= EON, . =, eee y ey SG See NATIONAL eee Ie0 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC From the Editor Narionat. Geocaapuie and insects go way back together. fy 1915, for azine a locust plague in Jerusalem. Maybe that's why scientist and photographer Mark Moffett feels so-at home with us instance, th orted on “1 was a biologist from diaper says Maflett, whose photographic essay about fighting flies appears in this issue. “The insects in my back much more cony ard were ent ty study than, whales ana chi panzees Moffett’s junior high science project (right) was an insect collection that would make an entomologist proud. By age 17 Moffett was 8 yard, work inseet experts in Central and South America. He earned his doctorate at Harvard University, thanks in part to National Geographic Society grant to ream Asia studly marauder ants. From the field in 1985 he sent a few rolls of film to our headquarters for pr g. A sharp-eyed editor named Mary Smith spotted his work—and a star was born. M ubjects with an eye for big-game-type dram: Marauder ants stage coordinated assaults an their p mulch to grow fungus on whieh they feed; tarantulas with specially adapted fee walk acrass rising Amazon floodwaters to find new homes L believe NaTioNAL GrocnAPHtc ist visual stories like these,” says Moffett. “Th far fre gas aN assistant to reptil ing fiett approaches his tiny leafcutter ants create only place that offers the seope for pace to phiy stories from start to finish, You see insects ducling, but you also see the battle-scarred sur vivors. As a scientist, I'm just glad a resource like National Geounarrte exists. Of course this magazine has flourished in large part because of the talentandt resourcefulness of writers, researchers, and photographers like Mark Moffett whether they found theit youthful inspiration on their stomachs sctutinizing ants takes the ma ae and plants or on their backs gazing up at the heavens, AMER 199)DR Ce edbehind her. S s sprawling e has scoots dow Roman Cathol 1 corridor toward the ceramics sure ry since she retirThere is Sister Matthia, 103, whose nimble fingers have for the past several years knit a pair of mittens every day for charity. When arrived, she was on her 1,374th pair. And there is Sister Liguori, 89, and Sister Clarissa, 87, biological sisters who laugh and joke about their antics in elementary school, which they remember as though it all happened last year. But not every sister has defied Father Time. Ina quiet room at the convent | meet a group of six nuns sitting in wheelchairs pulled up ta a large round table, Most are younger than their “supersisters," yer their backs are bunched, their eyesare glazed, and some havea trickle of spittle in the corners of their mouths. Alaheimer’s discase, strokes, and osteoporosis have robbed thent of their minds and their freedom to mowe about. Why? Or more precisely: Why them? What is it about some people that makes them such casy targets for the arrows of time, while others remain so resilient for so long? David Snowdon, the University of Ke epidemiologist who directs the million a-year Nun Study, is finding out, Hix research —along with other scientists’ studies. of worms, Mes, mice, and monkeys—is helping, answer the fundamental qqu ns of how anid why we decline as we age and whether there is anything we can do abou Snowdon, a gregarious researcher) who grects most of the sisters hy mame when he vis its, looks a little wut of place at this staid con. vent, with his hovish face crumpled suit, and Jong, unkempt bait. But the convent isa perfect place to study aging; he says, because all the nuns have such similar backgrounds. All have spent their years eating simular food, getting similar educations, and. working similar ca- reers, while shunning cigarettes, alcohol, mar- riage, and childbearing. With those lifestyle variables all canceled out, it’s easier to figure cout which biological factors make the diffe ‘ence between those who age quickly and those who don't. Already Showdon's stuily has led te the unexpected discovery that some af the mem ory loss and dementia that aiflict people with Alzheimer’s disease may be due not 19 Alzheimer's itself butte tiny unnoticed strokes. Since many strokes are preventable, the find- ing has shaken the image of Alzheimet’s as un unstoppable diseuse. Snowdon’s work suggests Ge NEW ANSWERS TO OL QHESTIONS that something 4s simple us king an aspi- rin a day might prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer’s in some people, nat by curing ft but by preventing the strokes that do the bulk of the damage. “L never would have imagined spending my career with a convent full-of aging nuns,” says Snowdon, in mock seldleprecation. “Bul this place is