s session #44 i n t e r n a t i o n a l
w h i t e w a t e r
Photo: © Erik Parker -Photo: Location: © Matt Stikine BakerRiver - Royal - BC,Gorge Canada - California - Paddler:- USA Ben Marr - Paddler: Rush Sturges.
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ZOOM IN
Paddle Homathko
m a g a z i n e • k a y a k s e s s i o n . c o m
+
Ski Mt Waddington
€ 9,99 / US $ 9.99 CAN $ 9.99 / £ 6.00 (recommended retail price)
WINTER 2012 Display until February 20th 2013
Vavrinec Hradilek PROFILE Bernd Sommer EXPLORE Nunavik - The Next Frontier MISSION Bike & Boat Norway PORTFOLIO Flow Hunters INTERVIEW
NRS Revolution Drytop
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©Erik Johnson/NRS
Go steep.
WORLD WHITEWATER NEWS ..........................................12 SAFE(communi)TY with Benjamin Hjort ............................64 RIVER ANGELS with Mariann Saether ...............................66 NEW WAVE with Rush Sturges ..........................................68 WHAT’S UP DOC? with Jessie Stone ................................70 WATERCOLOR by Katya Kulkova ......................................82
CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EDITORIAL ............................................................................ 4
28 ZOOM IN: HOMATHKO TO WADDINGTON A KAYAKER’S DREAM OF ALTITUDE
In May of 2012, a small international team set out to kayak one of the continent’s most exciting multi-day river trips and ski the Coast Range’s biggest peak in the same trip. It was a mission of epic proportions.
INTERVIEW: VAVRINEC HRADILEK 36
Not only did Vavra earn an Olympic silver medal in slalom this summer, he did it with a style all his own. Meet this kind and humble Czech paddler with a passion for creeking and a sense of humor about sport and life.
42 EXPLORE: EXPLORING NUNAVIK THE FORD RIVER IN NORTHERN QUEBEC
In late summer of this year, a team of Canadian paddlers travelled to the Ford River in northern Quebec, an un-run multiday in the little explored region of Nunavik.
PROFILE: BERND SOMMER 50
You have probably seen Bernd Sommer’s photos, you’ve likely paddled a kayak hull that he influenced, and you might have used one of his handcrafted paddles. His impact on kayaking has come quietly, but his humble confidence and pursuit of excellence continues to shape the world of paddlesports.
56 MISSION: BIKE2BOAT NORWAY
FH
Always a popular paddling destination, this summer Norway was host to a most uncommon kayaking road trip. In July, Olaf Obsommer, Lukas Wielatt and Philip Baues set off to tow their kayaks by bike for 700 miles through the Fjordland, paddling hard earned rivers along the way.
Flow Hunters
Portfolio 72
Kayak Session is edited by Kayak Session Publishing. Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: Philippe Doux - Philippe@kayaksession.com. Editor: Whitney Lonsdale. Art Director: Jérôme Latif - DI Studio. Contributing Writers: Philip Baues, Tyler Williams, Jean-Philippe Paiement, Maximilian Kniewasser, Ben Brown, Jessie Stone, Rush Sturges, Mariann Saether, Benjamin Hjort, Willie Kern. Contributing photographers: Maximilian Kniewasser, Jules Domine, Chris Tretwold, Jens Klatt, Jean-Philippe Paiement, Darin McQuoid, Rush Sturges, Ben Brown, Erik Parker, Guillaume Lafleur, Adam Gendron-Mitchell, Rafa Ortiz, Jed Weingarten, Vincent Krywdyk, Mike Dawson. Advertising & Editorial office: Kayak Session, 1 rue des Rivières 69009 Lyon France +33-(0)472-198-797 tel +33-(0)472-198-799 fax info@kayaksession.com. Warning: The activities shown in Kayak Session carry a risk of personal injury or death. Whitewater kayaking, and other outdoor activities are inherently dangerous. The owners, management, and staff of Kayak Session recommend you do not participate in these activities without first seeking qualified instruction and/or guidance, understanding the risks involved, and personally assuming all responsibility for those risks. Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor or Publishers. References to waters do not necessarily imply that access or passage is legally permitted or that they are safe in all conditions. The editor and/or publishers cannot be held responsible for any omissions of references to hazards from notes on these waters. They do not necessarily support advertising claims nor do they hold themselves responsible for inadequacies in items of equipment reviewed here. N° Commission paritaire: 0715k83428 - ISSN: 1638-0177 - Dépot Légal à Parution - Winter 2012 (November, December, January) all rights reserved ©Kayak Session Publishing 2012. Imprimé en France/Printed in France by Imprimerie Faurite, Parc d’activités des chênes Route de Tramoyes Les Echets 01700 Miribel.
