Rivers in Demand

Check out what the boys are up to in China! The Epicocity Crew has a pretty sweet new website up, highlighting their change in focus from pure shit-running to shit running for a cause. This new project is designed to raise awareness for beautiful, diverse watersheds around the world, doomed to slow deaths at the hands of the man.

Rivers in Demand: China

Metlako Falls - Eagle Creek, OR

It's a big one and it's clean. Evan Garcia rolled into the Columbia Gorge the other day in order to start training for the Little White Salmon race this upcoming weekend. He has been talking about the Northwest's most runnable, big drop since his arrival. After a race lap down the Little White with local favorites Todd Anderson and Tao Berman, Evan drove out to Bonneville and hiked up to Metlako for a scout. He returned to the house with an intense level of excitement about what he had seen on his little walk.

We hiked up there this morning with our kayaks and gave her a go. It was good to have a small crew of Gorge locals there for support. Eric Boomer and John Grace showed up for some media just an hour after Boomer gave Rock Creek's "Money Drop" another re-first descent. Apparently the Money Drop is now measuring in around 60 feet.

Evan slayed the beast first and styled a perfect line. I followed with another clean, soft landing. It was a good day for waterfalling here in the Northwest.

If you know where this is, you know where he's going.


"Where is my kayak?"


Evan picking up speed.


Eagle Creek is a really nice place to visit this time of year.

A few more shots from Santa Catalina

Aiden, the Kiwi at low tide.


Low tide leaves a bit of the reef out of the water.


Kai and Mike's bounty from the sea.


Don't fall in the bushes.

Last River in Chile: Middle Fuy

We took the ferry from Argentina to Puerto Fuy on our way back from the Baker with high hopes of running the infamous Middle Fuy. Tales of mandatory waterfalls and past vertical canyon walls had me excited. A heavy rainstorm hit as we docked in town, and after a quick scout of the river we decided that it was most likely going to be too high. So, we trucked on to Pucon where we waited out the storm for some sunny weather, and Rodrigo, Evan and I returned to the Middle Fuy two days later.

Although the level at the put-in was frighteningly low, the level at the take-out bridge was looking like a good medium-low-flow for the classic Lower Fuy. Rodrigo had done the run before at the recommended boat bashingly low flow, but he was convinced the run could take a little extra water. Just about 100 yards below the first rapid a tibutary tripled the flow, and we committed to the gorge concerned, but at the same time confident that we could make a safe descent. The extra water actually made the run really fun and cushioned-out.

The big falls is the big attraction. It has a sketchy lead-in before the water plunges about 50 feet into a deep pool below. heavy vegetation and steep cliff-walls make this one nearly impossible to portage. The three of us decided to do a big seal-launch to avoid running through the undercuts in the entrance. Rdorigo hucked it first with a clean line, but he lossed his paddle after tossing it to avoid the potential of a break. I followed and rolled up at the bottom with half of a paddle. Damn. Broke my paddle on my last day of kayaking in Chile. Evan hucked his paddle to be sure we wouldn't run out. I was tring to shoot video from the bottom, so I didn't get any good photos of anyone running the drop from the pool below. The rapids that followed were steep and continuous. It reminded me of the Little White. I am now back in the Columbia River Gorrge, and I had the good fortune of running the Little White this morning. It was cold, but as much fun as ever.

Salto de La Puma. We put-in just below this beast. I think it could be run with more water.


Rodrigo doing what he does best. Going big.


The Middle Fuy has game! The big one.


Rodrigo and Evan taking one last look at the big one from below.


If the Fuy looks like this from the bridge, the Middle is good to go.

Boat assisted surf adventure, Isla Cebaco

A body boarder and group of surfers from the cabins organized a boat trip to Isla Cebaco, one of the large islands off the coast of Panama. We arrived to find two other boatloads of surfers and a heavy, barreling wave the locals call "La Caja" - The Box. It was boxy and scary, and the take-off was directly in front of a pile of volcanic boulders. In our boat we left with one snapped board and a few scratches, but it was a great day on an amazing wave. I could only get a few shots from the boat, but the front of the wave looked even better.

The Captain. Word.


Yes, this wave breaks directly on and in front of a huge pile of rocks.


If you look into the mist, you can see someone taking an early exit.


