Indholdsfortegnelse for Fall 2021 i Kayak Session Magazine

The River Runner, Rush Sturges’ recently released film on Scott Lindgren’s life, isn't your ordinary movie. It is not ordinary for the subject chosen; it is not the norm for the character depicted. It is not the norm for our sport, even though for us at Kayak Session, watching The River Runner was like re-reading a large part of the past 78 issues we’ve published. But it is also so much more. For the past 20 years, we've published what we think is the best of whitewater kayaking. Classics like the Stikine, landmarks like the Tsangpo, first descents worldwide…. And over those years, many times, the person behind the mission published was Scott Lindgren, whether he was paddling, producing, or filming. We never take getting the best content for granted.…

After two years of waiting, the top paddlers of Europe gathered once again to battle it out in an attempt to become this year's King and Queen of the Alps and European champion. There was a great sense of closeness as familiar faces were once again reunited, many overjoyed and relieved to be back in the race scene. Friday vibes were good with the traditional grill, roll competition, and film night. Saturday morning kicked off with an explosive mass start marathon, the first rapid providing a spectacular display of boats, color, and carnage. In the K1 Men's, Martin Unterthurner (ITA) took the first gold of the day, followed by Marlene Devillez (FRA) in the Women's category and Lennert Crols (NL) for the Juniors. The OC1 gold was snapped up by…

Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and an exceptionally weak snowpack, the 2021 Oh Be Joyful Race went off with great success on the first Saturday of June this year in Crested Butte. This year the OBJ Race found a new and permanent home with High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) as the permit holder. HCCA has worked for over fifty years to protect the lands and waters that make Crested Butte special and is currently working on getting OBJ listed as eligible for Wild and Scenic designation during the current forest plan revision. The OBJ Race raises funds for HCCA and will help them present their case to the Forest Service for additional protections for the creek. This year, twenty-five racers showed up on race day, including two women. There was…

Aniol Serrasoles, Aleix Salvat, and Mikel Sarrasola had a good adventure in Iceland that had a bit of everything. Their main goal was to explore some new rivers that they had checked out on the map. For the first ten days, the crew was very unlucky with the weather as it was too cold and the rivers were incredibly low. After getting frustrated because they had no chance to paddle any of the rivers that they wanted to explore, the team decided to head north to bigger rivers in hopes of paddling something. Then the temps rose and the snow melted, so it was back east in search of good flows. They finally found all the rivers they had hoped for running. Some were newer classics like the Keldua, Fagradalsá,…

On the Alberta side of the southernmost area of the Canadian Rockies, the once popularly paddled Cameron Creek was once again descended, this time by local paddlers from Southwest British Columbia and Alberta, in early May 2021. This run was often frequented by paddlers from all over BC, Alberta, and even paddlers from the US state of Montana. However, in fall 2017, a monstrous forest fire tragically torched over 19,000 hectares of national parkland and destroyed facilities, which lead to road closures and limited access to foot or bike travel. This spring, Seán Mc Ternan, Connor Schriver, Kyle Sagz, Gregor Gray, and Allen Yip were excited to take advantage of the road opening this spring to re-open this class V classic. The creek is located in Waterton National park and…

With 318 runs in the guidebook, it is pretty rare to run a river in Scotland without at least a mention as a footnote. If there is a runnable river not in the guidebook, they are usually an obscure ditch hidden away in the northern highlands. However, the Kirk Burn is situated five miles from the largest city in Scotland (Glasgow). Tucked away in the Campsie Fells, the Kirk Burn starts life as a small rocky ditch but quickly gains momentum and volume as it drops more than 100 m in less than 1 km before culminating in the "triple combo," a trio of drops that give many of the better-known rivers in Scotland a run for their money. All three drops are around 23 feet. The first contains a…

The French Alps are well known for their whitewater; rivers like the Guil, Ubaye, and Durance, are renowned worldwide for their rapids and scenery. Kayakers from all over Europe visit every spring to catch the snowmelt. This spring, French paddlers Mylo Nicholas and Raphael Urscheler decided they wanted to find something new to do. So, with the help of Google Earth, they ventured north into the Maurienne Valley. Though this valley is extremely industrial and touristic, the rivers are mostly dammed and covered in concrete; it is much less explored by the river community. The main river in this valley is the Arc. Its tributaries are rarely paddled, and some have yet to be paddled. The Valloirette River had been paddled before. However, the two runnable sections end in the…

