Big event weekend here in Memphis :-)

We're kicking this weekend off with the annual GREAT MISSISSIPPI CANOE & KAYAK RACE here in Memphis. This race is one of the largest canoe & kayak races in the nation with over 500 competitors... ranging from Olympic flatwater sprinters to your local average joes. It was voted "Best Race in America" by Paddler Magazine and Jackson Kayak will be there! This is followed by the Outdoors Inc DEMO DAY at Shelby Farms!

Demos will range from fishing canoes and kayaks, to full-on racing & high performance touring kayaks, to whitewater kayaks... Meanwhile, Memphis is having a festival of its own called Memphis in May with the Beal Street Music Festival

Stay tuned for more of the action!

2009 HERO REVIEW

(Photo of Boyd by Samantha Brunner)

Intro - The first date
In the past, Jackson Kayak's river runner had been more geared toward playboating, but this time the idea was quite different. We wanted the ultimate creeking, river running, expedition, and teaching machine that is more geared toward safety, volume, and fun on harder rivers. At the same time we wanted a kayak that new kayakers could fall in love with and without feeling limited. The funny thing is that the Hero turned out different than anyone really expected because of all the input from Team Jackson Kayak. So I've been putting this boat to the test ever sense, trying to figure out exactly what it is that I love so much about it and how we can improve it for the next round. So I'm writing about my experience in it as objective as I can, but I must admit my Hero quickly became my favorite kayak and it's hard to hide the love.


Pros - the love story
The first thing you'll notice when you get in a Hero is that it feels SO stable. It's a wide boat so it easily begins to feel like your "bomb shelter" whether you're creeking or it's you first time ever on moving water. My girlfriend's first time paddling her Hero was on a class IV/V creek in Colorado and she immediately felt safe and secure once in the water. I also put a friend, Phil, in my Hero with minimal instruction and led him down a class II-III stretch in Alabama... He did great, ran everything, and felt comfortable the whole way down. So one would think that such a wide, stable boat would be difficult to roll. What I've found is that it's very easy to roll, like every Jackson Kayak I've ever paddled. Just to remove my person bias, I put beginners in my boats that I was teaching to roll and some of them in our "class" boats. They all learned how to roll in equal time (quite quickly)and none of them thought the Hero was any more difficult. The planning hull allows for easy surfing for such a large boat and the cockpit and deck design are those of a full on creeker. The Hero is Cross-Linked plastic which is more difficult to mold into kayaks, but it's stronger, can be molded lighter, and has a lot more flex before it breaks. I stopped breaking boats when I switched to Cross-linked plastic. It's of course possible, but you've gotta love a strong boat that can take years of abuse. A far as Creeking and River running, What I love about this boat is that I can have camera gear and rescue gear weighing it down and at 5'8" and 155 lbs I can wavewheel it vertically and then punch a huge hole or run a series of steep tongues and waterfalls without any problem. I was a big skeptic in years past with planning hulls and creeking. Personally I never liked them but I must admit the Hero seems like the perfect balance. I boofed a 30'er and landed flat to see how it reacted (I was wearing a back support/spine guard) and it bled off the preasure much easier and quicker than I would expect from a planning hull design. I never suggest trying that yourself, but it's nice to know you have some forgiveness. It's accelerates easy and peals out great even in the most turbulent places. Even with a planning hull it will boof anything and stay high and dry through the most turbulent and intimidating stretches. It runs waterfalls very well and handles flooded creeks (that should be too high) and big water runs with ease. In fact it seems to excel more on fast paced, higher volume creeks. So you can see why I'm in love with it.


Cons - After the Honeymoon:
Not every relationship is happy all the time and we've yet to creat the "perfect" boat for all whitewater. Sometimes you have to search long and hard but there's always an area for improvement and this is where I have to be completely objective and fill you in on how to make this awesome boat work for you. Some of our own team got in this boat for the first time on the Cheoah in NC. A couple of them hated their first trip in it. When asked why they said it kept turning and trying to follow tongues without them. So upon further inspection we discovered their seats were ALL the way forward, the way they liked it in their Rockers. So they tried it again with the seat toward the back (all the way back in some cases) and after another run through the lower section and Bear Creek Rapid, they were in love too. Being too forward in the Hero seems to dig in the hull a bit, forcing the edges to take over into a turn upon even the most tiny weight shifts. Well, being positioned toward the back leads to the most incredible feeling ever because it lifts the bow, floats over everything without losing speed, and carves or spins beautiful turns at will... so you may have to dial your boat in to find what best works with your paddling abilities. It may look like hole-bait, but I can tell you that it's not. I have one friend that was used to paddling long, fast boat designs take it down Johnnies Creek in Alabama (IV/V) and he hasn't quite figured out how to boof a hole instead of directly taking it on. He got a few surfs out of the deal but told me at the bottom that he actually loved the edges for carving out. He felt very comfortable in a surf with it and had no trouble working his way out. Is it hole-bait? no, but it does behave differently than long boats. My girlfriend (really my fiance') is 5'7" and 125 lbs (but looks like 110). She wears an XXS waist in snap dragon sprayskirts but has a 30" inseam and she's always inbetween designs. She completely fell in love with the Hero in Colorado, but still felt like it was too wide. To compensate she added padding under her seat to give herself some leverage, but now she's rockin' a boat that fits - the Little Hero! The only real con I've personally found is that the edges can catch on bouldery, rock-pile style runs where constant rock-boat contact can cause the edges to catch... for those you may prefer a Rocker.


