Pinball

The forecast early in the week had been for a significant amount of rain in the MD/WV/PA area. Sure enough by Tuesday all the rivers were sky high and the creeks were running. Figures, stuck at work. After living vicariously through trip reports from those lucky enough to have the week off I was definitely excited to get out there. But it did not look too promising that anything really good would hold through the weekend. But the Blackwater was still high and looking like it might be at a reasonable level by the end of the week. So I talked to the one person I could definitely count on to be heading out there, Don. He was confident that the Upper B would be at a reasonable level for me by Thursday evening so I left work early that afternoon and headed for Canaan.

Thursday PM: 320 cfs

I arrived at the North Fork to beautiful weather as we set shuttle and headed up to the put in. I must admit I was a bit nervous, the level would be around 320 cfs, higher than I'd ever run it before. I was going to paddle the Burn which I'd already fallen in love with on the UY and the Falls, but this would be its final test. We hiked down and I looked down at 100 Yard Dash, the one rapid that had given me the most trouble thus far. Don explained the line and we set off.

To my surprise I ran the rapid with ease, catching each eddy as needed and bouncing over every hole with no issues. We continued on at a fair pace and I had a great, nearly clean run. Don had me go first at Shock, which made me nervous but I managed just fine. Overall it was an excellent run and I had a fantastic time. The Burn performed great and I was thoroughly convinced that this would now be the boat for me.

The hike out proved to be no more fun than before but I took the time to reflect. Part of this trip turned into a trip down memory lane (a.k.a the North Fork railroad grade). I thought about the past eight months and how far I'd come. All the runs I've done and how much I'd improved.

That night we had dinner at Sirianni's and hung out at the Purple Fiddle for a while. It was nice being back there.

The North Fork road

Friday AM : 210 cfs

The next morning we got up and hurriedly headed to the put in in hopes of catching as much flow as possible. 210 cfs, low but still higher than my first run. Don and I met up with Shawn and Roger and the four of us put on. It was interesting to me to see the difference in flow two days in a row. We took a fairly leisurely pace through 100 Yard Dash and continued on down. Shawn found himself in a similar predicament as I had my first time down, wedging himself into an inconveniently placed slot on a sharp left hand turn. Unlike me though he was fortunate to be able to stay upright and with Roger's help was freed without further incident. From there our run continued smoothly through Shock to the System and we all got out to portage Sticky Fingers.

Roger at Shock to the System

Don put back on and eddied out on the left above the next rapid, Pinball. I joined him and we waited for the others. Shawn came down and as it wasn't exactly a three person eddy he continued on down through the rapid and waited below. Roger was still getting in his boat and it occurred to me that we should probably make room so he could catch the eddy as well. The previous day I had remarked how much less involved this rapid had seemed at 320 cfs vs what I had seen before. Sure enough once again the lower flow was significantly constricting the lines. Don suggested an alternate line on the right but I was having a hard time understanding what he meant so decided to go for the line I remembered: all the way left then cut right at the end.

Looking down into Pinball

I pealed out and headed left but it was tough to get a good angle out of the eddy and as I headed down I was aimed straight at a mound just below the surface. I should have gone to the left of it but instead ended up on the right. I was deflected back right and spun around sideways. Before I could turn back around my left side had made contact with the next rock down and that nice flat hull glued itself firmly in place. It was really quite incredible just how well stuck I was there. But my head was way above water and though I had to do a bit of a side crunch to lean into the rock I appeared to be in no danger of flipping over. This was starting off as a just a great nuissance. In fact it was easy to take my hand off my paddle to try to push off the rock, to no avail. I tried digging in with my paddle to try to free myself but that just was sucking energy quick and doing absolutely nothing.

At this point Don had jumped out of his boat and ran down to where I was. He wasn't within arm's reached so he asked if I could reach back with my paddle so he could grab it and maybe pull me off. Worth a try so I held the paddle in one hand close to the blade and reached back so he could grab it. For some reason though I didn't feel like I had a really good grip on it in this position and worried that I'd end up loosing it (which probably wouldn't have mattered as he could have just handed it right back to me with how firmly I was stuck, I completely didn't need the paddle to keep my head out of the water). Just the same this initially did not seem to help so I took the paddle back and resumed trying to work my own way off.

Things were starting to turn from just really annoying, to rather worrisome. But then something changed and a few seconds later the boat finally budged and I was sliding around the rock. Home free, I thought for a split second…. Not quite. Before I could turn the boat back left I found myself sliding around the rock backwards and down the next slot. I knew this is not where I was supposed to be going but I really had no choice at this point. I was starting to understand why this rapid is called what it is as I was being bounced from one rock to another with no way to control it. I fell through the slot hoping I could just catch the next eddy below.