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Homathko to Waddington A Kayaker’s Dream of Altitude
IN MAY OF 2012, A SMALL INTERNATIONAL TEAM TOOK ON A BOLD EXPEDITION TO USE THE HOMATHKO RIVER TO ACCESS B.C.’S MT. WADDINGTON. KAYAKING ONE OF THE CONTINENT’S MOST EXCITING MULTI-DAY RIVER TRIPS AND SKIING THE COAST RANGE’S BIGGEST PEAK IN THE SAME TRIP, IT WAS A MISSION OF EPIC PROPORTIONS Words: Maxi Kniewasser - Photos: Maxi Kniewasser, Jules Domine and Chris Tretwold
ZOOM IN
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Tatlayoko Lake: 51°30’29.66’’N - 124°23’58.77’’W Mt. Waddington: 51°22’33.12’’N - 125°15’55.40’’W
Camp two at the trifluence gave the team a first view of Mt. Waddington.
Jules halfway up Mt. Waddington looking down the Tiedemann Glacier with the Homathko at its base.
‘’How the hell can we get up there?’’ After I caught my first glimpse of Mt. Waddington while paddling down the Homathko River in 2010, I asked myself that question repeatedly. The Homathko is one of the great whitewater challenges on the globe, offering four days of harrowing class 5 whitewater. The river flows south from the Chilcotin Plateau to the Pacific Ocean at Bute Inlet, carving a swath deeper than the Grand Canyon through the heart of the remote Coast Mountains. To the east, the massive Homathko Icefield stretches endlessly, while to the west the jagged peaks of the Waddington range rise upwards to the sky. At its closest point, the river is less than 40 kilometers from the base of Waddington, British Columbia’s highest, and possibly most remote, mountain. The rare traveler on the Homathko, such as myself, just can’t help but look up, way up, and wonder...
Chris and Jules approaching the mountains, day 1.
In 1936, William House and Fritz Wiessner walked along the valley carved by the Homathko River on their historic first ascent of Mount Waddington. They reached the confluence of the Homathko with the Tiedemann River after 17 days. From there, House and Wiessner accessed the Tiedemann Glacier, a long tongue of ice that embraces the eastern side of the Waddington massif. Taking 17 days to reach the confluence illustrates both the complexity of the terrain and the perseverance of the duo. Since then no one has repeated this approach and, in many ways, Waddington today remains as remote as it was in 1936. Having reached the confluence in only two days by paddling through the turbulent canyons rather than hiking around them, it was clear the kayak was the ultimate tool for repeating this approach. In early May of this year Chris Tretwold (USA), Jules Domine (FRA) and I traveled to the shores of Tatlayoko Lake, the source of the Homathko, with high hopes of realizing
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interview
Vavrinec Hradilek
VAVRINEC
HRADILEK The scene takes place during the qualifying runs at the London Olympics: A Czech paddler crosses the finish line with millions of people watching and throws a huge brown claw with an even bigger smile. No one expects this from a slalom paddler, and certainly not in the Olympics. Who is this guy?! This is Vavrinec Hradilek, or Vavra as he is better known. A kayaking machine with an Olympic silver medal to prove it; Vavra also has a sense of humor about sport and life—with an Olympic brown claw to prove it. Not afraid to enjoy a party every now and then, and an avid creek boater, Vavra definitely defies the slalom stereotype. Coming from a country where kayaking is a high profile sport, Vavra is now a star, but you would never know it. His kindness and humility are the first things that stand out about him. We decided to catch up with this young racer to get his take on slalom, extreme racing and more... Words: Philippe Doux - Photography: Jens Klatt, Mike Dawson, Raph Thiebaut, Kenny Mutton, Red Bull media house. INTERVIEW
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Photo: Š Jens Klatt
interview
Photo: © Raph Thiebaut
Vavra using an unconventional crossbow stroke in the London Games. It was fast and people loved it!
KS: Where did you grow up? VH: I am from small town suburb of Prague called Zbuzany. It’s the Kiwis’ favorite place in the Czech Republic! I grew up there, but since my childhood was centered around paddling I spent a lot of time at the river in Prague and around Czech. KS: What is your first paddling memory? VH: When I came to the whitewater course in Prague, I was given the most damaged boat to paddle with. It was a heavy fiberglass kayak with a big hole in the bottom, and it did not give me much confidence. So I was scared as hell, but I managed to stay upright the whole time—apart from the end when I sank! KS: So is that where you learned to paddle? VH: It was in Prague on the Troja artificial whitewater course. It offers a wide range of paddling difficulty and it has great facilities, including a boathouse with shower, sauna, gym and restaurant. I started with a group of other beginners and we have now been together for many years, with a great coach who is still coaching me now. It’s unique, as normally people would not go along with one coach for the whole time. As well, we all went away often for training camps and little races and I loved sleeping in a tent for two weeks and being with my friends, even when we got in trouble for doing dumb stuff (alcohol mostly)! KS: Was slalom your immediate and only love, or did you try it all? VH: I tried other boats early on but I was mostly in the slalom environment. I love challenge, and at the time, slalom was really the only way to get that.
