The winter time is a great time to hit the indoor pool and play some kayak polo. This image is from the league out in Hood River. It is incredibly competitive, and quite fun. We are looking to start a league here in Portland.
Here are a few shots of the boyz from the bottom. This was one of the most runnable 70 footers I’ve ever seen.
Kayakers at the bottom give some perspective to the height of the drop.
Here are some more pics of Outlit Falls in Washington… From the LIP- POV!!!
Here is a shot of yours truly sweatin bullets shooting the video shot from the lip. This nice perch required rapping off a 20 foot cliff to the sloping ledge with 3-4 feet of snow on it… Pretty exhilerating. Almost as good as running it in a kayak.
We have had several Owyhee rafting trips in our short 10 year history, but this one was the most memorable for me. It was a middle Owyhee river trip in 2006. The river was running a solid 2,200 cfs and we had several eNRG Kayaking teams preparing for the trip. Arturo and I were finishing the first International Rafting Federation guide training and education course delivered in the USA. We were working with Sundance River Company on the Rogue River, and it was raining for the 5 day course. Meanwhile in Portland, Jazen and Kristin were busy prepping the trip with food and everything we needed. Our plan was to rendezvous at the put in- Three Forks. The drive from Merlin OR, to Three Forks is the same distance from Portland to Three Forks (8 hours) especially if you make a few wrong turns:) I promised Arturo (who is from Costa Rica) that it would be sunny in the high desert of OR… and I was wrong. It snowed almost the entire drive.
Gauley Mountain in the New River Gorge recreation area in West Virginia is under serious danger of being destroyed by mountaintop removal mining. This destructive mining practice will permanently scar one of the most beautiful areas of WV. The New and Gauley Rivers host some of the world’s best big water playboating and were among my favorite places to paddle when I lived on the East Coast. These rivers are worth the trip east for any committed whitewater kayaker or rafter.
If you would, please take a few minutes to sign the petition at the link below to help fight for the preservation of this mountain. It only takes a minute or two.
Mike Gottlieb, one of my fellow instructors here at Northwest River Guides, and I had a great 4 days of kayaking this past weekend. With river raging do to rainfall and warm water melting snow, we had the opportunity to get out on some classic sections of river around Portland, OR and do a little classic high-water paddling.
Here is what we got into:
Thursday – High-water playboting on the Upper Clackamas River. With Luke Spencer and Mike Northrop(another NRG Instructor) we put-in at fly creek and paddled a raging section from there down to Bob’s Hole. We had about 8,000 cfs with hugh standing waves and some serious holes but plenty of room to manuever.
Friday – Hagen Gorge on the NF Washougal River. This was Mike’s first run of the classic Portland-area creek. While a shorter section of river, this run packs a good punch with 4 stout drops. Mike was just getting back into the swing of things with a 3 month lay-off due to a broken ankle. We had a lot of water in the run, 7,000 cfs on the Washougal. Hagen was higher than I had ever run it before – and I’ve run it quite high. All the drops went and it was great run.
Saturday – WF of the Hood to the Marina. Mike and I had one of the best days of paddling in a long while. We paddled 17 miles of the Hood River in just 3.25 hours! With a healthy flow (6 ft) and a ride to the put-in (Thanks ORT!) we enjoyed many, many miles of great class 3-4 rapids. Just a wonderful day of boat-scouting, dodging holes and catching waves on the fly.
Sunday – Mike and I taught the river class for the January Advanced Whitewater Seminar. Class was awesome and I could not imagine having more fun on the river. More about this class later.
Happy Paddling, Dave
Mike on Sunset Falls, EF Lewis
I first got an email from Casey Dale with bungee.com that alerted me of the massive shift in wood on Canyon Creek. The vantage point, from his bridge (200 feet off the river) showed a lodgejam that started at Terminator Rapid, and extended all the way through the bottom of the gorge (almost a quarter mile). I couldn’t believe how much wood was in there- looked like close to 1,000,000 board feet. I know that Canyon Creek is in a clearcut zone in Amboy WA, and it has a remarkable “fast up, fast down” flow regiment of clearcut areas.
Sam Drevo busting a quick eddy turn- curtousy of Mark Gamba Photography
Here is the beta on the Oregon Whitewater Association film night January 13th hosted by Sam Drevo and Northwest River Guides.
“High Water In Africa” – It is PG13. This 55 minute video chronicles the rise of one of the most prolific whitewater kayakers today- Steve Fisher and several friends on a quest to run the biggest whitewater in Africa, and Quebec CA. The story interweaves whitewater, Steve’s philosophies, a bit of his life story and close friendship with one of the sports most controversial figures- Dan Cambell. This video was produced by GearboxHD, a local production company, and filmed/edited by Barney Bonito – one of Northwest River Guides instructors (as well as PDX local Craig Ernst). We will open the evening by showing a short 2008 Down the River Cleanup video, a video from the Nelscott Reef Big Wave Contest in Lincoln City OR, and a short film about an Adventure in Paupa New Guinea produced by Epicocity documenting several NRG Kayaking friends and OR Locals- Andy Maser, Brian Eustis, Trip Jennings and Kyle Dickman. This will be an action-packed hour and a half. The OWA usually supplies some free pizza, and there will be an opportunity to sign up for this springs OWA SW Rescue workshop powered by Northwest River Guides. Hope to see you there! Pass this along to anyone you think might be interested. Happy New Year!!!
Location: Portland Fire Bureau’s Training Center, 4800 NE 122nd Ave., Portland, OR. 7pm
This adventure transpired last Friday when the river levels we high yet receeding. The level was perfect for Outlet Falls in Yakima WA. This 69 foot waterfall had icicles everywhere, and the young guns of OR were ready for some action. Eric Boomer, and LJ Grot were all smiles.
I was asked to shoot video at the lip of this monster for Gearbox HD, and it seemed like a paperazzi event with Nate and Heather Herbeck on the scout/beta and filming mission, Richard Hallman on stills with Jed Weingarten, and Charley Munsey hanging off the cliff in different areas, Ryan Scott was there shooting, and Ben Stokesberry and crew showed up just at the right time.
Last night I taught the flatwater skills session/pool class for our Advanced Whitewater Seminar. This class has been my favorite to teach through the winter. It is designed for intermediate and and advanced whitewater kayakers who are looking to make a significant improvement in their skills and technical paddling ability. Chris, Linda and David are so much fun to teach and paddle with. They are super enthusiastic, excited about learning, determined and always asking me difficult questions. Just teaching this class has helped me improve my own paddling quite significantly. Last night we worked on bracing, the Hand-of-God Rescue and some advanced paddling strokes- the C-Stroke, Gliding Draw, the Cross-bow Draw and the Reverse Compound Stroke. On Saturday we have our scheduled river trip for January. I’ll let y’all know how it goes.
The Seminar Classes (Intermediate, Advanced and Creeking) are the best thing we do for experienced kayakers looking to step their game up to the next level. Students participate in a progression of classes, 2 per month, and build solid time with their instructor. This provides incredbile opportunity for advancement by developing skills over time, rather than trying to compress learning. Check these classes out, they are a blast!
-Dave
