Primping for Costa Rica

I don't think I would ever call being a kayak guide a "glamorous" job. You wear funky sometimes smelly gear; you are wet a whole bunch; sometimes you have to roll up and quickly wipe your nose; and you find yourself walking through ankle-deep in-you-know-what cow pastures. So what was the last thing I did before heading out for another four month tour of Costa Rica and Ecuador? Went to my friend Rob at Van Michael's salon and got my hair cut on the way out of town! Might not look glamorous once that helmet goes back on, but thanks to Rob, I left town feeling good :-)

Hope to see some great ladies down on our trips this winter!

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Barbara Brown: Namesake on the Gauley

The ladies of TeamERA are always looking for new heroes. And we were recently reminded that we had one within the ranks of our International Trip Guests: Barbara Brown.

While in Ecuador with us in January of 2005, talk of the Gauley River came up among the group. Before it was all said and done, we learned that Barbara was not only part of the first two trips down the Gauley, but was the namesake for the infamous rapid Lost Paddle (not much explanation needed there!). Still an active part of the WDC paddling community, many have fond memories of Barbara.

"Barbara was certainly part of the revolution back then, pushing limits, exploring new runs. What a river to be associated with a first descent on, very cool indeed. I have known Barb for some time, and have had the honor to meet her daughters Becky and Amy, both of whom are very acomplished paddlers themselves. One particularly cold spring day we were all up in the Cheat watershed, opted to stay @ the Helldeath motel [ Heldreth] in Kingwood, rather than brave freezing camping conditions. I can recall Becky and Amy speaking with their Mom on the phone that evening, telling her of our plans to run the Big Sandy the following day. I was handed the phone and was made to promise that I would not allow Amy, who was probably 13 @ the time, to run Big Splat.

That was a long time ago, as Amy went on to win 3 or 4 Upper Gauley slalom race titles, 02, 03, 04, maybe 05 as well. Did I mention that Barb may be a grandma, as Becky was to have her baby soon, she was in attendance @ the Tim Gavin Downriver Race and let me know the good news.
You wont meet a nicer bunch of ladies out there!"
Mike Moore

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Making the Transition by TeamERA Jess

Everyone is searching for something in life. For me, faith has been my holy grail. I have been trying to find faith in something my whole life. My destination was reached when I stumbled my way into Endless River Adventures and began my journey into the wild world of whitewater. I finally made the transition from someone who whitewater kayaks to being a real boater. You may ask what the difference is, well in my opinion, it is the state of mind one is in when they are in their boat. Here is how the story goes....

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Kayaking Giving the Advantage in a Job Interview

Just something that popped back into my head about how kayaking helped me in my job interview - Sarah Machinist

When I interviewed for the position that I just got they (my interview was 3 people interviewing me at once) were taking turns asking me about facing challenges, difficult work situations, etc. The paddling thing had come up at the beginning of my interview, because my only South Carolina related experience was the time I paddled the Chatooga. So when they asked me if I had ever been faced with something that was beyond my experience or comfort level and how I dealt with the situation, I said that I hadn't had that experience professionally, but proceeded to explain sitting at the top of a new rapid where walking around it was not an option. (I had a time we were on the Ocoee and I looked at one of the rapids forever in my head.) My solution was to make a plan - because you know you have the skills to run the rapid, take a big breath, smile - because it will make the experience much better, run the rapid perfectly, and make sure there is someone to high five at the bottom. They seemed to like my answer pretty well and the smile part is definitely something that I can still hear and see you telling me to do.

Have a great day,
Sarah

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Pregnant and Paddling

Our Brandy just wrote a great post about dealing with being pregnant and paddling. What we like so much about Brandy is that she is a)spunky; b)totally committed to being a good boater and c)human and having to deal with issues like having kids, being nervous on the river, trying to balance family, work and goal of being a good kayaker..

finding a balance is such a challenge. Especially when you want to be a mother and a kayaker and have to struggle with preconceived notions about what a mother should/should not do (let alone what you should/should not do when pregnant). Brandy reminded me of a great article that our friend Maria wrote. Maria is a working mom, an incredible kayaker, and an enthusiastic breaker of stereotypes of what a mom/woman should or should not be doing! Maria's Cartwheeling Through Pregnancy is a great inspiration for all of us!