like a gold mine. We're just starting to dig it, and we'te alteady getting the answers to so many questions” ‘HE QUEST To UNDERSTAND the nature of aging—and the corollary quest to aveid growing old—dates back at least to bib ical times, when the elderly King David was advised to allow a young virgin to warm him. Sages: scientists, and snake-oil salesmen have offered countless other antidotes since then. In the third century ‘Taoist philosophers recommended ingesting cinnabar, the toxicare ‘of mereury,a prescription that may have ended more lives than it prolonged. Medieval Latin alchemists tried in vain to make gold digest. ible, in the belief that its absorption into the body would add years to lite. In the 17th century & more affordable remedy for aging won popularity—smelling fresh earth upon awakening each day, But niany gerontolagists of old sided with Sir Francis Bacon, who believed that life span wits determined by how quickly one used up one’s personal store of “vital spirits.” Still others focused on the possibility of getting vital-spirit refills (rom fountains of youth, my thologized in many cultures long before Ian Ponce de Ledn deupped anchor aff the Florida shore wo look for his imagined fountain. ‘Today many advocates of life extension are pinning their hopes on molecular bielogists, who with remarkable speed are teasing-apart the hormonal, cellular. and genetic underpin of old age, Their promising assault on the biology of aging is stirring up some difft cult ethical and econmic questions: Arc longer lives necessarily better lives? Who should decide how lang a person should liv How would future generations fare in a world where the elderly—ne matter how, beloved —refused to depart? Ready or nol, a global experiment in life extension: is under way. ‘Thanks largely toAging in animats may ulti mans, Savannah River ¢ They don't become dodder why do they die River Silvery gist Richard J NIA g st Who serves as tar. Vision e their abilit hear higher J tone ter Low pitch recon er and by nderlying scaffolding of structural proteins becomes t les waste lly around cd with cay way and fat accumulates, espec ities and prc 1. The heart gi efficiently as it once did. And virtu ws weak and can't p other orga goes into-a gradual tailspir cially the kidneys and lungs, which for some ‘on wear out especially qui It may not be a coincidence,” Andres tells us with a Nature provid $ pauyes for a moment, putting down 1c colored marking pens that he's been us thing hopeful about every part of the body dec of aging and that that proc hallmarks archer identified that key by ox ton 21 olde The researcher was Daniel of Wisconsin in Rudman knew that as people got older, thei pituitar glands p and smalle a substance called human growth J: Might the symptom: For 1 to Bl thie times a week the substance The result ¢ men's mut mass increased by almost 9 percent, fat Jecreased by more than 14 percent, and skir thickness increased by 7 percent—change th e equivalent to turning thCe ee eed Cee) ‘5 8 guide. Unrepairable damage Se tune culud Se ta LL Rene a ee oe ater) ete Gey Lienenrernen ety Seen dl Cede ikea ‘oxygen and a hydrogen atom) and auntie caubarsseattonan with an unpaired electron. Most free pecmryirharruaneg i cedrergacee eee ed ee Cae ee cre noes te say Cede ee eed Pe reried ta lcedumetotkouone’ Ct osome. Tolomeres get shorter with ‘call division, Finally, some scientists Oued believe, they longer divide, and it becomes vulnerable Pod Mh eo has AGE? De ae SU a aC Rl Cee es] at Ra ecu Do ed intricate, interlocking, and CRU mute ad RL mesh me Pee set meet the complexities of our own Dene ee er eee ad re aaa iar) UCR LU al Ruri ad CMe cd Cee enue a ce a BU Delete EU) Cu tsMy enka Lal some regions, Reaching Its maximum of about three pounds at age 20, 1 ee te mee ee Ce ee Sete ty ee ed Fe eee ee Cy all times,” says Fozard. ee PUR ! Be eed i declines with age, but the ree- ‘sons are not wall understood. HOW DO WE aN Gl Us oe ae eeu eae etd Sen ote Rac eee eee nied Baltimore Longitudinal Study Ce eae a Bee eects specialists track the health of more than 1,100 vol- Meee ET Cond eeu eye eR eee eee gett Feat ag Rec tod Daa Rt ken od ‘entering the eye diminishes. Aiso, as P Cee ed the normal aging process is Pr nae acme sad PC eee Ea Ce ee ne brio Peace om [penne veer pour vee tet pee te ee et eter peng lyereaperactey toad the changes in the body that Cu eet al euh cate ete Ce aL lice emia ai tiaaen aie ieee ial rscad ieee ecureuil healthy heart compensates tor aging in Se ate te ck LhsthoaptuAael hand atl dipdinpahee ‘thicken, for instance, putting more muscle into pushing the blood through stiffening Ce gee te eed ‘as hard as it once could. Yet when the body moves—even just to stand