History

In 1995, the Australian Army was invited to participate in three adventurous training activities in India. They were known as HIMEX (Himalayan Expedition). There were 10 of these HIMEX activities of which the last three were open to other nations to participate. HIMEX 8 was a climbing / mountaineering activity, HIMEX 9 was a Nordic ski touring Activity and HIMEX 10 was a white water rafting activity. It was this activity from which AWWA was born. HIMEX 10, more commonly known as HIMEX '95, originally involved paddling a length of the Indus River from the Tibetan Border to the Pakistan Border. Some parts of it had never been attempted. On advice from the Expedition Commander we decided not to attempt these sections as they were Grade 6, consisting of steep canyons, with no hope of rescue or recovery, should something have gone belly-up. Nevertheless, the expedition did proceed. It ended up covering 240 kms over eight days. The top section near the border of Tibet was rather technical and not unlike the Tully River in North Queensland. The bottom section was volumous, dangerous and the ultimate test of our guiding skills. A rain depression over the normally dry, barren landscape, brought with it flooding rains. Rains which swelled the Indus and the converging Zanskar River to produce an angry, seething and turbulent river. With our intrepid crew of eight guides, we tamed this serpent with the same 14 foot raft for the bottom section as was used for the top section - and it wasn't even a self-bailer. To put things in perspective, the Indian Army utilised a mixture of 16 foot oar and paddle boats for the top section, but brought out 20 foot self-bailing monster oar boats with 22 inch tubes for the bottom section. In this swollen maelstrom, it was only the experience of our crew that got us through the more-than-frequent Grade 5+ rapids. The experience of paddling past huge house-size holes and sliding backwards off huge waves that dwarfed out little raft will live in our minds for ever. However, given the chance, I think we would all do it again!

Footnote 1:

We got bagged by the Indian press for avoiding the Grade 6 rapids. Yes, the Indians did run them, but as detailed above, 20 foot self-bailing oar-frame boats allow you to run most rapids. By choosing to avoid the Grade 6 rapids we lived for another day and also showed that we were pioneers of risk management strategies that are now incorporated in all Adventurous Training Activities within the ADO