Originally posted by tiziak
I just cannot fathom keeping cool while I'm in the middle of all that.
It's the force! These guys can feel the water, through the paddle and hull. They don't need sight, it's just a little helping hand.
YUP. I gotta agree. Its humbling to see the wide gulf between their comfort level and mine, despite (perhaps somewhat because of) my own long tenure in this sport...And I don't give a rats ass about stroking these guys' egos in the slightest, but ain't no wrong in giving credit where credit is due.
Sam and Jeremy, Albright, Marco ect. Really inspire me even if Im unwilling or even incapable of tackling many of the challenges they have. It is still testamony to the vastness of human potential. And you're right: they put their time in on the water to be so sharp.
And they are smart about it. Boaters who are willing to abandon the knucklehead approach and adopt a more mature, sophisticated approach are in a better position to tap into these possibilities over time. They truly earn their stripes without the aid of a Creature Crutch. The river grants them passage largely because these cutting edge kayakers have opened their hearts, minds and souls for the river to flow through freely and unfetered. Maybe somewhere in there The Fear gets eroded and washed away, or at least diluted by... The Force.
Great to see the era arrive where Big Water is the rightful heir to the throne of Whitewater Progress...
The ridiculously low volume trickle of the previous steep creek era has ended, folks. It served its purpose along the way, and still does, but Pump up the volume. All these new creek boats CRAVE pushy water. The scrapey low bullsh*t is fine for those cutting their teeth, and we are all free as individuals to Choose our own Adventures and define what this sport means to us individually. But these new boats are pretty rad and the common knowledge of bigger volume kayaking is expanding to include the average paddler who is willing to tap into it.
Not saying anyone should step to Tumwater prematurely without the mettle (METAL!!!) and skills/exp to truly belong out there (at ANY flow). Just pointing out that these guys remind us whats humanly possible.
So more of you class III-IV boaters within striking distance of the Sky should be firing up Boulder Drop RIGHT NOW while it is in this sweet ass Gravy 5-6k flow bracket (Skills and desire permitting). Its a week out from tanking, most likely. Props to one of my friends who's been paddling about 3 years and had a flawless run down the middle of Boulder Drop at 8,000k while many paddlers who've been in this game way longer than her stay at home, squeamish about a numeric value displayed on their computer.
The shape of reality changes when the shape of a kayak does. Realize that our fears become somewhat outmoded with the progress that is built upon the better part of 35+ years of boat design. The flipside of that boat is that, like the Creature Crutch, these new creek boats practicly boat themselves through SO MUCH sh*t. So the Knucklehead Driftwood Jackass has just enough rope to hang himself w/. On the other hand, maybe ignorance truly is bliss. There is a blurry balance in there somewhere.
And BD @ any "normal" high flow is a far gap way below Tumwater in even its medium range. But the point of inspiration I would like to spread to the "average" "mere mortal" boater would be this:
Pump up the volume on your local favorites a bit more. Be as incremental as you wish, but discover the feel of BOATING IN WATER with enough DEPTH for quality paddle strokes...The Skykomish Gym is your ticket to expanding your comfort zone in big water. Good clean boating, and incredibly safe to swim!!
Be inspired by what these guys share with us trough this video technology. I mean, this old dawg ain't EVER gonna step to POW at such a flow. It wigs me out enough at low late summer flows, so I guess I'll keep just chipping away and progressing my own way.. We don't have to rise to these athlete's levels, just apply that spark to our own ambitions whatever they are.