First off, the Whitewater Fever class run by Northwest Outdoor Center – this is the class that taught me how to roll and helped get me started many years ago.  (I then did absolutely nothing in a kayak for like eight years, but I loved the class and it didn’t take much for me to re-learn how to roll when I got started again.)  This is a 5-day class that includes an evening lake class (basically a “this water, water = friend” session), two evening pool classes during which there’s a really good chance you’ll learn how to roll, and two weekend river days on a friendly class II somewhere.  Herbie, one of the owners, is one of the teachers and is really, really good at teaching the roll, not to mention that he is one of the most relaxed people you can find on the river on any given day.  There are Whitewater Fever courses in 2012 in April, June, July, and August.

The other option is the Washington Kayak Club course, which starts in about six minutes.  OK, not quite – but I am definitely posting about it at the last second here.

It starts April 10 and goes to May 5, 2012.  I haven’t taken this class, but I know many good boaters who like to paddle and teach through the WKC, so I’m thinking this must be a pretty good class too.

Some pros and cons of each:

The Whitewater Fever course costs a little more, $225 plus $90 for kayak and drysuit rental.  However, when I took the course it was really nice to be able to just rent the gear and get a feel for what kind of boat worked for me without having to buy a bunch of stuff first.  I ended up buying the exact same boat I used in the class, a Necky Jive, secondhand online later on, and used that for my first year.

The WKC class costs less, $175 plus ACA and WKC membership (somewhere around $60 together), but you need your own gear, which when you’re just starting out and not sure you’ll enjoy the sport (or are just not sure what to buy) can be a bit daunting.  However, the plus of taking the WKC class is that you’re then hooked up with a bunch of beginners who are also hooked up with the WKC, which has a lot of organized beginner trips led by people who totally expect to occasionally be scooping you and your gear out of some eddy.

The rest of the boating community is generally also very beginner-friendly, but not as organized, which can make it difficult for beginners to find trips early on unless they’re tied in with a group like the WKC that is really well set up for helping people in the early stages progress through Class II and III.  On the other hand, you can always take whatever class works and join the WKC later – there are a lot more trips going around on the email list than you’ll see posted on the calendar.

The patient, encouraging WKC pros got me through the Class II+ into III stage, and after that you start hitting the main Sky run and boating with these guys – from there on out, goooood luck.   Just kidding – Dave Moroles and Rob McKibbin are first-class boaters and people alike, plus beginner-friendly to boot.  Just don’t follow Rob’s line if he tells you not to.

Brad, Joe Howard, and Rob McKibbin were on that run, I guess Joe ran the first big drop, which I think is Skoonichuck, everyone ran Punchbowl, and Brad and Rob did Metlako, which is around 85 feet – Rob in his playboat, no less.  Here’s the video of Brad on Metlako, if video of Rob shows up at some point I’ll add that.  (No, it’s not you, the video really is sideways.)

I’m not sure of the cost to race or use the course but I’m pretty sure it’s not much.  If you’ve ever thought of trying a slalom course or are just curious I encourage you to stop by – people of all skill levels (i.e., none) and in all kind of boats, including creekboats and playboats, join in.  Not to mention that you’ll see some really good slalom kayakers and canoeists (?) as well.

Here’s a link to the NW Whitewater Racers website with more info, and here’s the map link for the Cedar River location at Landsburg.

Matt Thomas is a former local whitewater kayaker who ended up with spinal cord damage from a mountain bike accident two and a half years go.  In the beginning he could barely move an arm and was paralyzed from the chest down, but since then he has made big progress with physical therapy and attends Project Walk in California with the goal of being able to walk again, not to mention also someday play in whitewater.  Health insurance being what it is, he has a lot of costs that are not taken care of, and Project Walk is over $6K a month.

Matt is asking for 300 supporters to sign up to donate $20 a month towards his recovery – it’s tax deductible, and spread over a lot of people like that it’s manageable pretty much in any circumstances.  (Speaking as a real estate agent coming out of the housing-based “Great Recession” – referred to in the papers with a capital ‘G’ and ‘R’ for a reason, believe me – I feel qualified to say this.)