But then my boat came to a sudden and jarring stop. Water immediately slammed into my chest and face. I tried to wiggle myself off but the boat was firmly stern pined. The situation had just turned from bad… to really dangerous. I knew that I hadn't gone far and that Don was nearby but I had no idea if he could get to me from where he was. I evaluated my situation as quick as I could think. First I reached up to see if I could get to my grab loop. I leaned forward and the pressure of the water was strong but I was able to at least reach the top of my cockpit. I had thought for a second about pulling out but as I had no idea what was below me and feared getting body pinned next I paused for a moment.

Luckily at this point Don had waded / swam across the channel separating us and was standing on the rock above me. Not a great position to be in and not someplace you would ordinarily want to find yourself standing. But this wasn't exactly an ordinary moment either. My paddle was pinned against my stomach adding a mild amount of discomfort. I contemplated pushing it off but as it wasn't really hurting me I decided that I would need it if he was to manage to get me out of there.

First things first though; I was still in the somewhat dire need for one essential element: Air. Facing upstream I had water crashing into my face. This was not good. I really needed to find a way out of this. The only way I could catch my breath was to turn my head to the side as far downstream as I possibly could. In this manner I could catch a few breaths of air in between jets of water. Uncomfortable to say the least, but survivable.

In what ultimately seemed like no time at all Don had somehow managed to loosen my boat (risking falling behind it himself, which could easily have been really bad for him as well) and I felt it jerk forward. Things were definitely improving…. But it wasn't over yet. As the boat came free it unfortunately flipped over and in the process my paddle had slipped away. I felt around for it for a brief moment but with little air and even less energy I couldn't really do much so I swam.

I pushed off the boat and tried to make my way to the nearest eddy on the left. It looked good and I saw Shawn coming down, rope in hand. But the rock was so sloped that he couldn’t throw it for risk of getting pulled in. I was in the bottom of the eddy and there was just nothing to grab onto to pull myself up. Things were once again starting to get worse. I ended up swimming through the next slot on the far left. This time though I found myself by a bigger eddy and was able to get myself into it.

Shawn had made his way down at this point and as he appeared to be in a good position this time I yelled to him "throw the rope!!!". Which he immediately did. I probably didn't really need it at this point but wasn't about to take the chance of getting swept any further downstream. He helped me climb out and finally I was standing on dry ground. Don had made his way back to his boat. In the meantime I needed to find mine. I figured the paddle would be long gone. Thankfully the Burn had eddied out a short way below us on the same side and was getting recirculated above a sizable sieve.

I walked down and Shawn handed me the rope back so I could swim out and pull the boat back in as it was hanging around on the eddy line. I was glad not to have to go chasing after it. Shortly after Roger and Don joined us. I could see the serious look of concern on Don's face. Apparently he had been quite convinced that I had gone into a terrible sieve when he couldn't see me anymore. I also found out that the slot I had swam through was a really bad place to be. Luckily I made it through just fine. Perhaps it was the adrenaline but I don’t even recall hitting anything in there.

With some help I pulled my boat out, assembled my break down paddle (well worth the $280 !!), and got right back in. I felt slightly shaky for the next rapid or two but finished the run with no problems and was even able to enjoy most of it, continuing on to the takeout without incident.

Ultimately everything turned out okay but that was certainly a dangerous and frightening situation. Nevertheless a true feeling of fear never really hit me. Concern, annoyance, anger, yes. But I never really felt terrified. Probably because the whole incident barely took more than a few minutes. I was very grateful to Don for taking the personal risk to swim out into the rapid and pull me out so quickly. I probably wasn't in that pin for more than a minute. Didn't really have time to get scarred I suppose. I know how dangerous it was and I'm very glad to have escaped unscathed and it was certainly good to remain calm both during and after the pin. But it does make me wonder if maybe I'm a bit too fearless at times....

The pin did not scare me off the Blackwater, but it was definitely a humbling experience that reiterated the danger of this run. Though challenging in its continuity and blind nature, most of the moves had started feeling relatively easy. Just the same, one small mistake can quickly snowball into something much worse. I look forward to getting back on the Upper B and hopefully learning the run well soon.

Despite everything I am still very happy with the Burn. Though I do think that the Solo might have helped some back at Pinball. It likely would not have broached as easily in the first place given a more rounded hull and no edges. I suppose that you do sacrifice some safety for performance.