The government of Chile just recently approved the construction of a hydroelectric plan that would divert the main flow of Truful Truful River for 2.5 km. It is estimated that the project would generate 11 MW. It would also occupy 4,600 hectares of incredible biodiversity and a sacred place for the local indigenous people, the Mapuches. From the kayaking point of view, it is a huge loss. Flowing off the southern side of Volcan Llaima (3125 m, the Truful Truful is one of the best class III runs in Chile. The crystal clear waters cascade through lava fields at a fast pace, and the surrounding snow peaks are fringed with Araucaria trees. The river name is derived from a Mapuche word and translates as “waterfall-waterfall.” Located in between two National…

THE HAMMER AND THE NAIL: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KAYAKING AND TRAVEL Kayaking and travel share a special relationship. It is rare to meet a kayaker who does not enjoy travel, whether locally, nationally, or internationally. The relationship between the two, one could argue, is that of dependency. Kayaking is dependent on travel in a way many sports are not. For this reason, our community tilts towards nomadic tendencies. At age 17, Abby Holcombe has traveled more than most people do their entire lives. She is the perfect example of a life shaped by kayaking and travel, having spent years with her family following the flow, going from one whitewater location to another. I caught up with Abby while she was on the Colorado Freestyle Tour during the summer of 2021.…

A RIVER FOR LINDSAY ASHTON Bigfork. It was on one of those VHS tapes that I wore out when I started kayaking in the late 90s. “The Wild Mile,” they called it. It looked like some kind of crazy class V slalom race with a big audience cheering on the action. But I had not thought about that movie in a long time until the spring of 2018, when I found myself living in Missoula, Montana. My reason for moving there and new love, Cheyenne, was flabbergasted that I wasn’t in the know. “It’s been going on for more than 40 years, you know. Kayaking there is as old as you are, Stookesberry!” Which was admittedly pretty old. In case you’re like me and have no frame of reference, I’ll…

BICEPS TENDONITIS - WHAT IS BICEPS TENDONITIS? Biceps tendonitis is a repetitive strain injury involving either the shoulder or elbow and is a common condition in paddlers. As the name implies, tendons of the biceps muscle become inflamed and swollen, leading to painful movement in the normal range of motion of the shoulder or elbow. Inflammation, pain, and swelling are characteristic symptoms and can be signs of micro-tears in the affected tendons. Generally, paddlers are more afflicted by tendonitis of the proximal (near) biceps tendons, which attach the biceps muscle to the shoulder. Distal (far) biceps tendonitis where the biceps tendon connects the muscle to the elbow occurs more commonly in tennis players or other athletes doing aggressive supination of the forearm. WHAT DOES THE BICEPS MUSCLE DO, AND WHAT…

Paddler: Hayden Voorhees Location: Rock Drop in the rapid Jacob’s Ladder, North Fork of the Payette, Banks, Idaho. I had a concept in mind of capturing the Rock Drop boof in Jake’s in the evening with some high powered flashes. I knew that to do it, we would have to throw a line across the river to put a flash above Rock Drop to light the athlete correctly. With the help of Nick Troutman, Alec, and Hayden Voorhees, we got a cable over the river to support a flash above the current, as well as some amazing lines off of Rock Drop to get the image you see before you. Just another day in “The center of the universe” aka Banks, Idaho.…

After a year's hiatus, the ninth North Fork Championship once again kicked off in Banks, Idaho, where familiar faces were joined by a crowd of up and comers to make the NFC's largest-ever competitive field.This year, under new ownership from the Voorhees family (Mike, Jodi,Alec, Hayden, and Connor), the event returned to the traditional race format of Qualifier, Boater X, and the Giant Slalom on Jake's, where 35 athletes would compete for the chance to be North Fork King or Queen and earn themselves a big, fat, $5000 check. Thursday morning, over 150 registered athletes and last-minute hopefuls gathered for the Kokatat Qualifier on S-Turn rapid to try and earn themselves a spot to race at Jake's. 10 spots for the men and all 5 for the women were up…

On June 5th, 2020, 47 athletes came to Fort Collins, Colorado, for the Poudre Fest. Poudre Fest is an event for Running River Benefits, a nonprofit organization that states, "Our mission is simple; to help families with small children pay their medical bills." The festival was held at the Radman household in Poudre Park on an amazing property about a 15-minute drive up the canyon. The main event is a Stevens Down Race, a 12-mile course on class III/IV.The river was 4.3 feet on the Pineview Gauge on race day, a solid high/medium flow. The gauge is a rock, right above Pineview rapid, spray-painted with lines and numbers. The highlight rapid on the run is Pineview. It has a big wave/hole on the right with the whole flow pushing into…