I’ve never met Matt – obviously he has great boating skills, as you can see in Darin McQuoid’s photo gallery of Matt.  The point is really that this is the kind of thing that could happen to anyone, and how would it feel to be in that situation?  Knowing that people were pitching together to help you climb out of it would mean the world.

Here’s the link to the post on Matt’s blog with more info on the project, or you can click here to go directly to the donation page (use the dropdown menu to choose a recurring donation).  Thanks for reading, and big thanks if you choose to donate!

Not long ago I posted about how Rush Sturges’s swim on Upper Cherry Creek really set the standard for “hanging in there,” but I think that award now goes to Ellie Wheat – just check out the sequence starting at around six minutes into the video (orange boat, blue helmet).

(Just a heads up, there are one or two F-bombs dropped somewhere in the background at one point, in case you’re watching this at work – not that any kayaker would ever do that. )

Ernie’s Canyon is one of the most difficult whitewater kayaking runs in Washington state.  The Bennett book has this to say:

“You can slice every one of ‘em (the rapids) and walk away thinking this river’s just another challenging Class V trip, or you can miss your line by two feet and get permanently stuffed into an undercut.”

When you read the river description you’ll notice the word “sieve” come up frequently, and I was just recently listening to two good Class V boaters talk about it, one in terms of “I don’t feel the need to ever do that run again,” and the other describing it as “constantly paddling away from sieves in a Class V environment.”  Not for everyone, in other words.

But obviously some people love it, and this is a gorgeous video.  There are a few little clips after the ending credits, just so you know.

What really struck a chord with me though was what she says starting at around 4:20 mins into the video, when she’s talking about her approach to doing something this difficult:

“The key to climbing outside is just looking at a line and thinking that it looks fun and going for it – not having to have a grade correlate with your ambition to try something.”

Substitute “kayaking” for climbing and “class” for grade, and I think it’s something most boaters can relate to, both in terms of maybe not forcing yourself to do something just because it’s rated as difficult, and also not being afraid to try something just because it is – and, not to mention, remembering to have fun.  (Granted, climbers are roped in whereas boaters will always be dealing with that pesky inability to breathe underwater thing, so I still think we have more to deal with – but there’s a good point here.)

Not only does he get stuck in that hydraulic with a broken paddle and still manage to get out of it and roll up, he also boofs that one ledge hand paddling, does a whole bunch of hand rolls, goes over several ledges, and the reversal he finally swims out of is obviously super sticky – his boat stays in there a really long time.

I like this video because any one of those circumstances is enough to make most people swim, never mind putting them all back to back.  So it kind of sets the bar for what’s possible and hanging in there.

Oh, almost forgot to mention – he then also manages to get out right away instead of swimming the next seven miles, like I usually do.

Anyway, this is an example of how I’d love to be able to boat.

Craig Kleckner is part of the Team Pyranha band that comes out here every year, for some reason I’ve only posted about them once, the first time they were here in 2009, but they are an awesome group and we always have a good turnout when they come through.  Craig gave me some really good advice about how to practice holding your boat on edge, which I think about frequently and sometimes even actually do.

The CC Stilly is a fun, short IV/V run that’s easy to do laps on.  I did it a couple of times a year and half ago at around 5.2, which is on the low side and I don’t think anything was harder than technical IV, but that first ledge can really hand out beatdowns.

By the way, thumbs up to Todd for doing Boulder Drop the other day at around 6200 cfs in a playboat, only two years after starting kayaking!  I was super happy that things worked out in the Project 45 for me, especially after swimming after the Picket Fence at 2,000 cfs a couple of weeks ago - agh!  Todd and I both did the Needle – you won’t catch me near Ned’s at 6200 cfs, at least not until I become inducted into the Boofing Hall of Fame.  And next time I plan to not sneak the entrance.  Baby steps.