Video: Running The Green River Narrows...Backwards!

Here's a fun little paddling video that's certainly impressive to watch. It features kayaker Pat Keller skillfully navigating his way down the Green River Narrows in North Carolina backwards. Pat's friend Scott Harcke followed behind in his own boat, capturing the action on GoPro of course, and they shared the fun with all of us as well.

I think we've all ended up paddling backwards at some point, but I've never gone this long nor did I manage to do it so easily and gracefully.



Dueling Directions on the Green River from FreemanDyson on Vimeo.

Freya Hoffmeister Paddles Around Cape Horn

Back in September, the queen of long distance paddling, Freya Hoffmeister, set out on an epic quest to circumnavigate around South America in a kayak. Starting in Buenos Aires, Freya began paddling south, following the Argentine coast, and over the past few months, she has continued to make great progress. Yesterday she reached a major milestone in the journey, as she rounded Cape Horn and turned her kayak north for the first time.

Anyone who knows anything about sailing or geography knows that Cape Horn is one of the more treacherous regions in all the world. The area is well known for incredibly bad weather, and the waters, which mark the boundary between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, are frequently turbulent to say the least. It is for that very reason that Freya chose to start her journey in Argentina, timing her arrival at the Cape with the austral summer, which is when the weather is at its calmest and most predictable.

Having now successfully navigated what is likely the most challenging and dangerous portion of the journey, she can now concentrate on the incredibly long distances she still has in front of her. The entire journey is expected to take about two years to complete and will cover more than 24,000km (14,913 miles). That means she still has roughly 20 more months of paddling ahead of her, but considering she has already kayaked around Australia, I don't expect she'll be put off by the challenge.

Thanks to Outside Online for sharing the news of Freya rounding the horn.

Video: Kayak Crashes!

The gang over at Canoe & Kayak magazine are winding down 2011 by taking a look back at the year that was. You can check out their Top 10 stories for 2011 by clicking here and then watch their "Salute to Carnage" videos here. One of those videos, which features some of the most epic kayak crashes you're likely to see, can be viewed below. It is definitely one of those videos where you'll likely laugh out loud a few times, but then be thankful that it isn't you in the situation as well. Enjoy.

Nat Geo's Adventure Travel Destinations For 2012

As 2011 grinds to its inevitable end, it is now time to start looking forward to 2012 and making plans for our adventures in the year that is ahead. With that in mind, the National Geographic Adventure blog has shared their picks for the top destinations and activities for 2012.

Some of the places earning a spot on the list include Mammoth Mountain in California, which is famous for its great snowboarding and skiing. Those looking for a different kind of mountain experiences are encouraged to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina for a mountain biking adventure or visit China to take on the 7498 meter (24,600 ft) tall Mustagata. Paddlers will have plenty to choose from as well, as the list provides kayaking opportunities in Idaho and Rhode Island, as well as an epic canoe trip through the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania.

All in all, a pretty great list of suggestions for making plans for next year. I'll be writing my own top ten travel list for Gadling.com soon, and this year I'm going to take a slightly different tact. Instead of listing a specific destination, I'm going to list a specific adventure from a specific travel company that can help you get the most out of your travels. So, rather than saying go to Nepal because its great for the following reasons, I'm going to instead recommend trekking the Annapurna Circuit with a specific adventure travel company. This is just an example, but I'll be sure to share my list here once it goes live over at Gadling too. I think you'll like some of the suggestions.

Until that time, be sure to read Nat Geo's list, as it does have some great suggestions, not all of which will destroy your bank account.

Video: Big Wave Kayak Surfing In Canada

Every spring the winter run off swells the rivers in and around Quebec, creating some of the most amazing conditions for freestyle paddlers to surf some very big waves. This past spring, kayaker Tyler Fox took is video camera along to shoot the action, and as you'll see below, the results are nothing short of spectacular. The water really is huge and that allows these talented athletes to really show off their abilities.

After you're done picking up your jaw, head over to Canoe & Kayak where you can read an interview with Tyler, where he talks about the experience of being out on the water in these conditions, as well as the "biggest, most gnarly wave ever surfed."


Spring Fever - Big Wave edit from Tyler Fox from Tribe Alliance on Vimeo.

Video: First Descent of 90' Noccalula Falls in Alabama

In late November, kayakers Pat Keller, Isaac Levinson, and Chris Gragtmans traveled to Noccalula Falls, located in Alabama to scout out the possibilities for making a first descent of that waterway. They found the river swollen from recent storms, running fast, and in good condition. So, all three proceeded to drop over Noccalula and capture it all on video. The falls are 90 feet (27 meters) in height and look scary as hell, particularly from the helmet cams, which capture the "oh sh!t" moment oh so well.