Not the least bit discouraged I finished the run and continued on to do a run on the Upper Yough that afternoon and three more over the weekend. On Saturday when we returned to my car after our first run I was greeted by a nice surprise: a noted taped to my door indicating that my paddle was waiting for me underneath. I later found out that Bob Gedecko had been on the Blackwater behind us and found my paddle floating in the same eddy my boat had ended up in. We'd looked all over, including checking both sides of the sieve. But it must have lodged itself somewhere upstream and come loose after we left. Apparently Bob put it up on shore then hiked in to retrieve it. I was much appreciative and he certainly earned some serious karma points! I know how heinous that hike must have been (can't say I would have hiked in for it myself!). After paddling with my breakdown I realized just how badly whittled the blades are on my old paddle... time to go shopping!!

Upper Blackwater photos

Green Narrows

After getting skunked on the Green last month I wasn't too keen about trying to head down there unless there was a really good chance it would actually run. But Bobby had picked out this weekend to plan a trip down there and as both he and Sean claim to be unskunkable I figured it would be worth a shot.

Of course the Green had barely been running at all for a few weeks so things really just didn't seem all that promising. But somehow Bobby seemed confident. Lo and behold about a week before the planned trip date it started running at 100% just about every day. The lake level was up and the temperature was high in the south requiring extra power generation. So Tuxedo hydro was running daily.

Things got a little complicated as I had to be in Atlanta Wed-Friday for a training class. My original plan had been to meet up with my friend Jim who lives down there and head up to the Ocoee for the weekend. But with plans for the Green coming together it didn't take much convincing to get him to do the trip to North Carolina instead. I flew out to Atlanta on Tuesday night (after a nice morning run on the Falls and leaving my boat and paddle with Geoff with high hopes I'd be seeing them all in a few days). I checked the release schedule daily and worked out final logistics with the whole crew.

As it ran every day during the week I had my doubts about the Green actually going on the weekend. But sure enough calling the phone recording Friday morning:

"Saturday August the 11th and Sunday August the 12th Tuxedo Hydro station will be releasing one unit at 100% capacity from 11am to 2pm".

SWEET!!! Best news I've heard in a while!

("Operational schedules are determined daily")

So things were set. I would ride up with Jim and meet the rest of the gang on Saturday morning. I fought my way through horrible Atlanta rush hour to return my rental car to the airport. Jim was waiting for me when I arrived and after dinner and waiting out traffic some we headed north. We drove right by Tallulah Gorge and although it was too dark to stop and see anything it was nice reminiscing some. That night we met up with Margaret and stayed a Jim's friend Denise's awesome house in Franklin, about and hour and a half from the Green. It was nice to break up the already short drive (3.5 hours total vs the 8+ it is from DC) .

We arrived at the takeout at 10 am and met up with Bobby, Joe, Sean, and Geoff along with Jim (from DC). The guys (Jim excluded) were all looking rather wiped after narrowly avoiding arrest after some sketchy camping choices the night before (I was quite happy to have slept in a bed).
We were quite anxious to get on the water so we quickly drove up to the Upper Green put in (we'd decided it would be nice to see the whole run and also avoid both the hike in at the Narrows put in and the need for a "Green Key").

The Upper Green consists primarily of class II mixed into some flatwater pools and about three class III drops. A pretty run but not really all that exciting. Turned out we'd put on a bit too early and kept getting ahead of the water. For a while we played "broach up on a rock and wait for the water to pick you up". We also amused ourselves with various shenanigans including pine cone baseball and "how many trees can i push my buddy into" (I might add i won that game by getting Geoff fully wedged into a tree.. don't worry it wasn't too terribly dangerous) . All along "swim meet" points were beginning to rack up...

Bayless Boof, Upper Green

At the Narrows put in we met up with Ryan who would be joining us for the rest of the weekend. I followed Bobby down most of the way and he did a great job of showing me the lines. We got out and scouted Bride (didn't actually have to but it was nice to get out and look at as this first rapid is really pretty with high cliff walls on the sides), and Frankenstein. Really fun drops with cool moves and great boofs. After Boof or Consequences and some intimate contact with a few undercut rocks we were at Go Left. I couldn't believe the enormous crowd that had gathered. It was a total zoo. Like being on the Upper Yough on a crowded release day!

