Early spring forecasts of rain are a good indicator that rain-dependent creeks will run! And suddenly you want to be a creek boater. Unfortunately, your timing is off if you wait until the creeks run to "be" a creek boater. There is prep work to be done with boating...
Kayak Technique / Skill Development
Slalom and Creeking by Mary Mills
By Mary Mills Editing by Haley Popp When Would I Ever Need Slalom Skills? This year is my first winter running creeks after being introduced to slalom by Juliet during an Endless River Adventures Private Instruction class in the summer. I admit I was skeptical when...
Honing Your Skills Between Gates
by Joe Ravenna Downhill skiing and whitewater kayaking have a great deal in common and it is not surprising to learn that some of the world's best skiers and kayakers honed their skills between gates. As a verb, slalom means to move in a winding or zigzag fashion;...
Risk and Kayaking, Part III: The Human Touch
“I’m smart, I’m funny, And dog gone it, People like me.” -Stuart Smalley, Saturday Night Live ca. 1995 We all want to have friends, lots of friends, friends that are fun and friends that are reliable—friends we can count on to blow off work and go kayaking. ...
ERA Instruction Goes Slalom
ERA INSTRUCTION PROGRAM GOES SLALOM. Not quite true - we love our whitewater boats!! But our 2010 program is setting new focus on bringing the best of slalom to improving down river paddling skills. Instruction guests will have the chance to work on the flat water...
Risk And Kayaking: Three Part Series
RISK AND KAYAKING: Sometimes it's the Little Things by Brian Snyder and Juliet Jacobsen Kastorff This is a three part series detailing out some of the planning that should go into preparing for a day on the river. Kayaking is a sport with inherent risk. All...
Risk and Kayaking- Sometimes it’s the Little Things, Part I
Risk and Kayaking: Sometimes It's the Little Things Part I: Mandatory Rescue Gear by Brian Snyder and Juliet Jacobsen Kastorff Over the years we as guides have found that often it is the little things that play the biggest parts in minimizing the risk of future...
Boat Angle Management: Gates vs. Whitewater
Presetting angles relative to where you are going next is a concept that does not seem to sink in for the whitewater kayaker immediately. Initially it may have something to do with the “paddle! Paddle Paddle!” mentality which trains a beginner paddler to just take...
The Pros’ Perspective on Slalom Gates/Running Whitewater
The benefit of whitewater for slalom boaters? The benefit of slalom training for whitewater boaters? As a follow up to the article Spending time paddling slalom gates can make you a better boater, we asked the pros what they think about it about the benefits of...
Why there is room for slalom and whitewater to coexist on the river! And what they can teach each other.
Slalom boaters and whitewater paddlers always seem to coexist but not really connect. That should not be as the two can really learn from each other. In running slalom gates there is intense focus on setting specific boat angles and planning moves ahead of time....
Slalom Gates will make you a better whitewater kayaker
One of the challenges an instructor has is making kayaking “accessible” regardless of how far away from whitewater someone might live. In our instruction program we are constantly encouraging the kayakers we train to spend time in a boat. Time in a boat is what makes...
Article: When Rivers Slow Down
Our friend and fellow ecuador traveler John has made some significant breakthroughs in his paddling this summer. This most recent revelation is one experienced by every kayaker: the moment that a particular rapid/river starts to slow down enough that it is possible...
Hand Placement on a Kayak Paddle
I have always used the following pitch when someone asks about a bent shaft paddle: If you have wrist/joint issues use a bent shaft If you have an extra $100 to spend, a bent shaft is for you If it feels good in your hands when you pick it up, definitely buy one....
Cata-Kayak Rescue: Improvising an Emergency Evacuation
After twenty-five years of teaching and guiding, you would think that nothing messes with the trademark calm façade of Ken Kastorff. But f you ask Kastorff what he worries about on the river the calm façade behind those Killer Loop glasses is betrayed. Forget making...
Everything I Learned About Boofing
Everything I learned about boofing… usually came after missing yet another golden opportunity to pull of a good boof. In hindsight, timing is everything and I wandered into kayaking in the late-80’s, right in the middle of a new transition in the southeast from...
Making the Transition by Jess Snyder
Making the Transition by TeamERA Jess Snyder Everyone is searching for something in life. For me, faith has been my holy grail. I have been trying to find faith in something my whole life. My destination was reached when I stumbled my way into Endless River Adventures...
Now that’s what I call High Adventure Summer Camp!
Now that’s what I call summer camp! by Sara Cermenaro Three years ago the Georgia-Carolina Boy Scout Council decided to expand its summer camp offering and include high adventure treks for older Scouts (including girls like me). The most popular trek (because it was...
Stroke Concepts: Tailored for the beginner and intermediate boater
Just as boats evolve, strokes evolve as well. As strokes change, so do the methods for teaching each of them. Let’s talk about the sweep. This stroke is one that has evolved with the changes in boat size. For instructors what change means is constantly refining our...
The Kayak Addiction of an Eagle Scout by Steve Augustine
Eight year ago something went out of whack in the great scheme of things. A 14-year old boy scout from Orlando got taken under the wing of some crazies at a camp in westernNorth Carolina. The camp was Camp Daniel Boone, a Boy Scout camp in the heart of theSmoky...
Never Say Never: My First Ocoee Trip
By Heather Huckeba This story began back in 2005. Spring of 2005 is when I attended my first Arkansas Canoe Club School of Whitewater Paddling. I didn’t really know yet if whitewater paddling was something I would stick with or not. I was interested – definitely...