Hawaii has been on my mind for a kayak trip since the first day I stepped foot onto the island back in 2004. I was young, 16 years old, and just getting into kayaking. I was in Hawaii visiting my aunt and uncle with my best friend Joel Kowalski. Instantly I fell in love with the Jurassic Park scenery, beached and ocean galore and huge waterfalls. At the time Joel and I were amazed by the huge waterfalls, though there was little water and clearly not anything that we would ever attempt in a kayak.
Fast forward to now, over ten years later. Since that first visit to Hawaii I have always wanted to come back with the goal of paddling these gorgeous rivers and waterfalls. I have put in hours of research, lots of time spent on Google Earth, and I have assembled a team to take on this mission with me.
Nick Troutman
Being that this was my dream and I have put forward all the time in research etc, I have taken on the role of the trip leader.
Joel Kowalski
Joel and I have been on several first descent expeditions together, and being that we were together that first trip back when we were 16 it only felt fitting to have him along. The fact that Joel is also a high ropes expert is a huge asset to the team, being that the terrain is extremely steep and ropes will be a necessary tool.
Dane Jackson
Being that Dane is my brother-in-law and we paddle together everyday it was an easy choice to invite him. The fact that he might be one of the best paddlers on the planet makes him an ok asset to the team too, I guess.
Rafa Ortiz
If you don’t already know this crazy Mexican then you should. Rafa is a long time friend that I learned to kayak with, did my first ever expedition with, and have paddled several first descents with since. He is a fun and enthusiastic character that keeps the team moral high. Also did I mention he has run the highest waterfall to date at 186ft, as well as a hand full of some massive waterfalls over 100 ft.
Nomade Media House
Tino Specht & Lorenzo Astorgo
Tino and Lorenzo have been in the kayaking seven for a long time, though fairly recently these guys have been taking the media scene by storm. They have been doing film projects for different extreme sports for the past couple years and we are excited to have them with us behind the camera and on the water.
Thomas Fahrun
Thomas was another one of the original Keeners with Joel, Rafa and myself. We have been paddling together for a decade, though beside his paddling skills he has recently taken to photography. Thomas has been crushing some amazing imagery from some of our latest trips and combined with the gorgeous Hawaiian scenery I can’t wait to see what he comes home with from this trip.
Well that is our team for Road to Hana, stay tuned for the excitement that will hope to get into.
This Fall I had the opportunity to shoot a kayak piece for continental tires. That was roughly the information that I had, that they wanted a kayak piece for a series based about different sports. I thought it sounded cool so I said yes. A couple days before the shoot we were starting to plan some more of the logistics and that is when I found out that I might actually be taking the host of the show down the lower Green river in the Duo. Cool, and a little different from what I had expected.
Morning of filming we got up at 5AM, and met with the crew at good ol’ Cracker Barrel for some breakfast and to rig my Element with cameras. From there we pretty much rolled straight into filming, which consisted of lots of cool driving shots and audio takes etc, throughout the morning. After a full crew lunch break we headed to the river. This obviously was the more exciting part for me, thought I think the female host Andrea was probably just as excited to get into the water.
We started off with some easy paddling down the river as our warm up, though quickly Andrea got the hang of paddling and wanted more. We found some bigger rapids to get her excitement going and she styled those as well. Though once we found a 2 drop to run, she got a touch nervous about the idea of her first waterfall.
We ran the drop successfully and if that wasn’t enough for her, then ended off the day with a couple rolls just to give her the full whitewater kayaking experience. The whole day was a blast shooting with the Andrea and the whole crew, though it was even more fun for me to get back into the Dynamic Duo again and realize just how fun it can be to take someone new down the river and share the whole experience of kayaking, nature and the joy of the river. Check out the final piece for the series and maybe you too will think of someone you want to take down the river.
Skookumchuck is a one of a kind gem. It is one of the few tidal waves, which means it is formed upon the incoming tides, and only lasts for a couple hours before the tide goes back out. Skook is one of the most perfect waves you could ever find, its glassy face, smooth double shoulders and combination of foamy pile to stay in the wave as well as steep face to get maximum airtime, and it is wide enough for several paddlers at once.
