Featured
Michigan Booze Cruise
A look at one of the Midwest’s most popular kayaking events, this weekend’s 27-mile Short’s to Short’s Paddle, which has competitors race across a series of northern Michigan’s lakes and end at the Short’s Brewing Company production brewery in Elk Rapids, Mich., with a few pints to celebrate the arrival of summer.
All Features
VIRTUAL COACH: Blunt to McNasty
05.10.2011
ERIC JACKSON CAN THROW DOWN. The Jackson Kayak founder claims four Freestyle World Championship titles, thanks in part to his ability to break complicated play moves into their constituent parts, and repeat them on demand. So if you want to learn an advanced playboating maneuver like the blunt to McNasty, you want to talk to E.J.
The Ultimate Canyon Kit
05.09.2011
JESSE COOMBS IS TELLING ME WHAT HE DID LAST SUMMER. “Imagine a 14-hour jungle portage with 90 pounds of gear and multiple rappels over un-runable 100-foot, 300-foot and 600-foot falls,” the expedition paddler says, describing just one of the four days he spent last August in Mexico’s Barranca de Piaxtla, potentially the deepest river canyon in North America.
Young Gun, Uncertain Future
05.08.2011
Whitewater slalom followers knew it was only a matter of time before Michal Smolen became the top K1 paddler in the United States. What came as a surprise to many, however, was how quickly the 17-year-old Smolen has made the ascent. At the U.S. National team trials in Charlotte, N.C. April 15-17, Smolen defeated past Olympians and World Cup medalists to take first place…
Early Returns: Whitewater Grand Prix
05.07.2011
The first Whitewater Grand Prix, an invitational-only kayaking series with 20-something of the world’s best paddlers, is underway in up Canada with two stages—best trick on “Gladiator” of the Ottawa River, and big water boatercross on the Rouge River in Quebec—in the books. Some video and results from Stages 1 & 2:
Whitewater Needs More… Cheat Fest
05.06.2011
Mud squishes between my toes as the Halftime String Band takes the stage. My buddy Bob Spangler plucks hollow notes on his upright bass. Yesterday he led me down the lower Big Sandy for the first time, and then it rained all night and the Cheat Canyon gauge shot up to 6 feet. God, I love Cheat Fest.
VIRTUAL COACH: The Bow Draw To Boof
05.05.2011
RUSH STURGES LIKES TO GO BIG WITH STYLE. That’s why the producer and star of Dynasty, Dream Result and Frontier makes the bow draw to boof stroke his go-to creekboating move. This technique (displayed at right by Rafa Ortiz) makes it simple and efficient to line your boat up before taking that big, game-breaking forward stroke-whether you’re trying to clear a boat-eating hydraulic or land a waterfall with precision.
To the Bay
05.05.2011
After graduation, two women will attempt to retrace a historic canoe route to Hudson Bay
First Descent of the Barranca de Piaxtla
05.04.2011
The run started calmly enough with some class III and class IV rapids. Then it transitioned to class V with some runnable whitewater, but lots of portages. We encountered some great rapids, amazing scenery and a gorgeous un-runnable falls. We only had a half-day of paddling, due to the morning’s preparations, but found a great spot for camping at 6:00pm and we were all in good spirits for the beginning of our adventure.
Seven Days of Demshitz
05.04.2011
The hardest-playing posse in kayaking will do anything to keep the party train on its tracks—even if they must utterly transform kayaking media to do it.
It’s On: Whitewater Grand Prix
05.03.2011
We like to call it a revival. After seven years where the number of freestyle competitions remained mostly stagnant (and low, at that), as many as 60 new events have sprung up across North America in the last two years. Freestyle boaters now have their pick of nearly 200 competitions in 25 states. The trend begs the question: Can freestyle return to the top of the kayaking hierarchy, a position it held for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s?
First Descent of the Barranca de Piaxtla
05.03.2011
The run started calmly enough with some Class III and Class IV rapids. Then it transitioned to Class V with some runnable whitewater, but lots of portages. We encountered some great rapids, amazing scenery and a gorgeous un-runnable falls. We only had a half-day of paddling, due to the morning’s preparations, but found a great spot for camping at 6 p.m. and we were all in good spirits for the beginning of our adventure.
VIRTUAL COACH: OC Boof Stroke
05.02.2011
In this episode of Virtual Coach, veteran OC-1 shredder and C&K’s whitewater canoeing guru Mark Scriver demonstrates the OC boof on the water.
We’re Giving Away an AIRIS Kayak
04.29.2011
New kayak going to only the finest of ‘friends’—’like’ us on Facebook to enter
Slippery When Wet, No. 4: Ben Stookesberry
04.27.2011
Well, here it is. The highly anticipated release of the 4th of 7 Slippery When Wet trailers featuring the man, the myth, the legend, Ben Stookesberry. This man has proven himself a world-class filmmaker, kayak icon, and easily one of the top expedition kayakers on the planet.
Cranking: Northwest Creeking Competition
04.26.2011
Name a steep creek competition after the “Northwest,” a region known for capricious weather and copious precipitation, and it should be no surprise when river levels skyrocket overnight. Still, waking up to three times as much water flowing through the narrow gorges on the East Fork of the Lewis River elicited surprise—and trepidation—from most competitors.
Canoe Across America
04.26.2011
Earlier this month, Darrin Kimbler launched his canoe at the mouth of the Columbia River, near Astoria, Ore., with his dog, Mike, and a full load of gear. If all goes according to plan—and according to Kimbler’s blog, CanoeAcrossAmerica.com, not all has gone according to plan already—Kimbler and Mike will paddle into Key West, Fla., in eight months time.
Buyer's Guide