up— ee eet et es Sekai eather henetoes {tricles stretch, allowing mare blood to Ce eae Losing elasticity, lungs cannot in- ena Dr tadonbekueubecea ue tal Ce Lees Ce eae eae Ce oy ee eo kota ct Ce te aes eet ee CO Lr Lakeledoe sce peel ee ad Ct dudeatal eal Pedic eu eed ak ateauchbde rhedeas disease growrs, catching up with that of men at about age 60. A ‘man's testestorone level falls Se oa Lenidalnbea eens Fein” Festetibehubeeeecicduciad have an enlarged prostate gland, eee eee era] replaced throughout life. At about Cera ed overtaking replacement, Meno- pause intensifies the loss: bones Doce Cutie eo ore Ru Wear and tear resutts in Seeman Luluien bared F } eapuncahic al ced ira | ‘erodes, and bone grinds eee od j pease during every decade of increasingly sed- pewienabeti aeratssne er Ce ee) Pte aa ad ‘strong as that of a 30-year-old. Regular eeriethe era of eternal youthfulness might be nigh. But it wasn't long before the growth hor Tone joined the ranks of other erstwhile foun- tains of youth. Many of the men developed side effects, including carpal tunnel syndrome fan inflammation of the nerves), diabetes-like symptoms, and the unexpected growth of breasts. Morcover, a8 spon as the men stopped taking the hormone—which casts $10,000 Ww $20,000 for a year's supply —its benefits quickly disappeared. The muscles melted away. ‘The fat came hack. The old men were simply old men again. Since then, the anti-aging spotlight has swung to other harmones that also naturally decline with age, such as' DHEA (dehydrocpi androsterone, the function of which remains largely unknown) and melatonin (made by the pineal ghind in the brain, where it seems to play a role in setting the body's biological clock). Both hormones haye attracted a lot of media attention. But while replacement doses of certain har- inones miy eventually be shown to have spe- cific benefits, as with estrogen replacement to. protect against heart disease and asteaparo. sis in some menopausal women, the scientific consensus for now is that ny single hormone holds the secret te youthfulness. people may hold aging at hay fue a while. But for every Sister Esther there are countless others already disabled by the time they hit 60, So fam heartened by my-visit to Caleb Finch at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Finch is a world-renowned biel- gist who has gained a special perspective on aging by studying the process in hundreds ‘of species, from African, elephants to bristle- cone pines. “There is no reason to believe that there’: un intrinsic limit to how long we-can live,” nich tells me in his office, where an hourglass hints at his interest in binlogy's battle against time. “Life span, he tells me, “is completely malleable.” That doesn’t mean that many people are alreasly exceeding the 120-year life span gener ally thought to be the upper limit of reasonable expectation, In fact Finch wishes everyone would forget all the apocryphal stories they've heard about remote villages where, thanks to | LEAVE HALTIMORE a little despondent. Some 8 good yogurt or other secrets to long life, the indigenous people supposedly live to 150 or more. Some of these villages had found it was good business to lie about their residents’ ages, Finch tells me, as it brought planeloads of tourists with money to spend, nat fo mention a parade of research: The oldest person ever documented was Jeartne Calment of Arles, France, a snft-spoke but sassy senior who reportedly quit smoking Cigarettes just five years before her death last Atigust at 122. ‘That humans have the potential to live that long—longer than any other mamunal and far longer than the maximum known life spans of most other species:—is partly.a tribute to our being such an intensely social species. In most speciey individuals don't live very long after they've grown old and infertile. Once an animal has lost its capacity to have offspring; the prime directive of evolution, there is little incentive for mature to favor its continued survival. Burt for social species like ours, there are ben- efits to haying adults survive longer thary it tukes to raise their young, Grandparents gener- ally make fine baby-sitters, for example, freeing, the parents to gather food and protect their territory. Atl in some species only the oldest few may remember where water or other re sources can be found during extreme droughts or other shortfalls that occur only a few times: in acentury. No matter how useful they may be, however, old people do eventually became weaker and more prone to medical problems ind ace’ dents. So if scientists hope to extend the maximum human Tife span beyond Madame Calment’s record, Finch says, they will proba- bly have to find owt what causes that