Rafting on the Pista River

Almost all of our routes can be taken by a beginner. But you must adequately assess your own physical and moral preparation for a particular trip.

Any active person, regardless of age, will be able to go on a water hike. The main thing is to have a desire, a reserve of energy and a positive attitude.

Persons under the age of 16 are accepted only with parents or organized groups with an adult leader who is responsible to parents for the life and health of children, and to us for children's compliance with safety rules and behavior on the route. Children under 12 years old are always given a discount.

Very young children up to 6 years old have repeatedly participated in our campaigns, but we do not recommend taking them if this is your first trip, you have no idea where you are going, you are not confident in your abilities and the child's strength.

There is practically no mobile connection on the river, you can hardly get through at the beginning and end of the route, the operator is Megafon.

The Pista River is located in the very north of Karelia in the border zone.

The water temperature in the river usually does not warm up above +15-20 degrees.

The warmest time is from mid–July to mid-August.

During the day, the temperature can be from +15 to +25 degrees, at night from +7 to +15.

The period of white nights on the Pista River is from the beginning of June to the end of July.

Remember that the weather in Karelia is unpredictable

Fishing on the river is very good, most often pike, perch, grayling, trout are caught.

To fish on the river, you need to get a license.

Fishing on the Pista River without a license is allowed only by fishing rod in sections of the river and lakes that are not included in fishing areas.

Fishing is prohibited between June 1 and July 15.

Fishing in fishing areas on the river is allowed for fishing rod and spinning only if you have a license.

The presence of a license does not give the right to catch valuable fish species (salmon, trout).

Our main task is to have a safe vacation.

Professional instructors know the route perfectly, all the obstacles on the rafting, the level of difficulty of thresholds in different waters, as well as all possible emergency exits from the route.

For each rafting trip, we register a tourist group with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which gives an additional guarantee of assistance in emergency situations.

Also, before the tour, you can arrange your own travel insurance.

To get by train for rafting on the Pista River (Pistajoki), you need to buy tickets to Louhi village with arrival in the morning at 04:00 (train 016A Arctic arrival around 04:00). 

Return tickets should be taken from Louhi village for the evening 17:00-23:00 or overnight (train 024H Louhi — St. Petersburg departure: 17:58, trains 147C and 285A Louhi — Moscow departure: 22:29).

Air and railway tickets are not included in the price of the tour. You can purchase them yourself or contact us for help.

Additional medical insurance is not included in the price of the tour. If desired, you can apply for it on the website of a Large Country without commission directly from insurance companies.

The raft is much less maneuverable than a catamaran, so the raft may simply not fit into difficult narrow rapids with many turns.
The catamaran, thanks to its "agility", can skip all difficult sections.

The catamaran usually passes shallow rivers, rivers with difficult rapids (3-4 k.s.), where there are no long stretches (areas of calm water). In Karelia, these are the rivers: Umba, Pista, Tumcha, Keret, Tokhma, Kiten, Uksa, Loimala.

In the raft, the participants sit half-sideways on the balloon (their legs remain inside the raft). On a catamaran, the landing is knee—deep - tourists sit on balloons "on horseback", on special inflatable "seats", while their legs are fixed in special stirrups.

The catamaran is designed only for an even number of 2-4-6 rowers (teamwork does not play a mediocre role on this rafting facility), 8 participants can be put in the raft, while the main responsibility for
the exact passage of the threshold lies with the instructor.

We recommend that you follow our recommendations for collecting things and not take anything extra, as it will not be possible to leave extra things for storage during the tour.

Yes, a pass to the border zone is required for foreign citizens!
It takes at least 60 days to complete, and therefore it is necessary to submit an application and documents for participation in the tour no later than this period.

If you are a citizen of the Russian Federation, you need to fill out everything that is indicated in the clarifying form that the manager will send you.