I had the opportunity to paddle this epic wave this spring while filming with the Adidas Sickline team. It was such a blast to just paddle the wave, but even better to double surf and share the experience some with of my close friends.
Check out this video of myself and Mathieu Dumoulin double surfing the famous Skookumchuck Narrows.
Well it is that time of year again. The leaves have changed colors, the fall rains are coming in and out, Halloween is over and there is a migration of kayaker to North Carolina for the ever impressive Green River Race.
This year has already been an epic year for those of us who came early to train, and the race hasn’t even started yet. North Carolina has been blessed with 2 weeks of on again off again rain, which has opened up tons of potential rivers to paddle, as well as the fact that the Green River has been running at epicly high flows.
I showed up for 5 days of training and I was able to get a lap in at 100% flow on Sunday evening. 100% is around 8-10 inches on the gauge and is a great level. Monday morning we woke up and checked the website which also predicted another 100% flow morning. Though I had a feeling that the rain that lasted all night might change this a bit. Alec and I went to the Put-In (while Dane drove our shuttle), we noticed that we could hike into the Big Hungry tributary, which was an awesome class 2-4 little tributary into the Green, and it is a way more fun option instead of hiking in the whole way.
Once we made it down Big Hungry creek and into the Green River we realized that the flow was certainly not 100%, Alec who had been here for the previous couple of days guessed it was around 200% which is around 18 inches, though when we rolled up to the gauge Alec started laughing. The level was 27 inches and raising. WOW! I had never run the river anywhere close to this level, that and we both had our Karma Unlimited to get some race practice in. I had the idea that this run might take us a little longer then we told Dane back in the parking lot.
Alec showed me down the highwater lines, which actually went really well, the creek felt very similar just a lot bigger, more holes and more powerful. By the time we made it to Go Left rapid, which had very little resemblance of the normal look of the rapid, we met up with a group of 3 paddlers from Quebec that weren’t very familiar to the run and 1 of their group members was a second year paddler and possibly a bit out of his comfort zone.
Alec continued to lead myself and our new french friends down the rest of the run. My mind was blown with just how much of a beast the river had turned into. The lines from above Groove Tube through the bottom of Sunshine was just one continuous line that was amazing. Everything was going great all the way down to Hammer Factor, which is almost at the takeout. This is normally the last big rapid of the run, and a rapid that I usually mess around on, with either doing ‘Legs out to the Takeout’ or trying to pull it or something. Though at the high levels Alec had explained that it has gotten a little more rowdy, with a big hole at the end of the ally way pocket. He explained that one of us would likely swim. I thought those were great words of encouragement and went for it. I did the line that Alec had explained, ‘go all the way left and boof hard over the hole’, only to find out later that this isn’t really the best line. I boofed and thought everything was fine until I back looped my longboat back into the hole, and then went straight into a flurry of cartwheel ends. This is actually quite hard to do in a longboat and I realized that I was no longer going to regain control and or surf out of this pocket, so I did as most would and pulled my skirt. The swim was actually pretty easy, though I as bummed when we couldn’t find my paddle and I thought it was lost for good.
Luckily for me my luck changed for the better as we made it to the parking lot to meet up with Pat Keller, Dane, Kalob Grady and Joel Kowalski to go back up for a second lap, now at 29 inches. Our second lap I decided to take my Zen, which was a better call, and everything went great. I had an awesome line all the way down including getting some revenge on Hammer Factor. Though the best part was miraculously finding my paddle in a giant eddy of foam right below Hammer Factor. YES!
It was one of the coolest days of paddling the Green River I have experienced, and the week had just begun.
This year I had the opportunity travel to Old Forge New York for the famous northern kayak gathering of MooseFest. It was my first time to MooseFest and actually to the Moose River as well, which was a real treat. The River itself is a true gem with big slides, cool rapids, tons of boots and gorgeous colors with a mix of brightly colored kayak and amazing autumn leaves. I also found out that the MooseFest is home to the Moose Race which is the last of the King of New York Series. Pat Keller showed me down the course for my first time and then we drove back up to start the race. I had a rough idea of were I needed to go but I still hit a lot of rocks on my way down for a #2 finish behind Pat himself. It was an amazing race course with some real gradient and full on rapids. I hope to be back next year to try my luck at it again.
