Silver Creek: Upper North Falls

Among the countless beautiful roadside stouts of Oregon and Washington, Upper North Falls on Silver Creek has arguably received the least hype of them all. With that said, this easily accessible 55-60 footer with a super smooth left line is undoubtedly one of my favorites. Last weekend Nate and Heather Herbeck, Chuck Taylor and I ventured west to pursue this stout. We arrived with the uncommon but perfect water levels, and after a brief scout decided she was good to go. After we set up safety and some media I lugged my boat to the put-in just upstream of the drop. As soon as everyone was ready I made the ferry to river left and slowly approached the horizon line. At the lip I was able to set up along the right side of the river left tongue and slowly fade into a classic Oregon tuck. Towards the bottom of the drop I reconnected with the waterfall which provided for a surprisingly soft hit. After some downtime I resurfaced upright and was able to use the remaining half of my paddle to make my way to shore.

My sequence from Upper North

Heather was next up to give'r and came off the lip just left of where I had lined up. The banked lip twisted Heather a little to the right, but set her up for a sweet landing in the pool below. Heather ended up swimming and emerged from the boils with a second broken paddle in hand.

Heather lining up for the plug

Next up was Chuck who, on this day, set a new standard for stout running steeze... I'll let the pictures tell the story.

After witnessing Chuck's mind blowing front flip Nate fired it up and emerged at the bottom with the only intact paddle (we started the day with four). From here we drove back up the gorge where I got some rest and prepared myself for an upcoming week of paddling. Stay tuned for more photos and stories of the goods we pursued during this week of exclusive WCKA alumni stouting.

To check out some of Nate Herbeck's hi-res photos from this trip and other excursions visit liquidkayak.com

Kayak Session Cover: The Inside Story

For anyone who has yet to read the most recent Kayak Session (2o10 Summer Issue #34) check it out. The cover shot is of myself on Summit Creek Falls on Summit Creek in WA, so I thought I might fill you in on the story of that particular shot. The day this shot was taken Evan Garcia, Erik Boomer, my brother and I were doing the first descent of the upper canyon on Summit Creek. After some exciting slides and a stout triple drop we came across this monster drop. The drop started off with a 20-30ft. chunky slide that steepened out and eventually, after hitting an auto-boof flake, free fell about 40ft. into a tight landing zone, then proceeded to flow into another series of 3 slides. Erik Boomer was first to fire up the beast and came off the flake with a fat boof stomp. Upon hitting the water his skirt exploded and he paddled the next 3 drops with his boat half full of water. After watching Boomer fire off the beast I decided I wanted to give'r a go. Instead of boofing as I went over the flake I decided to plug it and had a relatively soft landing. However my skirt imploded upon impact and I had to chase my boat down as it floated through the following triple slides. After I gathered everything together I hiked back up to the drop and watched Evan Garcia fire off the bad boy with classic E.G. steeze. He, similar to Boomer, boof stomped the shit out of the drop and ended with an exploded skirt. Luckily he was able to put his skirt back on before sliding down the next three drops. After the first, second and third descents of Summit Creek Falls we paddled further down stream and proceed to paddle more sick slides and the monster Skate Park drop which free falls 40+ ft. before reconnecting and launching into the pool below. So there you go... there's the inside scoop to the cover shot of Kayak Session #34. As a little bonus here's a couple other magazines where you may have seen/read about my brother and me.

Brendan and my first Claim to Fame: The whole family in Alaska on Canoe and Kayak Magazine's August 2002 issue

Brendan's 2 page spread in the 2009 August dispatch article for Outside Magazine. Erik Boomer captured this shot as well when my brother, at age 15, fell off 82ft. Metlako Falls.

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

WCKA: Cali Livin

Since the crash a little over six weeks ago my road to recovery has been incredibly smooth and forgiving. After 3 weeks of resting at home I re-grouped with the World Class crew in Northern California and slowly eased back into paddling. My first day back I took it easy, giving up the 49 to Bridgeport section of the Yuba River to paddle flatwater and get a feeling of how well my back would perform. With almost no soreness after the first day I started paddling class III-IV runs on the NF of the American (Giant and Generation Gap). Again I came away from these sections of river with little to no soreness in my back and continued to paddle nearly every day.

The crew putting on 49 to Bridgeport

Seth boofing big on the Yuba

One of the canyons on Generation Gap

After a few days in Nevada City we pushed on to the Trinity River and then into Eugene and to the Oregon Coast. Burnt Ranch Gorge on the Trinity, with it's numerous quality class IV-V drops, was definitely a stand out run and I look forward to spending more time on Cali's smooth granite wonders.

In Eugene we paddled the Miracle Mile section on the NF of the MF of the Willamette, and an addition mellow section of the McKenzie River. The Miracle Mile section felt like a class IV version of 'Gettin Busy' on the Little White and offers a good time for any progressing class IV boater.

At multiple locations on the Oregon Coast the crew enjoyed abundant blunts, pan-ams, and airscrews on all the big waves. Unfortunately after my first day of ocean surfing my back was more sore than it had been during the trip, so I decided to leave the next few days of ocean surfing up to everyone else and took over the position as cinematographer. After the coast we spent a couple days chilling out at our teacher Capo's house, enjoying an endless supply of homemade pizzas, then moved on to Hood River.

