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paddling people
Whitewater explorer Chris Oliver recounts tales of arrests
by the military, rivers disappearing underground and
exploding pressure cookers during the 1980s’ kayaking
expedition to Kurdistan...
Interview conducted by Dave Burne
Dr Chris Oliver was leader of the very
first combined British Universities
Kayak Expedition, which he set
up whilst still at medical school
in London at UCH. Chris later trained to be
a neurosurgeon then trauma orthopaedic
surgeon. Now a Consultant Trauma
Orthopaedic Surgeon in Edinburgh he is still
paddling big whitewater almost 30 years later,
with trips to the Grand Canyon and Sun Kosi
(Nepal) recently accomplished. His website is
at www.orthodoc.aaos.org/chrisoliver/
British Universities Kayaking
Expedition: A History
The BUKE expeditions began in 2005 when a
team of nine successfully explored the rivers
of Kyrgystan (http://kayakstan.rob.cx/). Upon
their return the team gave many presentations
and wrote articles about their exploits. It was
so successful in fact, that Tim Burne decided it
should be a biennial event. ‘Uniyaker’ was born.
In subsequent years Uniyakers have organised
a succession of successful expeditions. In 2007
to discover the multi-day madness of Siberia
and hope for some glacier melt in the deserts of
Mongolia (www.fourbordersexpedition.com),
in 2009 the selected team were persuaded to
choose Vietnam for exploration by the possibility
of using the phrase ‘When I was in ‘Nam’
(www.kayaknam.com), in 2011 the crew wanted
to explore the jungles of Venezuela where petrol
is cheaper than beer, and beer is cheaper than
water (www.kayakvenezuela.com).
All in all, the concept is working well.
But was the first expedition in 2005? On the
Uniyaker website it says:
“Going back to the initial inspiration for the
(2005) expedition...though it was attributed to a
similar expedition back in the 1980s, it turns out
that no such trip took place. That said, it’s now a
bit too late to stop the ball rolling and we thing
that making the expedition a regular fixture in
the British students kayaking calendar can only
be a good thing.”
www.canoekayak.co.uk
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OCT 12 59
OCT 12
It turns out the website needs updating! In the
early 80s the captain of the London University
Canoe Club, a 23-year-old medical student was
busy scheming with Pete Knowles - known then
as Green Slime, now known simply as Slime. After
all the scheming, an idea was born. That idea was
to form the British Universities Kayak Expedition
to the River Zap, Kurdistan. The year was 1983,
22 years before the first of the ‘Modern BUKEs’
The 23-year-old medical student was Chris Oliver.
29 years later he reflects on these times:
PLANNING
Dave: How did you come about the idea of a
British Universities Kayaking Expedition?
Chris: Pete Knowles - “Greenslime” - put me up to
it, it was his entire fault! I was captain of London
University Canoe Club, we advertised and put
the word out at British Universities’ Slalom and
Whitewater Championships to find paddlers. There
was no selection process, first come first selected.
It is interesting to hear Slime was as pivotal
on the scene then as he is now! He is still a
fountain of knowledge and has helped give
ideas and inspiration to various explorers
across the decades, including expeditions
I have been part of. The selection process
seems to have become much more formal too,
with around 40 applicants each expedition
all required to submit a paper application.
Then follows selection event held over a long
weekend for the 20 short listed paddlers to be
whittled down to the final expedition group.
Dave: Where is Kurdistan, and what were the
politics of the region like at the time?
Chris: The “Land of the Kurds” is in South Eastern
Turkey on the border adjoining Iran and Iraq. It
was just about politically okay to go there in
1983. It was the area where Saddam Hussein
gassed innocent local Kurds a few years later.
In 2012 I do not think I would safely go
to that border, plus there has been a recent
major earthquake. u
Chris Oliver: The Original British Universities
Kayaking Expedition Leader (1983)
paddling people
www.canoekayak.co.uk
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OCT 12
Dave: Growing up in the age of computer
technology I can’t imagine organising an
expedition without the contacts made
through the internet, or finding rainfall
data online. How did you get most of your
information without internet? And how did
you know that July was the best season?
Chris: Green Slime suggested the expedition, time
of year, and gave us some information - mostly
incorrect! The Royal Geographic Society in London
knew the area and gave some helpful advice. I
also got some advice from my mother who told
me not to do it, frequently.
Dave: How did you get maps? I always find
them online. Were they any good?
Chris: No internet in 1983, no mobile phones either.
This did mean my mother had absolutely no idea
where I was (and neither did the Dean of Medicine)!
I luckily got some US Military Strategic Air
Command Maps of the area, surprisingly bought
from Stanford’s in Shaftsbury Avenue in London.
These maps were for use by bomber command to
identify significant targets - we were worried that
these maps might be seen when we got arrested.
We hid these maps under Bazil’s (the vehicle)
false floor. The maps were rubbish, as they did
not indicate that at one point the river went
completely underground! This could have caught
us out with dire consequences if we weren’t so
vigilant. However, they did give a rough idea of
the gradient.