The Animas River Days event was stop number two of the infamous Colorado Tour. Not only was it a playful weekend with surf competitions, boater cross, slalom, and more, but it was also the host event for the 2021 USA Freestyle Kayak National Championships. It was blistering hot the days leading into the event, and all the athletes rushed to escape the heat in the refreshing Animas River. Each day, the weather got warmer, and the river rose higher and higher. The higher flows made the competition wave bigger, steeper, and easier to throw higher scoring tricks.While the wave was getting better by the minute, it was still challenging and flushy on the day of the competition, so the event organizers opted for a round-robin format. During a round-robin, the…

A year in need of thrills prompted Éric Deguil to launch a new challenge: to hurtle down 600 meters of height difference on a class V river in less than an hour. Located in the Pyrenees, the Cauterets River provided the perfect conditions for this record, even though it normally takes two to three hours to complete. It would be a big challenge, but Éric Deguil is no rookie, "Mr. Pink Helmet" has already inscribed his name in the history of the discipline by winning the extreme kayak world championships four times. He is also a three-time winner of the iconic Green Race in the United States. However, technique is not everything, and for this new World Record of elevation dropped in a kayak in an hour, Deguil would have…

On a Saturday afternoon, Tom Dollé and Paul Aubertin didn't know what to do, so they went to Raphael Thibaut's kayak shop. After looking around, they started talking and rapidly began discussing what was running in the area. Raph mentioned the Oules waterfalls: A canyon that Raphael and Anton Immler opened a few years back, situated all the way up the Biaisse Valley in France. Paul and Tom decide to go give it a look and drove over there. They arrived late in the day; all the little creeks were raging, and it was beautiful to see. Tom and Paul got their first look at the 20-meter tall waterfall and quickly realized that there was a lot more water than when most people ran it. Still, there were two ways…

The Rhône is one of the largest river systems in Europe, starting in the Swiss Alps and finishing in the Mediterranean Sea. Its numerous dams collect tons and tons of sediment every year, which block the river bed and obstruct the river's normal flow. Every four years, the dams are fully opened to clear the sediment; this event is called the "Purge du Rhône." This means that the world class surf spots of the Rhône are runnable all day for 12 days! In May 2021, local paddlers Tom Dollé, Arthur Bernot, Arthur Paulus, and many others made the most of these epic flows on the world-renowned wave Hawaii-Sur-Rhône in Lyon, France.…

The Kern River Conservancy was founded in 2013 when Los Angeles resident Gary Ananian decided it was time for someone to stand up and care for the Kern River.After spending many summer adventures with his friends on the Kern, Gary grew impatient and frustrated with all the trash and vandalism impacting the river. So, after several discussions with his close friends and the Forest Service, Kern River Conservancy was born. Gary had absolutely no education or experience in environmental conservation. Still, he had the skills to communicate with anyone, and his social media experience was strong from promoting nightclubs and events in Hollywood.As the pandemic winds down, social trends, human behavior, and economic impacts have changed. During the pandemic, easy access and the lure of open-air environments turned the Kern…

Over the past couple of months, new material pertinent to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) has kept the folks at Save the South Fork busy as they fight the Stibnite Gold Project. After the release of the DEIS last Fall, Perpetua Resources submitted, and the Payette National Forest accepted, a new Plan of Operations (POO). In response, Save the South Fork Salmon, along with the Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Rivers United, and Earthworks, sent two lengthy letters to the Secretary of Agriculture and Forest Service officers detailing the technical and legal deficiencies in both the DEIS and the submittal of the new POO. Concerns include the sheer amount of new information that has not been analyzed or disclosed to the public in a manner that complies with NEPA requirements.…

It took me almost six years to paddle the Bjoreio from top to bottom. Not because it is a crazy difficult run—there are some portages over the 35 km section, which drops 1300 meters in gradient. Most of it is beautiful class IV/V. Not because it's a very remote river —most of the river is roadside. Not because it has no water all year long—it has water more frequently than many of classic runs in Norway. Then, why had it barely been run it before, and why did it take me such a long time? "It was nothing major, just easy, small waves, but they were big enough to break up the large iceberg I was standing on into a thousand smaller pieces." For a better explanation, I need to…

