In 2009 Freya Hoffmeister—a 46-year-old former sky diver, gymnast, marksman, and Miss Germany contestant—paddled alone and unsupported 9,420 miles around Australia, breaking Paul Caffyn’s record set 27 years earlier. Now she’s at it again, this time nearly 150 days into her expedition to circumnavigate South America alone and unsupported. Click on for clips from her blog, which include surviving three brutal days on a deserted pile of rock called Isla Deceit while scratching her way to Cape Horn... Read more.
In the search for their newest Team Rider, Shred Ready was accepting video. While hundreds of stout paddlers submitted footage, only one, Jordan Byrum would join the team. Read more.
In this installment, USACK member Benn Fraker arrives in Australia to begin his training for the London Games. Who knew the training involved cliff jumping? Read more.
First Descents, a non-profit founded by Brad Ludden that provides free outdoor adventure experiences for young adults battling cancer, is taking its programs international with new offerings from Peru to Costa Rica... Read more.
Knock, Knock, Knocking on Noccalula's Door:Freefall footage of Pat Keller, Isaac Levinson and Chris Gragtmans running Alabama's Noccalula Falls. See the complete footage and more on John Grace's "Land of Giants," to be released on Amongstit.tv later this month.
Ice Slog: Nat’l Geo Adventurers of the Year Jon Turk and Eric Boomer making their way around Ellesmere Island. Click link below to vote for them for People’s Choice Award. (Photo by Eric Boomer). View Website
Sure, Freya Hoffmeister might have circum-navigated Australia. We’d like to see her keep up with the exploits of Australian Tanya Faux. This spring, Faux, a longtime creek and rodeo competitor and Australia’s2008 Adventurer of the Year, is leading a group of eight women into one of Australia’s most rugged and remote areas: a 30-day uncharted, unsupported, river exploration of the Kimberley region that aims to promote the Save the Kimberley campaign. Oh, and did we mention the Class V and crocs? Read more.
Okay, all you free-loading dirtbags. No more free lunch. It's permit season. So get off your duff and send in your applications for your favorite river trip instead of waiting to get asked along. Plus, that way you can invite who you want (which hopefully will include us). Here's all the info you need... Read more.
It’s blog time here at PL, with who else chiming in but PL friend and mono-blader Benn Fraker, at sixth the highest-placing U.S. finisher at the Beijing Olympics who just took off to the land of Aus for a two-month training stint in preparation for the Games in London this summer. Tune in for his semi-monthly reports from the field. But first, this primer so you can get to know him... Read more.
Crossing Canada from the Pacific Ocean to the Hudson Bay under your own power would be a gruel no matter how you slice it, never mind trying it in a canoe. But that’s what Pete Marshall, Winchell Delano and Steve Keaveny are planning with their Trans-Territorial Canoe Expedition from May through to September 2012. PL checks in to see how their planning is going... Read more.
More paddlers will name be able to claim they’re Okies, if not from Muskogee, at least from Oklahoma City. USA Canoe/Kayak, the national governing body for sprint and slalom, just moved its headquarters from Charlotte, N.C., to Oklahoma City. PL reports on the move, with a special Q&A with CEO Joe Jacobi... Read more.
Finally, the Nantahala River has a sweet play wave. The Nantahala Gorge Organizing Committee (NGOC) will celebrate the grand opening of its new 2013 Wave on Friday, December 16 with a ceremony, reception and paddling exhibition starting at 12pm. Read more.
River guides rejoice: finally a book you can all relate to. Former river guide Tom Mahony’s Flooding Granite (Casperian Books) details the plight of river guide Zack Pruitt, a college drop-out who abandoned his girlfriend and young son when things got tough and headed back to the Sierra Nevada to guide. But he gets more than he bargained for. PL catches up with the author for a quick Q&A, and gives it a thumbs-up for those jonesing for whitewater action this winter... Read more.
After much time watching guests struggle during unexpected whitewater swims, Hamish McMaster, 20 year whitewater veteran and owner of the International Whitewater Company, Water By Nature developed the leg floaty. Read more.
The poach-fest continues. On Nov. 28, Southeast kayakers Pat Keller, Isaac Levinson and Chris Gragtmans dropped previously unrun 90-foot Noccalula Falls in Alabama's city-owned Noccalula Falls Park, causing park officials to scratch their heads and re-evaluate city ordinances. Bonus: Steve Fisher chimes in on a local news outlet's blog... Read more.