What were your biggest concerns before
heading out?
I think I was worried how the group would get on
and if anyone might drown or not come back in one
piece. Getting petrol turned out not to be a problem
as we had worried; filling the petrol bus up with
diesel in France was self-inflicted idiocy! Getting ill
with food poisoning was always going to almost
inevitable, thinking about it; as it turned this was
only minor problem, which was sorted out with
team antibiotics when it did occur at one stage.
EXPEDITION LIFE
Dave: One thing that rarely happens on
kayaking expeditions to far-flung lands
nowadays is driving your own vehicle.
Insurance difficulties, shuttles and basic
safety put most people off. Yet you guys had
Bazil. How did you get along with that?
Chris: Bazil was basically abused and wrecked by
the expedition. He was an aged but resilient Ford
Transit with a few modifications: a false floor in
back to store food and gear, extra headlights and
a mega loud airhorn. We got stopped in Ankara
(capital of Turkey) for having “headlights too
bright” and were fined by local police who really
wanted cigarettes or porn mags! Having a Ford
Transit was useful as we could easily get spare
parts, useful when a petrol tanker in Turkey ripped
off the whole of the front wing - a close shave!
We were so worried about Bazils’ health that we
put her on the Trabzon to Istanbul ferry for a rest
going across the Black Sea on the way home.
Oh, and one of the rear wheels fell off
somewhere in Turkey! We took it in turns to drive
and not fall asleep driving through the night. Bazil
retired to be a chicken coop in mid Wales...
Dave: Another thing that seems to occur in
modern times only on the biggest kayaking
expeditions (Inga Rapids on the Congo,
Yarlung Tsangpo expedition) is having bank
support. Could you have got by without this?
Chris: When we arrived at the top of the river Zap, a
large military army truck turned up and we were all
arrested, accused of being spies. We were taken off
to a secure barracks near Hakkâri. The commander
did not believe the letter we had in Turkish saying
what we were doing and had to check with the
Turkish Embassy in London that we were not lying!
In the meantime he tried to get us all drunk and
seduce our female translator. When he discovered
we were all genuine we got a military escort down
the river. He thought we were mad to paddle the
river in a kayak. There were always two armed
soldiers watching us from afar. We even got to be
friends with the soldiers when we camped and
played them at football, losing mostly. The road ran
alongside the River Zap for most of the time and
gave us close bank support. Often the gorge got
too technical to run so we had to climb out, having
the road so close made it easier.
Dave: Further to your arrest by the military,
was there any more trouble with authority
while you were out there?
Chris: Yes, we also got severely told off by the
officials at Augsburg for going down the artificial
slalom course on lilos, not funny for Germans! It
was regular occurrence to be stopped by police - I
think we were the cause of amusement.
Dave: How did you go about getting around
the language?
Chris: We had an English nanny (Sue Richardson)
working in Turkey whom joined us. She was very
helpful. However, anything with “Telikeli” written
on it we were to keep away from...“Telikeli” means
very dangerous (i.e. petrol tankers!).
Dave: Did people have any concept of what
you were attempting?
Chris: No. But always created a lot of interest
and we were often surrounded by large crowds.
We took it in turns to sleep in Bazil overnight in
towns to ensure things did not get stolen!
EQUIPMENT
Dave: How did you go
about the media side of
the expedition?
Chris: I’m not sure we had
much of a media plan in
1983! The one video camera
we had broke halfway
through the expedition. Waterproof cameras were
in their infancy. We wrote some articles:
1) Tehlikeli Zap. Canoeist 1983; December: 11-18
2) River Zap. CW Oliver. Royal Geographic Society
Yearbook 1983.
We did put together a super cine film, which was
shown at the Mike Jones Memorial Rally in winter
1983. This cine film has subsequently been
digitised and is on YouTube in three sections. You
can find these on the CKUK website
[bit.ly.12345].
Dave: In the report to Canoeist magazine you
write: “We came across around 3 miles of
continuous grade 6...I imagine that sometime
someday somebody will run this section. It
must certainly rank as one of the hardest
and sustained sections of whitewater in the
world” - Do you know if this section has
been run?
Chris: No idea – you’d need to be a psycho!
Dave: And with the equipment we have
nowadays do you still think young explorers
would be portaging as much of the river?
Chris: Well, there’d still be portaging...I doubt
many people would be willing to take on the
underground section! A lot less portaging and
fewer broken kayaks with the modern poly kayaks
are now made of.
Dave: What did you cook on (nowadays have light
stoves and MSRs which can run off any fuel)?
Chris: We bought a load of nasty dried food from
Makro on someone’s trade card. We cooked on
a petrol stove of some kind. Fortunately finding
petrol wasn’t difficult. We also had a pressure
cooker that once exploded on us! We bought local
food and ate locally wherever possible, it was
cheap. I think some of us even survived on a diet
of pure beer!
Dave: We now have lightweight thermarests,
lightweight tents/hammocks/bivibags,
lightweight stoves, lightweight torches,
lightweight alcohol - you name it, it can be
found lightweight. Did you ever have to pack
your boats for an overnight stay? How did
that go down in the fibreglass kayaks?