Verdict - long happy mariage or divorce?
I'm in LOVE with this boat. The "cons" are easily fixable but come with their own rewards. The wide design makes it stable and the planning hull and edges make it more fun to paddle in a majority of situations. It carves turns great, spins on a dime, catches eddies on autopilot, and handles the biggest gnarliest rapids without issue. At the same time it's a safe design that's easy to roll, friendly for beginners, and wavewheels amazingly well. It quickly became my favorite boat ever and if I could only choose one kayak to keep, this would be it. It's the most fun all round boat that I have ever paddled. I've tried to stay objective but my verdict is the same. She's a sexy beast and I'll love her long-time... :-)

When I'm not gettin' wet...

One of my favorite places to be... taken by Jason Higg.

I know it's not really whitewater related, but the outdoor lifestyle goes beyond rivers. It's about being outside and enjoying this amazing rock we live on. So I thought I'd share what I'm usually up to on a weekend when I don't go kayaking. If you know me then you know I'm in love with freefall and that I'm in love with the sky... so it's fitting that I'm also a skydiver. Last Sunday my friend Jason Higg. took some shots of our last jump of the weekend... check it out!

hanging out on the plane ride... by Higg

me and Frank (right) with a "Train" exit

Those clouds are at 10,000 ft

I'm walkin' on clouds!

an amazing shot of Frank by Jason Higg.

"If riding an airplane is flying, then boating must be swimming! If you want to experience the element, you have to get out of the vehicle."

A little piece of heaven...

we can still see the plane!

I love sitflying!

Standing on cloud 9 ;-)

about to drop in... another mile of freefall left

a little "industrial haze" ;-) ...

If you've never been skydiving before, it's an amazing experience! It's a new view of the planet and a freedom like no other! It's also a perfect complement to kayaking. When the weather's bad and the rivers are running, the kayaking is great! When they're dry and it's sunny, the skydiving is awesome... it's a good balance ;-)

Busy Livin'

Boyd :-)

Ice Lakes Creek, CO

Mission: park & huck the burley looking cascade into SMC Campground
Location: South Mineral Creek Campground, CO
Paddlers: Boyd Ruppelt, Adam Goshorn, and Matt Wallace

(Boyd working his way down Ice Lakes Creek. by Samantha Brunner)

After enjoying the high water in Crested Butte, I went down south with Samantha Brunner, Adam Goshorn, and Matt Wallace to find waterfalls and run some of the classic whitewater Colorado has to offer. The first thing we came to was Ice Lakes Creek, pooring into South Mineral Campground. It was getting late, the water was crankin, and we were losing our light for the day, but Matt's itch was contagious and we all decided to run it before setting up camp and cooking dinner. The Ice Lakes Creek cascade is an interesting, powerful series of drops that weren't very forgiving with the high water... but a super cool drop for sure.

(Matt Wallace finishing a strong line minus an epic back ender. by Adam Goshorn)

Matt was so fired up he went first. I held his boat on the tiny launch ledge until he was ready to slide in immediately above the first one. Having decided to follow it on the right, Matt had a great line down but when he hit the big pillow/hole above the last big ledge he was back endered and rolled just above the lip of the last one. I couldn't see him below the first lip so adam came up and told me to go a bit more left on the 3rd ledge... So trusting his last minute changes he held my boat as I climbed in and got set. Before I knew it I was sliding down the sloped bank immediately above the first ledge (hidden in the photos). I wasn't happy with my position above the second one and my contact was a bit out so I eddied out into a small pocket above the first big ledge before lining back up and going for it. I paddled over the pillow of water keeping me off the lip and before I knew it I was flying down the first big one with a big delayed boof to line up for the next one...

(Boyd boofing off the first big one. Photo by Matt Wallace)

Exactly where I wanted to be based on what I had heard from Matt's line, I felt good going into the next drop. The idea was to slide right into the outflow of the hole and off the next drop. To my suprise I slid in sideways losing all my momentum. With a quick roll in the hole, I rolled up grabbing the green water exiting the hole and flowing off the last big ledge and pulled myself off the next lip catching a little rock flake on the way down.