decline. Biologists argue vigorously over what, exactly, that fundamental mechanism of aging is. One camp says: that aging is linked to genetic programming. ‘The other says that aging is mostly a matter af physical wear and tear—especially from exposure to oxygen, a Fekyll-and-Hyde element both necessary and damugiiig to. most organisms Either way, scientists have the potential to slow the process down, but which hypothesis should they focus an? Life spans in olher spec clues, Finch says, Fruit fli s may hold some live for 30 te 40 NATIONAL GROGIA HH =, NOVEMIER 1907ly ars, ( Longer, healthier lives could resultslow! metabolism. It may’ bie ne coincidence that many other animals with slow metabolism alse enjoy relatively long life spams, includ injt various species of snakes, fish, and frogs No one knows, however, whether individual people with slightly slower metabolic rates live significantly longer than their fast-burning counterparts, And the rule is not perfect: Some birds with very high metabolic rates, for exam ple, Hive quite a long tir Ongoing studies may determine whether turtles’ longevity is due primarily to their cells’ genetic programming, or to their cold blooded chemistry—or to some entirely dif- ferent evolutionary adaptation, But if turtle studies are yoing tw lead to life ex for people, Gibbons % the situation. Alter all, people are the only serious threat {0 the survival of these otherwise long-lived rep: tiles. People capture them for pets, kill them for their shells, and drain their wetlands to build homes for the aged. ‘If turtles knaw what's good for them,” Gils bons says, y won't pive away their secret. $a certain irony in Never THoweHT I'd be looking for a foun tain of youth ina dish full of worms, but that's what I'm doing in Boulder, Colorado. The worms are nematodes only a millimeter long—a tiny squiggle of a species called Caenorhabditis elegans, Although they live in soil and feed an putrefying surprisingly beautiful when viewed through a microscope, shimmering and. translucent y wriggle across my field of view in a shallow ish of putrients, Most: (mpressivi the ones tam looking at are almost 40 days old, of about twice the ctetia, they are normal nematode life span. Their longevity is due to single mutation in one of their 13,000 genes—a gene aptly 1, Tom Johnson, the University Colorado researcher whiose lab I am visitin fecently nes that, when mutated, explains that age-I is one of severs isolated nematode yg care greatly: extend a worm's life span. The dis: covery gave credence to the nation that aging may be controlled hy a molecular program. It hus been known far some time that genes can influence life span. A good way 10 predict how long a person will live 1s te find out how long his parents lived, evidence that longevity AGING—NEW ANSWERS To OLD QUENTID Mutations good and bad could offer information leading to cures for many disoases of old age. Caterina Segala, 20, and some other residents of Limone, Italy, carry a gene that boosts the effects of beneficial cholesterol, lowering the tisk of haart disease. In San Diego 12-year old Courtney Arciaga shows off her basketball ‘skills. A mysterious mutation at concep: tion has given her symptoms of the very old, such as.a wizened appearance, is at lea st partly inherited, Some genes affect indirectly, by altering the adds of getting adeadly disease, But lately scientists have discovered a few genetic mutations that life expectane appear to affect aging specifically. Last y searchers identified 4 mutation that causes Werner's syndrome, 4 disease that mimics certain aspects of the human aging process, People with Werner's grow wrinkled and gray while they ate still in their 20s, develop eataracts a few years later, get cancer and heart disease in th 3s and 405, and usually die before their 50th birthday, Recent studies suggest that the Werner's mutation shortens life by interfering with the body's ability to repair the damage caused by metabolism, while the age-I mutation length ens life hy enhancing the ability to reduce. for example, resist, or repair the damage done. Could the se cretof longevity lie in something as baste as the ability to counteract the ill effects of metab: olism? And if'so, is there a way te cool tharmet abolic furnace without changing our genes?Ick Wempaten of the University of R Wisconsin-Madison isa trim, bearded, blue-jeaned scientist and marathon runner wha believes the answer to those ques: tions is yes. Hik secret to long life? Eat less. Expanding on studies done in the 1930s, Weindruch and his colleagues have shown that by reducing calorie intake 60 percent, lab- oratory mice can be made to live as much as 30° percent Jonger than normal, tt is the only proven