for the pro slalom career. I was just enjoying it all with my close friends and it brought me to where I am now. And it made me amazingly happy. KS: What is it you like so much about slalom paddling? VH: Probably the challenge of creating perfection of motion between the gates. And doing things like trying to step up to crazy offset combinations and such. Slalom also has a definite goal: to be the fastest. That is not to say that I always have to be fastest, but it makes me happy when I am. KS: How would you describe your paddling style? VH: I think, and many people might be surprised to hear me say it, that I am a more technical paddler than physical. But it is true that I use a lot of strength too. When you do not have the ideal body type (small and heavy) you need to do something different than the others! KS: Is your style on the slalom course different from when you are extreme racing or just paddling rivers? VH: It has to be different, as you have to think of getting injured or maybe dying on the river. On the slalom course you only need to think about not touching or missing a gate, so I am more bombing around. KS: You did witness something very intense with your brother on a slalom course though, didn’t you? VH: I was 11 years old, and by that time my brother was a member of the junior national team and they had a training camp in Prague. I was watching him the whole session because I was excited for him to be on the team. At the very end of the session when his coach had already left, he was playing on the wave, surfing and stuff. Suddenly he flipped and disappeared. He got stuck in the boat, which was bent around a concrete obstacle in the middle of the course. The flow was too strong to get the boat to move. About 15 people tried to get him out, but it took well over 15 minutes to close down the course and get him off the obstacle.
KS: What was your first competition like? VH: My first competition was illegal. I was too young to participate, so I raced under a fake name. It was funny too – I did not yet know that even green (downstream) gates situated close to the bank have to be negotiated downstream. So I did them as upstream gates because I liked those better! KS: Did you know right away that you wanted to go hard at slalom paddling for a long time? VH: I was not really thinking then that I’d go After almost missing the start for his first run in the London Games, Vavra spontaneously threw a brown claw as he crossed the finish line. The crowd went wild and so did the online media.
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G N I R O L P X E
NUNAVIK
The Next Frontier of Expedition Paddling
It began like many kayakers’ projects: Dreams of unknown places fuelled by a few pints in a crowded rafting bar. This time it was the Ford River in northern Quebec, an un-run multiday in the little explored region of Nunavik. In late summer of this year, Canadian paddlers, Jean-Philippe Paiement, Guillaume Lafleur, and Adam GendronMitchell took on the self-support first descent of this remote beauty. Words: Jean-Philippe Paiement - Photos: Jean-Philippe Paiement, Guillaume Lafleur, Adam Gendron-Mitchell EXPLORE
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Ford River, Northern Quebec - CANADA 57°55’47’’N - 65°05’55’’W
Guillaume helping the pilot, Billy May, to unload the ride, a turbo-charged Otter float plane.
Adam and Guillaume hiking up from Ford Lake (in the background) to run the Upper North Fork of the Ford River.
Nunavik comprises all of the land in Quebec north of the 55th parallel. With a total area of 507,000 km2, it boasts an impressive number of rivers. The highest volume rivers have been used for centuries as hunting, fishing and trading highways, but there are literally thousands of tributaries and drainages that have been left largely unexplored by watercraft. The landscape is comprised of steep glacial valleys and high flat plateaus creating the perfect conditions for good whitewater. A trio of Canadian paddlers, JeanPhilippe (J-P) Paiement, Guillaume Lafleur, and Adam Gendron-Mitchell had set their eyes on the Ford River, which lies in the Eastern part of Nunavik, 1500 km north of Montréal and 200 km east of Kuujjuaq, Quebec. Originating on the Mount Pyramids plateau, it flows into the Georges River, a classic among canoe enthusiasts. After studying Google Earth, the team had chosen a 65-kilometer section of the Ford they hoped could be done in 6 days of self-support. Excited as they were about the pure goal of exploration, the trio had other aspirations for the mission. They would assess the potential of using the Ford for future guided rafting expeditions, as it flows right
Home sweet home!
through the middle of a soon to be established provincial park. They also planned to conduct whitewater training with a group of Inuit from the town of Kangiqsualujjuaq (aka Georges River). If time allowed, probing for new runs around Kangiqsualujjuaq would be an extra bonus. The plan was fairly straightforward, but as it turned out, the logistics were not! The Ford River was in their own country/backyard, but logistics-wise, it might has well have been at the other end of the planet! Nunavik is only accessible by airplane from southern Quebec; there are no road connections with the south, nor are there any in between the small number of scattered villages. As the expedition grew closer, the sheer size of the project became clearer and clearer. With only two months to plan and a fulltime job to maintain, team member and logistician J-P was kept busy up to the final days before departure. Getting to the put-in lake wasn’t going to be easy, and certainly not cheap, but it was definitely going to be worth it.