We didn’t have the greatest of weather, with the first snow of the season falling during the Saturday, only to be followed by waking up to more snow on Sunday. Though despite the less then ideal weather the rivers, kayak shop and bars was all filled with paddlers.
After the dust had settled and the weekend was over I still hadn’t seen any Moose, though I did see plenty of Deer, paddled an epic river, raced some waterfalls, hung out with old friends, met some new friends and had a really really good time.
Line it up: Turn around backwards and look over your shoulder to watch the entry. You want to be watching and able to see the lip to know when to throw the freewheel.
Get some Speed: Get your speed up with a couple hard back strokes to have momentum away from the falls when throwing the the trick.
Throwing the Switch Freewheel: Once at the lip, have your stroke ready at your toes make sure you are looking over your should on the side you want to be pulling on. As you fall off the lip lean in towards your paddle blade slightly and pull a hard stroke. While stoking you will open open up and look over the opposite shoulder.
Spot your landing: As you are you falling you need to spot your landing, this while force your body to continue rotating until you are back forwards. Now get ready for the impact by leaning forward.
Stick it and Paddle away: Land leaning forward and finish with a strong stroke to pull yourself away from the hole (and avoid a back ender and getting worked). Paddle away with style you just stuck a switch freewheel off a waterfall.
This spring I was able to be a part of an Adidas team video project where we traveled around Northern Quebec in search of some of the biggest waves with the goal to find and surf these waves and try to get some of the biggest air possible in a freestyle kayak. Olaf Obsommer will be coming out with a TV and online edit from the trip, but here is some GoPro perspective of our epic Quebec adventure.
FIBark is the oldest whitewater events/festivals in the United Sates, so old that the name itself stands for First In Boating the Arkansas, which originated back in 1950. The little town of Salida host this annual 3 day festival based around the river. 65 years later, we are still battling the Arkansas River, and this year was some high water, like really high, the highest the river has been in 20 years.
With the 20 year high water most of the river features were flooded out, though luckily for us play boaters there was a great wave just upstream called “office wave” which hosted this years Freestyle event. Usually the freestyle runs after the Hooligan Race, which is a race of home made floats that float/ or sink there way down in a parade of 'anything but boats’ race. Though with the high water it was unfortunately cancelled and the Freestyle Finals became the main show for Saturday night.
Men’s Finals consisted of Stephen Wright, Jordan Poffenberger, Dave Fusilli, Max Karlson and myself. Everyone was looking good in a the wave and I was really impressed with what we could do on the wave itself. There were some big clean blunts, airscrews, front and back panams, helixes and blunt Mcnasty’s. Though after everyone had there three attempts to lay down the highest score I was honored to be able to paddle away sitting on top, closely followed by Stephen and then Jordan. It was a close event with lots of good rides and big tricks being laid down. What a great finish for my Father’s Day weekend.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
The NFC is one of the coolest and most visually impressive events I have been to. Imagine taking a class 5 rapid, throw some of the worlds top paddlers in to race it, I know this sounds familiar, but now add some slalom gates to make the course almost impossible, this is the North Fork Championships. You know it is hard when the organizer’s plan is to make one gate so hard that 50% of the field won’t make it.
This year was the 4th year of this annual race and every year it gets bigger and better. This year there were a couple added changes from years past, first off they made everyone race in the “Lower 5 race” which is 7+ minute race where you can prove yourself and earn a spot into the Elite race down Jacob’s Ladder. Other changes were that for the first time in the 4 years of the race’s existence they changed up the gate location making it an entirely new race down the same rapid.
I was fortunate and had already earned my way into race by finishing top 10 in last years race, this made it easy for me to focus my time and energy into the Jacob’s Ladder Giant Slalom race. I showed up a couple days early and was able to get some good training laps in before the race, though while practicing I slightly pulled a pectoral muscle. This was just a minor speed bump, though it did make opt out of the boat-x the day before the race. I still went and watched and took some cool photos of the race and watch the frenchie Eric Deguil take home the top spot followed by Dane Jackson and local youngster Alec Voorhees.