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How Long Will My Spray Skirt Fit?

Whoever came up with the term “morning sickness” has obviously never been pregnant. I imagine it was some doctor (male, I’d bet) who was trying to come up with a neat, dainty little name for the full blown puke fest that is early pregnancy. I think a more appropriate name would be “All Day, Feel Like I’m Going to Die Sickness” or “Kill Me Now Sickness”. Those sound more appropriate to me.

And don’t get me started on the exhaustion that is almost debilitating. It’s been hard to stay up later than about 8 at night, and in my free time I can usually be found lying in the grass with a book or curled up on the couch watching bad reality TV. Not too much physical activity going on in my life besides chasing my two year old, Jonah.

This isn’t an attempt at pregnancy prevention, though you might want to show it to your daughter just to reinforce what you’ve already told her. I’m actually really excited that Ryan and I are expecting bambino number 2, and I know that pregnancy only gets easier from here on (seriously, the huge belly and inability to see your feet is nothing in comparison). Having two kiddies will be a challenge, but I’m ready for it.

The exhaustion and sickness has certainly affected my kayaking. I’ve been a few times since I found out the big news, but I’m usually too tired after work to do much. I’m also a lot more hesitant about going out by myself, so that means I always need a buddy to go with. That makes things a bit more challenging. The times I have been out were still as much fun, although I can tell that my balance is way off. That’s another symptom commonly experienced in early pregnancy.

So, for those of you who have been anxiously waiting to hear how the ladies’ kayaking skills are improving this summer (are there any of you?), just know that I am not going to reach my goal of being a solid class III-IV boater this season. The Nantahala River will be my home for the summer. I will have a brand new, beautiful little person in my life come February however, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. Besides, there’s always next summer.

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Turning Tragedy into Triumph

Sometimes it takes someone else's situation to realize yours is not so bad. There is nothing worse for a kayaker than to find out that shoulder surgery is needed. So I was not feeling my best the past week or so. But then I ran into an amazing group--war vets participating in a program called Team River Runners. And this amazing group totally inspired me.

I recently had to go home for the unpleasant task of getting a potential shoulder injury checked out. Having received discouraging news you could say I was a little bummed out. However, that same evening I was invited to our local Veterans Affairs (VA) to help with a roll school. This was no ordinary roll school; this was a pool session for wounded vets recovering from injuries from the war. There were “students” that were recovering from TBI (traumatic brain injury), amputations, paralysis, and many other life altering injuries. There was even someone learning who had lost his eyesight due to a pointblank gunshot wound. Talk about putting things into perspective! I quickly changed and joined the multitude of volunteers that turned out to help.

Teaching someone something that was thought unachievable is one of the biggest rewards for most kayak instructors. I have been fortunate enough to have gained some experience in teaching people the joy of kayaking as an instructor here at ERA, but that pool session really opened my eyes to whole new possibilities. After watching someone in a wheelchair get in a specially outfitted boat and become just like any other kayak enthusiast I was moved and inspired. These men and women are given a chance to forget about their daily hurdles and experience a whole new form of an adrenaline rush.

The roll session was followed by a trip down the Augusta Canal the next day and talk about entertaining. There were 50 plus boats out on the water that day, and the amount of support was staggering. It was a truly amazing experience. Joe Mornini is the man to be given credit for coming up with this idea. Mornini started a program called Team River Runner and is helping wounded vets all over the country. After experiencing such a rewarding day, with such inspiring new kayakers, teaching kayaking has taken on a whole new meaning for me!

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Rekindling The Flame, New Mexico Style!

by our own Trish
The sabbatical is over! Being out of a kayak for over a year really does leave the soul and spirit parched and longing for the sound and feel of whitewater. After relocating to New Mexico, I didn’t realize how much I would miss kayaking until I recently rekindled the flame.It is so good to be back in a kayak!