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Photo: Jared Meehan
profile
Bernd Sommer
profile
BERND SOMMER
Whitewater legend
You have probably seen Bernd Sommer’s photos, you’ve likely paddled a kayak hull that he influenced, and you might have used one of his hand crafted paddles. But you definitely have not witnessed anyone paddle a boat quite like Bernd, unless it was Bernd himself. A globe-trotting kayaker with an impeccable slalom style, Bernd Sommer’s influence on kayaking has come quietly. From behind the scenes, he thrives on everything new in paddling; whitewater kayaking, outrigger racing, surfskiing, SUP guiding. At every stage in his varied history of pursuits, Bernd has triumphed. His humble confidence and pursuit of excellence continues to shape the world of paddlesports. Words: Tyler Williams - Photography: Jared Meehan, Arnd Schaeftlein, Andy Phillips, Erwin Sommer, Michael Neumann, Jochen Lettmann, Robert Sommer, Bernd Sommer PROFILE
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Photo: Arnd Schaeftlein
Sommer running Kootenai Falls in Montana on his first trip to the US in 1995.
Clackamas River, Oregon, USA, 1994: A line up of paddlers peeled one by one into a feature known as Bob’s Hole. Each carefully balanced on the pile of foam before following the same practiced routine—side surf, paddle twirl, cartwheel, washout, roll up in the waves below.
His prowess was, and still is, fueled by an attention to detail and a subdued intensity. Bernd carries
high expectations for himself, and he usually meets them, be it kayaking, carpentry, or photography.
Upstream from the popular hole was a wave, glassy smooth and relatively unimpressive, hardly the type of feature one would associate with an event called ‘’whitewater rodeo.’’ Upon this ordinary wave a paddler surfed, carving across the gathering water in long arcs. Occasionally, at the precise moment, the solo paddler would spin his kayak—a ten-foot-long Prijon Hurricane—so that he remained on the wave in a back-surf. Then, with a delicate combination of balance, paddle strokes, and timing, his boat turned sideways to the current, releasing from the water to spin another 180 degrees, back into a front-surf.
Dunbar Hardy was one of the hole riders from below who happened to look upstream just in time to see such a maneuver. His reaction was pure astonishment. ‘’The rest of us weren’t even looking at that wave,’’ says Hardy, ‘’and this guy was up there doing flat spins. We didn’t have the skills for it, but he was up there clearly trying to progress the sport.’’ The flat spinning paddler was German-born Bernd Sommer, and through nothing more than his own desire to try new things, he was indeed helping the sport progress. He had barely entered a freestyle competition before, but at the end of the weekend he was crowned with first place in the reputable Bob’s Hole Whitewater Rodeo. After the event, Corran Addison gave him a Fury—the first planing hull freestyle boat. ‘’He made a big impression on me,’’ Corran recalls. ‘’He spoke almost no English, was quiet, and he could really paddle!’’ The following year, Bernd was paddling Corran’s Fury at the freestyle world championships. Over the next several years, the two paddlers shared ideas on radical new designs that shaped the direction of whitewater boats into the next century. Bernd Sommer had a natural background for such paddling acumen. His grandfather built his own canoes in the 1930s. His dad, Erwin, was an avid paddler in the 1950s and 60s, and as his family grew, so did his determination to keep running rivers. The middle-class Sommers owned one car. It was a camper van. Weekend outings led to local rivers in southern Germany. Longer trips took them to the Mediterranean for sea kayak adventures. Bernd’s brother Ulf, twelve years his senior, was racing slalom by the time Bernd was four
years old. By then Bernd was getting his first taste of paddling from the front seat of dad’s two-man kayak. Most of the trips were restricted to flat, touring waterways, but the occasional weir drop added spice to the runs. Bernd was a fan of the weirs.
