Little White Salmon River at 5ft.

Here's a GoPro video of what the Little White Salmon River in Washington looks like when it reaches flows of 5ft. Though for the most part the lines stay the same, the river becomes an entirely different beast. Each ledge hole becomes bigger and more turbulent, instead of a shallow river bed between drops, tall waves guide us from one rapid to the next, small rocks become covered with water and turn into keeper holes no paddler would have never imagined possible at 3.5 ft. That said, as long as you know where in the river you want to be and anticipate where features will change these flows are amazing.

Winter Life in the Gorge

Life for a whitewater paddler here in the Columbia River Gorge is pretty impressive year round, but the Winter always dishes out our favorite flows. So far both the Little White and White Salmon have provided us with many quality days above 4 ft., and many surrounding creeks have finally filled in with enough water for us to navigate. A couple weekends back a crew of my friends from Montana showed up to throw down. Griff Griffith, Sam Freihofer, and Erik Johnson kept up with my brother and me during numerous laps on the Little White and Truss, then at the end of their stay we decided to check out Summit Creek. Summit Creek is one of the lowest volume creeks that I have ever paddled, but still has a solid collection of class V slides as well as two unique 50+ ft. drops. This particular mission turned into an epic when Griff landed flat off the first 50 footer and broke his back on impact. At the bottom of that 50 footer our mission quickly went from paddling both the first and second canyon to safely getting Griff to a hospital a.s.a.p. Griff was okay to walk so while Johnson ran up to find the car, Brendan, Sam, and I helped escort him to the top of a steep scree field. Fortunately we were able to get out of the canyon before dark, and Griff to the hospital shortly after.


CRG Paddling Winter 2011 from Wells Brother Productions on Vimeo.


15 year old up-and-comer Ethan McLeod at the lip of Bridal Veil Falls

Brendan charging Bridal Veil

All in all it was a tough situation, but we managed to get through it safely and at the end of the day we all came back having learned a thing or two. 

Photos by: Paul Thomson

Cerro Chirripo & La Perla First Descent

When I first laid my eyes on the Rio Chirripo Pacifico I was entranced by it's power and beauty. My original reason for visiting the Chirripo Pacifico was to scout out a few waterfalls I'd heard about and to climb Cerro Chirripo, Costa Rica's tallest mountain. I had planned to climb Chirripo with my buddy Nate Davis, and just before leaving for the trip Chris Baer, whom I had never met, got a hold of me to say that he was in the area and that he'd like to come along.

Once we arrived at the town of San Gerardo de Rivas, which is located base of Cerro Chirripo, we spent a day running around looking at all the incredible waterfalls of the Chirripo Pacifico. The next day we packed our bags and set off for the summit. 

In our first day on the mountain we walked 14km through some of the most beautiful ecosystems I had ever seen, from the most dense cloud forests to barren tundra. During that night we slept at a park hostel to gain what little sleep we could before summiting the following morning. In the morning we woke up to heavy rains and winds, but non the less made our quick 5km push to the summit. This section of the trip was rather miserable, and my dream of being able to see both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from the summit was quickly replaced with dense clouds that allowed for a maximum visibility of 100 meters. After spending some time at the summit we turned around and made the equally beautiful walk back to San Gerardo. 

The cloud forests were quick to engulf us...

... But the sun still shone through 

Last pitch to la cima

Slightly frozen at the top of Costa Rica
Back in San Gerardo we planned to get back to paddling the drops we had just looked at right away, but the day after we got off the mountain I came down with a gnarly week long illness. As I had pre-arranged obligations for the week after getting of the mountain, my dream of spending time paddling on the Chirripo Pacifico was put on hold. 

