Indholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2018 i Kayak Session Magazine

Over a lifetime spent exploring high altitude peaks, Reinhold Messner recognized a simple truth: “Mountains are not fair or unfair, they are just dangerous,” he wrote. Messner, a legendary alpinist, put a not-so-secret-secret in simple terms: there is risk in pushing limits, and there are risks in the outdoors. It is a lesson that never fails to shock us, no matter how many times we are forced to learn it. At the start of this year, the international kayak community was devastated by the deaths of three talented young paddlers during an attempted first descent in Ecuador. Our virtual world flooded with condolences, remembrances, and thoughts on these young men, as well as the how and the why of their situation. The questions of, “how” and “why” are hard to…

FIRST DESCENT, COCORNA RIVER, COLOMBIA, JANUARY 2018 Colombia has charmed and entranced the whitewater community for the past decade. Not a year goes by without the exploration of a new river or section, adding more choices for kayakers visiting the country. 2018 was no outlier to the trend. Only two weeks into the New Year, a couple of kayakers decided to try the only remaining unexplored stretch of the Cocorna River. Located in the province of Antioquia, only an hour and a half from Colombia’s second largest city, Medellin, the Cocorna River is already well known by kayakers visiting the region. A class V section of steep and continuous boulder gardens, followed by a fun class III-IV section has made the Cocorna a renowned name in Colombian whitewater. However, there…

If you went and asked kayakers if they knew about the Toxaway River in Western North Carolina 15 years ago, you’d get a blank stare in response. Some might have said, “Rumor has it a guy ran Toxaway Falls in a ducky,” or “Russ Kilmar went in there and said there was a lot of portages.” A few may have had whispers in the back of their minds about a “Curiously Strong Fowler's Creek," but that's about it. Times have changed. Here we are in 2018, and it seems everybody knows or has heard about my home run. If you are one of the few remaining in ignorance over this South East Classic, allow me to serve as a conduit, drawing you into a new fantasy and wetting the blade…

Growing up in Southern Oregon, I spent much of my childhood in and around the local rivers. In college, I started working as a river guide before learning to kayak. Later, and as my kayaking skillset advanced, I became interested in returning to Southern Oregon to explore some of the more remote areas near rivers I knew from my childhood. A memorable trip was a multi-day exploratory trip to North Fork Silver Creek, a tributary to the Illinois River. Locals had done the run in the past, but information was not readily available. We knew from satellite imagery that there were three sections of the run, one of which we referred to as “Waterfall Alley,” a gorge containing several drops before reaching Prisoner Falls: a 40-footer with a tricky lead-in.…

NEWS AND HAPPENINGS 2018 PADDLEEXPO BUYER’S GUIDE The most comprehensive guide of boats, boards, paddles, and apparel is now available to you online, at no cost! The 2018 PADDLEexpo Buyer’s Guide showcases new gear released at the 2017 PADDLEexpo in Germany, revealing what is fresh and exciting for 2018 as well as predicting upcoming trends for the future of the paddlesports world. Peruse the magazine section, or flick through the pages to create your wishlist. The Buyers Guide is waiting for you at www.kayaksession.com. For more information and regular updates highlighting the latest and most innovative products of the year ahead, follow @kayaksession on Facebook and Instagram. View the Buyer’s Guide at: www.kayaksession.com THE SWEET PROTECTION SHORT FILM AWARDS RETURNS MARCH 1ST, 2018 The 2017 Sweet Protection Short Film of…

ALSESECA RACE, TLAPACOYAN, MEXICO, JANUARY 2018 On January 13th, Tablazo, most days a tranquil farm in the mountains behind Tlapacoyan, home of the Roadside Section of the Alseseca River, saw over 50 Competitors fight to be crowned as the champion of the 10th annual Alseseca Race. The event started as usual with an athletes meeting and indigenous ceremony, immediately followed by the short race. 19 athletes raced in the first battle of the day, with more Mexicans than ever before participating. 34 athletes in the long race category sped down the fierce rapids of S-turn and typewriter. This year 200 spectators were watching and cheering on the competitors throughout the course. Following the race, everybody made their way to city hall in Tlapacoyan for the Awards ceremony, where Spencer Huff…