(Boyd rolling up before sliding off the last big one. Photo by Matt Wallace)

It wasn't a bad line but it made me think the first line (far river right) was the way to go... Adam began to gear up and Matt hiked back up to hold his boat. Adam thought we could go even more left (just on the brink of disaster) for a good line.

(Adam setting up for the first big one. by Boyd Ruppelt)

So as he peeled off the first ledge he kept his speed and flew off the first big one too far left, nearly pinning on a tree. Skirting a potentially bad pin and even worse swim, he heroically pulled it back into the main flow but got surfed in the hole above the next one. Ripped down the cascade upside down, Adam kept his cool but got a bit pummeled in the big pillow/hole above the last big one with a not so prefered line:

(Adam with the not so prefered line. by Boyd Ruppelt)

He took it like a champ though and rolled up just in time drop off the last one backwards but upright, making it into the take-out eddy with a shit-eatin' grin like no other. He said amazingly enough he didn't hit much but water on his way down. Now we were ready for Whiskey, dinner, and a camp fire before our next adventure on South Mineral Creek.

(Boyd on Ice Lakes Creek, by Samantha Brunner)

Till next time,
Boyd

La Plata Falls, Durango, CO

Mission: La Plata falls, CO
Location: near Durango, CO
Paddlers: Boyd Ruppelt, Adam Goshorn, and Matt Wallace

(Matt scouting "Silver Falls" by Boyd Ruppelt)

Continuing on our trip with Adam Goshorn and Matt Wallace through southern Colorado me and Samantha continued south toward Durango in hopes of replacing our broken video camera and fixing Adam's flat tire. With most of the things on our lists on the way south a bit high for our tastes we decided to check out a seemingly little known drop called La Plata Falls (Spanish for Silver). So with Adam's tire fixed and no new video camera we shot over for a quick afternoon run on La Plata.

(Boyd filming Matt's run... photo by Adam Goshorn)

The thing about this drop that doesn't seem to show up well in photos is that the entire creek converges and banks 90 degrees the moment it drops off the lip. But it banks so hard that it forms a green wall on the river left edge against the slightly overhung wall while completely drying out the riverbed at the lip.

(Boyd dropping in... photo by Samantha Brunner)

Then it crashes on itself, rolling it's way down the slot falls before slaming over a rock shelf and rocketing out into the runnout pool below. To make things more interesting, a sick looking whirlpool/terminal eddy thing forms on the river right and the river left exit was blocked by a huge log with only a tiny stream of water flowing over the far side. We decided to just focus on lining up the lip and riding it out and boofing over the log.

(Matt going first by Boyd Ruppelt)

(Boyd dropping in while Adam films on... shot by Matt Wallace)

(Adam's run as seen by Boyd Ruppelt)

This worked out well for me and Matt, but Adam's line proved a bit more interesting while providing the biggest carnage of the trip...

(Adam finally out of the whirlpool... by Boyd Ruppelt)

(the aftermath... by Boyd Ruppelt)

After watching her fears realized through someone else, Sam decided to wait for another day; I guess two out of 3 isn't bad. If you're ever in the Durango area when all this is running, La Plata Falls isn't a bad stop for a quick fix...

Boyd Ruppelt

The Rarely Run Upper North Fork of Daisy Creek, Crested Butte, CO

MISSION: Silly Slides
LOCATION: Crested Butte, CO
PADDLERS: Boyd Ruppelt, Samantha Brunner, Josh Oberleas

(Boyd Dropping in by Josh Oberleas)

So as belated report from our trip to Colorado, Me and Samantha Brunner had the pleasure of catching a section that is rarely run on the Upper North Fork of Daisy Creek in Crested Butte, CO. Affectionately known as "the Silly Slides" this section rests hidden away from the hustle and bustle and mass-hucking of the other Crested Butte area creeks, usually under snow until it is too low to run. With the seemingly long 4x4 road/walk up Daisy Pass beyond the normal Daisy Creek put-in, most paddlers look up at the beaver dams not realizing what's just up the road.

(beautiful scenery on a beautiful run. Photo of Boyd by Josh Oberleas)

(plenty of fresh drinking water... and if you get thirsty on the run, just take a big gulp)

Curious to see for myself what was in the pass, I took off on a fast hike with Samantha Brunner to find out our first day in Colorado. What we found was a fun looking series of slides and waterfalls just appearing out of the snow with plenty of runnable flow. The only problem was an unportageable (or hard-to-portage) snow plug blocking the exit of the run.

