One hundred ways, one hundred roads

There is no city in Russia with such a School of Tourism

From the memoirs of Aleksandr Zlobin

In 1967, a city club of tourists on a voluntary basis was established in Dubna. It was headed by Nikolay Frolov. At the suggestion of A.M.Vainshtein, Chairman of the JINR Sports Council, I developed a training program for the athlete and master tourists. In 1972, I received the badge Master of Sports of the USSR under number 73, later N.N.Frolov, A.P.Sumbaev, V.M.Karnaukhov, S.S.Solod, G.V.Kudryashov, A.P.Sedyshev received it, too and there was a cohort of Candidate Master of Sports and first-rate sportsmen. Dubna, in terms of the number of masters of sports, had no equal in the country and even nowadays, perhaps (we are talking about the late 1990s - ed. note). Our tourists for the first time passed and described sports water routes: in Kamchatka - the Khairyuzovaya River; in Primorye - the Armu, the Iman; in Yakutia - the Omola river; in the Northern Transbaikalia - the bunch of the Levaya Mama - the Gornaya Chuya Rivers; on the border of Karelia and the Kola Peninsula - the Kurzhma, the Voinitsa and the Tavoioki; on the Kola Peninsula - the Pecha, the Akkim, the Zapadnaya Litsa (from the upper reaches).

Today, in sports tourism, opening a new route is as important as making a scientific discovery. According to the current practice, discoverers can name the standing rapids and obstacles at their own discretion. We refused to give the names Dlinny, Kosoy, Ryaboy. There are rapids or waterfalls on each river according to our guidance: Dubna, Dubnensky, JINR rapids, a number of rapids are named after our outstanding scientists, as well as in honor of the cities of Sarov, Protvino, in honor of foreign scientific centers. If to take this seriously, one can achieve the inclusion of these names in topographic maps, reference books and encyclopedias. This intellectual property of our city can become a toponym and last forever.

In 1989, at the request of the Soviet Peace Committee, I organised the Volga Forum "Soviet and American Artists in the Struggle for Peace." Kaji Aso, a Japanese American, the owner of an art gallery, traveled the Volga from its source to Volgograd with his colleagues. From the source to the city of Staritsa, the Volga was passed by kayaks. It was a serious experiment. Twelve Americans completed the Russian-style route. Let me remind you that this was the year when food was sold on coupons, when foreigners were not allowed to enter anywhere. During the route they lived only in tents, food was cooked only on a fire, no surfeit and sybaritism. I learned a lot, the Americans called my leadership style militaristic, but did not reject or criticize. I tried to understand their meditation, but I did not perceive it. The difference in mentality, culture, philosophy was the basis for mutual interest, for understanding and comprehending other truths. This is amazing. And now I believe that the tourism industry on the Upper Volga can develop on this basis, as ecological, sports and extreme tourism.

The second stage of the forum is a boat trip to Volgograd. This is a special epic and according to the Americans, less interesting. Their operator filmed over 200 videotapes. Today, there is no more complete information about the Volga in the world than Kaji Asso has got. Based on this material, he made a video film that was shown in Japan on the eve of Mikhail Gorbachev's first visit to Japan. This way, sports tourism has become not only a business (the Americans paid 75 thousand dollars), but also an instrument of international cooperation.

Caucasus. Cycling trip.
 

Kazakhstan. Passage of the threshold on the Charyn River.
 

Baikal region, Hamar-Daban. Crossing the Snowy River.