WCKA: Idaho

Just over a week ago we at World Class finally finished the last of our classes. To reward ourselves we decided to take it easy and travel to Idaho for some relaxation and good ol' paddling in the Whitewater State. We kicked off our Idaho escapade on the North Fork of the Payette River, basing ourselves out of Seth Stoenner's house in Boise. The NF Payette has always been a run that I've wanted to paddle and, though it was pretty low flows (800cfs), I was stoked to get out there and experience Idaho's most renowned class V run. For the short time that we had in Boise we were only able to paddle the Middle 5 section on the North Fork, but I look forward to coming back in the near future at higher flows and paddling the entire run.

Huddling up in classic Idaho spring weather

Seth Stoenner showing us the way down Jacob's Ladder

Olin Winberg punching through one of many holes on the North Fork

Getting in the boofing mood

Boise local Conner Jackson getting it done

Endless Idaho style whitewater

After a day of paddling on the North Fork and a couple nights of relaxing at Seth's house we headed north to the South Fork of the Clearwater. At the Clearwater we paddled the classic Golden Canyon stretch of whitewater for 3 days in a row. Each day, as I recognized the lines better and better, the run only got more exciting. This run had countless boofs, but the two stand out rapids were Chuck's Drop and Fish Jump. Chuck's had a few different lines, and we all had a good time picking our way down the rapid. There was a couple different options for the lead-in to Fish Jump, but by the end of the drop we were all funneled back to the center where a meaty hole awaited. Most of us were able to boof over the hole, but anyone who didn't was given a thorough beatdown before flushing or swimming out.

Brian Jamieson boofing a drop on the clearwater

Erik Parker boofin Fish Jump

Fish Jump Day 1: Boofing over Risto Beatty (he flushed out shortly after)

Fish Jump Day 2: No obstacles this time, just one monster boof

SF Clearwater video that Josh Larsen and I put together

Special thanks to the Stoenner family for letting World Class crash at their pad, and to Dustin and Seth for showing us the lines down the North Fork.

Photos by Matt Rusher, Jason Cohen, and Link Jackson