Luckily before too long I was able to return to San Gerardo in pursuit of stouts. When I got back, the majority of the river was looking low, but one drop still looked good to go. The drop was La Perla, a 50 footer with an off angle boof that led into steep slide below. I knew that as long as I was able to get up as far as possible on the right side boof flake that I would land comfortably on the slide and be in the clear. I also knew that if I didn't make it to the top of the flake and was pulled towards the center I would probably hit one of two boof flakes and possible land flat after a good 40ft. free fall. Confident I hopped in my boat and worked my way to the right. I came over the lip with a good stroke right where I was hoping and smoothly landed on the slide. The landing was soft, and in the pool I was stoked to have nailed the line. Chris, who had been shooting photos, quickly made his way upstream and paddled the drop without any problem as well.

Dropping in

Chris's line 

The entire area surrounding the Rio Chirripo Pacifico and Cerro Chirripo are incredible and I only look forward to further exploring in this part of the world. La Perla in particular went super well and I'm amped to return and check out the rest of the drops on this steep river.

Photos by Chris Baer

First Descent: Upper Rio Savegre

The Rio Savegre lies in the bottom of one of Costa Rica's most beautiful valleys and also has some incredibly fun class IV-V whitewater. Ferdinand Steinvorth, Chris Baer, and I had just got off the upper section of the Rio Division and were set on, after a good night's sleep, hiking 11 km. to paddle the un-run upper section of the Rio Savegre. Sure enough we were all able to sleep for a well deserved 10 hours, and woke up with the sun shining. We quickly ate some breakfast then loaded our boats on a couple horses. The hike up to the put-in was steep at times, but at every crest of a ridge we were rewarded with stunning views of the Savegre valley and at times the river far below.
Once we reached the put-in where our guide Felipe grew up we ate a hearty lunch then hit the river. Right off the bat there was some fun class V rapids, the magority of which we were able to boat scout. However, before too long we got to moving a little too fast and Chris dropped into a meaty hole. After a quick fight Chris ended up pulling his skirt and swimming to safety downstream. Luckily we were able to quickly gather his boat and other gear and proceed downstream. A couple bends in the river later we came across an attractive horizon line. Here Felipe, friends and family watched as we dropped over the 8ft. falls into a dynamic hole.

Ferdinand lining up for one of the bigger rapids on the run

 After this drop we kept paddling downstream to find more and more fun and technical class V drops. All the rapids downstream were good to go and throughout the entire 11km. trip we didn't have to portage once. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to document any more of the drops, but there were some descent sized drops throughout the run. This was an amazing trip and I can't wait to get back on this awesome river. 

Here's a quick edit that Chris put together from the Division and Savegre Rivers

Photos by: Chris Baer

Second Descent: Upper Rio Division

Here in Costa Rica I haven't been getting after as much paddling as I had originally hoped. Luckily within the last couple weeks I was able to get on some beautiful rivers with some amazing drops. One of which was the upper section of the Rio Division. Ferdinand Steinvorth, a Tico paddler very interested in exploring the gems here in Costa Rica, called me up and said that himself and Chris Baer were headed to do the second descent of the Upper Rio Division. Of course I said I was all in, and a couple days later met up with Ferdinand in San Jose. From San Jose we woke up early, and drove for a few hours to the put in. Within the first quarter mile there was some fun class IV-V rapids, and one un-run 20ft. falls. The rapid had a technical lead-in, and instead of the falls dropping into a nice pool there was a boil about 20ft. downstream that created a difficult upstream current. Non the less, I saw my line and decided to give her a go. Everything went smoothly, and Chris and Ferdinand followed with similar lines.

Lining up at the lip of Backwash

Just a few hundred feet downstream was the entrance to the first of two un-run canyons. Our original goal was to run both the canyons, but after evaluating the time that we had and looking at the sieved out entrance to the canyon we decided to save that expedition for another day.

Looking into the gorge downstream

With night falling, we made our way up to the closest pueblo to decide what to do next. Eventually we decided to ride in the back of a pick-up to a town below both the first and second canyons of the Upper Division. Cold, tired, and hungry after a long drive we made camp in a generous local's garage and chowed down on some grub before going to sleep. I didn't sleep too well, but by the time the sun was up and I saw the view of the valley a couple thousand feet below where we had camped I was ready to go. 