It was recently announced that the 2023 World Championships for Freestyle will take place on Good Wave in Columbus, GA, USA. So, this time, we are looking at some of the basics of wave boating to get you in shape! FIRST STEP — RAIL DRIVE FOR THE ROUNDHOUSE To go from simple surfing to throwing your boat into the air, you will need to learn the rail drive. To experiment with rail drive, first you will need to set up the boat at the top of the wave and start the acceleration towards the trough. As you start going down the wave, push your feet down to do a small hop. Once you master cycling to the top of the wave and trying your rail hops, it is time to…

“FRAMED FOR MURDER?” At 20 years old, traveling for six weeks in Europe with USA Team members for slalom kayaking, I was open to adventure. It seemed to find me as much as I found it. Bourg St. Maurice, France, has one of the best slalom courses in the world, and we were training and racing there. The USA Team had a camp set up just downstream of the course on river left. My tent was next to Rich Weiss’. It started on Bastille Day; we ate at our favorite pizza joint before heading to watch the fireworks in the square. I saw her sitting up on the cement fence and jumped up to sit next to her. Using all of the charm and French I could muster was not…

NEWS AND HAPPENINGS PADDLESPORTS SHOW 2021, OCTOBER 2021, LYON (FRANCE) The Paddlesports Show, which will take place the first week in October in Lyon, France, is quickly approaching! The show will be more than just a trade show. Organized by the Kayak Session Publishing Crew, the vision is to create an ecosystem of events and happenings, giving even more reasons to come and exhibit or visit for distributors, paddle enthusiasts, dealers, athletes, and manufacturers alike.The show will be held on the bank of the river Rhône, the perfect location to host an on-water demo day. A film festival, a trade show, a symposium with talks and awards, and more—the new annual international paddlesports industry rendezvous is waiting for you. thepaddlesportshow.com. THE RIVER RUNNER: AVAILABLE FOR AUDIENCES THIS FALL Following the…

The Mountain Games at Vail is a glamorous affair of big sponsors, big checks, and big crowds, so many expected a second year without this prestigious multi-sport XL event. Surprise! Back in March, the Vail Valley Foundation chose to give it a go, planning a pared-down event that could function if COVID restrictions eased off a bit to enable the athletes to perform whether the crowds could attend or not. Almost on cue, the outdoor restrictions were lifted just weeks ahead of the Mountain Games, and the public was invited back into town to enjoy the show. Awkward, uncomfortable, and a bit unexpected, but the Mountain Games were on! But a second gloomy cloud was hovering over the Games—low snowpack jeopardized all river events, as the courses were too low…

The third edition of the Ubayak Kayak Festival took place on June 19th, and it was a wonderful time! The Ubayak Festival is an extreme kayak race with a good-natured spirit where paddlers gather to share the love of the Ubaye River in the South Alpes, France. It is a class III-V river. The Ubayak Race is organized on the class IV and V sections. There were excellent water levels on the Ubaye River this year, making this Race even more spectacular. In the morning, the day began with a long race with a mass start. Then in the afternoon, there was a short individual race and a team race on the class V course. The local community had the pleasure of welcoming three foreign kayakers who participated in the…

The East Lyn, though lesser-known outside Great Britain, is a British classic: low volume, steep, reliable, and jaw-droppingly beautiful. The river flows eight kilometers from its source to the sea, 250 m below, where a glorious point break can be found. It passes through a stunning tree-lined gorge with the option to huck off some waterfalls on the Hoar Oak Water. It’s truly unique to find grade IV whitewater finishing in the sea that runs reliably for six months of the year. Perhaps its most unique feature, however, is that it remains a free-flowing river. In the UK, only 1% of rivers are free-flowing. A sad state of affairs. It doesn’t take a scientist to work out that some of the sheer beauty of the river is due to its…

When one of the shortest days in the southern hemisphere provided ample rainfall, the local Okere Falls crew knew there would be more than ample flow in the Kaimai Ranges! 11 Okere Locals (Dylan MF Thompson, Rob Collister, Cole O’Connor Stratton, Sam Ricketts, Mitch Lamb, Jesper Sørenson, Michel Uhl, Rhys Elliot, Issac Schanzer, Machu & Jure Stan) rallied to the Waimapu River, to put on what is considered one of the best creeking runs in the North Island and tick off what would be the highest descent of the river to date. A number of the boys had paddled the run multiple times, while it was the first time down for others. Therefore, the name of the game was “follow the leader & read and run.”The Waimapu is continuous and…

