WCKA Chile 2010

       Junior year is the worst year of high school. This is what I had been repeatedly been told by older and wiser students who had attended Jackson Hole High School in years prior. With the combined pressure of impressing colleges and dealing with high caliber classes, students often dread the third year of their highschool career. This was not my case. This winter I had the extreme privilege to leave the snowy dregs of Jackson to go paddle in Chile with World Class Kayak Academy.

       Flying Out of Salt Lake

   January 15th, Eric Parker and I arrived at the SLC international airport with nothing more than our bills bags and boarding passes, after passing through security and customs we were on our way to Santiago where our Chilean tour would begin. We met with the eight other students and four teachers and were off to our first destination, the Rio Maipo.

The Yaso, a tributary to the Maipo 

WCKA Cabaneros.

 Photo: Ben Kinsella

      The Maipo's dark muddy waters, big water, and scatterd play made it a perfect way to start our semester in Chile. We lodged in a small mountain town called Banos Morales, nestled need in the heat of the Ande's and paddled scattered sections of the Maipo every evening for nearly two weeks. After those long weeks in the hot Chilean sun we were all ready for a change in scenery. Packing up the van once again we were headed south to the Rio Claro. 

        

Eric Parker lining it up.
 photo: Ben Kinsella

        The Claro is home to the world renown Siete Taza's section (RIP) and the Veintedos Tazas sections of whitewater. Although Veintedos was too low to be run, our crew was eager to fire up the classic waterfalls. The Seite Taza's section contains three real drops all of which are between 15 and 20 feet. The low water made for some green landings that had peoples backs aching, but the run was everything it was made up to be. 

Eric After The Run

                              

  Eric Sending the First Drop. 

photo: Ben Kinsella

          

           Moving further south from the Claro we headed to one of the most anticipated destinations of the trip, Pucon. The quaint ski town feel of Pucon combined with the world class kayaking, beautiful women and the breathtaking landscapes make it a must visit destination. We roosted at a campsite just outside of town for two weeks; happily enjoying our time. Our bread and butter section in Pucon was undoubtedly the Upper Palguin. The upper section is a classic pool drop style waterfall run that never gets old. Along with the upper we also ventured to the Lower Palguin (a more creek style run), the Rio Trancura, and the Rio Maichin. Low flows prevented us from running other nearby classics like the Turbio, Ojos de Cubergo, and many other of the close options but, with the Palguin flowing strong we were satisfied beyond belief. 

Myself sending the second drop on the upper.  

photo: Eric Parker

Volcan Villarica 

Olin Wimburg Boofing Huge

Seal launching into the Upper Palguin

      After two of the most enjoyable weeks of our trip so far, the group was sad to leave Pucon. We cleaned up camp and headed out to the Fuy.  I had heard allot about the Fuy before i had come to Chile, and now it was finally my time to get on the waters i had been told so much about. On the Upper Fuy for the first time i was hestiant on what to expect. The run started off with fun class IV- creeking with some larger drops and plenty of boofs. Two thirds of the way down you come upon Salto De La Leona this is where the run really starts to pick up.

Ben at the bottom of the Falls

Myself spotting my landing

photo: Conner Jackson

          Salto De La Leona is a clean 20-25 foot drop with multiple lines that can beat you down if you hit it wrong. After the falls lies what I can easily say is the most fun stretch of white water i have run to this day. The next 3 rapids are all signifigantly larger. The first is a must hit boof turn off a 5 foot ledge, then you move to a very steep slide rapid that leads into a riverwide pourover that would send you to china if you were unlucky enough to get caught in the center of it. The final drop is a small chunky rapid leading straight into a 15 foot boof. All combined these drops make the Fuy a run to come back to. 

Seth Stoenner boofing the corner of the pourover. 

photo: Evan Garcia

       Once we got our fill on the Fuy, we boarded a ferry and left the rainy town of Puerto Fuy to continue our pilgrimage south to the Futaleufu. After 36 hours of travel and two boarder crossings we arrived at Cara del Indio, the classic kayakers campground on the banks of the Futa.

Our van boarding the ferry

Every student got their own ewok cabin.

The Cara Del Indo (Face of the Indian)

       Since the start of my kayaking career I have known the name of the Futaleufu. Countless paddlers recite their personal memories of the crystalline blue water and the behemoth waves that compose the Futa. The puente a puente section (bridge to bridge) is the most run section of the Futa, a fun and forgiving class III-IV big water run with world class play spots scattered throughout. 

