With a stretch of moving water, a boat to play in, and an arsenal of tricks up your sleeve, you can have about as much fun in the river as, well, anywhere on earth. With the help of 2007 freestyle kayaking world champion Ruth Gordon, you can be eddying in by next weekend.
First-timers
Take a lesson.
Regardless of your comfort level with whitewater, to learn to whitewater kayak the first thing you’ll need to do is take a lesson. A knowledgeable professional can teach you the basics you’ll need to stay safe and help build your platform of essential skills—all while in the safety of calm, flatwater. “I would recommend at least a few days on the water before making your decision to commit,” says Ruth. “Stick with the lessons until you get into the rapids, probably a few days in, so you really know what you are getting into before trying to get out on your own.”
Get comfortable in the water.
Regardless of your previous involvement in water sports, getting some familiarity with being in the river and understanding how your body reacts to swimming, floating, and holding your breath can be helpful in building up your confidence in the boat. “Optimally, you should be comfortable swimming a few lengths of a pool,” advises Ruth. “If you weren’t born a water baby, practice holding your breath without physically plugging your nose.” This will help prevent you from panicking if and when you go under the water while kayaking.
Master the basics in flatwater.
Before you get into rough waters, you’ll want to be confident in your skills on flatwater portions of the river. Here you’ll learn how your body and your boat react to the dynamics of the water. “I am a strong believer that if you can’t do it in the flatwater, you won’t be able to do it in the whitewater,” says Ruth. By training in flatwater, you are creating habits that will then come naturally while in whitewater. So don’t feel rushed to get into the class IIIs. Plan some downtime in the flat stretches every time you get on the river.
Learn to roll.
To right yourself in the water when you accidentally flip upside down (which is inevitable as you get into rougher water), you need to learn a move called the Eskimo roll. Ruth tells us when upside down in the water:
- Set up your position by curling your body over the cockpit while placing the paddle parallel along one side of the boat. (You’ll really need to reach with the paddle because when you flip upside down you want it to be on the surface.)
- Curl your body out to the side as you sweep the paddle out to perpendicular. Using the sweep of the paddle to gain some leverage, rock your hips away from the outstretched paddle—a move known as a hip flick.
- Your finish position should be lying back on your stern, with your head and eyes turned to the paddle blade still in the water. You will undoubtedly want to have a pro show you how to do this and critique you the first few times.
Take it out of the river.
“Practicing in a pool is a great way to perfect your technique before venturing out into the whitewater,” says Ruth. “A lot of pools have rolling clinics or open kayaking time.” Once you learn some basics from an instructor, the controlled conditions of a swimming pool will allow you to practice your technique until you build up confidence and muscle memory. When you flip in whitewater, you may be too nervous to think of all the necessary steps to right yourself, but if you’ve spent some hours in the pool, you can expect your muscle memory to kick in and guide you through the motions.
Learn to read the river.
From one foot to the next, the water may be moving in an entirely different way. To stay in your boat and take on whatever feature the river might bring, says Ruth, “It is important to learn to be able to read the whitewater so that you can choose your line and stay on it.” This is a good thing to practice in a rapid that you are familiar with. Choose a route that is different from the one you usually take and see how it turns out. See if you are able to make the line you have chosen; if not, were you able to get yourself on course for a different line? Much of running whitewater is about reading the river and knowing where to go. This will become increasingly important as you progress into more-difficult sections of river.
Taking It Up a Notch
Play your way downriver.
Small features can yield big fun, and “all the while you are learning how your boat reacts to different situations and in many cases getting in some unintentional roll practice too!” Learn to feel out the personality of your boat and challenge yourself against the features you paddle through. Try a stern squirt: while crossing an eddy line, wind up your body, drop your upstream edge, and use a reverse sweep stroke (a flat arching stroke used to change the direction of the boat) to pivot around the stern.
Master an understanding of river flow.
“Lessons, a book or video, and talking with an experienced river person will help you develop a better sense of the river,” says Ruth. “Understanding what all the features are, where they are found, and how they will affect the movement of you and your boat will all improve the caliber of your kayaking.” To learn more, Ruth recommends The Ultimate Guide to Whitewater Kayaking by Ken Whiting and Kevin Varette (Heliconia Press, 2004).
Take a rescue class.
As your kayaking progresses, you will inherently take more risks. The better equipped you are to safely navigate a section of river and react to any possible danger, the more freedom you’ll have. In a swift-water rescue course, you will learn all about safety, including rope work, river swimming tactics, and signals used to communicate when conditions may prevent usual conversation. Ruth reminds us that “safety is imperative for all skill levels!” Check out www.swiftwater-rescue.com for more information about classes and certifications.
-Bryn Fox
WHITEWATER SCHOOL
- Otter Bar Lodge Kayak School, Forks of Salmon, California Mid-April through September, seven-day all-inclusive program. $2,190. www.otterbar.com
- Liquid Adventures, Potomac River, Washington, D.C. Year-round weekend classes for all levels. Check website for prices. www.liquidadventures.org
- Class VI River Runners, West Virginia Spring through fall, one- to four-day classes, ranging from $170 to $620, not including accommodations. www.class-vi.com
- Green River Adventures, Asheville, North Carolina May through October, two-day intro class, all levels. $300–$500. www.greenriveradventures.com