Saturday was the big day, the Jacob’s Ladder Giant Slalom. I was feeling pretty good and had several good practice laps under my belt. The race was two laps and your best run counts. I wanted to lay down a good first lap and decided to go at 80% power to start things off. My first run started off strong cleaning up the gates at ‘Rodeo Hole' and ‘Rock Drop’ which were the two hardest offsets of the whole course. Next were the back to back up gates and the ‘Golf Course’ rapid which also went well, I was having such a good run I decided to step up the pace and sprint to the finish. This in theory was the smartest idea, though in reality maybe not so much, I started sprinting and wasn’t focusing as much on my line, I was only a couple feet from the finish line as I clipped a curler wave which pushed me slightly left as I went full speed into the finish gate. BAM. I nailed one of the hardest race courses and then ran into the finish line, maybe not my best finish. This little mistake would in the end cost me a 5 second penalty and the possibility for a 6th place finish.
As I walked up for my second run I tried to laugh it off, knowing that I still have one more shot, though deep down I knew that I may have blown my chances.
For my second run I decided to go all or nothing and give 100% power, this was a good strategy until I hit the first gate with my should, another 5 second penalty, then my run started to unravel as I flipped going through the ‘Rock Drop’ offsets. I knew at this point that my first run would inevitably be my better run. I decided to try and finish strong and kept racing the course through the finish, this time I focused a little more carefully as I passed the finish line.
This year I watched from the side lines as the top 10 racers jumped up on stage, with the podium being filled by Gerd Serrasolses in first, Dane Jackson in second and Isaac Levinson in third. I ended in 13th place with my 5 second penalty, which served as another valuable lesson, the race isn’t over until it is over, and focus all the way through the finish.
I didn’t earn my place for next years race though now I have even more motivation to paddle even harder in next years qualifiers.
The GoPro Mountain Games have
become one of the staple events of the summer in the outdoors. People
come from all over for to check out the adventure sports, free music
concerts, newest gear on the market and Down Town Vail parties. Though
it is the events like climbing, kayaking, biking mud runs, dog jumps,
SUP and slack line that the spectators come to watch, though nothing
brings a crowd like the 8-Ball kayak races.
Just
imagine a head to head race on 4 to 6 people racing while trying to
battle the Gore creek's whitewater, then throw in some 8-balls, which is
best described as gladiators in kayaks trying to stop the racers from
finishing. It pretty much ends up as carnage wrapped up in the perfect
afternoon event for people to watch, cheer, laugh and cringe. The 8-Ball
race originated at the Mountain Games years ago and has since popped up
at kayak events across the country, surprisingly people love carnage.
As
a paddler myself coming to the Mountain Games for the past 10 years,
the 8-Ball race is actually one of my most favorite events of the action
packed week long event. It is awesome to see how many paddlers come out
for this one event, you will have top creek racers, and freestyle
champions alongside local paddlers and young kids. You might think that
some pro kayaker and a local kid racing wouldn’t be much of a show, but
they way the 8-Ball works, the better you are the bigger the target is
one your chest, so it all works out in the end. Now you have to
understand that some skill in involved but mostly just luck, so don’t
get upset if you don’t win.
This
year was no exception and was another amazing day battle on the river. I
started gearing up with my full face helmet and elbow pads, it liked
like I was about to go to war, and in my mind I was. Off the word “GO”
the race begins and you start dodging kayaking, paddles, and pool toys
as I raced 4 others racers down to the finish bridge. My strategy of
letting up and pulling into second and trying to avoid the 8-Ballers
worked for the first couple rounds, though as the day goes on it gets
harder as all the racers who don’t make it on just jump in and become
8-ballers themselves. By the Semi Finals I felt I was doing pretty good
until I came through the Rodeo Hole and there was nowhere to go, the
river was a full pile of of colorful kayak and people, with noway to go
around I tried to just go through, which ended with me just attempting
to go under, and that didn’t work. I was 4th and only top 3 went on the
final rounds. I was bummed for a second until I realized the classic
saying “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
I ran back up to the top, jumped in Karma Unlimited and
figured if I can’t be the best racer I can try to be the best 8-Baller.
