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Joel Kowalski sends ‘Keeners experience Creeking on ‘7 Sisters’ of the Rouge, QC’

Dane sets safety while Keaton airs it out

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Joel Kowalski is not only a coach for the ‘Keeners’ kids kayak program of Wilderness Tours on the Ottawa River, he also placed 5th at the World Freestyle Championships in Thun and creates and appears in Extreme whitewater videos such as Stakeout, Here and Now, Facetime, and Dream Result.  Check out his vision of our day coaching talented new paddlers in the art of creekboating and observe the Villain S and 2010 Hero proto’s in action!

From Joel:
Here is a video from our recent trip to the Seven Sisters waterfalls on the Riviere Rouge in Quebec near Hawkesbury. Stephen Wright, Clay Wright with special guest Dane Jackson and I took the Keeners there for most of the kids’ first creeking experience. They loved it! Check out the vid…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLnzv7ycG48&feature=player_embedded#!

-Joel K.

Face Time Intro: video

Here is the Intro for the 2010 film ‘Face Time.’ Check out the intro and order your copy here.

http://jacksonkayak.com/face-time/

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Emily Jackson World Sport TV: France

Hey Guys

I was lucky enough to visit Millua, France this June and while i was there spent alot of time with the World Sports Crew: Formally Gillete World Sports. This is a great couple minute video that explains Freestyle Kayking and shows the great hole in Millau!

http://worldsport.tv/#browse/by_genre/features?id=4_424

ENJOY!

Emily Jackson

Sage Donnely wins 5 JR. Olympic medals -plus looping video

I have had an incredible summer full of travels and competitions. I had a great time meeting people and new friends all over the nation. This summer, I started out with the Reno River Festival, then traveled to Colorado for a month of freestyle and slalom competitions where I managed to get on the podium on almost everything I entered.  I then went onto Maryland where I competed in Age Group Nationals in slalom and managed a 1st in Cub Cadets and a second in Cadets overall. Then I traveled to NOC for the Jr. Olympics where I won 5 gold medals and the River Meisterin Award for overall high score! The highlight of my season was learning to loop consistently and having a lot of fun with all the people I met throughout the country. I still have a few California competitions and hope to do well in them.  Hope to see you on the river. Peace, Sage.http://www.vimeo.com/13604577

NYC Inner City Kids Camp

For the past several year Jessie Stone and Soft Power health have been running  an Inner City kids Camp while teaming up with the Upward Bound program from Boys and Girls Harbor. This has been my third year hepling with this project.

What we do is simple teach kids how to kayak. Though we are talking about kids who sometimes don’t even know how to swim. The first day we take them to the pool to get comfortable being in the water and getting their hair wet. We then make them feel comfortable being in the kayaks, and exiting the boats as well. From here we start using the skirts, and get them on their way to rolling a bracing.

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By the third day we take the kids to the beach and bays of Long Island. The kids are always excited about this because many of them haven’t been to the beaches before. We continue working on basic skills and playing games.

Our last two days are spent on the river. We work on dealing with rocks and eddy lines and everything else the river has. It is also cool for the whole group the experience the wild life out on the rivers, such the Bald Eagle we were able to witness.

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Our final Graduation was the Farmington river. This is a class 2-3 river which all the kids were able to paddle. Once we got to the take out we all swam around in the local playspot before heading back to NYC.

It was a great week, teaching this kids about kayaking, the river, nature, and show them confidence that they can take with them.

Here is a video from the Week teaching the Inner City Kids Camp.

http://www.vimeo.com/13624158

Video: Taking my Uncle Tom and cousin Jonny for a Duo Ride

I have a little cousin from Hawaii, his name is Jonny, he is 10 year old, and can be a bit of a fire ball. He was able to come to Canada and spend 6 weeks up here visiting our family.

Everyday I saw him I asked if he would like to come kayaking with me. Obviously the river can be a bit intimidating, and being only 10 years old, with no idea of kayaking, expect watching some of my video, he decided to pass on the opportunity.

So after 6 weeks, Jonny’s dad, my Uncle Tom, comes to pick him up. Now Tom has always wanted to try kayaking, and asked if I could take him for a run down the river. This is where things got a bit complicated, because Tom flew in on a Thursday afternoon, and I was leaving for the Grand Canyon Friday. I had one shot to do this, and hoped that Tom would be into the idea of traveling 20 hours and jumping into a kayak with me.

Luckily for me, both Jonny and Uncle Tom showed up Thursday night ready to Rock. I then had to find a second Duo guide, and found my Mexican buddy Rafa to be the perfect fit.

It was a great opportunity, I was able to share my love of kayaking with some family who had no idea about it. Uncle Tom was fully ready to get wet and after a couple rolls in the flat water he was comfortable. Jonny on the other hand didn’t want to get wet, and definitely didn’t want to roll. With some encouragement we had him rolling and loving it.

Next up was the Phil’s Hole punch. Anyone who knows anything about the Ottawa knows about the giant Phil’s Hole, which is avoided by most. Rafa and I confidently guided our two rookies down with ease. Tom and Jonny didn’t know what hit them. With new stories to tell, and smiles all around, Rafa and I continued down through Corner Wave, and Right side Horseshoe.

With some eager beavers in the front of our kayaks, we decided to give a shot at surfing Baby Face. This was much easier with 60 pound Jonny in the front. Though in the end, with one swim, and two rolls, we had both Jonny and Uncle Tom surfing.

As we took out after our adventure down McCoys, Jonny asked about the large slide and ramp. After demonstrating how it worked, I let them both give it a shot.

We all ended the great day will smiles, laughter and a couple drinks and good steaks at my parents house.

Here is the video of our Adventure down McCoys rapid of the Ottawa River.

http://www.vimeo.com/13431261

Nick Troutman

Upper Yough pov video by Jim Buley

Check out the Upper Yough at 2.2′ in a Super-hero – from a river level perspective.YouTube Preview Image

Hero’s and Villains down the Fishladder (Jim Buley POV)

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Here’s another video I shot with my GoPro head cam. It’s of me and local DC paddler Collin Swan running the Fishladder. I am in the new Villain, and Collin is in his 2009 Hero. I love the speed, stability, and the easy way the Villain handles in pushy current. It’s definitely gonna be a big hit for JK.

Glenwood Springs Summer Sessions: video

Colorado has been super warm for the last several days. With all this warm weather means that the snow melts, and what does that mean? HIGH WATER!

Practically everything in Colorado is flooding right now, including Glenwood which came up to 24, 000 CFS.

There was everyone and there grandmother in line up for the wave. Including kayakers, surfers, SUP, and boogie boarders.

The wave would green out every so often, maximizing the Air time.

Check out this quick little video from the wave.

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Nick Troutman

CKS Paddle Fest/ BV Pro Rodeo: video

Well every year CKS pulls off one of the larger Paddling festivals of the year. Though only recently has South Main joined the party and added the BV Pro Rodeo. The weekend was filled with tons on people coming to check out all the new boats, demos, clinics, and competitions.

The people at South Main had worked hard to make a new play wave over the winter. As it turned out the wave was awesome, and with the high water it just kept on getting better.

It was an amazing weekend, with great weather and even better water levels. We got to meet some new people and visit with some old friends.

Check out this little video from the weekend.

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Fun Tour 2010