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:
Aniol
Serrasolses
During all this last week we've been on the road paddling rivers around the spanish and the french pyrenées. Great week with tons of paddling and amazing times with good friends! Check out some pics:
By:
Brendan
Wells
When I arrived home, there was a new Dagger Mamba 8.6 waiting for me, as well as a box from Bomber Gear. Eager to test out the new equipment, I headed to one of my favorite runs in the world-- the Little White Salmon River in Washington state. The...
By:
Aniol
Serrasolses
After our 5 days in Galicia/Portugal we drove again all night to be at home in the morning of the saturday cause we where doing a freestyle kayak course with SBP together with my brother Gerd. The surprise was to find a flooded river! there where...
By:
Tyler
Bradt
Our destination was Mexico. This mission was to be a little different than most. Instead of plugging off big waterfalls we we're attempting to do a seldom done crossing of the Sea of Cortez then continue descending a 300 mile long remote section of...
By:
Brad
Ludden
As we all know, strong shoulders are key to a successful paddling season! There are a few simple movements you can be doing now to get your shoulders in peak shape for paddling this year. The hand stand push up is a great movement that can be done...
By:
Andrew
Holcombe
The Pacuare has a long history of kayaking and rafting in Costa Rica with some of the first companies setting up operations in the early 80's. After spending several days running all the sections I can see why. First off the Pacuare has an amazing...
By:
Andrew
Holcombe
After all snow, sleet, winter mix, or rain when its 35 degrees don't really scream "let's go get wet". However if I can get past that some of the best days I've had on the river have been in the Winter. For me it really brings a different feel, it's...
By:
Christie
Eastman
Here is the latest video from Femme 45! Kate Wagner, Melissa DeCarlo and I dug up our best carnage footage for this one. p.s. Don't try this at home . . .
By:
Brad
Ludden
Dean was in all the major kayak films back in the day and his voice, like Warren Miller's, brings back countless memories. This summer, while kayaking on the Tsaina river near Valdez, I had a chance to hear all about Dean's life and my sense of hero...
By:
Andrew
Holcombe
This year is a special one for me as its my first one back on my road to recovering from a herniated disc. It's been super fun to be a part of everything again and I can't wait to fire out of that start gate. But that's Saturday and this is today. I...
By:
Christie
Eastman
I look forward to this every year. Paddlers go all out with their amazing costumes and it's so much fun to see a colorful line of kayaks, wigs and capes charging down the river. Big thanks to the Herbeck's for organizing and to Drew Eastman for the...
By:
Brendan
Wells
I knew it had to be one of the young local Bellingham paddlers and without thinking replied, “I’m in, see you in thirty.” Impulse decisions have always led to the most exciting adventures of my life and I knew this weekend was going to be one to...