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Tuolumne and Middle Fork of the Salmon Guide
Vlad
came to ECHO from Latvia after a career as a research scientist studying
radiation chemistry. As a scientist, he has a double PhD in Solid State
Physics and has written over 100 scientific publications. His research
job allowed him to travel through the Soviet Union and lead river expeditions
during the early days of river running there. He did many first descents
on rivers of the former Soviet Union focusing on Siberia and Central Asia.
His skill in rafting brought him to a competition in Costa Rica where he competed against an ECHO guide. Word came back to ECHO about this amazing person and ECHO sponsored his trip to the U.S. to work as a river guide. Vlad started on the Tuolumne River in 1991 an has been guiding there ever since.
Vlad now works as a high school physics teacher near Sacramento when he is not guiding on the Tuolumne. He has recently established RaftSiberia, a rafting company running river trips in homeland of Russia and published a book about the rivers of Russia titled Rivers of an Unknown Land which is now available from his publisher Boreal Press.
Most people remember Vlad for his Russian accent, friendly demeanor, perfect whitewater skills, and his sense of humor. He is famous in the guiding world for his ability to run paddle boats down the Tuolumne River at high water.
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