Back in Hood River, my home, the group paddled the Farmlands, Green Truss, and Middle sections of the White Salmon, upper section of the Wind River, and of course the classic Little White Salmon River. In Hood River evidence of everyone's progression over the semester became relevant as 8 of 10 students were able to paddle the Green Truss, a solid class V section of whitewater.

Left with only a couple runs in Idaho and a week of finals in Missoula school's quickly coming to an end. So far it's been an amazing semester to say the least, and I'm looking forward to the last couple weeks of being a WCKA student.

Here's a some photos from a few different runs throughout Cali

Maestro Capo

J.V.C.

Erik Parker

Olin Winberg

Seth Stoenner

Brian Jamieson

Another Cali seal launch

Capo Boof

Josh Larson

Seth Stoenner

Olin Winberg

Capo

A scouting session on Burnt Ranch

Straight from the Redwoods

All photos by Ben Kinsella

Broken Back at Home in the Gorge

I believe that for every big waterfall hucker out there the fear of a broken back always lingers in the back of their mind. For me, a couple weeks ago this fear became a reality. I had just gotten back from spending two months in Chile, and back in the Columbia River Gorge for a week I was ambitious to paddle as much whitewater as possible in the short time I had home. Within an hour of being home I was back in my boat with my brother paddling the Green Truss section of the White Salmon. Over the next few days, joined by one of my fellow WCKA students Erik Parker, we split our time between paddling the Green Truss and the Little White. Parker enjoyed paddling both these runs for his first time, and even after paddling Chile’s world class rivers I was happy to come home to all that the Gorge has to offer.

Home sweet home - Mt. Adams from our house

Brendan on Big Brother

Finishing another perfect day on the Truss with BZ Falls

Parker on Boulder Sluice

A downriver pan-am?

Brendan greasin S-Turn

The bottom ledge on S-Turn

Spiritual Boofs

One of the Humboldt State paddlers we met up with

About halfway through my week-long vacation Parker, my brother and I headed out for another Little White run. We all enjoyed a longer day on the river stopping for a couple photo-ops along the way. After the run we decided to check out Money Drop. Money Drop is (currently) a 50ft. waterfall that has changed 3 times in the last decade due to unstable ground and landslides. The fast lead-in, abrupt lip, and small landing zone make for a drop that very rarely allows for clean lines.

My first lap

Parker cleaning it

We arrived at Money Drop to find that the flows were a little less than ideal, but still decided she was good to go. I was first to fire off the drop and was ejected from my boat after landing slightly over vert. My brother and Martin from Nor Cal followed with similar over vert landings that both resulted in swims. Parker, who hadn’t run anything higher than 30ft, also decided to fire up Money Drop and styled it with the plugger. Intent on a having a cleaner line, and a little jealous of Parker’s, I hiked back up to the top for my second lap of the day. Speeding towards the horizon line I knew I needed to get my bow up a little more than I did last time, and as I came to the lip I took a stroke then leaned forward. As soon as I felt myself freefalling I knew I was too flat. I have a very vivid memory of falling through the air completely disconnected from the waterfall with the front deck of my Nomad 8.5 blocking my view of the landing zone below. At this terrifying point in time I almost instinctively stomped my bow down in an attempt to land with a better entry angle. I was successful in getting my bow down a little more, but in turn hit the water with my back almost completely vertical (instead of tucked forward). This, in addition to my airing out past the landing zone and towards the green water, made for one hell of a heinous hit. I paddled away from the drop in incredible pain, then focused my efforts to safely getting downstream and out of my boat. Once I was out of my boat everyone helped in the timely process of getting me onto a stretcher made from paddles and straps, up a few small embankments, and finally into the back of an ambulance. Two hospitals and a couple ambulance rides later I found that I had a compression fracture in my L2 vertebrae. Luckily I walked away from this one with only a “light break” and 2-3 months of recovery.

The back breaking sequence

The Result - Fractured L2 Vertebrae

Humbled by the experience, I’d recommend to everyone who runs big drops to always consider the risk of landing flat. I think that stomping down my bow on Money Drop wasn’t the best idea and I’d encourage everyone on a drop upwards of 40ft. to only kick down your bow if you’re sure that you have enough time to re-tuck to the front of your boat. Earlier this year Lance Reif landed pretty flat off of Money Drop but was committed to staying tucked. He came away from the drop sore enough to stay out of his kayak for a while, but without any breaks. Erik Boomer, also earlier this year on Money Drop, was set up for a flat landing but was able to kick his bow down and re-connect to his tucked position before impact. He came away healthy enough to run the drop a couple more times in the same day. You have a few options; staying tucked forward is the most conservative but may still dish out a rough hit, and stomping down your bow could make things a lot better or a lot worse. So I encourage everyone to, before you huck, discuss with your friends all possible options and outcomes of running a drop, but remember that in the end you be the judge.

A short video update Parker put together

There's a lot of people to thank for all the help that was given to me during this experience. A big shout out goes to my brother Brendan, Parker, and all the Humboldt paddlers who kept me safe and warm at Money Drop with a makeshift stretcher and lots of warm layers. In addition a lot of thanks goes out to the Search and Rescue boys that showed up and all the EMTs and doctors along the way.

Photos by Erik Parker and Ben York