Our bivy on the Division. You have no idea how happy we were to find a roof to sleep under. 

Hiking down to the river the next morning

Once we arrived at the river we began to make our way downstream, boat scouting almost the entire run. We didn't come across any big drops, but I had an amazing time paddling some of the most continuous class IV-V rapids I had ever seen. Once we got a good feel for the river and the type of rapids we were paddling be began to move faster and paddled about 14km before mid afternoon. 

Ferdinand enjoying the "class fun" Rio Division

Boofing my way down the Division

When we got to the take out we were met by Felipe, the best shuttle driver in the area. We loaded up our boats, headed back to his house and prepared for our following day of paddling on the un-run Upper Rio Sevegre...

Felipe's 4X4 Shuttle Rig

Photos by: Chris Baer

Mexico 2010: The Rio Jalacingo

To us kayakers, the Rio Alseseca is without a doubt the most popular class V river in Veracruz. However, for those of us who don't mind working a little more for the goods I think think that the Rio Jalacingo can dish out just as good of a time as the classic Alseseca. During our trip to Mexico we spent three very productive days on the Jalacingo. In our first day we drove about half an hour from Tlapacoyan to the end of the Jalacingo road. From here, we shouldered our boats and hiked another 20 minutes to the infamous Bukaki Slide. The Bukaki Slide, first paddled a couple years ago by Rafa, Iker, and some Canadian stoutmasters, is a dynamic slide that quickly pinballs you back and forth off a few tight walls before making a 90 degree turn to the left and freefalling 20 feet into a calm pool below. Evan, Rush, and Rafa all went first and had similar clean lines flying straight into and off the 20 footer. I took a little different approach trying to catch an eddy on river right after the slide, but before the 20 footer. However, the river had a different plan for me and I ended up spinning around and approaching the waterfall backwards. At the last minute as I began to fall off the drop I was able to kick my boat around in a backwards freewheel to land upright and forward in the pool below.

Rafa entering Bukaki

Myself at the crux of the drop, about to throw a back freewheel

Looking up at Bukaki from the pool below

Before ending the day we had one more thing to take care of. We paddled a short ways down from Bukaki and ran a few laps on a clean 20 footer. Afterwards Rush, or perhaps it was Rudy, decided it would be a good idea to have our filmer, Matt Baker, fire up the drop as well. Rush briefly described to Matt, who had been a kayak once or twice before, how to tuck forward and pull his skirt before throwing him into the current and over his first drop. Matt had a sick line and almost stuck his landing, but ended swimming in the calm pool below.

Matt Baker learning quick 

During our second day on the Rio Jalacingo we put in slightly below where we had taken out the previous day with intentions of paddling all the way to the Alseseca confluence. However, we ended up spending the majority of the day scouting and preparing for a 60 footer right at the put-in. This drop's dynamic S curving lead in, and questionable depth below were enough to keep me from running it, but Rafa, who had run it once before, and Evan decided to fire it up. I waited patiently in the pool below, and watched Rafa give 'er first with a big ol' boof. After landing pretty flat I was worried that Rafa may have injured his back or ribs, but like always he paddled away without a scratch. Evan followed with a similar stroke off the lip, but was able to kick down his bow to nearly vertical before landing in the pool. Afterwards, we spend what little daylight we had left scouting a stout 40 footer less than 500ft. downstream. We left our boats at the lip of the waterfall, and planned on returning the next day to continue our journey downstream. 

Rafa, the pioneer of this drop, claiming its second descent as well

Evan flying off the lip

The following day we returned as planned and got straight to business. We gave the 40 one last scout then all fired ‘er up. Rush, who went first, claimed hands down the best line of the day with a perfect 45 angle of entry right off the middle of the drop. Evan and Rafa both ended up getting pushed left against some gnarly rocks, but paddled away without too much trouble.