I had the opportunity to paddle the Race Course Section of the Rio Grande just outside of Taos, NM. This section is 5 miles long and chocked full of class II and III rapids. It was the perfect section for me to get acquainted with my new EZG and see if I still possessed any shred of paddling skills that I used to have.

As my friend Rachel and I pulled up to the put-in, I had that familiar twinge of nervousness that I hadn’t felt in quite a while. We changed, met the rest of our party and headed for the water. As I slid into my EZG for the first time, I realized I made rookie mistake #1. I forgot to put in my foam bulk head. I had nothing for my feet! As I sat there, I smiled to myself, shook my head and had the realization that if I ever had the bad habit of pushing with my feet while rolling, that wouldn’t be happening today! And as if that wasn’t bad enough, I then made rookie mistake #2. I forgot to get my spray skirt wet before putting it on so I couldn’t get it over the cockpit of my EZG by myself. Fantastic. After asking for help, we were finally off. We all ferried back and forth a few times and that was an interesting gauge of skill.

When you are accustomed to paddling with the best instructors at ERA, you expect everyone to be that good. Welcome to the world of kayaking reality. If you don’t know what a stern draw is, please sign up for PI right now. Alas, we headed off downstream and I had a smile on my face as soon as we hit the first ripple. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I felt right at home in my boat and I felt as though I hadn’t missed a beat. I tried a couple of wave wheels miserably and was happy to find that I hadn’t “lost” my roll during my sabbatical. Whew……that was a relief! The run ended up being super fun and there was even a really good play spot called Sleeping Beauty. I can’t wait to get back to Sleeping Beauty and start tearing it up this summer! By tearing it up, I mean of course that I will be front surfing and spinning. Who knows, maybe I’ll finally learn to throw a blunt or two!

Should you find yourself inadvertently in a kayaking sabbatical, try and find whitewater as soon as possible. John Muir put it best by saying, “The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing.” Rekindle the flame as soon as possible, your soul and spirit will thank you.

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Bunny Johns: 2008 Boater Chick

During the closing ceremonies of the 2008 Boater Chick Festival, I had the honor of presenting Bunny Johns with the 2008 Boater Chick Award. It could not have gone to a better person!I always tip my helmet to fellow-boaters that recognize the achievements of those paddlers that came before us. There were so many valient paddlers who trundled down rivers in the likes of 13 foot+ boats, at a time when words such as "boof" did not even exist. So when Anne--organizer of the 2008 Boater Chick Festival, asked me to help her present Bunny Johns with the 1st Boater Chick Award, in my tongue-tied way I was honored--and fired up to do so. I am happy to share the full presentation (minus a few hmms and umms) for everyone to enjoy.

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Women and Kayaking and College and Boys and Thoughts for Other Women

So you want to talk about women and kayaking? How about hearing it from a group of women who are in the midst of their college education at an all-womens college (hence the school colors pink & green); all whom have found their way into the college’s outdoor program…. kayaking specifically!...and all of whom stand to take away some pretty amazing life skills when they graduate from college.
Enjoy sharing time with a cool group of kayakers at the latest of our roundtables.

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Bridging the Generations: A Roundtable Discussion

There is nothing like getting together after a good day of paddling and telling stories!
While the group consisting of Maria Noakes, Whitney Lonsdale, Beth Rypins and Juliet Jacobsen Kastorff could not work it out to actually spend a day on the river together, we were able to take time out of busy schedules to enjoy some reminiscing, stories and laughs.

Enjoy this roundtable discussion about Bridging the Generations!

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No Girls' Category Needed for this Lady!

Ask Maria Noakes which "hat" she has on today and it can be one of many: Mom, wife, company co-founder, respected whitewater paddler, international traveler.... oh, and a girl not scared to compete against the big boys-as she so proved placing 18th overall in the Greenman Category of the 2008 Jerry's Baddle event on the Green Narrows just recently.

Maria Noakes has been a familiar face on the whitewater circuit for a good long while now. It is never a surprise to run into her on any of the toughest runs in the southeast, or popping up in Nepal, Canada, Bhutan or her hometown rivers of New Zealand. She stands out in the paddling crowd not just because she is blond, athletic, and has a full-of-life personality, but because often she is not just toting her kayak on her shoulder, but one--or two of her tow-headed boys ages two and four. Try beating that!

