Performance Video

The health of whitewater sport is a topic central to the annual Whitewater Symposium. This year it was the best ever.   Easy logistics meant that the leaders of whitewater sport had lots of time to focus on ways to improve the health of whitewater sport.  The optimistic attitude was pervasive.  The recent slip in whitewater kayak sales might prove to be like the dot com bust of 2001...

Join some of the top paddlesport instructors at the next Whitewater Symposium October 2-4, 2009, at Zoar Outdoor, near Charlemont, Massachusetts.

I have been involved with the Whitewater Symposium from the start and we highly recommend participation by all paddlers but especially for paddling program leaders and instructors.

There is something for everyone...especially club leaders!

Wednesday July 29th to Sunday August 2nd, 2009

From a recent interview with PaddlingLife.net adventure web site.

PL: What inspired you to make The Call of the River?

In preparation for the release of my historical documentary on whitewater canoeing and kayaking, I have enjoyed some fine books that nicely capture segments of paddlesport history.

Most exhaustive, and most important, is Sue Taft’s “The River Chasers”. This book is the product of tremendous research, and nicely details key moments of whitewater history in the US. It is an important document, particularly so because of the thoroughness of the detail. www.theriverchasers.com

I am quite honored to be selected for the Whitewater Hall of Fame. What a suprise and an honor. See details at http://www.iwhof.org/

I have been involved in many whitewater activities, and I wouldn't trade any of the friendships along the way for anything. A quick list of friends along the way, many of whom far more deserve the award include: From Competition- slalom training Friends in Washington DC, North Carolina, and Durango, and International competitors, (many now coach or organize the sport at the Olympics)

Update from the Canoe Kayak Slalom event

This month I paddled many different craft... reminding me that it isn't about the boat... (not about the bike...) It is about messing about in boats.

>Sea Kayak

>Downriver Kayak

>Tandem Canoe on Flatwater with my wife

>Marathon Canoe

>Whitewater Dory (65 miles of the San JUan River in 24 hours)

>Slalom Kayak in Slalom gates

>Slalom Kayak on Flatwater

>Slalom C-1 in Slalom gates

It was my sit-up-in-the-middle of the night idea... doing a better job of networking the environmentally concerned part of our community.

When I launched it, I had no idea if ten people would show up. That was back in 2002, here in my hometown of Durango. Now we have an average of 100 attendees per monthly luncheon meeting, making us the largest business "club" in town.

Why isn’t an inflatable kayak considered a whitewater kayak?

At the whitewater symposium a few years ago, I had this discussion with Bill Parks, founder and brainiac behind NRS. The concept and question of how we define whitewater kayaking has rumbled with me since.