Want to feel more stable and confident in your kayak in whitewater? Try sinking your weight down into your butt. I know it sounds weird, but it works! Placing your focus on your kayak and hips gets your attention away from doing too much with your paddle. Too much paddling actually leads to instability. That’s …
The Secrets to Calm, Confident Whitewater Kayaking Read More »
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 …
Whitewater Kayaking: The Secret to Beautiful Lines Read More »
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 …
Tracy won the trip to Ecuador at the Ladies Southeast Paddling Series party and raffle in October. Here, she tells her experience in her own words: I wasn’t sure what to expect when I stepped off the plane in Ecuador, but I knew it was going to be awesome. I met my other trip mates …
Summer 2015 will be remembered as the premiere season of the Ladies Southeast Paddling Series. Over the course of four months and seven rivers, 176 ladies joined us in meet-up style events to create amazing, fun memories and to celebrate the life of Shannon Christy. $1660 was raised for the Shannon Christy Memorial Fund, which—drumroll …
The last time I was in Ecuador we still went to internet cafes to send emails, their currency was the Sucre and I had been boating for about 3 years and was paddling a Wavesport X. I worked for a local rafting company as a guide and safety kayaker. This year I returned in my …
On a beautiful December day my husband and I drove two hours to paddle the Watauga gorge – a classic Class IV creek in the mountains outside of Boone, NC. On the way to the river I started experiencing pain in my left shoulder blade. It wasn’t the first time that I felt the cranky …
‘I wish I had started kayaking sooner,’ is something I hear from my students who are in their 40s, 50s and 60s. Usually said with a heavy dose of disappointment and often because of a swim or some other challenge that arises on the path of learning. I get it. There is a feeling that …
My whitewater kayak students often hear me say ‘we’re all in between swims,’ and I’ve had the recent opportunity to prove myself right. Since September I’ve had three swims in three months and before that I hadn’t swam in four years. Two of the swims were in Class III where I got too cocky with boofs/holes …
Communication on the river is key to a successful whitewater run and it’s a good idea to make sure that your group is on the same page with river signals and what they mean. Here is a list of basic international river signals that are used by kayakers all over the world. Learning and using …