method of extending life span in mam- mals so far, And although it has net yet been studied systematically in people, Weindruc! and others suspect it would have the same ef- feet as it does in mice: longer life, stronger im- inune systems, lower and delayed incidence af diabetes, cancer, and other ailments of old age. ‘The dict is tricky, Weindruch tells me, since it's hard to cut out that many calories and still get all the nutrients you need. But it works- possibly by deercasing the damage that comes with metabolism. Lately, Weindruch has been putting mice on restricted diets in their middle age. “t have a history of starting caloric restriction studies on animals that are the sane age as I um,” the 47 year-old jokes as we head over to the building where his mice are kept Inssicte the low-profile brick complex, Wein: druch shows me huge barrels of yellow powder, the nutritional staple for his subjects. Enriched with all the vitamins and minerals a mouse needs, it is mixed with hot water and a gelling agent to makea cheesecake-like substance with only one-third the standard number af calories fora lab mouse, Then he leads me inte a room with stacks of wire cages filled with charcoal colored mice. “Look at these coats,” Weindruch says, ad iniring the animals’ fur."“‘They look like young mice, but they're nat. This guy is 32 months. old,” already a few months. older than most mice of this type ean be expected to live, "Ser enty percent of bis group are still alive, com- pared with 28 percent of the controls who have been cating standard diets, And that's even though he ate a normal diet until he wasa year old-—middle-aged for a mouse.” We walk into anather roam, where the con- trol mice have béen kept. I's full of cages, but nearly all are cmpty. “Here we're down to 21 animals from the original 75° Weindruch tells me. “And you can see what kind of shape they're in.’ Some are limping, others have bald spots or tumors, (When I call Weindruch for an update four months later, he tells me that all the elderly controls have died, but 15 of the geriatric mice on restricted dicts are still going strong. After another four months, eight of those were still alive—as old in “mouse years” as person aver'a hundred.) We leave the me lab and head to the nearby Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center, where similar experiments ore under way on & group of aging rhesus monkeys. The experiments must run much longer than the mouse studies because rhesus monkeys typi- cally live for 30 years or more, but the results after eight years of caloric restriction in these middle-aged monkeys parallel those from the rodent work. There is a downside to caloric restriction, however, which is obvious even to a casual observer who visits during mealtime. The monkeys go-ctazy when the food shows up, grasping at their meager rations. 1 think about what it would take to cut even 30 percent of the éalories from my daily fare. | broach this prob- Jem aver Junch with Weindruch. He puts dew his fork and concedes that hunger may be the biggest roadblock to human life extension by calorie restriction. “Even a guy like me, whe has studied this for 20 years, can’t pull it aff he confides with just a-hint of shame. “I'm unable to subject myself jo whar | subject my animals to.” Weindruch recommends a diet low in fat (to minimize the number of calories consumed) and high in fruits and vegetables (in part be- cause they are rich in free-radical-quenching antioxidants). {look down at my calorie-laden fe practically passes before my eyes. But 1 am hungry, so | eat, JAM NEISON, & physiologist at the US. Department of Agriculture's M Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston, doesn't need to cat like a bird, She's already found her fountain ‘of youth, Tam talking to Nelson’ at the physiology laboratory on the Tufts University campus. Here she and colleagues Maria’ Biatarone and William Evans have conducted a remarkable series of experinients with frail eldetly people. The room is filled with treadmills, exercise NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, COVEMIER 1997Tacs rr ea] COUNTRIES, 19: Pena Pui Ula perrenrecnad ie Pend ELDER BOOM Peete a eee Ce] mC ecm i CRC eae eet kar) Pee ce Pee ea nee an Mee cerns) CU ur) eee eee ie Pea ane) Pe ce eed population is expected to pts aireA handstand is child's play for litelona ith complicaot you keep us in mind, Human be\a RY oc ie _ eg aoa. 4 pe me aa > —* \ ey ae Wilderness RaftingL Pees ea se ted Cea Ui ee is Cree eet ode ane ce Pours ee ea Pa ee tee oa te ae ns CC er) Re ih ee hockey helmets, home- Ss € Siberian § le Fait Photographs by DUGALD BREMNERURL SNiGue Was in serious trouble, The thundering Oygaing River had just