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Northwest Rafting Co - Class III Rowing School

Scouting Rapids in Northwest Rafting Co. Class III Rowing School

Learn to maneuver catarafts and oar rafts on the Rogue River, where the class II and III rapids are ideal for beginner and intermediate boaters. Whether you have zero or basic river skills, this course will offer you the tips and techniques you’ll need to read water and row oar boats under the watchful eyes of professionally trained river guides in a fun and supportive environment.


Price: $1095
Length: 48 miles / 5 days
Location: Rogue River, Oregon
Dates: May 29 – June 2, 2013 and September 4 – 8, 2013

Find more details on Northwest Rafting Co website.

Paddling.net Sweepstakes Winner

To: Brian Van Drie
Hi, sorry that it took me so long to send you photos. I got back to Arizona in November and finally got a chance to get out to Lake Pleasant and take some Photos. Then, I was doing a lot of traveling . So I am settled in and excited about all of my new equipment from the summer sweepstakes.

This is me at Lake Pleasant, outside of Phoenix, with my Folbot Citibot kayak, Sawyer paddle, Java PFD and Phone Case from Sea to Summit.

It took my husband and I several hours to figure out how to put the kayak together. I have it hanging up in the garage. Don't plan to take it apart until I need to travel with it. Love it because it is so light, I can carry it with one hand.

I am in Love with the Sawyer Paddle that they sent. It is feathered and one piece and has a beautiful Hawaiian flower print on the blades. I am a HAPPY KAYAKER.

THANK YOU AGAIN,
Priscilla Spickler

Up a River without a Paddle...A very big river.

Camp at "Roller Coaster" under the Aurora Borealis

We were enjoying the Great Slave River in NW Territories, it was fall.  The September coolness was beginning to hint of winter. One could almost smell the breath of Polar Bears as rain turned to snow and dry leaves, picked up by icy winds, gathered in the eddies.

The Slave was running around 200,000 cfs, and we had made a camp on an Island next to a classic surf wave, named Roller Coaster.  Nearly any kayak trick you could think of was possible on this wave, and with class 2 consequences below, a sauna and hundreds of pounds of food- we did not feel particularly vulnerable.  We were having the surf sessions of our life under the green and pink aurora borealis and star filled skies...Yes, we were surfing at night.

The thing about the Slave, unlike any river I have ever paddled on, is that it's character is multifaceted.    It is huge beyond comprehension, and with many many channels that drain it north through the  Fort Fitz- Fort Smith portages of days gone by.

The Slave is so large it takes nearly 45min. Just to paddle it's width!  Then you have to figure out which channel or channels you need to take.

As I added a few more sauna rocks to our fire, these two paddlers appeared in the calm bits above our camp.  They looked scared and tired and cautious... Only one of them had a paddle.

As we soon found out, these two paddlers from Germany had good reason for their exhaustion.  They had ran into a fellow paddler in the Bar in Fort Smith looking for Beta on how to get to our “Camp” on the island at Roller Coaster.  Getting Beta in the Bar for the Slave River is like getting someone to draw you a map on a bubble gum wrapper of where to go on the Grand Canyon! 

The two adventurers were bound for trouble...they got to the put-in, and started the paddle trek across the width of the river, with many bends falling away and channels snaking into pits of steam with no visible means of scouting.  “Where do we go left?” and “What direction are we heading?” are two of the most common questions in this area...and also challenging to answer...”we will go this way and then bend right and then bend left, left and back right then stay straight, then work left and back right.”

They ended up heading straight into an area referred to as “Land of a thousand Holes”, where one can see islands choked with log jams, like boats pushing logs against their bows, holes the size of apartment buildings, and shore seems like a faint idea gone by.  

These two were instantly separated from each other, in a mad dash to avoid what was unavoidable at this point.  The two had their hands full, on what I call Soloing with friends, which simply means; your friends are nearby, but all of you are too busy saving your own butt, that you cannot do much for anyone else.  Survival paddling, where once you have gotten it together, you can begin the process of trying to “find” your friends and see how they faired.

They both dropped into holes that were far bigger than anything they ever had intentionally surfed, and one swam out, loosing most of his food, his paddle and any idea of dry cloths.  These two had to paddle several rapids, having never seen or scouted any of it,  and not a spare or hand paddle to use, once the paddle was gone.

So, it was understandable that once these two reached our Indian Bazaar of an island, complete with curry, rice, soup, beer and meat...a hot sauna, and no bugs...They didn't want to leave unless we showed them the way back to the take out.  I could feel their humility...nothing humbles a person faster than dropping into house size holes without a paddle during a fall snow.

by John Fullbright

Sketchy Times on the Witte River

At the start of last season we had some good water in the Western Cape province of South Africa. After drying out for a few months during our hot and dry summer I hadn’t been in a boat for 7 month and 2 days, but our finest creek was running nicely so without further ado I jumped into one of my Fluid kayaks and headed down.

The day was chilly but lovely, with the sun peeking out – a rarity on this river. With just a few mates we cruised down the Witte River which drops almost 400 metres in the 7.5km section that is most commonly paddled. For the American readers used to imperial units this translates into continuous rapids in the class 3+ to 5 range. The rapids are all boulder gardens and there are a few mean undercuts and loads of siphons. But you can drink the water, the rapids are all good to go and the shuttle simple enough to do. A firm favourite for most experienced paddlers in the area. The level that day was fairly average, tending to low.

Being out of the water for a while I was a fraction rusty. I had kept fit bodyboarding and windsurfing during the summer months but perhaps paddling wise I was a bit out, having not surf kayaked too much. Generally things were going quite well, until we reached Pilkington Falls, a clean drop of about four metres with a tricky lead in. My mate messed up the entry and ended up going backwards down the left side, which is not good. He landed on the rock which hides in the base (it’s a must boof drop) and crushed the stern of his kayaking, breaking some outfitting. Luckily he wasn't injured. I went down the right side and completed the drop, almost getting caught in the small hole at the base.

Then the very next rapid is a rather unpleasant one, with two siphons to be aware of, and avoid and multiple drops. This short section is sometimes portaged by the more skittish paddlers. As I dropped down the first set of boulders my kayak got too much speed and the bow slotted to the left of a boulder, with all the water going right. The boulder to the left is undercut and while it not a problem it does tend to take one more left than is ideal. For a moment I was contemplating my next move and then the boat twisted around and I went backwards, the stern of the kayak getting pinned under another rock at the base of the small hole. I went half upside down and while holding my head above water in a roll position my paddle was knocking against a protruding boulder. This was bad, very bad. Swimming was not an option as there was a siphon directly behind me, followed by another one shortly after that. I could probably swim away from the first siphon but had no intention of swimming through the drops that followed. Luckily I got out rather quickly from my precarious position, but at the time it felt like an age. As I righted myself and stroked for the plume of water river left of the first siphon (the only route) I felt a knock into my boat as a mate of mine clattered into me, swinging my boat perpendicular to my chosen route – crap! Through a little luck I managed to stay upright, compose myself and then head through the rest of the rapid. My heart was beaten, my eyes wide. Jeesh that wasn’t fun I remember thinking. That rapid has always scared me, and I’ll always have a great deal of respect for it! This episode leaves no doubt in my mind that no matter how good you are, and no matter how many times you paddle that river, it will always be the boss.

Stuck under a boulder...

About 500 metres downstream another member of our group was pulled right through a siphon, boat and all. Luck really was on our side that day, and he came through unharmed. It was just one of those days where you’re very thankful that everything turned out ok... Be safe!

Video link to this moment:
http://vimeo.com/24266298

-          Adrian Tregoning
http://adrian.playak.com/