Seth throwing down on Pistola

 photo: Conner Jackson

        Along with the bridge to bridge section the A-Team got to run the todo futa. From Inferno Canyon to Casa De Piedra the 50 kilometer trek has contains everything the Futa has to offer. Inferno Canyon was the stretch of white water I had looked forward to most coming into the trip. The steep canyon walls and high gradient create a daunting and rewarding section of textbook class V big water. 

The water at the put in for Inferno Canyon

Entrada, the first rapid of inferno

Taking a break before the stouts

          Coming out of Inferno only a few kilometers of flatwater takes you to Zeta and Throne Room, the two most anticipated rapids on the river. As we arrive to Zeta we quickly saw why it is generally a portage. The swiss cheese rock, large boils, undercut ledges, and pushy eddylines make the consequence of Zeta overwhelming. Although the line through the rapid is not much harder than class IV the risk of being caught in an undercut and drowning make it a V+ and clear portage to nearly everyone. 

Todd, Olin and Myself Scouting Zeta.

photo: Ben Kinsella

        Five minuets away from Zeta lies Throne Room, a huge class V that will intimidate even the most seasoned paddlers. Starting river right of the monster rapid you must push left while punching two pushy lateral holes, assuming you stay upright you then must catch the pillow and surf it river left, ferrying around the end hole. If you mess up on any of these moves you run the risk of being shot into the toaster, a pour over seam hole on the river right of the throne that will send you 20,000 leagues under the sea. 

Jorge Taking the Lead

Seth working to keep it together on the pillow.

      After Throne room yet spirits were high as we paddled the Wild Mile, a class "fun" series of rapids and wave trains that take you to the Terminator section. Terminator, if run in the center, is the hardest rapid on the Futa, the sheer length and magnitude of the rapid will disorientate you, while the scattered pourovers, ledge holes, and waveholes, make missing your line a mistake that you don't want to make. We decided to take the far left line in which you run a small slot on the river bank then thread two large pourovers to make it into the bottom eddy river left. 

 The whole group compition at the bottom of Terminator

photo: Eric Parker

     After our Todo Futa day, the group was riled up and ready for Futa Fest, the annual kayak festival on the Futaleufu. In the boater cross WCKA dominated with two students (myself and Todd Wells) making it into the final. Todd Wells took gold in the final heat bringing in a win for World Class. Day two of Futa Fest was the Downriver race on the bridge to bridge section. In the play boat division our very own Eric Parker took home third place in a photo finish fighting for second. 

Futafest 2010

photo: Eric Parker

       Rather than staying for the Rodeo in Futafest the group took a vote and decided to travel north to Picculamu to help with earthquake and tsunami relief. Unfortunately on our drive up we were notified that the entire Chilean coast was being evacuated due to tsunami warnings and we could no longer go to help. Instead we headed back to the Maipo and relaxed poolside for the last two days of the trip, dreaming of the West Coast adventures we are sure to have.

                                                                                               - RISTO

The crew snaggin some rays.

A Pucon Segment edited by yours truly and a Futa Segment edited by Conner Jackson and Josh Larson

Chile!!!