In a land that is home to over two million bodies of water, the odds of one river attracting the world's attention are slim—but the magic of Canada's Ottawa River has proven time and time again that it is capable of just that. The Rocher Fendu section of the Ottawa River has been paddled since time immemorial. These waters run through the unceded homelands and unsurrendered, traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg and Algonquin Nations. Lumber barons and log drivers used the wide, deep channels to drive their logs downstream for processing. And in the 1970s, recreational paddlers began to tap into the potential of running the big volume rapids. In the intervening decades, resorts and roads have been built. Private landowners have provided access to recreational boaters for free, by…

“NICELY FOUND” Mael: When I read the tourist agency slogan, "nicely found," on my first trip to Colombia, I couldn't imagine how, ten years later, this sentence would perfectly illustrate my life. The exhilarating combination of cumbía salsa dancing, warm weather, tropical rainstorms, and the stunning landscape was intoxicating on its own. Add to this exotic cocktail the finest whitewater, from creeking to big water, runnable all year long, and you end up with all the ingredients for a piece of paradise that, once you visit, might make you want to stay forever. The adventure started in 2010 with a crew of French young guns keen for everything and prepared for nothing. We came, enticed by promises of endless first descents and missions in the jungle, and were not disappointed.…

In 2020, the Western United States experienced a record-breaking year of devastating wildfires. By September of 2020, over five million acres in Oregon, Washington, and California had burned. The smoke from these fires could be seen from space and traveled thousands of miles, reaching Northern Europe. As a result, communities, businesses, natural landscapes, and ecosystems have been devastated. Even after the flames have been extinguished and communities have begun to rebuild, large swaths of forests and, in some areas, entire river drainages remain closed to the public—in the name of public safety. Increased frustrations from communities, the public, conservation groups, and recreation groups have led to the questioning and examining of management practices after a wildfire occurs. CASE: THE CLACKAMAS RIVER, OREGON, US. In 2020 over a million acres were…

RIVER WARRIOR: ANNE STEVENS Anne Steven’s kayaking style could be described as cautious with an attention to detail and a healthy dose of respect for rivers. Rather than holding her back, this caution lets her experience the river at a slower pace, offering her a different perspective than some paddlers. “I get super stoked on the little things, like catching eddies, hitting boofs,” she says. “I just really enjoy boating and the feeling of being at the bottom of a rapid and being super proud and super stoked.” Anne grew up in the rainy flatlands of Northern Germany, where kayaking meant touring the flatwater channels. “I wasn’t a particularly sporty kid and, I didn’t like kayaking at first,” Anne says with her endearing, no-bullshit honesty. Born in the city of…

DRAGOROSSI | DR9 The DR9 is the extreme kayak from the Italian company designed for paddlers weighing between 60 kg and 85 kg. Easy to use, it is suitable for both experienced and beginner paddlers. Ideal for large-volume rivers, it is incredibly fast and agile. LENGTH: 268 CM/8’10’’ | WIDTH: 68.5 CM/27’’ | WEIGHT: 22 KG/48 LB | VOLUME: 345 L/91 G DRAGOROSSI.COM AZTRON | STREET 31 ADVANCED MODEL The STREET 31 offers a short and wide deck range that is specially designed for smaller to medium size skaters. Built with 5+2 layers (rock maple and Canadian Maple Wood), this board is durable yet budget friendly. The compact deck size and medium concave also make this surfskate very easy to control. LENGTH: 78.7 CM/31’’ | WIDTH:…

Location: Alara River, Turkey Photographer: Mike Krutyansky Paddler: Ben Marr Location: Kicking Horse River, Golden, BC, Canada Photographer: Dan Stewart Paddler: Hayden Voorhees Location: Mini PeePee, Hawaii Photographer: Dane Jackson Paddler: Eric Deguil Location: Gaustafallet, Sweden Photographer: Sammy Billon Paddler: Andrew Kettlewell Location: Reykjafoss, Iceland Photographer: Mirto Menghetti Paddler: Severin Häberling Location: Verzasca River, Switzerland Photographer: Valentin Studerus Paddler: Hayden & Alec Voorhees Location: Wailuku River, Hawaii Photographer: Dane Jackson Paddler: Adrian Mattern Location: Grøna River, Norway Photographer: Halvor Heggem…