Geoff running Bride of Frankenstein

We got out to scout and Joe kindly helped me jump over the "Squeeze" so that I could get close enough to see (and by helped I mean literally held my hand cuz I wasn't going to make the jump otherwise!!). I had more or less figured that i would walk the Big Three on my first run. But standing there watching it did not seem like the move was that hard: Boof off the log with left angle, punch the hole and go through the slot. Of the Big Three, Go Left had always looked the most doable to me. After watching just about everyone have pretty good lines I decided that this was something I could certainly do. So I got in my boat and waited for the okay to head down (there was such a crowd that we were basically waiting in line for our turn and people on the rocks were giving a thumbs up when the rapid was clear).

Joe Going Left

Geoff running Go Left or Die

I got a good boof off the log with good angle. The hole slowed me down a bit which was actually a good thing as it set my up for the slot nicely without being shot through it at mach speed. I did flip at the bottom but pretty much just right in the pool. Awesome rapid! We continued on through Zwick's and Chief and eddied out above Gorilla. I had already decided I was definitely walking that one. I was quite content with this decision as the low summer 100% (about 6.5" on the stick gauge) was not making the main drop look very appealing. We all hung out for a good while so the guys could scout out their lines. Ultimately only Bobby and Geoff ended up running it that day. Surprisingly few people were running it overall due to the low level.

Geoff running Pencil Sharpener

Geoff approaching the Notch

Geoff running Gorilla

Geoff's run was the first to really accumulate some serious "swim meet" points. He had good lines through Pencil Sharpener and the Notch but flipped coming off the Flume and hit his head and shoulder hard. We were all rather concerned as he rolled up in obvious pain. He was able to complete the last two drops (Scream Machine and Nies's Pieces) and returned an "okay" signal from the bottom.

Looking up towards Gorilla

The rest of us (except for Bobby who had already completed his run) quickly gathered our gear and seal launched in below the Flume. I had a good run through Scream Machine and Nies's Pieces but ended up too far right at the bottom to make it to the left eddy. In attempting to do so I realized I was getting swept downstream so I turned to Ryan for a quick description. He told me where to go and off I went, running Powerslide somewhat blind. It was way fun though and I had a good line. Ryan joined me at the bottom and we both hiked back up to check on Geoff and everyone else. I watched as they all started pealing out to run the slide. I was thinking they were all rather close together. Sean got slowed down by the hole at the bottom causing Jim, who was probably way to close to behind him to get surfed in the hole. I watched, slightly concerned, as Geoff was unable to avoid collision and once again hit his head, this time against the hull of Jim's boat. Ouch!! Two head injuries in the span of just a few minutes. not good. He unfortunately spent the rest of the run in a fair bit of pain but recovered quickly and had no problems paddling the next day (but did earn a whopping 100+ "swim meet" points).

Powerslide : Imminent collision

Next came Rapid Transit, a rather junky slide from what I could tell of it. I screwed up a bit and ended up going far right against the wall. Nice and scrapey. I actually ran it to the right of the rock at the bottom. lol. We portaged Nutcracker and ran the middle line next to Groove Tube (at the low flow the tube was just not at all inviting). We watched Geoff, Joe and Bobby run Sunshine and the rest of us portaged. The enormous roostertail off the rock pile at the bottom did not make me want to run it in the least bit. An intimidating drop for sure!

Maggie running center line at Groove Tube

Joe running Sunshine

At this point we were starting to run low on water. All that scouting cost us some time and we ended up having to scrape down some of the boogie water at the end. Hammer Factor was very easy at this level. Overall though the run was great fun and I looked forward to doing it again.

That evening we ate a big dinner while waiting for my new Burn to be delivered to me (as luck would have it I found someone selling one in Hedersonville) and then headed out to to Pisgah National Forest (near Looking Glass Falls) to camp. It was great camping weather and sleeping under the stars with the occasional heat lightning illuminating the sky was awesome.

The next morning we drove to the takeout and found a rather incredible surprise. The river was running... on natural flow! We walked down and watched the brown water flow past. We met up with Rob who suggested running Big Hungry creek into the Narrows. This is the creek that comes in right at the put in. So we headed on up.

Big Hungry starts off with a big slide below a dam followed by some class II-III and flatwater ending in another enormous dam / wood jam. Next comes another slide (this one didn't look like enough for to me so I chose to seal launch below it). After this the creek drops on down toward the Green with a handful of fun class IV drops. Definitely fun.