Technically, Keller went first, but his mates weren't far behind. Check it out below.



Noccalula Falls Full Edit w/ POV from Isaac Levinson on Vimeo.

Video: Kayaking reIMAGINED

The talented gang of filmmakers over at Five 2 Nine productions have released another excellent paddling video that is filled with fantastic shots of big drops, raging rapids, and crazy whitewater. At nearly 20 minutes in length, there is plenty to watch here, so crank up the sound, put your feet up, and enjoy.



reIMAGINED from Five2Nine on Vimeo.

National Geographic Announces 2012 Adventurers of the Year!

National Geographic has announced their selections for the 2012 Adventurers of the Year. As usual, the group is an eclectic lot, with climbers, explorers, surfers, skiers, and more making the cut.

Regular readers of this blog will recognize more than a few names on the list. For instance, Alastair Humphreys received a nod for his efforts to inspire everyone to add a little adventure to their lives. Kayakers Jon Turk and Erik Boomer, whom we followed around Ellesmere Island this past summer, get some much deserved recognition, as does Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who became the first woman to summit all fourteen 8000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen when she conquered K2 at last. Others earning Adventurer of the Year honors include climber Corey Richards, AT thru-hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis, and mountain biker Danny MacAskill.

As they've done the past few years, Nat Geo is allowing us to weigh in with our own selection for Adventure of the Year by letting us all vote in their annual People' Choice poll. Starting today, and running through January 18th, we have the chance to vote each and every day for the person we think is most deserving of the title of Adventurer of the Year. The winner of the People's Choice award will be announced in February.

The folks at Nat Geo Adventure have also put together a fantastic photo album of this year's winners as well. You can check those images out by clicking here.

So? What do you think of this list? Personally, I think it is a great cross-section of the many adventures that took place this past year, but in all fairness I have to disclose that I was part of the selection process to a degree and recommended some of these folks for inclusion. Did we miss someone who should have made the list? Who is your choice for the Adventurer of the Year? I happen to like all of these men and women, but if I were forced to pick one, I'd go with Gerlinde.

Congrats to all the winners. This is a much deserved honor.

Video: Tandem Kayak Attempts To Punch Through A Hole

Thanks to a lot of snow, which continued to fall well into the spring, some of the rivers in the western United States had record whitewater in 2011. That meant that the rafting and paddling season was a very good one, although some of those waterways were quite dangerous at times.

In the video below, which was shot on the South Fork of the Payette River, a pair of kayakers in a tandem boat attempt to punch through the "Seemore" hole in Slalom Rapids. The results are quite scary, and while they ultimately made it through, and survived, I couldn't help but hold my breath when they hit those waters. One of the men was knocked completely out of the kayak, while the other was eventually forced to bail out as well. Crazy and scary at the same time.

Dutch Adventurer Explores Remote Siberia

Dutch adventurer Yuri Klaver recently competed a 45-day, 1000km (620 mile) solo journey through a remote region in Siberia. Along the way, he explored the Indigirka River between Oymyakon and Belaya Gora, not far from the Arctic Ocean. Klaver also spent a lot of time climbing in the Porozhny Mountains, exploring a part of the world that is seldom visited by westerners.

Yuri has started to post updates on his website, sharing his experiences from this journey, which began back in August. During his time in Siberia, he embarked on the first solo descent of the Indigirka River. It had been years since anyone else had traveled that direction, so Klaver was unsure of what to expect on the river, which featured dangerous whitewater, along with plenty of rocks and debris. He also discovered the region had unpredictable weather and plenty of wild animals, including regular encounters with wolves and bears.

The Dutch explorer intends to make a documentary of his adventure, sharing plenty of footage from his time in the wild. You can get a sample of that in the video below, which was shot in the early days of the expedition, but still gives you an idea of the conditions there and how beautiful and remote the region truly is.



Part 1 An early surprise at Suntar River from Yuri Klaver on Vimeo.

Video: Descending Brazil's Rio Mambucaba River

Earlier this year, expedition kayakers Ben Stookesberry, Chris Korbulic, and Pedro Oliva set out to take on Brazil's treacherous Mambucaba River, a powerful run that drops more than 4000 feet over a distance of 20 miles. The three men made the first descent of the upper portions of the river, discovering massive drops, nearly impassable jungle, and rugged, remote terrain that turned the experience into a mix of both canyoneering and whitewater paddling.

