By:
Ben
Coleman
By Aeon Russo The Dagger Nomad has been my most trusted chariot on every stout I’ve stepped up to because of its responsiveness, forgiving nature, and reliability. The Contour Ergo outfitting makes me feel as if the kayak is an extension of myself and the impacts are way softer than you could ever imagine. When I drop in, the Nomad gives me the confidence I need to turn off my mind and tune into the flow. Top 10 Reasons Why the Dagger Nomad Stomps the Stouts 1. How smoothly it transitions to vertical. All you need to do is relax, plant a stroke, and tuck up when you’re about to plug ‘er deep...
By:
Chris
Loomis
Cancer is lonely. Young adults affected by cancer know this all too well. One of the biggest contributors to feelings of loneliness for young adult survivors is the lack of belonging. It can be hard not knowing if there are others out there like you, dealing with the unique challenges a cancer diagnosis presents during the “formative” years of your life. On September 26, 2013, just two weeks after my 24 th birthday, I was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Just mere months after graduating from college, I was to be sidelined for the next 6 months...
By:
Brendan
Wells
I know it's a bit late, but here's a post from a few weekends ago. Rush told me that over the weekend, there would be a helicopter filming some of my favorite rivers and waterfalls around my home town of Trout Lake, Washington. I was super excited to see a new perspective on kayaking, especially on the rivers that I have grown up with and have shaped me into the person I am today. We started out the weekend by driving to one of my very favorite drainages that runs off the east side of Mt. Adams-- the Lewis River. The all too classic Upper Falls was at a perfect level and something like...
By:
Hannah
Kertesz
I arrived in Medellín on Thursday night (11/6) and the next day I was hiking through the jungle towards my first Colombian river - el río verde! We drove 2 hours outside Medellín to a village called San Francisco. Not exactly the same as the San Fran we all know. The streets are narrow and more populated with donkeys and horses than with cars. Jules met up with his friend who owns a hardware store full of machetes, etc and arranged for a shuttle driver. We packed in with the driver and continued down a dirt road through San Fran, pushing through the herds of donkeys. We came to a fork in the...
By:
Tom
Janney
We had to divert back to the takeout and jam into one vehicle but luckily Rolf was able to get us a shuttle driver saving us 2-3 hours of driving. We made it through the maze of backroads to the hike in spot just past ross crossing at 4pm and down the hill we headed through a nicely groomed trail thanks to Darin Mcquoid. We were geared up and shoving off at 5:30pm, all of us had done the run and felt good bombing most of the first big drops. Jim got out to scout the biggest drop on the run since it had been 5 years since he had been down but besides that we stayed in our boats and made good...
By:
Jason
Beakes
“Flow” is a state of mind – achieved when athletes feel completely engaged in their performance, lose their perception of time, concentrate on the moment (without distraction or dilution), and, perform at extremely high levels. Essentially, these are the moments in sport that we as athletes, coaches, and consultants are all striving to accomplish. Not only has the Flow state of mind been linked with outrageously positive accomplishments in sport, it is also the state of mind that has been shown to offer us meaning in our lives.” Racing kayaks down hard whitewater is one of the finest ways to...
By:
Evan
Lyendecker
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 9.0px Helvetica} The Life Of My Helmet By Logan Smith Keeping it tight on both my temples, equal pressure presses on the back as in the front. I make sure I can see, I can buckle my helmet easily, take it...
By:
Ben
Coleman
By Aeon Russo The Dagger Nomad has been my most trusted chariot on every stout I’ve stepped up to because of its responsiveness, forgiving nature, and reliability. The Contour Ergo outfitting makes me feel as if the kayak is an extension of myself...
By:
Ben
Coleman
JUMPING THE MENTAL HURDLE Learning the Eskimo roll can be more of a mental challenge than a physical one, because it involves staying calm while performing a maneuver below the surface of the water–an environment in which we humans can’t breathe...
By:
Ben
Coleman
BEGINNER’S BEST BETS REGIONALLY WEST COAST: SKYKOMISH RIVER, WASH. An hour’s drive northeast of downtown Seattle gets you to this classic 2.5-mile stretch from Railroad Bridge to Big Eddy, which is considered Class II, but like most runs, varies...
By:
Ben
Coleman
SCHOOL SESSON Don’t worry … there’s no detention at these summer schools if you don’t get it right. Only dunkings. Beginner, intermediate or even advanced, if you want to take your paddling to the next level—be it canoeing, whitewater kayaking or...
By:
Ben
Coleman
Catching Eddies Catching eddies makes you a better paddler. If you want to refine your skills, challenge yourself to catch as many eddies as possible the next time you paddle one of your favorite rapids. Catching eddies is where all your strokes...
By:
Ben
Coleman
Connection Paddling is about relationships. Every paddler has to begin somewhere, and though these early days can be fraught with challenge, obstacles, and failures, they often create the conditions for some of the most significant and formative...
By:
Ben
Coleman
Turning Stroke The turning stroke is used to point your boat in the direction you want to go. The main difference between the turning stroke and the forward stroke is the position of the paddle shaft. The paddle shaft is positioned vertically for...
By:
Ben
Coleman
Guide to Getting Started Hitting the river for the first time can be an exciting and daunting experience. It may be a new environment, and the gear is often, at first glance, imposing and unfamiliar. Spending some time thinking about, and...
By:
Ben
Coleman
Rolling the Kayak Rolling the kayak intimidates many people. If you stop to consider, the endeavor is a considerable challenge, and unique in sports. Learning the skill requires dealing with not being able to see or hear clearly, not to mention...
By:
Ben
Coleman
Safety Having a good safety plan is paramount to a successful day on the water. This not an instructional on how to learn how to create a safety plan, or on specific safety skills like setting up a z-drag. Safety is a big topic, and there is a lot...
By:
Ben
Coleman
Forward Stroke The forward stroke might not seem complicated, after all, there are plenty of people that are able to hop in a kayak and paddle it forward on their very first try. This is true, but whitewater kayaks in particular, can have a bit of a...