After placing 18th at the 2008 Jerry’s Baddle, we managed to pin Maria down for a few minutes(which is not always easy to do considering that her daily to-do list includes keeping up with two little ones, as well as keeping up with her part of running Smoky Mountain Jet Boats—the company she and her husband, Nick, co-founded).

Wow Maria, you don’t have much in the way of down time these days. So let’s get right to it: Thinking back, when was your first run down the Green Narrows and who was with you?
My first ever Green run…. I was gripped with the tales of the Narrows of the Green, but I was with the stout crew of Tommie Decuir, Doug Geiger, Scotty Lovell and Whitney Lonsdale. Year? That was the summer of creation of Johnny Utah, so that's a teller. I remember pretty vividly the drive to the take out, thinking if the river drops at the gradient of these bends, it's going to a wild in there!

Okay, we won’t calculate how many years ago that was...if you will share your thoughts on running the Green after all this time being a mom/girl/stud...
Not sure about the stud part but I am a girl and a Mum (of two rambunctious riots) and it's all good to go.

What was the inspiration to participate in Jerry's Baddle this year?
Because it's a great event for a great cause, supporting people who have ALS and the group of girls who compete in it are super fun and pretty competitive!

What would you attribute to placing so well this year? Training? Experience?
I would have to say that paddling a Remix helped me in the scheme of things, along with Andrew Holcombe and Shane Benedicts favorite tips of the Green, this combination appeared to keep me in good stead.

So placing 18th overall, how does it feel to have been hot on the stern of the likes of Pat Keller?!?!?
Maybe he got a flat tire.

Thanks Maria! Hope we see you on Cheoah this weekend!

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Whitney Lonsdale Back to support the ERA Ladies!

News Update! super-kayaker Whitney Lonsdale is taking a breather from running in a million different directions this summer, calling the Nantahala Gorge home for a few months. And sharing time on the river as ERA friend, instructor and guide again this summer.


The venue with which you have spent time with Whitney influences how you “categorize” her: been a student at World Class with Whitney as your teacher and guide--then she is your hero; and who you want to be (or marry in the case of some of the boys at World Class!) when you graduate from High School. Been on the river with her, whether Nepal, Ecuador, Idaho, China, Chile, the Green Narrows.... okay, okay enough with the list—it could go on for a long time. Anyways, in that capacity you think of her as a world class boater while coming across as kind of a little gal with a great smile when she steps out of her boat. And then of course there are her movie credits. Last year when Whitney joined the ERA Team, we figured out that the best way to make her blush was to suggest to a paddler that they take their newly purchased copy of Johnny Utah and ask her to autograph it. Okay, she is an awesome teacher, editor, river guide,instructor…but a bit modest.

So we were psyched to hear Whitney would be able to park herself back in the Nantahala Gorge this summer for a time and spend some time with the ERA Staff, guests and friends. Catching up with Whitney on her trip back to Asheville this past week, she had time for a couple of questions.

Hey Whitney—good to hear your voice! What have you been up to since departing ERA last fall?
This past year I have been working part time with World Class Kayak Academy and The Traveling School. Last fall I spent time with The Traveling School in South Africa and led a Women's Trip in South Africa as well. I also spent two weeks with World Class on the Zambezi and Nile Rivers. I also took on the editor position for Kayak Session magazine last November.

I also worked on diversifying my outdoor pursuits this winter spending 6 weeks in Montana skiing in February and March.

Favorite new river you saw in your travels this winter?
Even with all the traveling I did, I did not add any new rivers to my list this winter. It might be the first year in a long time that I did not get to explore new river territory.

What is it about being on the river that has you fired up to be back?
After a year of not being on the water nearly as much as I am used to I can't wait to get back to teaching kayaking this summer. I look forward to everything about it. Being outside in beautiful western NC, the daily sharing of excitement about kayaking, helping people improve their skills and get where they want to be with their paddling. Not balancing the cash register every day :) [Explanation: Whitney “volunteered” to run the ERA front line for most of last summer—gaining life experiences in all sorts of areas, including learning to balance a business out at the end of the day!!]