seized makeshift birch-log caturaft and sent it cartwheel ing over a ten-foot waterfall. ‘The overturned craft's twitt pontoons—patched like sec ondhand inner tubes and lashed to a frame of freshly cut timbers—bucked and swirled in the cauldron below the drop. The veteran expedi- tion leader and his young protégé, Andrei l2hitsky, were trapped in the hole upside down, held {ast to their pon toons by thigh braces impro- vised from lenigths of fire hose. Precious seconds were ticking by. Suddenly Andrei popped to the surface gasping for ait, followed immediately by Yurl's paddle—a bad sign, Several days earlier at the put= in, in eastern Uzbekistan near the river's source high in the Tam Shan range; the hard- boiled leader's send-off had been terse and unceremo nious: “If you capsize, don't lose hold of your paddle” Along minute passed before Yuri appeared, now far downstream and obviously dazed, ‘Too weak to cling to rescue lines his team heaved from shore, he was swept along like a rag doll for hundreds of yards betiore is- aring around a bend, By wherdied ortier this year inva Katyakis lent, worked! aga elory gnitde in the Grand Canyon betore embarking onacareer ax an adventure pho: toprapher, Micatark MeRan, whe lives im Ashland, Oregon, iy the author of Gratniuental Drifter: Dis ppishes fawn the Utterewast Parts of the Fite. This i bs fr aticte for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 4 the time his teammates found him, he was crawling up on the tocks—pale, shiv. ering, and retching water. The others rushed to help him, but he was ina black mood and waved them away. They helped him struggle out of his sodden clad. hoppersand homemade overalls anyway, and stripped off his flimsy green fishing waders, which bulged with water: Sitting by himself in his disintegrating long johns, he putied ciga- rele after cigarette until, 15 minutes later, he'd regained his steely composure. “This was traditional Siberi- att wilderness rafting: short on cash, lang an ingenuity and determination, pitting bouts of military surplus sterial and foraged Ings against the great white-water rivers of Central Asia and castern Russia. Yuri and his five teammates were members of the municipal outdoor club in the Siberian city of Rulstsovsk, and’ pas sionate about their-sport— as they would have to be, given the state of their equipment and their prefer- ence fer extreme rivers. With as much authority as he coukd manage, Yuri sum- moned the team, Tall and sinewy, he ware owlish g and a downturned mustache, He announced that two members of the group would immediately run the falls in the bublik, a bizarre-looking craft with twe doughnut- shaped pontoons linked by 15sfoot logs. Instead, the team decided to hike upriver to the previous night's cam for lunch, and, after slurping NATIONAL down bowls of lentil soup, all but Sergei Ushakov lay back inthe sun for a smoke. The usually exuberant electronics: engineer of 43 rose to speak his mind. Being the oldest member of this team," he began iitavely, choosing his words with care, “E have a right to express my opinion, Consid ering the events of this day, [ think everyone needs to take this river more seriously.” Until then Yuri’s judgment had gone unquestioned. As GROGRAMHIC, NOVEMBER 1997Arrive By.train roa Subtsorh Burwenep with overloaded backpacks, the team forges across the bleak beauty of a — glacial pass (above) high in the Tian Shan range of Kyr gysstan, The rafters carried everything needed—food, clothing, and the deflated components of their ratts— in loads of 100 pounds or more. Just to reach this: { Sh ymikiint point, they endured 36 muscle-stiffening hours on the train fram Rubtsovsk, then journeyed by van to 11,300 feet, where they started the ten mile hike across the pass, At 11,800 feet, team leader Yuri Snegir slumps ‘on the edge of exhaustion, His breathing labored from years of smoking, he orders the group to make camp UZBEKISTAN istkent Tho next day a safety line helps the men ford a utary. "With 100 pounds on your back, you don't want to fall,” said photographer Dugald Bremner.ranite pir the Tran Shan range, rising above the Oygaing River to 14,700 feet. With many rap- ids rated Class VI in the Rus: sian system, the Oygaing is runnable only by tl skilled rafters. Flo’ miles west from ing 50 ters, it joins ather rivers to empty into the Aral Seathe team avoided carry ide, met the team at the ing trees for raft frame Zhai Kazakhstan, ame Sergel’s bushy red beard and while the rooster Nicknamed Boroda, ¢ Kyrgyzstan a half how 17" Sergel was the ater, our driver, Misha, gearex group's philosephe nwa for the climb into th inp N0 feet in Russia {our enormous pac Forget it” the men said. We're not interested: We can pay y