"Did he make it?"


Enjoying the ride.

Cabañas Rolo - Santa Catalina, Panama

After lots of good times with Rodrigo and Ema and the rest of the vagabond kayakers who spent time in Pucon, I was still looking for some more fun before returning to the States. I stopped for a week of good surf in Panama on my home. These are just a few shots from Rolo´s place. If you ever find yourself in Santa Catalina, I highly recommend staying there.

Nice lakes

Evan Garcia has my photos of the big whitewater on the Baker right now, but these are a few nice shots of some of many beautiful lakes we passed by in our travels. Check out Evan´s blog for a massive Baker update.

Patagonia Chilena

On the 2nd of March, Serverin from Switzerland, Rodrigo Tuschner, Ema Passi and I left our home in Pucon for a kayaker´s pilgrimage to the great rivers of the south of Chile. After a fun night in Pucon, a classic run on the Rio Gol Gol and some of the typical (frustrating) access issues on the rivers south of Bariloche in Argentina, we made our first official stop at the Rio Futaleufu. The Futa is world famous for its big water and impressive scenery. There we enjoyed beautiful weather at the Cara del Indio camp with Paul and Jamie from Montana, and we reunited with our friends from World Class.

We loaded up the Kayak Pucon van and headed south on the Carretera Austral with the addition of two more friends, Evan Garcia and Peru´s golden boy, Juanito de Ugarte. We drove through epic Patagonia scenery for two days before we unloaded the rig at the Rio Baker, Chile´s largest river. Unfortunately, this river is doomed to death by dam, like so many other of the world´s most powerful waterways. The Presidenta of Chile says the country needs dams like the one on the Baker to progress like the United States. Damn.

It looks like our generation might witness the end of free flowing rivers. This means future generations will most likely witness the end of freeflowing sand (that comes from freeflowing rivers) and the disappearance of beaches. I know this is just rhetoric to most, but apparently true: At least a small percentage of the worlds´ population will still have lots of money.

Serverin charging on the first waterfall of the Gol Gol.


Morning at our first camp on the drive south from Futa. La Junta, Chile.


Patagonia commuter.


Learn more @ http://www.patagoniasinrepresas.cl

The Spring 2008 World Class Crew

Israel is the cook, logistics man, local connection, Spanish coach and all-around good guy.


Josh Bechtel is the Head Coach and math teacher.


Dave Zinn is the Program Director this semester. He also teaches history and spanish classes.


Kristi Murrin teaches math and science, and she has an incredible tolerance for the "dudefest" at the school this semester.


Dan West teaches literature and spanish, and he is the Assistant Coach.


This is me. I had a chance to help out the school for a little while, and I didn´t have to teach any classes!

Baños Morales - Headwaters of the Rio Maipo

I just spent a week with World Class on the Rio Maipo. After we had explored several quality sections of whitewater, Israel, the school´s cook, took us to his family´s house upstream in the village of Baños Morales. The village has no power, by choice of its residents. It was incredible to be in such an isolated, gorgeous place just two hours from Chile´s largest center of population, Santiago. We had intended to do a trek to the glaciers that feed the headwaters of the Maipo, but a powerful storm forced the authorities to close the trail for the afternoon. As the weather cleared, we entertained ourselves by climbing the base of one of the surrounding mountains, and I couldn´t stop taking pictures...

Me gustan las fotos!

i thought it was about time to put some more kayaking photos on the blog. these photos and some others can be seen on the wavesport site soon - http//www.doubleyouess.com . i'll try to motivate and get some more, proper updates on here in the next week or so. life is busy, but life is good here in chile. rodrigo and ema are the best, so work is always fun and we are tearing up the liucura and trancura rivers with our ducky and raft trips.

world class is coming to chile in a few days. i am excited to meet up and help with the crew again! they have a pretty amazing paddling itinerary set for chile and argentina this year. those kids are too lucky.

hasta luego!

Mucho Viento en Pichilemu!

Todd is on his way back to the states, so we thought it would be a good time to hit the Chilean coast before he flies out of Santiago next week. The waves are large, but the wind was super loco today. Another Columbia Gorge local, Josh Solbach, is here charging with his kite. Hopefully the wind will die down a bit for some good surf.