“Will have river veterans nodding in agreement and surprise. I loved the journey." — Doug Stanton, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Horse Soldiers

“An important contribution to the literature of exploration. This book had my pulse racing.'"— Peter Heller, author of The Dog Stars and The River

A dramatic narrative tour of 10 of the world’s most incredible whitewater adventures—spanning 5 continents and 40 years—guided by a legendary whitewater trailblazer

This fascinating history of daring whitewater explorers stands alongside classic works on mountaineering, outdoor survival, and extreme sports

Perfect for fans of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air and Candice Millard’s River of the Gods

In 10 thrilling real-life adventure stories, pioneering whitewater explorer Wick Walker examines what lured a generation of incredibly daring pioneers into some of Earth’s most wondrous yet forbidding river canyons:

• below Victoria Falls on the Zambezi,
• the Great Bend of the Tsangpo in Tibet,
• Tiger Leaping Gorge on the Yangtze,
• the flanks of Mount Everest, and more

Loaded with great moments and personal stories, Walker details what these adventurers found there, and within themselves. The extraordinary characters, driven by different motives and visions, but united by their compulsion to seek the unknown and the pulse of free-flowing water, are as remarkable as the daunting geography and conditions they confront.

Whitewater sport today stands side-by-side with mountaineering in participation and public attention, yet it has lagged in generating its own literature. Torrents As Yet Unknown helps fill that gap for readers interested in human drama played out against great natural challenges.

Mountaineering history is deep and its literature rich, but whitewater adventurers approach and experience the same forbidding terrain from a different vantage, between the steep walls of their canyons and atop powerful torrents of cascading water.

Wickliffe W. Walker represented the United States in three whitewater canoe and kayak world championships and in the 1972 Olympics at Munich. Following his competitive career, he mounted expeditions in Bhutan, Pakistan, Mexico, and elsewhere, including to the Tsangpo River of Tibet that is the subject of his previous book Courting the Diamond Sow. He is a National Geographic Explorer and Author, and a Fellow of The Explorers Club, and he presently lives and writes in the Blue Ridge of Southwestern Virginia. He studied at Dartmouth College, the John F. Kennedy School for Special Warfare, and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. He served 21 years in the United States Army as an Engineer, Military Intelligence, and Special Forces officer, retiring in the rank of lieutenant colonel after overseas service in Vietnam, Thailand, and Germany.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Paradise on the Big Screen
The Indus River (1956)

Chapter 2: To Get Away from England
The Inn, Colorado, and Blue Nile Rivers (1967, '71, '72)

Chapter 3: How to Dare
The Dudh Kosi River (1973)

Chapter 4: Mother of Rivers
The Kali Gandaki River (1974)

Chapter 5: Mike Jones' Meteoric Decade
The Braldu River (1976)

Chapter 6: Catholocism and Communism in Earther's Grandest Cathedral
The Colca River (1981)

Chapter 7: The Smoke that Thunders
The Zambezi River (1981)

Chapter 8: Tiger Leaping
The Yangtze River (1986)

Chapter 9: The Hardest Thing, In teh Purest Style
The Stikine River (1992)

Chapter 10: As Yet Unknown
The Yarlung Tsangpo River (1998)