Irene on December 24th, 2009

Here’s a video I saw the other day on the Kayaking Sucks website, an obvious example of some of the other stuff (i.e., aside from getting sucked into a massive hole, etc.) that can unexpectedly go wrong you’re kayaking.  (Getting sucked into a massive hole I’ve pretty much come to expect.)

They make some good points on [...]

Continue reading about Video: 2004 Sultan River Landslide

Since a lot of whitewater kayakers are downhill skiers as well I thought I’d use that as an excuse to post this totally non-whitewater kayaking-related video – ostensibly in deference to what I think is our earliest ski season opening on record, but really just because it has some great tree skiing shots and I like [...]

Continue reading about Video: OK, We Are Having the Earliest Ski Season on Record

I was messing around on the Jackson Kayak site recently and from there somehow ended up finding this video about Jackson team member Dr. Jessie Stone.  In addition to being a superb kayaker and apparently an extremely nice person (going from her interview and the way she comes across on the old Eric Jackson’s Strokes and Concepts video, [...]

Continue reading about Video: Jackson Team Member Dr. Jessie Stone Talks About Malaria Outreach in Uganda

Irene on November 23rd, 2009

So is it foolish to kayak on Friday the 13th?  I’m not superstitious, but as I was heading out to boat that morning I remember thinking how ironic it would be if there ended up being river carnage that day.  As it turns out, I was front and center in the carnage department, but at [...]

Continue reading about Friday the 13th Lives Up To Its Name – Kind Of

Before I write an enthralling post about what I learned from my accident on the Skykomish River yesterday, I wanted to give a heads-up about what appears to be a really cool organization, Peak 7 Adventures.  It’s a non-profit ministry that teaches underprivileged and at-risk youths how to whitewater kayak, raft, climb and backpack, and they [...]

Continue reading about Peak 7 Adventures Teaches Whitewater Kayaking to At-Risk Youths (and Helps Injured Boneheads Like Me)

Irene on November 1st, 2009

You might recall that a few months ago I posted about Stephen P., who joined us on a Class III Skykomish run after having done just a couple Class I-II runs before that, and who amazed us all by having a self-taught roll that turned out to be a really good hand roll (he would just [...]

Continue reading about Update On the Hand Roll Whiz Kid

Irene on September 9th, 2009

Never mind that I’ve gone upside down and backwards over, well, more ledge drops than I can think of, including the last section of Boulder Drop.  It still always amazes me how easy it is to lay yourself up from kayaking doing something completely ridiculous.
Here are a few of my experiences this year:
Silly Kayaking Injury #1:  [...]

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Irene on July 13th, 2009

I was talking with my friend Maureen Nolan, who surfs, the other day and we were trying to figure out why it is that people who hang around water are so often really fun to be around.
This is something I’ve noticed ever since I started doing the Washington Kayak Club paddles back in January because, [...]

Continue reading about Water Always Wins: Why Kayakers Are Nice People

Irene on July 10th, 2009

The New York times has a cool article today about the growing popularity of surfboarding on rivers.  Here’s their photo of Corran Addison (of multiple world champion freestyle kayaking fame) in Montreal, where he runs a surfing school called Imagine Surfboard.
The article is called ”In Montreal, Surfing a River When the Wave Doesn’t Move“.

Continue reading about Cool Article on Stand-Up River Surfing

Irene on May 12th, 2009

I’m happy to say there’s a guest poster on Irene’s Kayaking Blog – Greg Nicoll posted some helmet-cams he took of our group trip on the Wenatchee, including his 10 foot waterfall drop.
(From what I hear, that kind of thing is especially interesting if you are under the misconception up until the last second that the [...]

Continue reading about Welcome New Blogger Greg Nicoll!