Dudh Kosi
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Dudh Koshi (दुधकोशी नदी, ''Milk-Koshi River'') is a
river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in eastern
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. It is the highest river in terms of
elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
.


Koshi river system

The Kosi River, or Sapt Koshi, drains eastern up. It is known as Sapta Koshi because of the seven rivers which join together in east-central Nepal to form this river. The main rivers forming the Sapta Koshi River system are – the Sun Koshi (सुन कोशी)], the Indravati River, Nepal, Indravati River (इन्द्रावती), the tama Koshi (तामा कोशी), the Dudh Koshi (दुध कोशी), the
Arun River The River Arun () is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small stream ...
(अरुण),
Tamor River The Tamor River is a major river in eastern Nepal, which begins around Kanchenjunga. The Tamor and the Arun join the Sun Koshi at Tribenighat to form the giant Saptakoshi which flows through Mahabharat Range on to the Gangetic plain Koshi river ...
(तमोर) and Likhu River. The Dudh Kosi river originates from the high-altitude areas of
Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
(8848 metres) and the snow and glacier melt contributes significant portion of streamflow, especially during the dry season. The combined river flows through the
Chatra Gorge The Chatra Gorge is a canyon cut by the Kosi River across the Mahabharat Range in Nepal. Kosi river system The Kosi, or Sapt Kosi, drains eastern Nepal. It is known as Sapt Koshi because of the seven rivers which join together in east-central Nep ...
in a southerly direction to emerge from the hills.


Course

The river drains the
Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
massif, the highest peak in the world. It begins just east of
Gokyo Lakes Gokyo Lakes are oligotrophic lakes in Nepal's Sagarmatha National Park, located at an altitude of above sea level. Lakes and resort were named after Gokyo Ri peak. These lakes are the world's highest freshwater lake system comprising six main l ...
and flows south to
Namche Bazaar Namche Bazaar (also Namche Bazar, Nemche Bazaar or Namche Baza; ne, नाम्चे बजार) is a town (formally Namche Village Development Committee) in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Province No. 1 o ...
. Continuing south, the Dudh Koshi exits
Sagarmatha National Park Sagarmāthā National Park is a national park in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal that is dominated by Mount Everest. It encompasses an area of in the Solukhumbu District and ranges in elevation from at the summit of Mount Everest. In the north, ...
and passes to the west of
Lukla Lukla ( ne, लुक्ला ) is a small town in the Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality of the Solukhumbu District in the Province No. 1 of north-eastern Nepal. Situated at , it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Eve ...
. The Lamding Khola joins the Dudh Koshi to the southwest of Surkya and continues its southerly course to
Harkapur Harkapur is a Village development committee (Nepal), village development committee in Okhaldhunga District in the Sagarmatha Zone of mid-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census, it had a population of 2499 living in 504 individual hou ...
, where it joins the
Sun Kosi The Sunkoshi, also spelt Sunkosi, is a river of Nepal that is part of the Koshi or Saptkoshi River system in Nepal. Sunkoshi has two source streams, one that arises within Nepal in Choukati, and the other more significant stream that flows in fr ...
.


Paddling

The river is characteristic of extreme white water and normally cannot be used for watersports. The descent is over 5% and there are rapids that reach WW VI difficulty (not yet rated by
AWA Awa (or variants) may refer to: People * Awa (given name), notable people named Awa or Hawa * Awá (Brazil), an indigenous people of Brazil * Awa-Kwaiker, an indigenous people of Colombia and Ecuador Languages * Awa language (China) or Wa (Va) ...
) and places that need to be portaged even with the best equipment. In addition, the river often changes — big stones getting moved around by natural forces etc. Flowing down from Mount Everest, the river is believed to be the highest navigable
whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...
. As such, it came to attention of teams participating in the world cup since
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n paddlers made a world record descending from 3200 m altitude in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...
sportsmen then agreed to take up the challenge. A team of sixteen men, fourteen Czechs and two Slovaks, had been gathered and on 4 January 1973 they set on the journey from
Děhylov Děhylov (german: Dielhau) is a municipality and village in Opava District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 800 inhabitants. Geography Děhylov lies near Ostrava in the eastern tip of the Nízký Jeseník mountai ...
by cars (notably using customized
Tatra 138 The Tatra 138 was a truck produced in Czechoslovakia by the Tatra company. The immediate successor to the Tatra 111, the model introduced a number of new features while continuing the evolution of Tatra concept. The truck was produced from 1959 ...
that had to survive over 30,000 km forth and back). For the last part from
Lukla Lukla ( ne, लुक्ला ) is a small town in the Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality of the Solukhumbu District in the Province No. 1 of north-eastern Nepal. Situated at , it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Eve ...
to
Pheriche Pheriche ( ne, फेरिचे) is a village in the Khumbu region of eastern Nepal. Situated at an altitude of about ,
, 110
porters Porters may refer to: * Porters, Virginia, an unincorporated community in Virginia, United States * Porters, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community in Wisconsin, United States * Porters Ski Area, a ski resort in New Zealand * ''Porters'' (TV ser ...
were hired to carry the boats and other equipment. The actual river trip began on 1 April near Pheriche at 4243 mamsl and ran for 126 km down to Sun Kosi. The paddlers used both covered tandem canoes ( C2) of Vertex brand and solo
kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...
s (K1), all made of
fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
. The expedition returned home safely in August the same year.Zapomenuté výpravy: Expedice Dudh-Kosi
/ref> Three years later, in 1976, there was a British expedition of seven kayakers under the leadership of Mike Jones. They used 4 metres long fiberglass slalom-style kayaks specially designed by Pyranha Canoes with extra buyonancy and reinforcement. The expedition is notable for taking place in September to avoid ice and when the water was high to set new altitude record. They paddled at approximately 5300 mamsl on one of the lakes at the
Khumbu Glacier The Khumbu Glacier ( ne, खुम्बु हिमनदी) is located in the Khumbu region of northeastern Nepal between Mount Everest and the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge. With elevations of at its terminus to at its source, it is the world's high ...
. But the high water flow had its downside — many parts were too dangerous and had to be omitted; the result was that just two boats out of eleven survived to the end at the confluence with Sun Kosi. It is unclear which parts of the river were skipped, but the descent is generally considered incomplete. The next year, HTV documentary movie "Dudh Kosi: Relentless River of Everest" has been released which is a source of common misconception that this was the first trip on the river. Note that both expeditions didn't embark on Dudh Kosi but rather on Lobuche which is the river formed by the Khumbu Glacier and which runs around Pheriche. Just below Pheriche it merges with
Imja Khola The Imja Khola ( ne, इम्जा खोला) is a tributary of the Dudh Kosi in Nepal. It drains the slopes of Mount Everest. The Khumbu Glacier melts into the Lobujya (Lobuche) River, which flows southward as the Imja Khola to its confluence ...
which then runs for about ten kilometres before it joins Dudh Kosi under
Tengboche Tengboche (or Thyangboche) is a village in Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality in the Khumbu subregion of Province No. 1 in Nepal, located at . In the village is an important Buddhist monastery, Tengboche Monastery, which is the largest gompa ...
. Since then, there were many expeditions using wide variety of boat constructions allowing to run some rapids that had to be portaged previously. However the access to upper parts above Lukla is now limited due to stricter regulations in and around national parks.


References

{{Authority control Rivers of the Province No. 1