Erwin paddled his K-2 over the playful sluices numerous times without incident, bringing grins of joy to his offspring in the front cockpit, but one day the backwash was a little stronger, and the boat was suddenly upside down. Five-yearold Bernd had been in an inverted kayak before, having practiced the breath-holding tuck while dad rolled the boat in calm put-in eddies. This, the child reasoned, was no different. But Erwin knew better. His roll failed in the aerated foam. He swam. Bernd waited. With adrenalized, paternal effort, Erwin found his way to the front of the boat and released his son’s sprayskirt, swimming them both to safety. In his innocence, Bernd thought little of the incident, wondering simply why they hadn’t rolled sooner. He was almost six. It was time for his own boat. He could roll his kid-size fiberglass kayak almost immediately. Big brother Ulf was his role model, paddling with a grace and precision that earned him an 8th-place finish at the 1987 world slalom championships. That course, on France’s Isere, was an especially challenging one, and Bernd, now fourteen, paddled it after the competition. It proved to be the most challenging whitewater he had yet seen. He was a long way from racing down such a rapid, but the thrill of class IV was addictive, and his ticket to that type of whitewater came through slalom. At a juniors’ training camp on the Rhein, Bernd recognized a boy who had won races in the past, and would likely be his chief rival for the regional team’s top spot. His name was Olli Grau. The two became fast friends, and paddling partners, each sharing an attraction to all around river running, and as they grew, a waning enthusiasm for competitive slalom. When they turned eighteen (their birthdays are only months apart), they got driver’s licenses, and their slalom years were summarily dispatched for a future of diverse river experiences. Every weekend brought a new Alp standard, the Inn, the Versasca, Lofer Canyon, Brandenberger Ache. During winter, they rallied to catch rainstorm runs in Germany’s Black Forest region. Come April, they made the mandatory German kayaker’s pilgrimage to Corsica. The water was typically low, but ‘’the red wine was cheap,’’ recalls Bernd.
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BIKE2BOAT With Bike and Boat Through Norway Words: Phil Baues - Photos: Jens Klatt
MISSION
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NORWAY IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST PLACES FOR WHITEWATER KAYAKING IN THE WOR LD. A COM MON PADD LING DEST INAT ION, THIS YEAR NORWAY WAS HOST TO A MOST UNCOMMON KAYAKING ROAD TRIP. IN JULY, OLAF OBSOMMER, LUKAS WIELATT AND PHILIP BAUES SET OFF TO TOW THEIR KAYAKS BY BIKE FOR 700 MILES THROUGH THE FJORDLAND, PADDLING HARD EARNED RIVERS ALONG THE WAY.
Put-in: Bergen, Norway: 60° 23’ N - 5° 20’ O Take out: Åndalsnes, Norway: 62° 34’ N - 7° 41’ O
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RIVER
Along with specific advice on playboating, creeking and exploratory kayaking from some of the top female athletes in the industry, you will read inspirational and empowering stories of whitewater women and their lives on rivers around the world. This column will be the link between the different female voices within our river community, like the river itself that runs through all of our lives and brings us together in the search for flowing water.
ANGELS
By Mariann Saether
THE INSPIRATION OF A FEW
river angels
by Mariann Saether
Many guys find themselves at the top of a serious horizon line from time to time, the only one contemplating the drop. How many female kayakers do you know who would do the same? Not many. It would be easy to feel intimidated by these women, or to think they are crazy; yet they can be a source of inspiration to female and male kayakers alike. Shannon Carroll, a long-time legend in the influential California scene, is one of these powerful women. I recently talked with her to find out what sends her off those horizon lines with the guys standing watching on the side. Shannon has been drawn to heights since childhood. Once while rappelling off a fifty-meter cliff with her dad and sister she recalls thinking, ‘’I wish I could jump!” The kayaking adventure had not yet begun so little did she know she would eventually jump off many cliffs, with the additions of water and a plastic boat. As one of the first female paddlers to take on seriously high waterfalls, Shannon paved her way quickly in a male-dominated sport. In July of 1998, Shannon took on the biggest horizon line of her life, running 80-foot Sahalie Falls. This was a breathtaking height at the time and she set the waterfall World Record with the run. It was also a first descent, and a waterfall which most professional kayakers still consider tricky. Then there was Johnson Falls in 1999, the close to 100-foot waterfall that a little later made Tao Berman famous. Shannon ended up reluctantly stepping back from the lip, though her inner drive to push her self was only getting stronger. My first time meeting Shannon was in California in 2000. I remember being starstruck and she was a big source of inspiration for me. It was, however, a two-sided