In the video below, you get the team's report on what they found along the Mambucaba and a glimpse at a part of the world that few ever have the opportunity to see. This is kayak exploration at its finest and it is an amazing thing to see.


Mambucaba Report from Ben Stookesberry on Vimeo.

Kayak Sessions Mag Announces Finalists For Short Film Of the Yea Award

Kayak Sessions Magazine has announced the finalists for their picks for the 2011 Short Film of the Year Award, giving a nod to some of the absolute best paddling videos to come out this year. Amongst the nominees are: Just Water by Twelve Production; Whitewater Grand Prix by Tribe; Dane jackson on Detonator by Rush Sturges; Rain Drop, by Stef Pion; Biluti River - Siberia by Tomass Marnics and Mitsasini River - Quebec by Bomb Flow TV.

Some of these videos have been featured on the Adventure Blog in the past, but the crew over at Kayak Sessons put them altogether in one fantastic video for us to enjoy. Check it out below, but be sure you have time to enjoy. The whole video runs nearly a half-hour in length.

On November 1st, you'll get the opportunity to vote for you favorite video on the Kayak Sessions website, so choose wisely!



The 2011 Short Film Of The Year Awards from Kayak TV (Kayak Session Mag) on Vimeo.

Epoch Expedition: 10,000-Mile Human Powered Adventure

A few days ago I received a note from Chris Crane, a member of Team Epoch, which is about to launch new expedition that will send the four person team on a 10,000-mile long odyssey completely under their own power. Chris, and his teammates, will mix in some of our favorite activities along the way, including rowing, cycling, paddling, and hiking.

The journey will begin with a row across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Woodvale Challenge, which gets underway in early December. That race begins in the Canary Islands and ends in Barbados, roughly 2933 miles.

That would be enough of an adventure for most folks, but at that point, Team Epoch will be just warming up. From there, they'll get on their bikes and ride to Alaska, which they'll follow up by kayaking the Inside Passage. Finally, they'll cap the entire expedition with a thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, which is considered one of the true classics of long distance trekking. The PCT is more than 2600 miles in length and can take months to complete on its own.

All and all, a very ambitious adventure to say the least. Be sure to stop by the Team Epoch website to read about their preparations leading up to their departure and following their progress along the way.

Good luck!

Currents Welcomes First Descents To Canada

First Descents is a wonderful program that offers young adults, age 18-39, who are fighting or have survived, cancer, a week-long outdoor adventure experience, primarily around, but not limited to, whitewater kayaking. The program is free, and it has helped hundreds of young men and women to learn to deal with the illness and show that they are stronger than it is.
Recently, First Descents went to Canada for the first time, and Five2Nine Productions was there to capture the experience for the latest episode of their Currents web program. You'll find the video of the event below, which is a great combination of information about the FD program and some good paddling as well.
Currents v2_4: First Descents Canada from Five2Nine Productions on Vimeo.

Nat Geo Adventure Interviews Kayaker Jesse Coombs

National Geographic has posted an interview with kayaker Jesse Combs on their Adventure Blog today, in which he talks about making huge drops off waterfalls, such as 96-foot Abiqua Falls, which he went over in April. The video for that drop has recently shown up on websites once again, despite the fact that we featured it here on the Adventure Blog just days after it happened.

In the interview, Jesse talks about what the experiencing of making a big drop like Abiqua from the moment he gets into his kayak to the moment he breaks the surface after the drop. He also touches on the dangers of running these big falls and the injuries they can bring on, his dream kayak trip, and the best paddling adventure he's ever been on.

The interview is a good one and offers some insights into the world of paddling these big falls. The current record for a big drop is 186-feet, but Coombs says he believes someone will try to break that record soon.

And it case you missed it the first time, here is the video of Jesse going over Abiqua Falls in April.

Kayaking Video: Rider of the Year

We seem to have a bit of an aquatic theme going today, but the kayakers amongst us will be happy to see this one. Below is a video of the winners of "Rider of the Year" awards courtesy of Tribe, a company that specializes in making active clothing for whitewater kayakers. For the second year in a row, they've handed out awards to their picks for the top paddlers around in categories such as "Best Male," "Best Female," and the always popular "Best Drop."

The video below highlights those winners in grand fashion and I thought it was fitting to include it amongst the stories on stand-up paddling today, just in case we forgot what traditional paddling looked liked.



Rider of the Year II Awards Video from Tribe Rider on Vimeo.