Ise and trent wa The sto n with a vengeam ic dd to.cache the tt und return for it the r n rough ste vn h great stren 1 always hear about Fi Iy'S A SIBERIAN SUPERPUMP.” says Sergei Ushakov (lelt) of the “dry bag” the team used to trap airto fi bublik, At the river the two inflatables—canvas-covered bladders—are carefully lashed to a birch frame (top left). Once launched, the bublik glides easily over boulders (right). “It's ike an ter," says army tank for w interpreter George Aukon It goes everywherecomes the action, then later the thinking Unable te se ins 20 yards hat had become a bliz nuacked just zard, We below the pass. The Russians, packed like puppies in their leaky tents, passed a cold, wet night but powered on all the next day to the O There we hunl listening to sleet crackle on cred dow the tent canopies or huddling ound the campfire in steam ca or smoking harsh 1 cigarettes. moming sun apr ling our campsite to be a lovely spor Wild roses with plump red hips greweverywhere, and the birch and sumite were turning fall colors, The roa ing turquoise river tumble through a valley littered with colossal boulders that had hurtled down from the Tian Shan’ I of morning the Russians emerged from their tents for calisthenies, While Sergei performed stretching exer cises, Dima and the two Andreis cranked out 35 e boulders overhe crumbling peaks the bright, warm air ups each and pressed Land behind their necks, When Yuri and his fir young disciples took off to retrieve the cached gear Andrei Izhitsky, nursing 3 sore knee, stayed behind with D stipervise construction of the raft frames. He'd built his first raft at age 13 {or his schoo! Id, George, and me to outdoor club. Under the Soviet system most schools had a club, and so did fac tories and municipalities. Late the following day— 40 Buckine like white-water wranglers, two raftsmen fight the current astride the twin pontoons of a cata- raft. Highly maneuverable, it corners quickly around tight turns, but deep holes at the bottom of a drop can spell danger. Nose- diving into the river, it can buckle and flip, leaving paddfers flailing. with the team reassemble the frames built, pontoons inflated, snd the last toast raised to success—we turned in, ready’ to f JonwaRr!” George bark relow at the first rapid the put-in, "Now beck! BECK!!”" The flotilla was at last under way, six days after leaving Taraz. Following Ge rge's staccato orders, I backpaddled furiously. Our cataraft tumed nimbly if boulders through a pair and skirted the standing wave below. Mean while, the bublik barged right through on our tail, iis mon strous pontoons looking Indi crously outsized in the shallow water. Still, the big midstre doughnuts allowed Dima ov to slide that we hi Je through vy swinging left and Andrei fv wer bouled to tight passages or right—or turning around entirely, It made no difference which end went Now that first i seemed tc s by the fire ome old me he'd ran toughest rivers in Siberia but was proudest of his lead ership awards, one of which was for the 1991 Bashkaus River Expedition. "We ran NATIONAL cone waterfall in « that no before,” he recalled, deserity ing every inch Did the rapid b. came as bly explained what [ took foi retelling the story trigge hiss IGRARHIC, Nt bublik ne had completed Fit in de ca name? Dhd-ada, he stuttered. “It is-called Vladimir's Heart,” He fell silent. Then, said anding, he There is work to be and «trode away Yuri’s speech impediment surprise. IF proba- stony silences, But why had nmr? George filled me in, The rapid was named for Viadimir Cherepanoy, Yuri’s paddling pariner on 2 1990 Bashkaus expedition. The twa had tempted the 1997it somet ad wrong. Their cataraft over turned below the falls, Yur had survived; his close friend had drowned. Other nen might have hung up theit it the sport After two.days on we feed the first fang of black ro ten feet tall jutting up i hannels. One dover a low er fur neled into a right bounded by a cliff. Immedi ately below the obstruct the river k Yuri imp sharp lef ently rast the with Andrei Izhitsky without annow Jeparture—and j dup The bellowed at uis to huery up. Our cataraft bucked like run. 1 ther, r overboard forced left Hoo, boy,’ George ng around the by HECKPEDL id. [twas too iemy help we still deliberat ul the satest line. Yur ahead of us, out of sight and of no help. In dlesp te mation, Ere toon, and the we att Che reo ays inched popped out of the chan only to be smashed side 6a flat-faced boulder a eft 1 the beat apex of the ri nA loose ine, atid we swirled freeBaad Ue eet ke ed Dee ne rd CRE Le td run, Yuri Snegir and Andrei Co) fate when their eataraft flipped over, trapping them Cea Ce Me ed Oe aa Ce teCAMARADERIE AND A glow at river's edge. As the