fascination. Some close calls and bad swims had quickly given Shannon an ominous reputation. Yet I could not help but feel awed by her obvious mental strength and ability to take the charge. She showed me, and others, that there is no reason why women paddlers cannot become as good as the men. To this day Shannon gets confused when asked about fear. “I don’t know that I really experience fear. I believe the feelings you’re talking about are best described as nerves. Feeling nervous is a good thing, it’s a nice reminder that I’m human and that I have emotions and built in safety alarms.” She explains why she is often the first one to step up to the big ones, oblivious to the guys scrutinizing her line from shore. “I usually like to decide whether I’m going to run a drop or not based on my own evaluations rather than to wait around and see how it goes for others and then decide.” And that she does. Where does this drive come from, this inner search for excitement and adrenaline? The answer is almost obvious, considering her big feats within the free-falling realm. “Waterfalls. I think this passion developed from climbing and rappelling, and they are what drives me on the river,” she says. Just like her first time in the Royal Gorge of the North Fork of the American in California, when she stepped up again with the boys watching from the sideline. The year was 2002, a time when most pro-kayakers seemed to make a spring pilgrimage to California. Everybody was attending the freestyle circuit on the weekends and enjoying bedrock heaven in between. Shannon found herself one day standing with Ben Coleman and Taylor Robertson at the lip of Heath Springs 2, one of the hardest rapids in the Royal Gorge. Up until that point, the drop had not been successfully run but Shannon took it on and ran it smoothly while Taylor and Ben watched from shore. When Shannon returned two years later with a bigger crew, most of them paddled Heath Springs 1 and then started portaging number two. Shannon did not. After a quick chat with Matze Brustman (GER), he agreed to watch her to make sure she came out all right at the bottom. Her line ended up being so convincing that Matze followed the charge. Needless to say, they both sat grinning in the eddy waiting for the rest of the crew to finish the portage. After some wild years running everything the Sierras could offer and always being in the lead, Shannon took some time to study and get a job. Paddling took a backseat for a while, but in the past two years the redheaded girl styling the big drops has started to reappear. Working as a nurse Shannon also finds meaning off the water, and she splits her time between making a difference in everyday life and running the rivers of California. It takes an incredible inner strength to step up to a drop when nobody else is seeing the line. In the end it is not about gender. It is about the person. Instead of feeling intimidated by these individuals, let them inspire you. Because as George Elliot said: “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” Shannon´s sponsors: Pyranha, Kokatat, Werner Paddles, SnapDragon Mariann Saether is a part of the FLUX initiative: A group of whitewater women that hope to inspire and empower others to get out on the water and live their dreams. For more info go to www.flux.com. You can follow Mariann on her adventures on www.mariannsaether.no and www.soriamoriadventures.com Mariann Saether (NOR) has kayaked since the age of 17, excelling in all aspects of the sport. Besides claiming numerous first descents, she placed 4th in the World Championships in freestyle, Thun (2009). She has written a guidebook to Chile´s whitewater, and runs her own adventure company Soria Moria Adventures. In 2011 she was chosen ‘’Rider of the year’’ by the whitewater community. When she is not roaming the world kayaking, she can be found in her cabin on the shores of the Futaleufu river in Chile, skiing in Switzerland or exploring her native country of Norway. She is also finishing up an 8-year university degree at the Bergen University. Mariann sponsor’s are: Sweet Protection, Liquid Logic kayaks, Kober Moll Paddles, Norsk Fjellsport, Five Ten, Vertikal AS, Sel kommune, NRS and Sandiline. TECHNIQUE
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Photography: Darin McQuoid
newwave
Bringing new perspectives and fresh ideas, up and coming paddlers help keep our sport growing and evolving. In this column Rush Sturges catches up with some of kayaking’s most exciting young stars… By Rush Sturges
Meet rising star Hunt Jennings, an 18-year old graduate of New River Academy from Chattanooga, TN. In just 7 quick years, Hunt has risen from a freestyle Grom on the Junior scene to a steep creeking/big waterfall hucking/expedition prodigy. This past summer he was completing California multi-days such as Middle Kings and Upper Cherry, as well as styling many of the hardest big waterfalls in the Northwest and Southeast. Challenging rivers and waterfalls aside, perhaps his most profound accomplishment this season was a successful rescue/resuscitation of a fellow paddler in the high Sierras. Hunt has spent almost every single day of the past 2 years in his kayak, and his dedication shows.
