Are you struggling to find a group of fun, supportive paddling partners? Finding a paddling tribe is key to enjoying the sport for the long term. It’s fun to go out on your own (especially SUP), but that can get old after awhile. Connecting with other like-minded women who share a similar passion is uplifting
Spinning in a hole is a basic whitewater kayaking playboating move that teaches you how to work with the water and also how to set yourself up for harder tricks. It’s super fun and when you get in the groove on a good feature you can spin forever! I love the feeling of dancing with
If you’ve taken kayak instruction from me you know that I’m a big believer in the importance of boat angle in running beautiful lines. The ability to set and maintain your angle when running a rapid can make or break your line, and the amount of control you have going in and out of eddies
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Thank you to those of you who attended Women’s Paddlefest at the Nantahala Outdoor Center and raised close to $3000.00 for charity! High water, mudslides and rain days before the event didn’t stop you from joining in community, empowering yourselves and having fun. Instead of canceling we went ahead with the event modifying programming to
A really smart woman once told me I didn’t need a drysuit when I could just boat where it’s warm enough not to wear one. Inspired by this approach to winter boating, I booked my first international kayaking trip to Mexico and have been traveling ever since. Although it’s not quite drysuit season yet and
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Mind Body Paddle recently re-posted the very first blog post I wrote at Anna’s request—the story of how I became a kayak instructor, written before I actually started instructing. Written before I ever knew that I would end up working for Girls at Play/Mind Body Paddle. I was in high school, writing about this dream
Canyon Creek Lewis. 3.2 miles of glorious, scenic, pool drop whitewater, the site of the Northwest Creeking Competition, mentioned on American Whitewater as: “…one of the best sections in the country for a creeking race.” A year ago it was the upper limits of what I felt comfortable running and moving back to the Pacific
It was Memorial Day weekend, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was blessed with rain, runoff, warm weather, and a gaggle of eager kayakers. I couldn’t wait to paddle the Presque Isle and Black Rivers until they dropped into Lake Superior. I couldn’t wait to just be in my boat, making moves and looking where
“Must-make moves” exist on every river, everywhere. In a class V scenario, they may constitute the only physical options we have to safely run a rapid. On a class II river, they more often represent the choices we have made about how we want to paddle a rapid: hit this eddy. Complete this ferry. Surf this
Our final intermediate clinic of the season was serenaded with summer sunshine, sweet smiles and so much Torso Rotation! Our ladies traveled from Kentucky, Georgia and South Carolina to convene on the French Broad where we worked the rivers current and got intimate with her many eddies! Saturday we reviewed strokes, emphasizing using torso