C

In the cold winter months of december and january the average joe from jackson usually sits around and skis. This year however, I got an opportunity to go to Chile to paddle. Before long myself and about 8 kids from boise were in the Santiago airport testin our spanish on flight atendents. But thats a whole different story... We arrived in Pucon on the 28 and were pleasantly suprised with high flows. After a day and a half of warming up and all that shinanigans on the liacura river, we went to the Trancura. High flows made this run big and pushy.  Super fun big water with one HUGE hole that one girl in our group happened to float into. After a bit of a beatdown and some laughs we continued exploring the lines of the Trancura for about two more days. After a crazy new year celebration we set off to explore the rest of chile. Our coaches Jakub Sedivy, Tren Long, Keneth Long, and Christian had the pleasure of ridin in a van with ten teenagers for the long haul up to Pichilemu. Being chilean beach, it was sure to offer good waves and hot girls. Luckily, our expectations were met fast. Imediately after arriving we paddled out to the break. Being all of our first times surfing the ocean we all got crushed pretty hard on the first day. After a sunset session filled with trashings and air-blunts we turned in for the night. The next day we awoke to beautiful swells all the way down the beach. Although amazing and fun, catching waves in the ocean is uber scary for the average kid. After some carnage on both the coaches and students sides Tren peer pressured me into tryin airscrews. After multiple attemps resulting in 3/4th screws to face, I resumed blunts and trashings. After some good times in the break with Peter, Andrew, and Tren it was time to hea d in. Last words... "Peter is about to have the ride of his life... and were all gonna get wrecked!"And yes we did all get wrecked.. me and andrew had quite a ride on that one. Then we went discotecking...nuff said.Next day we rallied up to Los Quanes. After an amazing run on the Teno , a class III+ IV- run filled with rock splats and boofs, we continued back to the lodge with great hospitality curtesy of Mike Coglin and Tod something. After being stalked by the village tranny all night we awoke the next day to great weather. A good run on the Claro to start the day and another run on the Teno proved why Chile really is paradise. A few swims and nightmares were  the worst Los Quanes could do to us to take the grins of our faces . Next day, Siete Tazas! Absolute funnest run in the world. Some carnage on the first drop, getting lost, acidentel kickflips/free wheels, and giant spiders made this day one for the history books. Relatively good lines from the crew made for good talk on the 8 hour rally back to pucon. Next day we paddled the upper Trancura which is an amazingly fun class IV run. Big drops, fun boofs, big hits, and great views make this run spectacular. For the next week or so we ran this multiple times, everytime it gets better! We also rocked the Discos again! Fuy !!!! days later Andrew Roan, Coleman Roan, Peter, And myself were drivin to the Fuy. After spendin hours fixin the trailerr we finally got on. Trent then informed us that that day was expidition training. So our coaches kinda just floated down the side leaving us to descend/ scout the river alone. After a few arguments from the roans, and a brief carnage session, we got our system figured out and safely descended the fuy. We all go stuck in a gnarly eddie against a wall for a bit but that was just one incedent... On the second run tren explained it as " hit training, were gonna punch all the biggest holes we can find to see if we can get you young suckas swimming!" and we pretty much did exactly that. No swims but some good surfs and hits provided us all with worthy entertainment. We then drove back to pucon to enjoy our last night in paradise. The Fuy might be my favorite river to this day. Bonfires, jokes, cake, butterfly knives, and good friends made our last nite a one to remember. The next day we flew home. Marking the end to the trip of a lifetime.

(I would describe the discotecs and our experience in Los Quanes with more detail but some of my teachers might read this)

Teague

Alsek Pilgrimage Part Two

Day 3

    I awoke to a light drizzle, cool temperatures and overcast skies. I rolled over and went back to sleep.
    I awoke for a second time. This time, I knew it was much later in the day. How late I couldn't tell, but I felt it might be time to get up and see if anyone else was moving around yet. They weren't. I attempted several times to start a fire, but wet wood made for a challenge and I just settled for making coffee and oatmeal with the backpacking stove we'd brought for occasions just like this. Pat and Scott emerged not long after I did and joined me for a hot breakfast and hot coffee.

 

                                 My accomodations at Camp 2

    After breakfast the rain had subsided slightly, and we packed our stuff and got on the river at 2:30 in the afternoon. Not exactly early risers! We paddled hard and made it to a sight we'd been waiting to see almost as badly as the canyon itself, Mt. Blackadar. Mt. Blackadar appears, a long time before you actually reach it. We spent an hour pumping our fists and whooping loudly as we approached it's base.

                                 Mt. Blackadar hidden in the clouds

    After reaching the base, we found a unique eddy with a rock spire directly below Mt. Blackadar. Pat and I climbed the spire and began eating our lunch at the base of the great mountain, while Scott ran up the opposite shore searching for the perfect photograph of the mountain. Other than just being stoked to see Mt. Blackadar in all it's glory, this also symbolized that we were very close to Turnback Canyon,  as it lay just on the opposite side of the mountain .
    The three of us arrived at the Tweedsmuir Glacier and Turnback Canyon no more than two hours after finishing our lunches. The river above the Glacier is incredibly wide and already beginning to show characteristics of a lake. A lake that could be formed by the Tweedsmuir Glacier blocking the river above Turnback Canyon. At the time of our trip, the Tweedsmuir was within 200 feet of accomplishing just that.
    As we approached the campsite above Turnback we saw large towering walls of Ice, and just downstream we could see what looked to be the entrance of the canyon!
    We arrived to find two raft-groups camped out and waiting for a helicopter to portage them around the canyon. For us, this meant a few extra luxuries for the next day or two. We set our camp between the two raft parties and immediately walked downstream to check out the glacier.
    We walked to the top of a small dome directly across from the glacier and sat down to observe. What we saw was a phenomenon of nature that blew my mind. The glacier would calve large pieces of ice into the river at an amazing rate. At times we witnessed 200' tall chunks of ice crash into the river and send tidal-waves racing upstream. And Ice-bergs floating downstream into Turnback Canyon.