As the final started the women’s heat were first. Now, I didn’t want to
hurt anyone so I made sure to not make any huge blows to the face this
year, I just wanted to try to stop them from reaching the finish. The
women did a good job trying to dodge us 8-ballers though they had a
harder time getting around myself in a 12 foot boat. I was able to
pretty much collect them all and railroad them all the the side of the
river, though was kept floating down together until we dropped into the
main hole. It was like watching a giant iceberg drop into a big wave and
get broken apart as our floatilla of racers and 8-Ballers all dropped
into the hole together. Miraculously all the 8-Ballers made it through
and the three racers were stuck in the hole getting tumbled on top of
each other on creek boats. Slowly they were able to get out and podium
with Nouria Newman on top of the podium.
Men’s
Finals were next. I rallied back up to the top of the course to get in
as much carnage as I could muster. As the three men came battling down
the course, all of us 8-ballers were ready to cause some destruction. I
stuck with the idea that I would take out which ever paddler was in
first place at the time, that way I wouldn’t be singling anyone out to
try and keep it as fair as I could. After a couple head on collations
and railroading some people into the side of the river, Gregg Parker took
home the top honors. In the end it was an super fun afternoon and I’m
sure it was just as much fun to watch as it was to participate in. I
can’t wait until next year.
The city of Lyons is now most famous for the flood that took place there over a year ago. The flood took out most of the city, ripping through roads, vehicles, pipe lines and too many homes. Though the city of Lyons and it’s locals have been knocked down, they have also gotten back up and have continued with their tradition of hosting the Lyons Outdoor Games.
This years Lyons Outdoor Games were able to return the South Saint Vrain Creek race to the list of event. Last year the creek race was put on hiatus being that the roadside creek had washed most of the riverbed and road away. This year all the paddlers were excited to have this creek race back in action. Though the course has changed in comparison to years past, mainly being that the entire river is now different, I personally think it has changed for the better.
The creek race started off with a bang as you seal-launch off a rock into the river and then down the biggest rapid of the race section. The race section was a fast paced class 4 run with lots of tight moves and little boofs. We had two runs with only our best time counting. I layer down a good run for my first time, though it was my second run that I was most fired up on. I felt like I nailed all my lines with almost no mistakes, I finished knowing that was probably the best I could do.
After all the dust settled and the results came back it turned out I was knocked off the top seat by Dane Jackson, though I couldn’t have been more excited to take second with a great run and behind a super fast paddler and good friend.
The Mistassibi River is home of the famous Hawaii rapid with it’s giant curling tube wave, as well as the giant wave 'Black Mass’ which is seen in most of the big wave stakeout videos. Though this river has so much more to offer then just that. Along with it’s other great big-water rapids and numerous waves, this river hosts one of the most perfect medium size wave that somehow always falls short to it’s bigger brother when people mention the Mistassibi River.
The wave I am talking about is so under rated that it doesn’t even have a name but is simply referred to as ‘The Top wave’. Now this wave isn’t crazy tall, or fast or steep, but it is still really good. Actually it is almost a perfect wave for testing out a new boat, which is exactly what Mat Dumoulin and I did as we tested out Jackson Kayak’s newest 2016 Rockstar series while we were filming for our Adidas ‘Go Big or Go Home’ tour.
Check out our first couple rides in our new toy. So fired up on this beast!
Gore Canyon is one of Colorado’s more famous runs, with big water, class 5 rapids and now a play park? It almost doesn’t sounds like the previous sentence makes sense, but you read it right, the famous Gore Canyon is now also home to a great play park at the pump house takeout. It has been known that play parks have been popping up all over the state of Colorado for the past decade, though this is the first of my knowledge to have one at the takeout of a creek.
Gore Canyon made for a perfect day for me, I was able to meet up with some new friends, run a personal new river, and get in a play boating session all in the same day. This seemed liker the perfect combination and might just be something that we will start to see more. Paddlers will start having to travel with both boats from now on, a creek boat and play boat.
