At the base of Left Mama Waterfall Canyon, Transbaikalia

March 1986. Unbeknowst to us, an FA has been made just weeks earlier by a local group from Lake Baikal area.

The downstream waterfall (in the picture), and the upstream one ( 10 and 17 meters high) bracket a slot canyon with a couple of smaller frozen waterfalls.

The narrows can also be bypassed high on the left bank of the river, but this section of Left Mama Valley, being in the rain shadow of Upper Angara Range, recieves very little snow in winter. So skiing the brushy, deadfall-strewn slopes above the slot isn't really fun. Especially when compared with crossing the falls!