                                The Tweedsmuir above Turnback and the river of ice flowing downstream


    We enjoyed a feast that night, as we ate our regular meals which were then supplemented with the raft companies leftovers. Bellies full and bodies exhausted, Pat again read us an excerpt from Never Turnback, and we all went to sleep ready to scout the canyon's entrance on foot the next day.


Day 4

    The entire night we were awakened every so-often by the glaciers thundering bursts. It made for one of the most restless night's sleep of my life, and one I would not trade for anything.
    We ventured to the canyon's mouth shortly after eating breakfast. The hike took us around forty-five minutes from camp and involved crossing some incredibly beautiful terrain. To one side we had Mt.Blackadar and all it's glory and to the other we had the Alsek River and the Tweedsmuir Glacier. About half-way through the hike, we stopped to watch the glacier for a moment and witnessed the glacier calve several times, though they were all very small. After a snack we continued on our short trek. Only moments after walking away from our snack-point, we heard a thundering roar and turned to see the glacier calving an enormous piece of ice into the river. Chunks of ice shot through the air and covered our previous overlook before a tidal wave came roaring across the river and soaked that same location. We had been sitting their only minutes before and assuredly would have been subjected to the wrath of both water and ice. I was very glad we had moved when we did.

                                A large calving of the Tweedsmuir Glacier

    Soon we came to the entrance rapid and were able to stare into the depths of Turnback Canyon. I remember a feeling of amazement and terror as I saw what we would have to deal with if we chose to run the canyon.
    A river of ice was coming down from the Tweedsmuir upstream and this made things interesting. The entrance rapid itself looked manageable. It consisted of a 45 degree bend in the river. From our perspective on the inside corner (river left) we saw large haystack waves and boils all dotted with chunks of ice. The line was wide and even if ice were to hit a kayak I think it would have been manageable in this rapid. Directly downstream however was a different story.

                                Pat and I scouting the entrance to Turnback

    The S-Turns lay directly below a short pool after you enter the canyon. This pool was moving quickly and looked like a minefield dotted with small chunks of ice on the top. Every so-often a large chunk of ice (some the size of small homes) would come rocketing out of the water below having been submerged by the whirlpools and boils in the entrance rapid. With ice moving at high-speeds into the S-Turns, I felt a knot in my stomach begin to form and thought to myself, "We're not going to get to run this canyon, are we?"

                                Looking downstream into the S-Turns

    The S-Turns are a series of bends in the river linked directly together and completely walled in by 100' walls. The resulting features are slightly terrifying but avoidable. Even with the added hazards of ice the line would be to stay on the outside of the turns and avoid the giant boils forming on the inside corners that would most definitely swallow a kayak and subject it to the possibility of an encounter with a not-so-friendly piece of ice. In my head I could see the line and believed I could work things out and make it through the S-Turns.
    As we walked back to camp our group was silent. We had all talked prevalently at the canyon mouth about possible lines and consequences but now it seemed we were all deep in thought weighing the pro's and con's of what we'd seen.

                                Scott and the paddle Walt Blackadar used when he first ran Turnback

    Back at camp the rafters were full of questions as to if we were going to attempt the canyon or not. All we could say was we didn't know yet. What we had seen was a small portion of the canyon and the largest rapids remained downstream. The brutal facts were the river level was high (Between 40 and 50,000 CFS over the 5 days we spent on the river) and the Tweedsmuir was surging at an even more dramatic rate than it had when Blackadar had been here. These facts made me think of a quote Blackadar made in a Sports Illustrated article, "Read my words well and don't be a fool. It's un-paddleable." Blackadar of course made it through the canyon, proving it WAS paddleable. His words however reflect the feeling out of control feeling Blackadar experienced and how he always considered himself lucky to have flushed through the canyon alive. He did not believe he succesfully navigated the canyon.
    I went to sleep on the night of the 7th thinking about the one decision that would ultimately be a decision of life and death.