Check out a little edit from the day with both some GoPro footage of the Gore Canyon run and a freestyle finish to my day. I can’t wait to get back.
It is funny how things happen sometimes, take this past weekend for instance. Emily and I were just in California, but with the water shortage and limited options for paddling we decided to pack up and make our way to Colorado. On our way we stopped in Salt Lake City to get some engine work done on our RV, and then we got a call from my good friend Alec Voorhees. After realizing we were Salt Lake, Alec told us about a whitewater festival and creek race happening the next day and only 2.5 hours away. So we quickly changed directions and headed north to Idaho.
The Black Canyon of the Bear River Whitewater Festival was an amazing event. It was cool to be a part of a grass roots event that is young and growing quickly. This event happens to be one of only 4 recreational releases a year for the Bear River, thanks to American Whitewater for organizing that. I felt honored to be able to paddle this amazing stretch of whitewater, especially with the fact it only runs 4 times a year and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to be able to experience it.
Tons of paddlers made it out for the weekend from Idaho, Wyoming and Utah made it out for the festival. I made some new friends and got to hangout with some old friends too.
There was also a race that was part of the festival. It was a long race that started off with a bang. ‘BOO BOO’ is the hardest rapid on the river run, and it was the start of the race, the race continued down the next 2 miles consisting on continuous read and run class 3-4 rapids. It was a tough race being that there were several fast paddlers, it was a long race (winning times were over 11 minutes), and the hardest part of all, I HAD NEVER RUN THE RIVER BEFORE. Actually, there were a lot of us who were racing that had never run the river before. This was a cool experience to be able to race while trying to scout the lines and see where the fast water is, all while running the rapids and trying to keep my speed up. In the end it was a close race, though I was able to walk away with the crown (an amazing helmet/ tiara combo), closely followed by Russell Davies in second, and Seth Stoner in third.
The organizers had set up a festival grounds just past the takeout with the help of some land trusts, and we all hung out and had some burgers and beers and music and camp fires etc. There were also a ton of raffle prizes including a kayak, and and ton of gear, paddles and clothing from various sponsors, including a ton of stuff from Rendezvous River Sports. Everyone had a blast, and the beer, music and campfire and free swag made for a great night. All the proceeds went to a good douse, and in the need they were able to raise 2000$ for First Descents, an amazing program for young adults battling cancer, if you haven’t heard about it check it out here.
We woke up on Sunday morning to a brisk morning, though with another day of scheduled river release we wouldn’t let falling snow deter our motivation to paddle. Even with the snow there were still a solid crew of around 40 paddlers out Sunday morning to get a couple more laps in before the water shut off again. I was fired up that Jody Voorhees was able to watch Tucker while Emily and I got to run the river together. After a chilly run down the river and big group of us all went to the nearby hot springs to warm up which was the cherry on the cake after an great day on the water.
In the end it was an amazing weekend, with great whitewater, super fun festival, solid race course and many great friends. I hope to make it out again next year and a big thanks to the organizers and all the volunteers for making it happen.
It all started with an email from some guy I have never met, inviting me to come to China for a Red Bull Kayak event. Naturally I was intrigued with this mysterious event in a far away land, so I accepted his invitation. Now traveling to China to go compete in a Kayak event isn’t quite as easy as just jumping on a plane with a kayak. First off, you need a visa to get into China, which involves some paper work, a couple passport photos, an invitation letter from someone in China and your flight itinerary. Once that was all set up I had to organize boats with our Jackson Kayak distributor in China so we wouldn’t have to worry about the hassle of trying to travel with them, especially being that we would need both a play boat and creek boat for the multiple events. After that would be the travel.
I wasn’t the only athlete invited to this event, there was a handful of people selected which included Chris Gragtsman, the Wells brothers (Todd and Brendan), Max Karlsson, Martina Wegman and Dane Jackson. I was fortunate enough to be traveling with Dane, which was nice because there was a lot of traveling. We left Nashville at 6 AM, flew to Detroit, then to Beijing, and finally to Kunming. Once in Kunming we met up with everyone and jumped onto a bus, which was then another 2 days of bus rides, totally out 4 days of travel before arriving at our destination, the Salween River. Lots of traveling is as bit of an understatement.