So after our waterfall adventure with Adam Goshorn and Matt Wallace, we met back up with our Gunny turned Chile friend, Josh Oberleas, for some more good times in Crested Butte. Without hesitation, we went right up to the Daisy Creek put-in for a quick check to see if the upper section was open. Sure enough we found good flows, although we all wanted more (never satisfied I know), and a good section was completely clear of snow:

(Samantha charging down below the 3rd drop... photo by Josh Oberleas)

The start was one of the most scenic and interesting put-ins in the area, with a seal launch right off a large snow plug into the river:

(Samantha about to slide in right above the first drop. photo by Boyd Ruppelt)

(Samantha on her way down by Josh Oberleas)

The creek is literally just emerging from the snow as some of the coldest, but cleanest, water I've ever felt!

(Boyd on drop #1 by Samantha Brunner)

(Samantha charging down the first one with the second one in the foreground by Boyd Ruppelt)

From there the creek goes around a bend and immediately off drop number 3, the sketchiest looking slide on the run. It looked a bit boat/back abusive when we were first scouting it, but we found out fast that the clear water made this whole run look lower than it was. This drop was no exception, going a lot smoother than we thought it would and with an awesome boof/90 degree turn combo on the last bit of the drop to avoid the wall.

(Samantha on drop 3 by Boyd)

(Boyd making the last boof/turn move by Samantha Brunner)

We couldn't get over the water quality, scenery, and fun nature of the run... since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's some more pictures:

(Josh Oberleas about to go off another by Boyd Ruppelt)

(Boyd in just his rashguard... ok, it was a bit cold... by Josh Oberleas)

(Samantha loving her Jackson Hero! by Josh Oberleas)

(the view downstream... by Josh Oberleas)

(Boyd carving off the last one... by Josh Oberleas)

(Josh Oberleas threading his way down the last one... by Boyd Ruppelt)

(Samantha threading the needle between flakes on the last one by Boyd Ruppelt)

From the "Silly Slides" we continued on a fast, fun runnout that felt like a cold convayer belt until we got to a weird, short, hedgy section of blind, mid-stream bush-wacking. It doesn't last long and is quicker than getting out. Suddenly we found ourselves in a channel dropping off beaver dam ledge after beaver dam ledge. The current kept picking up and we were amazed to find a beautiful and fun paddle all the way to the big portage at the normal Daisy put-in, never getting out of our boats until then. After the portage we continued our way down Daisy Creek until we finally all flew off Big Wood Falls:

(Samantha on Big Wood Falls by Josh Oberleas)

(Boyd enjoying the Hero's boofing capabilities off Big Wood Falls by Samantha Brunner)

(the view up the road from the normal Daisy put-in by Boyd Ruppelt)

It's amazing it doesn't get run more often. It was worth the effort and a beautiful day that is rarely experienced in an area considered by some to be "over-done"... hopefully this will open some eyes to what might be waiting just around that next corner...

Boyd Ruppelt

See More at: http://www.loopd.com/members/BoydRuppelt/Default.aspx

Thanksgiving update from San Louis Potosi, Mexico

(Boyd dropping in on the Rio Verde. Courtesy of Adam Goshorn)

Getting just as thirsty as everyone else with the drought I found out that some of my paddling friends were heading down to Mexico for Thanksgiving in search of the beautiful, travertine waterfalls that San Louis Potosi is known for. Absolutely itching for whatever action I could find, I took off for Tampico with my good friend Drew Armstrong (for those that know him) and rented a car to drive down to meet up with our Alabama friends at Micos. The first stop was the warm, travertine waterfalls of Micos and Saltos for a quick warm up... just good clean fun.

(Adam Goshorn putting in on Micos. photo by Boyd)

(photo of Boyd by Drew Armstrong)

(photo of Drew A. on La Luminosa falls by Boyd)

(Drew and Joey hanging out on the travertine workin' the cameras. Photo by Adam Goshorn)

After our fun warm-up day in Mexico, it was time to branch out and do a bit of exploration. We found some pretty unique waterfalls to run and some truly beautiful kayaking! One Cascade in particular stood out. It's a cascade called Puente De Dios which translates as "Bridge of God." It's a beautiful maze of caves and potholes linked together in and around the riverbed.

(photo of Boyd boofing into Puente de Dios by Drew Armstrong)

The water flows from the falls, through and around the caves, and into a deep pool before going underground. It then flows through a large, caved out room before exiting on its way to Tamasopo. The locals had a rope strung through so you could swim from one side of the cave to the other. We also found out that it is a big attraction for scuba divers. With the sound of screeching bats and whistling locals, we each ran the cascade one at a time trying to avoid any underwater spelunking on our way down the falls. It was a beautiful cascade and unique experience to say the least.

(a perfect place for a hammock)

(local parade... photo by Adam Goshorn)

(the "good" road... photo by Boyd Ruppelt)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Boyd :-)
PS- special thanks to Drew, Kimberly, Joey, and Adam for the pics...