Kurchum is a right tributary of the Irtysh. Its valley is bounded on the left by the Kurchum Ridge, and on the right by the Sarymsakty Ridge, which separates the Kurchum basin from the basin of the Bukhtarma River. The sources of the river are located near Lake Markakol in the zone of sparsely wooded taiga. The Kurchum river is a winding, fast, mountain-taiga river with a width of up to 25 meters and a speed of up to 10 km/h. There are frequent channels and islets in the riverbed. The average annual water consumption (Voznesenskoye village) is 60 cubic meters / s (in May - 212 cubic meters / s), the length of the river is 210 kilometers, width is 10-150 meters, depth is up to 3 meters. The area of the river catchment system is 5,480 sq. km, the weighted average slope is 8 m/km, spring ice drift usually ends by April 16. The Kurchum river flows into the Bukhtarma reservoir (Lake Zaisan).
Tributaries of the Kunduzda, Kurkuldek and others flow into the Kurchum. The mountains surrounding the valley are composed of Paleozoic metamorphic rocks. In the upper reaches of the river at an altitude of over 2000 meters there are alpine meadows. In the middle reaches, the northern slopes are covered with deciduous forests, and the southern slopes - with grass and grass meadows. The valley of the upper and middle reaches lies in the gorge of the mountains. The rocky riverbed is quite difficult to ford or drive through. In the lower reaches, the valley becomes wider, the current is calm, meadows stretch along both banks, turning into steppe grasslands. For the last tens of kilometers, the Kurchum flows through a vast loamy plain, where it's water used for irrigation.
In the upper reaches, the Kurchum is a winding, fast, mountain-taiga river. The speed of the current is 8-10 km / h, with frequent islets and channels in the riverbed. Rafting is quite lively. Beyond the village of Karazhir, after a steep right turn, the river enters the Karazhir gorge, a cascade of obstacles with a length of 10 kilometers, it is one of the most difficult and interesting parts of the route. Framed by high cliffs, the canyon is extraordinarily beautiful. There are 5 major rapids in the gorge, powerful barrels, drains, chaotic banks up to 1.5 meters, flow speed up to 20 km/h, a large stream gradient (11 m/km). It is advisable to inspect the canyon along its entire length on one of the banks along the water's edge, as mooring in it proves difficult.
.jpg)