whitewater kayak
Olympic Trials Day Two: Nothing Is Certain
04.13.2012 // 0 Comments
This year’s trials have become infused with an inclusive, celebratory spirit that remembers that racing can be fun and stimulating for all involved.
Olympic Trials Day One: Order From Chaos
04.13.2012 // 0 Comments
A fun, carnival atmosphere prevailed at the US National Whitewater Center during the first day of the Olympic Trials yesterday. The day was clear, the sun was hot—and so was the racing.
Stopping the Susitna
04.12.2012 // 2 Comments
After lying dormant for more than 20 years, the plan to dam Alaska’s Susitna River is back on the table.
The Jackson Family Goes To… The Olympics?
04.11.2012 // 2 Comments
The whitewater clan of Eric, Dane, and Emily Jackson will be competing in Charlotte, N.C., this weekend at the Olympic Slalom Trials. Will they make Team USA?
High Water Heroics
04.02.2012 // 2 Comments
“It was epic, the water was huge,” said one of the race organizers, Bill Fordyce. “Half of the safety boaters didn’t want to go out.”
Giants of the Northland
03.23.2012 // 1 Comment
I’ve been paddling in British Columbia for two months and the walled-in, log-choked, continuous and deceivingly powerful rivers here have humbled me every day. On the Ashlu a few weeks back, my friends and I spent a harrowing day racing the runoff from a storm much like this one. The river was running a pushy 700 cfs when we reached the takeout. Hours later, it spiked to 7,000.
STUCK IN THE RAFT RACE
03.22.2012 // 4 Comments
Dan McCain knew he was in for a gentle landing off Oregon’s 70-plus-foot Mosier Falls on Saturday because two years earlier, during the last week of March, McCain paddled a raft over the same waterfall for the first time. He remembers the day clearly; it was the same one that he solo-rafted over the 125-foot spillway of the Condit Dam on the White Salmon River—and claimed what many paddlers are calling a waterfall world-record raft descent.
ACCESS DENIED
03.09.2012 // 3 Comments
In late January, an international group of expedition paddlers intending to descend the Río Copón-Chixoy in the northern Quiché region of Guatemala faced a traumatic experience as angry indigenous villagers near the put-in denied them access to the river. Read the exclusive story of their 14-hour detention here.
End Game
03.07.2012 // 3 Comments
Tao Berman has seen big waves like the one bearing down on him now, but never from the seat of his kayak and never while sitting in the impact zone.
Behind the Scenes
03.05.2012 // 2 Comments
Inside Kentucky’s National Paddling Film Fest, one of the world’s longest-running paddlesports film festivals. Watch clips from the 2012 festival winners here.
The How of Why
03.01.2012 // 1 Comment
After being asked by Nikon to make the movie “Why” using their new D4 DSLR camera (which is now at the top of the C&K wish-list, along with the remote control helicopter they used to film Dane Jackson hucking waterfalls in Veracruz, Mexico), adventure filmmaker Corey Rich also decided to capture what went on behind the scenes of the project.
Heli Footage from the Little White
02.29.2012 // 0 Comments
Remember those awesome helicopter shots of Rush Sturges and Steve Fisher on the Little White Salmon from Sturges’s 2011 Frontier DVD? Well, even if not, here’s some more that didn’t make the final cut (but probably could have).
Seldom Seen Floats
01.20.2012 // 0 Comments
The naturally flowing streams of the arid American West are all about timing. Hit that window just right, and you’ll be grinning like a kid playing hooky from school. So be vigilant.
Seldom Seen Floats: San Francisco River, New Mexico/Arizona
01.18.2012 // 0 Comments
Flanked by pine-covered escarpments and lined with strands of sycamores, cottonwoods, and willows, the sparkling-clear San Francisco is a major tributary of the Upper Gila River, but a complete unknown to most paddlers—possibly because catching the river with navigable flows is difficult at best, and possibly because combat boating skills are a prerequisite to safely traverse this extremely remote stream. Three years ago, when we decided to explore the San Fran, we were met by a lonely land of inaccessible high mountains, rugged canyons, and stark ridges, and a river that tested our fortitude. In between quiet pools were long stretches marked by swift currents and boulder-garden rapids. Great fun. However, what required all our attention, all the time, was the threat of strainers and downed trees often completely blocking the tight channel. Not so fun. That said, the San Francisco ranks near the very top of my favorite ephemeral streams.
Seldom Seen Floats: Little Missouri Scenic River, North Dakota
01.18.2012 // 0 Comments
Cruise through the pastel landscape of North Dakota badlands, past Teddy Roosevelt’s historic ranch site, and through truly remote high plains grassland habitat. The year I went, I got frustrated interpreting the gauge and called the National Park visitor’s center. It must have been a slow morning, because the ranger put the phone down, walked over to the riverbank, and came back with the first-hand flow report. Side hikes abound (as long as rains haven’t turned the trails to gumbo). Think owls, cottonwood bottoms, coulees, and coal seams. White pelicans, desert bighorn sheep, and petrified trees punctuate the miles. Beware, the Little Missouri can brim with water one week, and go dry the next. Choose your window wisely and the reward will be a very quiet and surprisingly scenic week in the land where a few buffalo still roam.
Seldom Seen Floats: Escalante River, Utah
01.18.2012 // 0 Comments
After two trips down the Escalante, I have nearly exhausted my supply of superlatives (Unbelievable! Incredible! Stunning!) when trying to describe this rarely paddled wild jewel in southern Utah’s red-rock canyon country. And I do mean rarely paddled. I bided my time for more than a decade before catching this semi-arid stream with enough water to carry my canoe through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It was well worth the wait. Just when you think that the looping, river corridor can’t get any more spectacular, you careen around a tight bend and are amazed, again and again. Sheer sandstone walls, streaked with magnificent patterns of desert varnish, tower 1,000 feet overhead. Inviting side canyons abound.
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