Day 5
    I slept restlessly. I couldn't get the canyon out of my mind. I wanted to run it. I wanted to run it so badly that I had spent the night convincing myself I could do it. I knew full well that I might ultimately opt-out of the descent, but personally if I don't have myself fully committed before I scout something I leave too many variables in my mind for fear to feed upon. Therefore when I stepped into that yellow Bell Helicopter on July 8th, 2008, I knew I was going to run Turnback Canyon.
    Mackonen arrived shortly after breakfast and shuttled the rafters to the far end of the canyon. We said goodbye and listened to their words of encouragement and fear for us, all the while wishing us well and hoping we would make a safe decision.

                                Mackonen coming in for a landing!

    As we sped through the canyon Scott, Pat and myself were in Awe of the size and power of some of the rapids. After the S-Turns most everything looked manageable up until we reached a river-wide ledge-hole. Two lines presented themselves here and neither looked appealing, but both looked doable. One option was to run hard left and hope the curling edge of the hole didn't suck you backwards into the ledge. The second option was to line up and run down the middle. At first glance, the hole looked impenetrable, but a trained eye could see that a small V formed in the middle of the hole and water was pushing out here, allowing the possibility of punching through. The negatives to both lines were that a piece of ice could easily push you off course here and ruin your day or more likely, your life.
  

                                The ledge-hole

"I'm out." I heard Scott's voice over the headset. I remained silent, as did Pat. We continued downstream and quickly came to the crux of the run. We saw a rapid so big and terrifying it made my mind go blank in amazement. The river dropped significantly here forming a steep rapid filled with gigantic crashing waves and giant boils coming off both banks. Some of the waves were straight and some were diagonal. There was no rhyme or reason to the formations and occasionally waves would crash together exploding ice into the air. This was the rapid Blackadar described as "Hair".
    We sped past Hair and on down the canyon. Things mellowed out quickly from here and I was fully confident I could run everything in Turnback canyon, except for Hair.

 

                                HAIR

    "I'm Out." This time it was my voice over the radio leaving only Pat silent and stoic in the front seat. He wanted this bad.
    Pat still considering the canyon left me in a tough spot. I couldn't let him go alone. Safety in Turnback is an illusion, however if there were a chance for rescue it could only come from a fellow boater. Pat and I had experienced alot together on and off the river throughout our friendship and if he thought the canyon was doable, I would have gladly gone to battle with him.
    "I'm Out." Pat's voice was deep and forceful. It was obvious he had just processed an internal war of emotion. Although it was the right call and the safe call, you could tell it didn't sit well with Pat. I felt a sense of relief hearing him say that and leaned forward and gave his shoulders a quick squeeze. Scott, Pat and myself, three brothers, would all be returning home to tell the tale of what we'd seen. Mr. Blackadar, we salute you.

                                          Austin R. Ready to go home

                                          Pat Keller all smiles on the flight out

               

                                                   Scott Harcke, The Man

Antique footage of the First Descent of the Susitna

This post needs very little introduction. It is the original footage of Walt Blackadar on the first D of Devils Canyon on the Susitna...Enjoy

Young Teague reviews "Toxic Waters" from Sheer Madness Productions

It's winter here in Wyoming and there isn't much kayaking to be done around here. To feed our natural craving for kayaking we resign ourselves to watching kayaking movies and following what other people are doing around the globe while we wait for our winter paddling vacations and fill the spare time skiing. GYGK's Teague Manley recently watched Toxic Waters and these are his thoughts on the film:

   In this mind blowing motion picture, paddlers that are pushing the limits show their skills on rivers throughout out the Midwest, Northwest, and Mexico. Paddlers in this film include heavy hitters Tao Beman, Nate herbeck, Heather Herbeck, Erik Boomer, Austin Rathman, John Kiffmeyer, Ryan Scott, and thirteen year old Devin Morton. This film features outstanding whitewater in Michigan, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Mexico. Paddlers  display flawless lines and huge hucks. If your not into male boating, there is a four minute long “Midwest Ladies” segment featuring Christie Glissemeyer and many other women rippers. This video is filled with great music and awesome kayaking making it a must see for any paddler. An especially extreme drop by our own Austin Rathmann ends the video and keeps you jonesing for more.

 -Teague

Here is a trailer of Toxic waters and to purchase the film go to

http://www.liquidkayak.com/LK_Store.html