Chris: No lightweight kit to speak of at all! We had
tents, which we slept in, but no overnight paddling
campouts. I’m not sure the boats would have
survived a rocky river when fully loaded! Nomad
Canoes kindly provided us with Comanche fibreglass
kayaks at cost price. We also had one plastic
Perception Dancer, a groundbreaking design! u
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us out with dire consequences if we weren’t so
vigilant. However, they did give a rough idea of
the gradient.
off the whole of the front wing - a close shave!
We were so worried about Bazils’ health that we
put her on the Trabzon to Istanbul ferry for a rest
going across the Black Sea on the way home.
Dave: Further to your arrest by the military,
was there any more trouble with authority
while you were out there?
The maps were
rubbish, as they did
not indicate that at
one point the river
went completely
underground!
paddling people
www.canoekayak.co.uk
62
OCT 12 PB
SEPT 12
Dave: How many boats did you take with you?
How many came back?
Chris: 8 went out for the 6 kayakers, 6 came back
(not necessarily in the same condition as they
left!). Not a bad ratio for the times!
Dave: What is the major difference between
an expedition in the 80s and a modern day
adventure holiday?
Chris: There were no Health and Safety
regulations in the 80s, anything goes! I had never
even heard of a risk assessment!
POST EXPEDITION REFLECTIONS
Dave: Another quote from one of your reports:”I
never realised that an expedition could turn
into a consistent series of problem solving
exercises”. That’s a very familiar feeling!
Chris: Some things never change! Good lifelong skills.
Dave: So what were the most challenging
parts of the expedition?
Chris:
1.The moments after getting myself and the rest
of the group arrested.
2.Telling my mother that the public health
inspector who called at her house to ask her for
stool samples was for real. Two of the group
got admitted to an infectious diseases unit with
severe paratyphoid from victory rolling below the
Rialto Bridge in Venice on the way home.
3.Not letting Bazil die.
4.Living with fibreglass.
Dave: What were the most memorable parts?
Chris: The kayaking of course! We also went off
and paddled the Coruh in North Eastern Turkey
on the way home, that’s a much better river to
paddle than the Zap!
Dave: And the most enjoyable parts? (I find
that sometimes it’s not just the enjoyable
moments that are most memorable!)
Chris: A think the friendships made at that time. Both
with the team and the people we met out there.
Dave: Who did you paddle with?
Chris:
Phil Kendrick (21) UCL
Matthew Grove (19) UCL
Ian Howes (22) Swansea
Angus Foley (21) Swansea
Dave Offen (21) Exeter
Martin Glenister (19) Coventry
Declan Mortan (shuttle bunny) (20) Kings
College London
Sue Richardson (translator) (22)
Manchester Graduate
THEN AND NOW
Dave: What is the fate of the Zap? Has it
been dammed?
Chris: Turkey’s State Hydraulic Works plans to
construct the Çukurca and Dog
̆anlı Dams near
Çukurca and the Hakkâri Dam near the city of
Hakkâri, close to where we paddled. The Hakkâri
Dam, with a 245MW power station, is in final
design and the Çukurca and Dog
̆anlı Dams will
support 245MW and 462MW power stations,
respectively. At least six dams have been planned
on the Great Zap and its tributaries. Construction
has only begun on one, the Bekhme Dam, which
commenced but was halted after the Gulf War.
Dave: Who were your inspirations?
Chris: As a schoolboy I got into long distance and
sprint paddling to a high level. In about 1976 I
met Dr Mike Jones; he had come to give a lecture
at my school about his paddling down Mount
Everest on the Dudh Kosi. I was mesmerized
by Jones and his book. In 1981 I went off and
whitewater paddled in British Columbia, Yukon
and Alaska with Greenslime. Slime and I remained
friends and fired up a lot of imagination mostly
while I was working for PGL in the UK and
France during the summer holidays while I was a
medical student.
Dave: That adventure spirit is obviously still
in your roots having completed the Grand
Canyon recently, and paddled the Sun Kosi in
Nepal. Have you got any more trips planned?
Chris: Yes. I’m kayaking the remote Dragme Chhu
river in Eastern Bhutan (grade III but extreme
wilderness) in November 2012. I’m also planning
to cycle Los Angeles to Boston in 2013.
Dave: Finally, do you have any advice for
future potential Uniyaker applicants?
Chris: Go for it! The clock is ticking. You are only
on this planet for a very short period of time,
make the most of it. By kayaking you will see bits
of the world no-one will ever see. It’s a privilege
taking a passage down a remote river.
Selections will soon be open for the 2013
British Universities Kayaking Expedition.
Visit www.uniyaker.co.uk for details
ww
w.canoekayak.co.uk
www.canoekayak.co.ukww
62
on the way home, that’s a much better river to
paddle than the Zap!
met Dr Mike Jones; he had come to give a lecture
at my school about his paddling down Mount
Watch the digitised cine film taken on
Chris’ expedition on CKUK TV:
[bit.ly.12345]