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Welcome to the Longboat Revolution: Greenboat on Site Zed

By: Todd Wells Initially utilized by the Inuit, Yup'ik and Aleut people, kayaks were utilized for hunting and fishing. These long kayaks constructed of wood, bone and/or animal skin were a revolutionary invention that transformed the way of life for the North American Natives. A longer kayak meant speed and efficiency, which was necessary for the long distances to be covered in short periods of time. With a drastic transformation in boat design over the last few decades, especially within the whitewater world, kayaks have grown shorter and shorter. This metamorphasis has brought upon revolutionary changes...

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Wizards Eye

Another week in the Columbia River Gorge....with a helicopter!

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...

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kayaking trips across the Pacific Northwest.

El Río Verde en Colombia! Part One...

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...

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Paddling in Colombia

Dinkey Creek

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...

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Dinkey Creek

Why I love to race kayaks!

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...

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Racing Kayaks

Rio Pacuare a Costa Rican gem

Rio Pacuare a Costa Rican gem

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...

Wintertime!

Wintertime!

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...

Freezing

Freezing

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...

The Green Race and Short Term Memory

The Green Race and Short Term Memory

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...

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

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...

Skookumchuck Narrows

Skookumchuck Narrows

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...

Tips for Paddling Big Water

Tips for Paddling Big Water

By: Anna Levesque I’ve been fortunate enough to paddle some of the bigger rivers in the world including the White Nile in Africa, the Slave River in the Northwest Territories, the Ottawa, the Grand Canyon, the Salmon and I highly recommend the big water experience...

Eddy Catching 101: let the eddy work for you

Eddy Catching 101: let the eddy work for you

By: Andrew Holcombe I'm going to take a moment to talk about catching eddies, actually what I really want to talk about is making it easy. No more almost making it but sliding out the back or struggling to cross the eddy line. Eddies can turn from your nemesis into...

People Magazine

People Magazine

By: Brad Ludden Finally kayaking is getting the recognition it deserves as is a great organization, First Descents. Check it! People Feature If you know someone between 18-39 with cancer, please tell them about the free adventure at First Descents . If you're...

The Yoga of Kayaking

The Yoga of Kayaking

By: Anna Levesque The word ‘yoga’ means ‘union’ and there are wonderful life lessons to be learned when we allow ourselves to feel ‘united’ with the waters that we paddle. That’s why I like to call what I’ve learned from water ‘The Yoga of Kayaking.’ In this article...

Summer Training! It's Gonna Be A Big One!

Summer Training! It's Gonna Be A Big One!

By: Brad Ludden Here are a few key pointers to get ready for big water. MOBILITY IS KEY! Avoiding injuries is better than rehabbing and most injuries can be avoided through mobility. Kayakers (myself included) usually have unique (to be read as BAD) posture from...

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