elite kayaking team's heroic conquest of the world's last great adventure prize: Tibet's Tsangpo River. The Tsangpo Gorge in southeastern Tibet has lured explorers and adventurers since its discovery. Sacred to the Buddhists, the inspiration for Shangri La, the Gorge is as steeped in legend and mystery as any spot on earth. As a river-running challenge, the remote Tsangpo is relentlessly unforgiving, more difficult than any stretch of river ever attempted. Its mysteries have withstood a century's worth of determined efforts to explore its length. The finest expedition paddlers on earth have tried. Several have died. All have failed. Until now.

In January 2002, in the heart of the Himalayan winter, a team of seven kayakers launched a meticulously planned assault of the Gorge. The paddlers were river cowboys, superstars in the universe of extreme kayaking who hop from continent to continent ready for the next death-defying pursuit. Accompanying them was author Peter Heller. A world-class kayaker in his own right, Heller has logged countless river miles and several major first descents. He joined the Tsangpo Expedition as a member of the ground support team and official expedition journalist, and was also granted the exclusive opportunity to write the book about the descent.

Hell or High Water is that book, greatly expanded from his coverage for Outside magazine. Filled with history, white-knuckle drama, and mutiny in one of the world's most storied, and remote, locations, Hell or High Water is as riveting as any of the great epic adventures throughout history.\"

Let's get it ON!

well, i don't really consider that river conquered considering the small proportion of it that they ran, in addition; they ran it at super low flows. That river still has a first decent up for grabs in my mind. Have not red the book yet, but i do know quite a bit about the river. I'm sure it's a great story though

The river has already claimed a life (Doug Gordon 1998 ) and it is far to great to be run at high level. It empties the whole northern Tibetan plateau, not to mention the two huge waterfalls, Hidden and Rainbow Falls. You are missing the point. It's not about labels or first decents or conquering. It is about kayaking, people, and the awsome force of nature.

You acually make the point the book argues against.

Hell Or High Water By Peter Heller (p.18 )

\"Another difference between mountains and rivers: You can never 'conquer' a river. For a river, the lowest place around is not enough. A river must go lower. Put unto a stream in a kayak, and you're likely to drop from sight- away from the road, between two mountains. A river can't get away fast enough. It falls toward the coast in a headlong rush to empty itself in the salt. Tibetan Buddhism emphasizes the inherent emptiness of all things; a river seeks to prove the point. Every wave and crease and curent disolves and is re-formed moment to moment, in a journey toward complete undifferentiation. A river's last act is to empty itself of its self. How can you conquer something that only seeks to disapear?\"

I think the book hits it right on the button. But, your comment is well spoken and open minded.

This book isn't all about kayaking. It had a little bit too much drama in it for my liking. Heller portrayed Lindgren as a super high-strung control freak, which I am not sure is an accurate depiction. The story does however, do a lot to highlight the whole nature of the area, as well as its extensive history, which was nice. I like the detail with which each paddler is described. The Kerns' family past was described especially well. All this extra information probably came to Heller because he was not actually on the water with the boys, nor was he even near it at some points, forcing him to interview each paddler afterwards. An interesting read, nevertheless.

I loved this book. I think it is a good depiction of kayaking from someones stand point who isnt a kayaker. I loved this book and it showed how even thought they had some high tech gear and tons of sponcerships it was STILL about a man and his kayak. That was my favorite quote in the book. If you havent read this book YOU SHOULD!!!!!!

I bought the DVD when I was in Wales. Tsangpo Gorge, a film by Scott Lindgren. Pretty damn interesting. They did run it at extreme low water which was still damn high when compared to other rivers. The river is seriously steep and remote. Runs like this require lots of planning and big cash too. Cool DVD...

On Discovery channel they also ran the story of the whole Doug Gordon expedition. After scouting a rapid, Doug changed his planned line and running a drop of about 3m or so, got pulled river right at the base of the hydraulic and got a thrown about a little. It let him go and straight into the main flow. He tried to roll but never did. He was swept downstream and into the next rapid. His boat and body were never found even though they searched for a good couple of days. The expedition was terminated, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of most people.

If anyone has seen this footage they'll agree that this is steep, high volume boating. It is awesome to see people trying stuff like this. Nice to watch from the comfort of my home

AdrianTregoning wrote:

On Discovery channel they also ran the story of the whole Doug Gordon expedition. After scouting a rapid, [/color]

That must have been National Geographic Channel as they were the sponsors of this trip. BTW, I have read a book about this expedition which is even more interesting to read. It was witten by expedition leader Wick Walker and it is called \"Courting the Diamond Sow : A Whitewater Expedition on Tibet's Forbidden River\". ISBN 0-7922-7960-3. Especially when you have seen the documentary it is very interesting to read because it is almost like it has not been finished, which is sort of how the expedition ended.

OK, sorry. Yes it was National Geographic. I've got it on a video tape at home. There is mention of that book in the documentary. Sounds like it would provide some interesting reading