team sottles in for the night, Dima Skubach tunes his gui d sings an old rafters” song: “if some tragedy befalls us... Lwill not think of any: thing but my friend. My soul my hand, and my heart | will give to him. that, Even Yuri agreed. T nto F Photographer gird Dag PURE Cee ek eee cy Ce ener) De Cee eon Cy approved, the world-class Leet ROU) Dee tee td Seat) 1 § Co ay asty farewell ee t surels but Dd y s Ca cdCe Ta ccs Cee kd shooting rapids. He never Cc Ceo Bu Leal he) Dee nhs eee tedQuandaryBy IAN DARRAGH. Photographs by MAGGIE STEBER FALS OF LAUGHTER filled the room. Louis Wauthier, our caller, was slip ping his own risqué variations into the comtredanse we were performing, at the folk evening in Chicoutimi, Quebee: As in square dancing, in the contredanse, which originated in [th-century France.you'resup- posed fo unquestioningly obey the caller's commands, But Wauthier, who was wearing the brightly colored sash of the voyageurs—the early French explorers of Quelec—was push ing the limits. We had started by forming into Jong, parallel lines. After swinging our partners andl promenading up the midelle, we complet- ed a series of intricate figures at-an increasingly frantic pace, Now Wauthier was ordering usta stand das d dos (hack-to-back), urging us to move closer until we were touching. After an initial gasp of surprise. everyone complicd, and | found myself detriere to derriere with an attractive grandmother in a flowing dress out of the 18905, with plumed feathers in her hat. Suddenly my partner gave me a sharp push with her backside, sending me sprawling across the floor. She had tinderstood the caller's command in French a split second before me and had obeyed all too enthusiast cally. As:the fiddle and accordion players ted uson with their fast-paced jig; | picked myself up off the floor, mowed down the fine, and, with some relicf, changed partners, ‘This was Chicoutimi's winter carnival, a yearly celebration of Quebecois culture, and although it was past ten o'clock, kids as young as six and grandmothers in their seventies were steppirig and swinging with unflagging energy to dances such as Loiseau dans la cage and Le p'tit train de Jonqinére, At the begin~ ning of the evening's festivities we had been divided into three teams. Fach was given a family fame common in the region —Trem hlay, Bouchard, or Simard—connecting us Jan DAWMAH, | native of Montreal. was editor of ‘Cariaidicr Cengripsliie magazine tein 2989 to 1995, ‘This is his first story far Narieneat: Grotaarane Teaaa-born pholageapher Macusta Steen now lives in New York City. Her average of the Chermkee agspeured int the May 1995 isstic at to the first French settlers in 1838, Between, dances we had Competed in Jog sawing and. other contests, with much cheering and good- natured rivalry. ASI looked around at the laughing, sweaty faves, [ thought: This could only happen in Quebec. ‘Largest of Canada’s ten provinces, Quebec is the only predominantly French-speaking political entity in North America aside from the islands of St.-ficrre and Miquelon in the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence—tiny ves- tiges of France's New World empire. In recent years the province has been the focuy of the nation’s worst unity crisis since its birth in 1867. [0 av referendum held in October 1995, ‘Quebecers voted by a mere one percentage point to stay within Canada, but a majority ‘of French speakers—60 percent—yoted for independence. ‘That the Canadian federation has survived this long has te do with various compromises made on behall of Quebec. The province s own distinct legal system and has been given special powers over immigration, enabling it to attract French-speaking new- comers. I thé past 20 years, however, these compromises have worn thin, and constites tional amendments to patch things up have failed to win approval, Canada has came to resemble a bickering family, with one member periodically threatening to pack up and leave, “We are on the edge of a precipice," Bernard Morin, an engineer from Jonquiere tald me. What he meant was that if Quebec leaves the federation, the Atlantic provinees will have no land link te the rest of Canada. Prosperous British Columbia—with its thriving trade with the Pacific Rim—tight also secede, and the entire nation could become unglued. To federalists the prospect of another Que. hee referendum on independence isa sword af Damocles hanging over the province—and Canada—creating unbearable uncertainty that has stifled investment, But suvercigntists: see referendums as the ultimate instrument of democracy. Lucien Bouchard, Quebec's pre ict, has wowed to hold another referendum shortly after the next provincial el lection (in Cy NOV EMIER NATIONAL GEOGRA