Last River : The Tragic Race for Sangri-li

Is the Mount Everest of rivers, perhaps the world's last great unclaimed prize, impossible to run?It was a challenge few world-class kayakers could resist. Tibet's Yarlung Tsangpo River, which runs through the impenetrable Tsangpo Gorge, remains one of the few uncharted, unconquered whitewater rivers in the world, one whose scale and natural beauty are epic -- some say the hidden valleys and waterfalls of the Yarlung Tsangpo are the Shangri-la of Tibetan legend. Plunging 10,000 vertical feet, the Yarlung Tsangpo runs beneath snowcapped Himalayan peaks, past verdant jungle and through the deadly Tsangpo Gorge, where the river narrows to a mere 60 feet of foam between sheer mossy walls that rise 2,000 feet on either side.In October 1998, a team of expert kayakers, partially funded by the National Geographic Society, went after the ultimate prize in kayaking: to become the first team in history to successfully descend the Tsangpo Gorge. But on October 16, one of the kayakers was sucked intoa whirlpool and swept into the river's main current, which was racing at a deadly 50,000 cubic feet per second. His body was never recovered. ThBale, Todd is the author of 'Last River : The Tragic Race for Sangri-li', published 2001 under ISBN 9780606223485 and ISBN 0606223487.