Once we arrived we were all awestruck by the beauty of the rivers gorge. Huge mountain surrounding a river gorge that twists and turns, with little towns and villages along the banks of world class whitewater. The combination of the amazing river and a bunch of athletes locked up in a bus for a couple days, we were all very excited to finally hit the water in our kayaks.
Our first day paddling we spent it training for the Boater-X event, which was a class 4+ big water rapid consisting of big holes, tall standing waves and fast water with little eddies. Our group of North Americans thought that this was a great rapid and would make for a challenging and exciting boater-X, though many of the Chinese competitors were at their limit of comfort. We tried to help them out and lead them down the rapid and show them the lines. This worked great for most, though we did have some missed lines and a couple long swims.
The next day was our first day of the Red Bull Kayak Mania, we competed in the time trial for the seating on the boater-x. I had a pretty good time, putting me in third place just behind Dane and Brendan. There was a tons of media and TV crews lined the shores, and peppered us with questions about the event, the proposed dam, the civil war in Burma, some questions were not expected for sure, like the question asking if Dane and I were gay?Seriously.
Next day was the finals and the actual head to head heats in the boater-x. Being that Todd, Myself, Brendan and Dane were the top four be had a by to the second round, while Chris Wing, Chris Gragtman, and Max Karlsson raced three Chinese racers. Next round was Myself vs Chris Wing, Dane vs Max, Chris vs. Brendan, and Todd vs the top Chinese Slalom racer. All the the quarter finals were great races, though it was thee Wells brothers and Dane and myself who continued on to the Semi Finals rounds. First up in the Semi finals were Dane vs Todd which was a battle the to finish, though Dane was able to hold a close lead the whole way and push on to the finals. Next up was Brendan and myself, another great battle with a yoyo between Brendan and myself being in the lead, though the half way point I was able to pull in front and stay in front of Brendan through to the finish. This put Dane and I head to head for the final round. It was close between us through the flat water at the start and into the first rapid. I took the safe line towards the right while Dane got pushed left into the meat of the hole, I thought this was my break to push forward, though Dane got a bit of a lucky break and immediately flushed out of the hole into the fast water, this put Dane in front with a lead that I couldn’t gain from him. It stayed Dane first and myself second through to the finish. It was a great race and a great day walking away with my first seller medal from the Kayak Mania event.
The freestyle event was the fallowing day, which was a really good and fun but tricky feature. It was a wave/hole that you could do most tricks it, though it was a bit tricky to stay in and really quite flushy. All three rides felt great, though my first ride pleased the judges the most and my score reflected that with 1400 points. I was winning all the way until Dane’s final ride when he busted out a amazing 1600 point ride, pushing me back into silver, while Max took home third with his 600 point ride and huge entry moves. Dane took home another gold and I took home another silver, a pretty good showing for back to back events.
Our final day of kayaking was the Tiger rapid challenge, to see who could run a specific line and stay upright through the rapid. We had all looked at the rapid and scouted for a while, though the line I wanted to take (which was right of the rock at the bottom) was not aloud for the competition. I ended up running safety for Todd, Brendan and Dane who all decided to give it a shot. All three paddlers had interesting lines to say the least, with all of them backwards at some point, though Dane was able to stay upright somehow, and won the challenge. Immediately following the Tiger rapid challenge we finished some last media interviews and jumped into the bus for another 2 day drive back to Kunming, followed by our long flights home.
China was a great experience, with amazing people, good food and epic whitewater. I can’t wait to go back, though with the amount of travel to get there I think I might stay longer next time.
Here are the links to Chinese National TV coverage from the event.