Finally, some accolades for all those walrus attacks, kayak-dragging, freezing temps and kidney failures. After completing the first successful circumnavigation of Ellesmere Island this summer, kayakers Jon Turk and Erik Boomer have been recognized as National Geographic Adventurers of the Year for 2012. And you, as paddlers, can vote to help them win the coveted People’s Choice award... Read more.
Proud of your summer paddling feat? That’s peanuts compared to Nepal's Sano Babu Sunuwar and Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa’s Ultimate Descent, going from the highest place on earth to the sea in one continuous non-motorized descent, with kayaks playing the final role... Read more.
In the latest merger news in paddlesports, Emotion Kayaks of Pennsylvania has been sold to Lifetime Products of Clearfield, Utah. PL checks in with Emotion founder Tom Strauss for the lowdown... Read more.
Worried about tipping over on your SUP in whitewater? Boardworks and partner company Badfish of Salida, Colo., recently unveiled a new inflatable paddleboard that will do wonders to keep you on the surface where you belong. Read more.
Holy tie-fest. Marking an event with the most ties in its 16-year history, this year’s 16th annual Green Race on North Carolina’s Green River was once again as carnage- and competition-filled as ever, with Isaac Levinson winning the crown and coveted “Glass” trophy for the first time ever. And for the women, Adriene Levknecht three-peats with a new women’s course record of 4:57... Read more.
The Cuban Team finished on top of the medals table with nine medals, including four Golds, while the Canadians grabbed seven medals at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Led by Carrie Johnson with two golds, Team USA claimed the third position on the medals table, earning two starting positions at the London 2012 Olympic Games... Read more.
Ann Raiho and Natalie Warren have some blisters and a place in the record books, just becoming the first all-female team to ever paddle from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay... Read more.
For the second year, the Save the Colorado River Campaign Fund has made donations to 15 environmental groups up and down the basin – from Denver to Las Vegas to San Diego – to help protect and restore the Colorado River. The river’s water supplies are being stretched thin, and the river itself has been stretched beyond the breaking point. This year the Colorado River’s 5 trillion gallons of water were once again drained completely out and never reached the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. Read more.
The U.S. might be slaying it in the stand-up surf scene with the likes of Slater Trout, but when it comes to surf kayaking, Basque Country and the UK are barreling to the top of the line-up -- and podium. That’s how things played out, at least, at this year’s World Surf kayaking Championships, which recently wrapped up at North Carolina’s Outer Banks.... Read more.
In a sign that the paddlesports retail world is, if not riding a wave at least creating ripples, on October 22 the Nantahala Outdoor Center opened the doors of its groundbreaking experiential retail and outdoor activity concept shop, NOC Asheville, inside Asheville, N.C.'s The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa.... Read more.
After nearly a century, Washington's White Salmon River in south central Washington is flowing freely again. Earlier today, a hole was blasted in the base of Condit Dam, and its reservoir - Northwestern Lake - began to pour through it. The reservoir is expected to be fully drained by sundown... Read more.
The International Whitewater Hall of Fame (IWHOF) moved to the banks of the South Fork American River Oct. 14-16 to honor members of the Class of 2011, including this year’s inductees: Explorer - Richard Bangs (USA); Champion - JP Burny (Belgium); and Advocate - Oliver Cock (UK)... Read more.
Who’s the paddler to beat in the extreme kayaking world? Twenty-three-year-old Sam Sutton from Rotorua, New Zealand, who once again demonstrated his dominance by winning the fifth annual adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World Championship in Tirol, Italy, for the second year in a row (and getting to soak in a hot tub with Miss Tirol 2009)...
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After three days of tight competition at the World Rafting Championships on Costa Rica’s Pacuare River, the Teva US men's and women's teams nab 7th, while Japan strokes to its first-ever world title. And PL was there for every dip of the blade... Read more.
Sure, Budweiser just named EJ an ambassador for its Budweiser American Ale. But does he have a beer named after him? The late Ed Lewis, a mild-mannered canoeist from the Midwest, has even EJ the Olympian beat. His moniker’s on a malted beverage... Read more.
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