WCKA in Chile: El Rio Fuy

This post is a little off chronologically but none the less sums up one of the better portions of WCKA's trip to Chile. On our way to the Futaleufu and after spending the last couple weeks in Pucon we decided to spend a few days paddling the Rio Fuy. We rolled into the town of Choshuenco in the afternoon, and after camping in tents for the past four weeks were surprised to find ourselves staying at a school close to the put-in with abundant beds, a full sized gym, and a fully functional kitchen. We all enjoyed a good night's sleep, then after school the next day headed out to paddle the Upper Section of the Fuy.

Putting in right below Lago Pirehueico we paddled a short section of flatwater before entering the first class III-IV rapids. To navigate our way down this stretch of water we were lucky enough to have one of the most renowned role models of world class students, Evan Garcia, fill in as temporary assistant coach. In the 5km Upper Section E.G. the Killah lead us down numerous thrilling class III-IV rapids before reaching the 25ft. Las Leonas Falls. On the first day only a handful of students ran Las Leonas, but by the end of the trip everyone had stepped up to huck 'er. On Las Leonas we chose between boofin' the auto-kicker on the right and pluggin' the green tongue in the center. The center line provided for some major beat downs, but Risto Beatty showed us up with his 30 seconds of down time before popping up 20ft. down stream.

One of the class IIIs on the Upper Fuy

E.G. boofin one of the many ledges of the Fuy

Capo taking the plugger line on Las Leonas

Seth Stoenner's steezy boof-to-plug

After Las Leonas begins the steeper and more technical Falls Section of the Upper Fuy. One particular ledge on this section with a technical lead-in creates a pretty burly hole and during our time at the Fuy dished out two gnarly swims. After 2 kilometers of non-stop adrenaline pumping whitewater the river flattened out and ended in a final kilometer or so of crystal clear flatwater.

Ben boofin a ledge directly below Las Leonas

Eric Parker on the burly ledge hole

Our soon to be asado dinner

In addition to paddling one of Chile's classics, one day during our stay at Choshuenco I was able to take part in preparing a sheep for an classic Chilean asado later that night. Though not appealing to everyone I was glad to have taken part in the entire butchering process, with the help of Israel our chef, to experience what goes into making each meat meal possible. After four hours of slow cooking aside a small outdoor fire the sheep was ready to feast on and we all enjoyed a seemingly endless supply of food.

Photos by Jason Cohen and Ben Kinsella