Ryan running first slide on Big Hungry Creek

Joe on Big Hungry Creek

Sean on second slide of Big Hungry Creek

When we arrived at the confluence we found the Green to be running quite high, 15 inches on the stick gauge, so over 200%. I was a bit nervous but Rob assured me it wasn't going to be any harder and promptly assumed the job of leading me down (and did a great job at that!). At first it did not look like the same river. But once we got to the rapids i didn't find much of anything to be any harder, in fact most of the rapids were a lot better with more padding. We ran through to Go Left with no incident.

Go Left looked thoroughly gnarly and I immediately made the decision to run the sneak, which at this level actually provided two very fun boofs. Rob, Sean, Ryan and I ran down and waited while the rest of the group scouted. Ultimately only Geoff chose to run the main line (making it look good but still not for me!) . Here the change in water level was actually pretty dramatic. The pool that had existed below the drop was now a huge swirly mess and the eddy recirculated continuously. Potomac style foam floated around as well. Quite the odd sight. We ran the sneak line at Chief this time and eddied out above Gorilla. The volume flowing into the Notch was impressive. I hiked my boat part way down (no way I was running it at this flow either).

Geoff running Go Left, 200%

Joe running the Squeeze, 200%

Bobby at Chief, 200%

The gang below Chief, 200%

Once again we spent a good bit of time at Gorilla so that everyone could decide if they were running it. This time Geoff, Bobby, Joe, Rob and Ryan all chose to fire it up with mostly good results.

Joe watches Bobby run the Notch, 200%

Maggie at Gorilla, 200%

Geoff running Scream Machine / Nies's Pieces, 200%

I put in below Nies's Pieces and throughly enjoyed Powerslide and Rapid Transit with the extra water (even at 200% I thought that Rapid Transit was rather bony though). This time we were able to run Groove Tube with no problems. It's a super cool drop.

Bobby Running Powerslide, 200%

Groove Tube, 200%

Rob assured me that Sunshine was good to go right down the middle at this level so I decided to go for it. Unfortunately I didn't get quite enough of a boof off the lip and pitoned slightly, putting a dent in my bow (which popped out within a half hour so no big deal. As a matter of fact the dent in my bow also popped out this weekend, the Green truly is a magical place). We hung out there while Geoff, Bobby and Joe all did a couple of runs. Also got to witness one of the most heinous swims I've seen in a while (no one in our group thankfully). With the extra flow the rest of the run was much more enjoyable than the previous day and we continued on down to Hammer Factor where I received a fair bit of a beatdown but eventually was able to roll up.

Geoff running Sunshine, 200%

A few locals commented on how lucky we were to have caught the Green at that flow. Amazing what a little localized rain can do! So I guess not only are Bobby and Sean unskunkable but their presence actually brings on the water. Good job boys! It was definitely interesting to see the difference between a low 100% and a high 200% back to back like that. It was truly a fantastic experience and I look forward to going back again soon! Thanks to our runs on the Upper Green and Big Hungry I didn't get to experience the hike into the Narrows... maybe next time.

Bobby running Gorilla, 100%

Geoff running Gorilla, 200%

Gorilla, 100%

Gorilla, 200%

Geoff running Pencil Sharpener, 100%

Bobby running Pencil Sharpener, 200%

Pencil Sharpener, 100%

Pencil Sharpener, 200%

Go Left, 100%

Geoff running Go Left, 200%

Sean at Hammer Factor, 100%

Sean at Hammer Factor, 200%

More Green photos at 100%

More Green photos at 200%

Check out Chris Gorman's video at 200% - That's me and Rob running Groove Tube

Also check out the First Annual Green Narrows Swim Meet results.

After the run on Sunday we parted ways with Ryan and made our way back to DC, arriving at about 4 am. The next morning we drove right back out again to paddle with Scott on the Upper Yough for his last day on the East Coast before heading to Oregon the next day. A great finale to an already fantastic weekend!

First Annual Green Narrows Swim Meet

Team C

It started off as a joke on Paddle Prattle. But we quickly adopted it as a good way to amuse ourselves and now the results are in:

So after sitting around the dinner table 2 nights in a row, recalling our runs, calling out each other for various screw ups, debating the fairness of the scoring system, and making up new point values for unforeseen incidents such as the 'body brace' 'assisted roll' 'the dry exit' 'general bodily injury' , 'debilitating bodily injury' losing a paddle and being landed on. and arguing over whether points should be given out for portaging or sneaking a rapid, amid some contraversy, a preliminary winner was crowned. It all goes to show that it pays to know a river.

