THE LAST RIVER: THE TRAGIC RACE FOR SHANGRI-LA, by Todd Balf; Three Rivers Press; 2000; 294 pages; $13.
This is a much different account of an ill-fated 1998 whitewater kayaking expedition down the Tsangpo — Tibet's "Forbidden River" — from "Courting the Diamond Sow," which came out late last year.
"The idea of running the Everest of rivers, the biggest of the big-volume, deep-gorge rivers, at high water is hard to fathom," the author writes.
This river sits in a gorge as much as three times deeper than the Grand Canyon, and Tsangpo drops an average of 65 feet per mile, compared with the Colorado River, which drops and average of eight feet per mile. The fact that no one lives along much of the river has made it the world's last untamed river.
The focal point of "The Last River" is the death of Douglas Gordon, 41, who was killed when his kayak overturned on Oct. 16, 1998. Gordon was a research chemist and a doctoral candidate at the University of Utah and was on the U.S. canoe team from 1981-87. He had lived in Utah for five years.
The book delves into Gordon's life — he was the best big-water paddler on the expedition, he attended Harvard and was a good friend of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whom he met there.
"The Last River" dwells more on the preparations for the expedition and gives more background on the kayakers and the history of the river. It also takes a deeper look at the dangers of such a trip. It also sells for half the price as "Diamond Sow."
The group evaluated the perils of the trip, and Gordon himself mentioned he wouldn't want the expedition to quit if he was killed on the river, even though he admitted that if anyone died he'd likely not have the heart to continue. After Gordon's death, the group did quit and left the river.
The book also tells briefly how a Salt Lake newspaper learned Gordon was missing even before government authorities were informed of the accident. It details how the Gordon's family, who have since moved to southern Colorado, and how the surviving kayakers handled the death.
All that's missing from the book are some good photographs of the area. A special map at the front of the book helps, but to actually see some of the rapids and the river gorge, plus a group picture of the five kayakers would improve it significantly. It's a well-written book, but does contain a few profanities.
E-MAIL: lynn@desnews.com