new wave
by Rush Sturges
RS: Who has influenced you the most in kayaking and why? HJ: If I had to choose the person who has influenced me the most I would give credit to Pat Keller. From my first ever run down the Green Narrows, to our tandem run of 70+ Cane Creek Falls, he has encouraged, taught, and demonstrated to me an incredible amount within the sport of kayaking. Not only have I learned technique and skill from Pat, I have also taken away countless other lessons concerning safety practices, decision-making, and understanding of whitewater. RS: In your mind, what do you hope to get out of kayaking? Do you intend to do this as a profession? HJ: Kayaking is my passion, and each year it seems to do nothing but become a bigger and more integral part of my life. I live and breathe paddling, and everyday that I don’t get to go, I feel like something is missing. I have been to many awesome places, seen many amazing things, met incredible people, and experienced way too many epic days on the river to ever go back to a normal lifestyle. Kayaking doesn’t exactly offer a ton of money (when compared to other professional sports) however, I would rather live a more simple lifestyle, and do what I love everyday, than have a huge income with no time to take advantage of it. RS: What would you say have been your greatest setbacks in your paddling life? HJ: This past summer, I had a pretty serious concussion due to a hard hit/slightly flat landing on Koosah Falls, resulting in serious short term memory loss, a night in the hospital, and a flight home the next day. Due to this injury, I was not able to paddle anything over class II or exert myself physically for over a month. I had lots of time to think about the drops I had been running/wanted to run, and weigh out the risks versus rewards. Also during that time, I got a lot of comments/online messages from people who were scolding me and advising me to stop running whitewater of this caliber. I know for the most part these people were just worried about me, but it did make me have mixed feelings about continuing to run big drops. I’m stoked to have worked through that period, and be back on the water doing what I love most! RS: Here is a quote from Doug Ammons in an interview: ‘’Is hucking waterfalls all there is to kayaking? These guys are throwing themselves off waterfalls and not even bothering to run the rivers they’re on. What’s important about that?’’ Do you think that is a fair assessment of what’s going on in the sport? HJ: I have no tolerance for the attitude that running big drops is ‘‘just falling,’’ and there is no skill involved. Yes, anyone can huck themselves off of something tall, and maybe be ok, but to have an understanding of the dynamics of waterfalls, and the knowledge to know how to put yourself in the right spot in the entrance, at the lip, and landing, takes an insane amount of skill and execution. Every waterfall is different, but they follow patterns, and being able to consistently interpret them, and execute them properly means you have to train extensively in this new aspect of the sport. That said, many of my top moments in a kayak, and my biggest achievements have been finishing a multi-day run, or getting to the bottom of a big rapid. RS: Are you passionate about freestyle? Or is it all about creeking only? HJ: I still love getting in my freestyle boat and perfecting moves, racing/attaining in long boats, and practicing in my slalom boat. The more aspects of kayaking you get into, and the more boats you learn, the better your skills and understanding of whitewater will be! RS: What is your underlying drive in kayaking? HJ: The sport itself is unique. The fact that through years of studying, learning, and experimenting, we can assess the most powerful force on earth, and use the knowledge and skills we have developed to navigate through what 99.9% of the world would consider insanity, sets kayaking apart. The limits are endless! RS: What’s a basic quote you would say you live by? HJ: “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard”
Words: Rush Sturges - Photos: Clay Wright and Seth Dow TECHNIQUE
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This month, we are going to review how best to deal with your sore, beat –up, post-kayaking body. Many people take “Vitamin I” and its important to understand if you are taking the right medicine and the pluses and minuses of doing so. For this, it is helpful to understand how the inflammation pathway works in the body as well as understanding that inflammation is the body’s automatic and natural response to trauma, any kind of trauma. Inflammation is defined as swelling, heat, redness and tenderness or pain in an area of trauma. The response to trauma by the body is both helpful and harmful to the ultimate healing of the body. For the harmful part, we can expedite the body’s response to healing using medicines.