Coming home from Africa to the coldest days of winter was a bit of shell shock for me. Honestly, I was excepting spring to be rolling in and in full affect. I was maybe a bit too optimistic to think that it would be sunny and all the rivers would be running. Instead of all those fluffy dreams, I came home to snow and an ice storm that shut down most of the Southern states. Though the weather took a bit to get used to, I did find the silver lining, which was that the water that wasn’t frozen was still running. Myself and good friend and photographer Peter Holcomb took on the challenge to face the cold and try to hit the river. We quickly found it wasn’t as easy as we had thought it would be. The ice storm had shut down all access in and out of the Rock Island state park with downed trees and frozen limbs blocking road access. Though after being cooped up inside for several days we weren’t going to give up so easily. We drove to the other side of the river and clambered down a couple hundred feet and icy slick river embankment. Once down the steep hill and at the rivers edge we were rewarded with an epic view of giant icicles hanging from the cliffs and a frozen wonderland surrounding the waterfalls. I ended up getting six laps of the falls trying 4 different lines across the wide horizon and multiple waterfalls. Peter had it hard as he stood out on the edge of the lip with his camera gladly capture some amazing moments. On the last lap he ran down with me, trying a new line for him and getting a personal first decent. As it got dark we decided it was best to takeout and start our long hike back to the car. With the roads being iced over and blocked with downed trees we couldn’t set shuttle and were forced to hike back up the hill. Though along to road was a much easier (and safer) route then our slick hill enter, and the hike with out creek boats did warm us up. I felt very fortunate to have a friend like Peter to motivate when most would refuse. In the end it turned out to be a great evening of paddling and one I will not soon forget.
Uganda has been a top winter destination for kayakers around the world. Thought this we inter it was very obvious with the sheer number of paddlers and various different nationalities. I can think of two main factors for this, firstly being that people are looking for the best place to train for the upcoming worlds, and secondly and more importantly people are trying to flock to the banks of the White Nile to experience this amazing river being it will be turned to flat water forever with it’s current dam project.
For me seeing the influx of people was bitter sweet, I love the fact that I am able to paddle with all these amazing kayakers and friends, though it is a bitter reminder that the amazing whitewater and epic island living of the Hairy Lemon will be short lived with the dame project underway.
Though is the river is going to be flooded we might as well go out with a bang, and in that sense kayakers around the world are living it up on a little island, known as the Hairy Lemon, on the worlds longest river.
The island was a perfect training ground for the upcoming World Championships with the who’s who from top paddlers around the world like Mathieu Dumounlin, Dane Jackson, Kalob Grady, Stephen Wright, Bren Orton just to name a few. It made for a great atmosphere of on water and off water training and games. On water was filled with mock competitions, filming, photo sessions, big rapids and huge aerial maneuvers, while off water consisted of frisbee golf, water volleyball, bocce ball and ultimate frisbee.
It was a blast being back on the island and living the simple life, no running electricity, no internet, just afternoon games and lots of kayaking. After three weeks of some of the best wave surfing on the planet I am know super excited for the 2015 tour to start and even more excited for the 2015 World Championships at the end of the summer on the Garburator wave on the Ottawa River.
The Zambezi has been on my list of top three rivers in the world for the past decade, even though I had only been there in 2006. It was finally time to go back and experience this amazing river again. As we arrived a flood of memories started to come back to me, I remember the airport, the hotel, the hike into the river. Once on the water it was like being a child in Christmas again, I was so excited! The water was warm, and big and fun. The river was everything I remember it to be, one of the best big water river runs, great for down-river play, and a great place to have fun and push your skill levels. The river run was filled with lots of ‘Macho Moves’ big boofs and Freewheels at Rapid #5, kickflips everywhere, being swallowed by whirlpools, running rapid #9 for my first time, and tons of surfing along the way.
This year we were able to have an overnighter on the river at rapid 25, this was really cool because Emily and I were able to run the river and then meet up with Tucker and the rest of the family and camp out on the sandy beach. To sleep under the stars with a full moon and catch some monster fish will be something I won’t soon forget and again adds to the fact that this river is in my top three for life.
2014 has been a year of epic proportions. I was able to travel the world, visiting 12 countries in 12 months, I competed all over in both freestyle and creek races with 23 podium finishes including National Champion and Pan American Champion, and my son Tucker turned 1. It has been a year filled with big waves, big water, steep creeks, new rivers, competitions and plenty of whitewater.