Next it was my turn. As I paddled towards the drop I scrapped over a rock and lost the majority of my speed and control. I did everything I could to regain my direction and to reach for one last power stroke off the lip, but as I set my blade in the current I didn’t seem to grab any water and wasn’t able to get my bow up as much as I had anticipated. When I connected with the pool below I felt my paddle go straight to my face and became disoriented. The next thing I knew I was in the river left cave behind the waterfall, struggling to find any room to roll. About ready to give up I let go of my paddle and reached for the grab loop on my skirt. At the very last moment I felt a shelf to my left and hand rolled back up in the turbulent waters. As I opened my eyes to find my paddle, I noticed a disturbing flow of blood running from my nose. “Well let’s get of here first, then we can deal with that,” I told myself. After I turned myself around, I squeezed my way between the waterfall and shelf on the right to emerge back into the calm pool. Once the adrenaline wore off I began to feel a throbbing pain through my nose, but as my friends assured me that it “still looked pretty straight” I proceeded downstream with the crew.

Final scout of the 40 footer

Rush over the horizon line

Midway down, struggling to get my bow up

Finally finished with the gnar 40 footer we  paddled some fun slides and numerous clean boofs for a couple of miles. Afterwards, rather abruptly, we arrived at the entrance the only un-run (runnable) waterfall in the canyon. This particular 30 footer had a very unique and difficult lead in, but that wasn't our main concern. In the pool below there were three main hazards. The first was on river right where the falls landed within a few feet of the right side canyon wall and created a nasty pocket. The second was a huge cave on river left where the majority of the water seemed to be flowing. The third and final hazard of the waterfall was the 10ft. ledge immediately downstream with another nasty pocket on river right.Despite all the negative factors that played a roll in this drop, we all knew that there was a line. Rafa was especially confident, and again was the first to give 'er. He came flying off the 30 footer with lots of speed and a big boof to clear the  pocket on river right. He then waited near the cave on river left above the 10 foot ledge for whoever would be next. After seeing Rafa stomp his line about as well as anyone could possibly stomp it, I was inspired to follow him up. Off the lip I didn't have as much speed as I was hoping, so in a last minute effort to avoid the pocket on river right I turned myself towards the left, landed in the pool below and joined Rafa in the cave. Next up was Evan. From the bottom I watched as Evan came off the lip with probably a similar speed to myself. He was able to pull off a good boof stroke, but upon landing in the pool the vail flipped him back into the river right pocket. Evan tried and tried to fight his way out of the pocket, but eventually had to pop his skirt and swim for it. Somehow, once he was swimming, he was able to hand of god some slippery rock on river right to avoid swimming the nasty 10 foot ledge. While Rafa chased Evans boat downstream, Rush threw a rope to Evan and pulled him across the current as to avoid swimming the ten footer. Before too long everything was back to normal. However, after paddling about 500 ft downstream Evan's boat was full of water and we discovered an inch wide crack in the back of his boat.Rafa claiming yet another first descent on the Rio JalacingoEvan decided to hike out through a banana field on the left in hopes of finding a ride down to the takeout downstream. We didn't know exactly where he would end up, but we figured that the Banana fields must lead to some sort of civilization. After bidding him fairwell, Rafa, Rush, and myself proceed downstream. Aside from a sieved out 100 footer that required an exciting portage through a steep canyon, there wasn't too much much more good whitewater to be had and before too long the river turned to a manky class II-III boulder garden. After a few miles of boogying our way downstream we arrived at the confluence of the Alseseca and just a few minutes later arrived at our take-out about Tomata Falls. At the truck we were relieved to find Evan safe and sound. After a descent hike he had managed to find a ride down to where our shuttle vehicle awaited.This day turned into quite an adventure, but was definately one of my favorite days of the trip. I'm glad to say that we have now explored (almost) every section of the Rio Jalacingo river, and wow it's one hell of place. Now all I can do is look for more beautiful gorges around the world, and look forward to coming back to this one. 