2013 After the ferry ride across the Akkajaure Reservoir in Sweden's Padjelanta National Park, Ulrich (Kitt) Kittelberger and I lug our boats to paddle three kilometers on the Vuojatädno River. We are here because satellite images of foaming cataracts had caught our attention, but other than a vague description in a German kayaking guide about "Scandinavia," there was little information to be found. All reports focused on the (inflatable) kayak as a means to explore the lakes of Padjelanta National Park. Countless exhausting portages were listed with no indication if a kayak could cope with the whitewater between the "worthwhile" flat stretches. We figured there was only one way to find out. The short answer we quickly discovered, was ”yes.” The Vuojatädno had piqued our interest, and we knew one…

Have you ever felt like you aren’t improving fast enough, or that you have plateaued completely? Have you ever wanted to improve your physical prowess but don’t feel motivated enough to do the work? Do you look at competition as a viable way to improve, or do you see it as a less pure version of the great activity we call whitewater kayaking? I don’t. I am going to share how you can use competition as a way to reach other goals and objectives and how to enjoy competition, even if you haven’t in the past. So why compete? First, it is an excellent learning tool. Four key things competing teaches you are: 1. What your current skill level is for a specific type of paddling, including identifying your strong…

It is no surprise that the Nile’s power is something people have wanted to harness for a long time. As Africa’s longest and most important artery, the Nile supports an enormous amount of life: human, animal and plant. It is also one of land-locked Uganda’s most precious resources. Currently the developing world, and Uganda in particular, are pursuing very ambitious (and expensive!) plans to construct new, large hydro-projects. Isimba Dam is one out of a proposed series of five dams on the Nile and elsewhere in Uganda. Economically, and from a public health point of view, this is hard to understand. Historically, the countries that build large dams are laden with debt they can never pay back. In order to build the dams, countries-like Uganda- must borrow from places like…

It was somewhere in California. We had just finished another great day on the river and were casually sharing cold beers and stories at the takeout. My friends and I had joined a group of local Cali paddlers and a few Kiwis. Initially, we didn’t know anyone. It was one of those friends of friends of friends situations, and through the magic of the paddling community here we were: hanging out by the side of a dirt road. It was only our second time paddling together, and while we still didn’t really know each other, we got on well. At some point, someone turned around and said to me, “You’re cool for a pro kayaker?” It shocked me. I didn’t know what to say, so I just smiled awkwardly. I…

BLACK JACK - SPADE KAYAKS No matter if you are a beginner, intermediate or expert, Spade Kayak’s new toy is your “Jack of all Trades.” The tips of the boat seem slicy, but are still high volume due to their width. The Jack allows the paddler to turn the boat effortless with only a sweep stroke, paddle precise lines in big volume, and stay high and dry over steep drops. So forgiving it seems to edge itself across smaller currents, the Jack still presents a dynamic edge with modest lean angles. A flat bottom and a pronounced rail deliver dynamic reactivity even on mellower waters. The fully integrated seat-rail-tower combo enables ergonomic seating ever over long periods on the water. LENGTH: 256 CM | WIDTH: 66 CM |…

Location: Vltava River, Prague (Czech Republic) Photographer: David Sodomka Paddler: Jan Havelka, Milos Trnka Location: Rio Claro (Chile) Photographer: Dane Jackson Paddler: Joel Kowalski Location: Hawaii sur Rhône, Lyon (France) Photographer: Kevin Saussure Paddler: Alexandre Gambin Location: Rjuande River, Raundalen (Norway) Photographer: Adrian Mattern Paddler: Dane Jackson Location: Devil’s Washbowl, Malad River, Idaho (Usa) Photographer: John Webster Paddler: Andrew Dunning, Burgess Norrgard Location: Nottingham (UK) Photographer: Nick Troutman Paddler: Jon Best Location: Sprit Falls, Little White Salmon (WA, USA) Photographer: Cassie Bergman Paddler: Aniol Serrasolses…