Last thoughts before we let you go?
I have a renewed appreciation for the time I get to be paddling and I look forward to sharing that enthusiasm with folks.

Here at ERA we are obviously psyched Whitney will be here.
And the ladies of ERA can’t wait to spend time on the river with her!

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For the Ladies: FLIRT!

What are the ERA Ladies wearing on their days out? Well the FLIRT of course.

The FLIRT is SnapDragon’s women’s specific sprayskirt. It has a conically shaped tube with a lower cut tube top. What that means is that it is easier to pull up over our svelte hips and more comfortable because the tube is not around our necks. And it comes in either black (which goes with everything) or a pretty blue color neoprene.

And hats off to SnapDragon-- they designed a womens-specific piece of gear without referring to/insinuating a body part (like we don’t want to be reminded that sprayskirts are hard to put on because we might have big butts!).

Only downfall of the FLIRT is that the boys like it too!

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2008 ERA Girl's Paddling Goals

The ladies here at ERA are preparing to embark on yet another wonderful season of whitewater; Life is tough! Deciding to list our goals for 2008 is a bit intimidating, but it also provides that extra motivational kick that we (mostly I) sometimes need! Looking at my goals for the season, written down on paper, makes me really look forward to this year.

We'll be posting updates as we progress throughout the season, so keep checking back!

Bran : )



Sara:
-Get out on the water as much as possible. The best way to get better is to practice and get out there,so that is what I want to do.
-I want to work on my water reading and skills by running new and more challenging rivers
-To get Brandy and Kelly to Costa Rica with me!
-To spend more time on the water with my girls, but to also improve to the point that I can go with the big boys
-To continue to earn respect and accountability as a kayak instructor
-I want to run the Green Narrows (and by run I mean style ☺ )

Kelly:
- Paddle more class III-IV rivers and creeks other than the Nantahala and Ocoee. Thanks to the drought and school, it’s been about 4 years since I’ve paddled natural flow, other than the Cascades.
- Get on the Ocoee with Brandy!
- Five eddies at Broken Nose (without breaking my nose this time).

Brandy:
-Nail my combat roll. Practice makes perfect (hopefully)!
-Surf, surf, surf. Become a good playboater. Play EVERYWHERE!
-Ocoee and Costa Rica with the girls!!
-Comfortable in class III-IV water.
-Get over silly fears, and recognize legitimate ones. Build confidence in my abilities.
-Get on the water as much as possible!
-I HATE to admit this one: Listen to my husband (and ERA instructor!), Ryan. Do what he tells me to do. He's been at this for years, and knows what's best for me.

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What Makes for a Good Paddling Day?

A few years ago my friend Trish found herself burned out on the Ocoee by early May. And then one day she paddled with a whole different group of people and came back with an enlightenment: she had a great day on the river, helping her realize that paddling is as much about who you are with as it is the river you are on...

Last weekend Steve and I paddled together, sharing teaching tips and different routes. We had a great day on the river; reminding me of the same thing: the best part of kayaking is paddling with people you enjoy.

To top off an already great day, we ran into our friends from the Baylor School who were spending the day together on the river.
And on this particular day on the river, the male/female ratio was seven girls, four guys.... unusual--especially at the high school level!! So not only was it great to see a group of ladies out paddling (outnumbering the guys!) but with this group in particular, I got to say hello to several veterans of our Baylor/ERA Costa Rica trip: girls/ guys/instructors-once-Baylor-Students...all whom I consider good paddling friends now.

Call it great day on the river made so much better being surrounded by a great group of people. It makes me look forward to my next river trip!

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Come Play With Us!

Whitewater has always been perceived as a male-dominated sport. But Endless River Adventures breaks that stereotype all over the place!

ERA is a team as equally full of women as men; women who are guides, kayakers, fun and full of energy. And as the female contingent of the team, we look forward to sharing time with you on the river and here on our new blog!

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