Mexico 2010: The Rio Alseseca

This year I was lucky enough to be invited on a trip to Mexico with paddlers Rush Sturges, Evan Garcia, Rafa Ortiz, and cinematographer Matt Baker for the filming of River Root's next film Frontier. So, on October 12^th I gathered what money remained from my summer of work at the Kayak Shed, and headed south. After some hours on the plane and a long night in the Dallas Airport I finally arrived in Mexico City. There I met up with the crew and spent a few days exploring the world biggest city, a city of 27 million people. After la tour de la ciudad we headed to Tlapacoyan, Mexico’s epicenter of steep rivers and clean waterfalls. Each one of us had been to Tlapacoyan before, and this year our goal was to paddle as many of the classic runs and as many of the big drops on those classic runs as possible.

My Dallas Airport bivouac

Of the many amazing rivers in the Tlapacoyan area, the Rio Alseseca is without a doubt my favorite. The most relaxed portion of the Alseseca is the Roadside section. The Roadside section, laden with continuous clean basalt rapids including the infamous “S-Turn”, is the perfect warm-up before hitting up the bigger stuff. The next step up from the Roadside Section is the Big Banana Section. This stretch of the Alseseca is longer than the Roadside and flows in and out of multiple deep gorges, which means countless clean drops. One particular drop on the Big Banana section, The Silencer, I had looked at last year, but neglected to run due to a hairy cave below on river left. This year I stepped it up and rolled off the 40 footer with a big 'ol boof stomp to steer clear of the river left cave. Evan followed with a similar line and a week later, once we had met up with a few other kayakers, Spanish paddler Aniol Serrasolses layed out a silky smooth line on her as well.

Myself on one of many sick drops on the Big Banana section

Rafa dishin' out mad steeze on Meatlocker

A must-make boof directly below Meatlocker

Aniol "La Cobra" styling the Silencer Drop

Heavy Rains on the Alseseca

Waiting in the rain for our ride back to town

Of course, a trip to Tlapacoyan could not be complete without an epic Tomata huckfest. Our first huckfest on Tomata resulted in mostly "not-so-clean" lines. However, when we returned for round two (in which I didn't participate due to a bum shoulder) everyone seemed to have pretty good lines. In that same day everyone proceeded to run Second Tomata as well. While Evan and Rafa endured some carnage on this stout, Rush, Aniol, and Iker Beristain Van Dusen "naturally stuck the piss out of it."

The full crew above Tomata. From Left to Right: Pancho, Aniol, Iker, myselft, Evan, Rafa, and Rush

Rafa Falling Off Tomata

Rush ridin' dirty on Tomata. More mount angles to be seen in Frontier 

 A view of Second Tomata From Below

Also on the Rio Alseseca River is the infamous Big Banana waterfall. For six year this 128.6 foot monster had been looked at by multiple paddlers, but it wasn't until this trip that finally Rafa and Aniol stepped up to give 'er a go. Our team spent a full day scouting this drop from every which angle, and by the end of the day Rafa and Aniol decided that they would give 'er the following day. The next day Rafa and Aniol repelled 70 feet down to the lip of the waterfall, looked at her once more, and paddled off the lip. As I waited in my boat for first Rafa and second Aniol to come off the lip of the waterfall I was full of mixed emotions, but as soon as they emerged from the turbulent pool below I was hit with a wave of relief and happiness. Congratulations boys.

Rafa Scouting Big Banana from the lip via 70ft. repel

Rafa and Aniol sharing the excitement of having cleanly dropping the second biggest waterfall in a kayak

Photos by Lucas Gilman, Rush Sturges, Evan Garcia, Matt Baker, and myself