BelgiKayak Update: Reaching The North Sea

Belgian adventure Louis-Philippe Loncke has completed his BelgiKayak expedition, which sent him on a 600km (373 mile) journey around his home country, exploring its waterways and measuring their health, while filming the experience as a way of documenting what he saw along the way. What he found was incredible beauty that is threatened by man.

I received a note last night from Lou-Phi giving me insights into his expedition which ended when he reached the North Sea this past weekend. Traveling along Belgium's idyllic rivers, he discovered a number of smaller tributaries, often hidden behind foliage, that when entered, allowed him to get close to nature like never before. Anyone who has paddled a calm river has probably experienced something similar. Since kayaks make virtually no noise, it is easy to paddle up on unsuspecting animals, providing some fantastic experiences that are hard to have while traveling on foot.

When he first started this journey back in July, Loncke had very limited time inside a kayak. In fact, he only had an hours worth of training before setting off on in his Seabirddesigns boat. He freely admits that he didn't know how to pull of an eskimo roll and was completely afraid of capsizing in his first few days out on the water. But after hours of paddling, he became more comfortable and experienced, and is now looking forward to more paddling adventures.

Logistically speaking, there were some hurdles to overcome along the way. For instance, he had to navigate a series of 50 locks which help regulate water flow along the river. Those usually involved a portage, although he did pass through some that are on the UNESCO World Heritage List that have been in operation since 1888. He also paddled into Brugge, a city that is sometimes called the "Venice of the North," where kayaking is only permitted one day of the year. Loncke contacted the local officials before his arrival however, and they granted him permission to paddle through their fair city, something that sounds spectacular.

One of the things that I love about this expedition is that it was often conducted on weekends and during what ever spare time Lou-Phi could find. It is an example of how we can all find ways to put a little adventure into our own lives, even close to home, and maybe even discover some wonderful new places that we didn't even know existed. This could easily be a blueprint for other weekend expeditions, and I'm sure we could all find similar opportunities close to where we live. Well done Lou-Phi!

Paddlers Make Third Descent Of Yellow Creek

Four paddlers (Ben Stookesberry, Chris Korbulic, Taylor Robertson, and Josh Bechtel) recently made the third ever descent of a whitewater run called Yellow Creek. It is the first time anyone has run this stretch of river in nine years, and the results are in the video below. Neither I, nor Canoe & Kayak, where I discovered this video, know where Yellow Creek is but it looks both incredibly fun and incredibly terrifying at the same time. The water is wild and there are rocks and logs everywhere, including a gigantic one right at the start when the paddlers drop a large waterfall. This is a beautiful place to say the least, and I hope you enjoy the video as much as I did. 
3rd descent Yellow Creek from Ben Stookesberry on Vimeo.

Kayaking The Clarks Fork Of The Yellowstone River

The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River is one of the deepest canyons in the U.S., with "The Box," located in northern Wyoming, being one of the more challenging sections of that run. Recently, a group of kayakers that included waterfall king Tyler Bradt, visited that amazing paddling destination, and the result is the video below.
Tip of the hat to Canoe & Kayak for sharing this video. They're quick to point out Tyler is still recovering from a crushed vertebrae that he suffered when he went over the 100-foot Abiqua Falls in Oregon this past spring. He still has four screws in his back from that little incident, but it doesn't seem to slow him down much on this paddle. 
Looks like a beautiful place to spend the day. 

"The Box" High Side of Good from Mike Perry on Vimeo.

Freya Hoffmeister Begins Kayak Circumnavigation Of South America

Freya Hoffmiester has embarked on her next big adventure, setting out from Buenos Aires on Tuesday to attempt a circumnavigation of South America by kayak. The journey is expected to take upwards of 24 months and cover more than 24,000km (14,913 miles).

The German kayak-queen had plenty of supporters on hand to see her off on his latest journey, which will now see her traveling south along the Argentine cost. Her first big challenge will come when she braves Cape Horn, and the turbulent waters of the Drake Passage, as she rounds the tip of South America. That should come in a few weeks time, but for now, she is getting acclimated to life back on the water and enjoying some paddling time for herself.

Freya is no stranger to long kayak expeditions. Not only has she paddled around Iceland and New Zealand, but in 2009 she also completed a circumnavigation of Australia that took 332 days to complete. Of course, circling that continent by kayak was just a warm-up for this latest venture, which will not only take twice as long to complete, but will offer its own set of unique challenges.

You can follow Freya's progress on her expedition map and trip log, although most will probably find her blog to be more interesting. The first two entries offer her thoughts on getting started and enjoying her time back out on the water.

This is going to be one epic expedition. Obviously Freya is use to long distance paddles, but even still, paddling around South America is certainly an ambitious project.