10th place- 9 points - Boofsquire. the man can paddle, and he opted not to scout or portage anything on either day. he also carried back up to run gorilla again without a paddle because "the ladies wanted me to, and

9th place- 45 points - Ryan Moore. (pays to be local) also, beached seal award. no portages day 2

8th place - 52 points - Chuck Norris. earned points exclusively by waiting until an anonymous boater was stuck in a hole, then ramming them with his boat, and deliberately swimming into undercuts and then hiding underwater, punching any boater unlucky enough to flip close to him.

7th place- 60 points - Bobby Miller. (would have won if not for his dry extraction at sunshine.)no portages ran all rapids but snuck go left (Sunday@ 220%)had only injury free run of gorilla day 1

6th place- 61 points - Joe Stumpfel - ran much of the river upside down both days but avoided the major beat downs. edged boddy out for 5th by flipping twice in boogie water near the take out on day 2

5th place- 76 points - Sean Devine - generally clean but added points by playing in undercuts and fighting with Chuck Norris. Accused by Boofsquire of fixing his score by sneaking or carrying the big 3 rapids.

4th place - 124 points - Billy Costigan - Solid runs in most of the big rapids kept him out of the top 3, but backwards runs of several rapids including Zwick's and a 35 point beat down in Rapid Transit propelled him over 100 points, also had perhaps the funniest piton of the weekend, getting whiplash, face planting his deck and leaving a trail of snot all over. all in all not bad for only having run the green once before, if i may say so.

3rd place - 187 points - Maggie Snowel - Maggie accumulated an impressive score to grab 3rd place, even without the help of a serious pin or beat down. Maggie ran the west coast offense to perfection with a dazzling combination of rock braces, missed rolls, and brief broaches against undercuts, and pulled out all the stops in the end by pitoning off Sunshine (25) and denting her bow (12), then flailing around in hammer factor to seal the bronze.

2nd place - 276 points - Geoff Calhoun - rarely do you get the chance to witness spectacular bone jarring carnage and hilarity without a cable TV. geoff went big on day one with a 100+ point wipe out at gorilla, complete with rock on collar bone and helmet contact. grabbing the 'debilitating bodily injury' bonus. he, however, failed to break a paddle, bone, or his helmet, however so he went for the kamikaze in the next rapid, Powerslide, as one paddler was being surfed, Geoff slid down, penciled under their boat but made solid boat on forehead contact, lost his paddle and hand rolled up, but again, failed to catastrophically injure himself. Injuries a non-issue the following day, he competed again, but failed to hurt himself in all the major rapids, and it wasn't until a 3 point pin in one of the last class 3 rapids that he pulled away and earned himself the silver.

1st place - 2007 Green Narrows Swim meet champion - 827 points - Kyle Black.
Never before has the world seen a boof stroke so fruitless, or seen someone piton so hard that they altered the riverbed. Kyle managed to dent both ends of his boat in the warm up rapids, go through the right slot at go left, twice, bruise several anonymous paddlers rib cages by running into them, put 2 cracks in his boat, vertically pin in cheif, pencil under the rock at sunshine and get pinned upside down in an undercut for a full minute, requiring extraction. Several locals who obviously have 'localist' or elitist complexes pleaded with him not to put on on day 2 with the green near 250%, but he resisted their pleas, and had one of the most spectacularly ugly upside down and backwards runs of the first half of the creek that came to an epic climax when Kyle went over the handlebars and landed upside down off gorilla on day 2, breaking his neck, swimming all the way through nutcracker and having to be carried out by a team of volunteer firefighters who found him unconscious muttering something about how awesome his boof stroke was.

Congratulations Kyle!!!

Thanks to all who participated except Chuck Norris, who still owes me 50 bucks for gas

Honorable Mentions:

Jim Sterett- Old man award, loudest piton award, and profanity screaming champion
Rob Tomkins - Scariest brace award for his quick recovery above the Gorilla Flume
The C-1 paddler - who broke his paddle in Pencil Sharpener, hand braced through the Notch, and managed to eddy out above Gorilla with just his hands - extreme bad ass save award
The guy who - penciled, broke his paddle, blew his skirt, got recirculated through the cave, and eventually swam out of Sunshine @200%

(written by Geoff Calhoun)

US Slalom Nationals

This weekend was my first trip to the ASCI Whitewater Course in Deep Creek (well with water anyway). Not to paddle though, but to watch the US National Slalom Championships. Never seen a slalom comp before so this was fun. Mostly was just there to cheer on the three people I knew there (Alden, Jay and Geoff). Great job guys! It was great to see.

Alden

Geoff

Jay


See the rest of the Nationals pics here