doctor river
by Dr. Jessie Stone
Treating Pain and Inflammation The inflammatory response happens both at the local level of trauma and globally in the whole body. At the site of injury when cell membranes are damaged, an enzyme called Phospholipase A2 is released. Phospholipase A2 initiates an inflammatory cascade of responses known as the arachidonic acid pathway. This local inflammatory pathway is mediated by cellular communicators called cytokines that ultimately cause the release of prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes. Prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes cause both the good and bad parts of the inflammatory response. Once the Arachidonic Acid pathway is initiated, two enzymes are released which lead down two parallel pathways. On one side, an enzyme called cyclooxygenase is activated and leads ultimately to the release of factors that cause clotting, inflammation, and pain. On the other side, 5-lipoxygenase is released which ultimately causes the release of leukocytes or white blood cells necessary to get rid of dead tissue and fight infection. If there is too much inflammation, this can impede the healing process and can cause more pain. There are a number of ways to control pain and inflammation at various levels of the inflammation cascade. Starting at the top of the pathway, steroids block the formation of arachidonic acid by inhibiting the enzyme phospholipase A2 and subsequently both arms of the inflammatory cascade. Steroids thus block all end results of the inflammatory pathway including the good products of inflammation, which include the formation of leukocytes and protective prostaglandins. So while steroids can be very powerful anti-inflammatories they also can suppress your immune system at the same time. Steroids can cause a lot of other responses in your body that can ultimately over time be very damaging to your health. If you have to take steroids for inflammation, do so as a last resort only. Other types of over the counter anti-inflammatories and pain relievers act on the inflammatory cascade lower down in the pathway and have far fewer systemic effects. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) are the general name for over the counter medicine that you can buy that act to reduce inflammation and pain at this level. These drugs act to stop the production of cyclooxygenase on one side of the inflammation pathway and not the 5-Lipoxygenase pathway on the other side. These drugs act to inhibit platelets, reduce swelling or inflammation, and stop the production of protective prostaglandins in your stomach. Since these drugs act only on the cyclooxygenase related pathway, they do not suppress the formation and activation of white blood cells. At the right dose, they can be very effective anti-inflammatories, fever reducers, and are also very effective pain relievers. The one catch is that they will suppress the production of the protective prostaglandin layer in your stomach so if you take NSAIDs make sure you take them with plenty of food and water so you don’t burn a hole in your stomach. Specific inhibitors of clycloxygenase-2 have been developed and these NSAIDS do not stop production of the protective prostaglandins in your stomach. These are very effective reducers of inflammation, pain and fever, but are also quite pricey. Another important factor to remember is that none of the NSAIDS are addictive or habit forming so you don’t have to worry about becoming addicted to them. That said, you want to monitor the dose you are taking because too much of these NSAIDS can harm your kidneys and your stomach. NSAIDS include aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen. The only difference in action among these three medicines is that aspirin permanently inhibits platelets whereas ibuprofen and naproxen inhibit platelets temporarily. Maybe you have heard doctors recommend taking an aspirin a day to reduce the risk of heart attack? Aspirin has a permanent ability to inhibit platelets and thereby inhibit the formation of a clot that can lead to a heart attack. It can also make you bleed more if you get cut. The other drug that is often included with NSAIDs but acts differently is acetaminophen. Tylenol is the most commonly known brand of acetaminophen. Acetaminophen does not inhibit cyclooxygenase so it does not reduce inflammation and also does not inhibit the production of prostaglandins in the stomach. It does reduce fever and pain. Many people who have pain and stomach sensitivity prefer acetaminophen, but if what you need is help reducing inflammation, you need to take ibuprofen or naproxen. In addition, essential fatty acid supplements that supply fatty acids that your body cannot produce can also act as anti-inflammatories, but I think we need a separate column dedicated to them! Dr. Jessie Stone is both a world-class kayaker and a doctor of medicine, having graduated from the Medical School of New York City. She also runs a successful malaria prevention campaign in Uganda (Kayak Session #21). For more info on Jessie’s malaria actions go to www.softpowerhealth.org. Visit Kayak Session online and ask Jessie about any illness or injury related to kayaking: Ask the Doc! at www.kayaksession.com
Photos: Courtesy of Jessie Stone TECHNIQUE
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FH Portfolio
Rafa, Ben, Jared and Rush figuring out where to head next. Photo Miles Holden
Flow Hunters The Red Bull Flow Hunters Project had a simple plan: bring together four close friends to explore the steep creeking of New Zealand. Having spent many years exploring rivers all over the world, Kiwis Ben Brown and Jared Meehan decided to bring it back to the motherland in honor of the fact that some of the finest whitewater on the planet is right at home in Aotearoa. They invited Rush Sturges (USA) and Rafa Ortiz (MEX) to join them and, with a loose plan in place, they loaded up their RV and hit the road to see where the adventure would take them. The mission was not to reinvent the wheel, but to experience and document some of the key factors that make the sport of kayaking great: the landscape, the people you meet, the local crews who are out there day in and day out opening up new runs, and the adventures that happen when you least expect them. The outcome was a 35-day adventure that spanned multiple rivers, both islands of New Zealand, and more than one epic along the way. Thanks to the support of Red Bull, some cutting edge techniques were available to capture the project. Using a helicopter-mounted cineflex camera the team was able to document NZ’s spectacular West Coast heli-boating as well as a frightening encounter with a siphon, an all too real aspect of our sport. Despite a few close calls, the team emerged at the other end of the trip privileged to have sampled some of the best and most diverse paddling NZ has to offer.
Searching out hidden drops on the North Island’s Central Plateau under the shadow of Mount Ngauruhoe. The RV was the mode of transport and mission HQ for the 35-day adventure. Photo Graeme Murray
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A moment of reflection after a demanding day, Justin Venable enjoys a cup of tea on the steps of Serpentine Hut during the two-day descent of the Mungo/Upper Hokitika River. Photo Rafa Ortiz
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