In the past 12 years, Grand Junction geologist Pete Winn has navigated more than 750 miles of never-paddled whitewater in western China and Tibet. He has barely scratched the surface of potential first descents in a remote frontier swollen with rivers that stretch for several thousand miles, winding through the world’s highest mountains and deepest gorges.
“There are four rivers in southeastern Tibet – the Tsangpo, the Salween, Mekong and Yangtze – all bigger than our Grand Canyon and all are within 300 miles. They all have lots of tributaries,” said Winn, 57, whose hobby includes compiling what is likely the world’s most comprehensive tally of first descents in Tibet and China. “It will take a decade to 20 years to explore them and run them.”
Winn has been exploring unrun Tibetan and Chinese rivers since 1994. He hooked his then-16-year-old son, Travis, on China and Tibet five years ago, and the senior at the University of Oregon is now fluent in Chinese and wants to buoy ecotourism in a region of China long envisioned as a treasure trove of mineral, logging and hydropower resources for the country’s growing population.
Last month, Winn brought his 16-year-old daughter, Carmen, on a first descent of the Indus River in western Tibet. The 33-day trip was much more than 100 miles of never-before-paddled Class II and III whitewater. The Winn-led team logged 750 miles of driving on barely navigable roads to get close to the roadless region of the Indus River. They trekked for three days around Mount Kailash, one of Asia’s most sacred mounts and a spiritual magnet for thousands of Hindus and Buddhists every summer. They rode yaks and ponies for four days to reach their put-in. Then they paddled.
This wasn’t a first descent like the recent expeditions into the raging and unseen Tsangpo Gorge by the world’s best kayakers. This was more of a first float. In fact, almost all of Winn’s first descents in Tibet and China were not expert-only trips. He has made eight trips to Tibet and China, exploring 100- to 150-mile chunks of the Yangbi, Mekong, Salween, Lhasa and Indus rivers and almost all the stretches feature Class III and IV whitewater.
He said the challenge of organizing safe passage, traveling through what is possibly the world’s most ruggedly remote region and negotiating the Chinese and rural Tibetan cultures mirrors the challenges found in more difficult whitewater.
“Half the adventure or more was just getting to the river,” said the former river guide, whose nonprofit Shangri La River Expeditions has ferried clients and friends down previously unrun Tibetan rivers for nearly a decade. “You don’t need to be a whitewater expert by any means, but you must have a strong sense of adventure.”
The Tibetan and Chinese adventure bug bit 21-year-old Travis Winn. He dropped plans for a geology degree to study Chinese. He will spend the coming winter in China, training local raft guides and hopefully adding a few more first descents to the Winn family’s pioneering list.
His dream is to help the Chinese build a blossoming ecotourism industry along western China rivers long eyed for their ability to produce electricity for the growing regions of eastern China.
Dam construction is big business in China. To meet skyrocketing demand for electricity and control western China’s annual floods, the country has nearly finished the $24 billion Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, the largest hydroelectric project in the world. More hydropower dams are planned, threatening to harness many of the country’s wild rivers. Sprouts of environmental awareness are emerging in the industrially inclined economy of China, and Travis Winn sees an opportunity to elevate tourism and the recreational use of China’s massive rivers to the same economic level as mining, logging and hydropower. But first the Chinese need to see and experience the rivers.
“The sky is the limit for first descents there,” the younger Winn said. “Imagine a country the size of the United States with bigger mountains and bigger rivers and nobody has really been there. The exploring won’t stop for 20 to 30 years.”
Learn more — Visit www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com for Pete Winn’s accounts of first descents in Tibet and China.
