Wilderness Advanced First Aid

Whether it results in a simple broken nose or severe case of hypothermia, everyone knows that accidents happen on the river. I've been involved in multiple situations like this, so I figured it was about time I get some professional instruction on Wilderness Medicine. Between Mar 16 and Mar 20 I took a Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA) medical course through the Wilderness Medicine Institute. From treating the average fracture to performing CPR, I learned many medical skills from the course and feel far more confident about helping victims of whitewater accidents no matter how remote the location may be.

More Local Creekin

Creeking seems to be taking up more and more of my life, of course for the better. My brother and I got out on the water 5 days last week and plan to keep our paddles wet throughout the rest of the year.
Two weeks ago my brother and I got out on the Little White Salmon for our first time and had a blast. Cody Howard of Huckin Huge not only showed us the lines down each rapid, but also got us involved in some crazy cinematography. The crew (of about 14) set up a zip-line on S-turn and got some amazing shots from a video camera in constant motion. The flow was pretty low but perfect for our first time down. After watching Keel Brightman launch Spirit Falls I knew I had to share the thrill. I had a pretty smooth line off Spirit and enjoyed the euphoric moments following. From the eddy below I watched my 14 year old brother contemplate the drop, but knew in the end he would go for it. As he had a little more of a rough line than me he ended up swimming below, but managed to pick up the pieces and enjoy the rest of the trip. The rest of the run went smoothly, and we were stoked to have safely paddled our first run down the Little White. (Pics and Vids soon to come)
This last weekend my brother and I got out on the Truss twice with Todd Anderson and Erik Boomer. Both trips went smoothly and I was glad to have Todd and Boomer giving me helpful pointers the whole way down- definately improving my paddling. I also got to see 14 year old Devin Morton huck Big Brother for his first time with a super clean line.
Last week my brother, Tate Taylor, and I also got a chance to shoot some still shots on a fun rapid we call Holsteins Falls right above the Farmlands put-in on the White Salmon. This rapid doesn't look too big but the tight slot and big waves allow for only a small margin of error. At the end of the day we were glad to have tackled a new rapid and have Tate come out with some sweet pics.

Paddling through Holsteins Falls