It only costs $40 and that includes lunch and shuttle. All proceeds go to AW so that they can continue to work for the river access and conservation that we whitewater paddlers have the privilege of enjoying.  Meeting time is 8:30 a.m. at NARR on Friday the 17th of September.   Our team of female trip leaders and safety boaters will include accomplished paddler and women’s Green Race record holder, Adriene Levknecht, Girls at Play ambassador, Mary Frances Hansford and more!   Join us for an awesome day of girl power on one of the most beautiful and exciting rivers in the world — and give back to the community.   Call North American River Runners to book your spot and make a difference. 800.950.2585 www.narr.com

See you on the River!

The Girls at Play Staff

We want to thank our sponsors for providing the latest and greatest demo gear for the ladies:  Kokatat Watersports, Dagger Kayaks, Shred Ready Helmets and AT Paddles. This year there was added excitement thanks to the generous donation of an Eddy paddle from AT Paddles worth $329.00!  The paddle will be raffled off and one of the lucky women who participated in select Girls at Play Summer Tour events will win!  The raffle will take place August 31st, so stay tuned….

We also want to thank our hosts:  Green River Adventures, Riversport, Northeast PA Kayak School, Madawaska Kanu Center, Brown Ledge Camp, Appomattox River Co, Bearpaw Outdoors, The Outside World and River City Canoe and Kayak!  Below are some photos from the events.  Enjoy and see you tour!

“I can’t thank you enough for such an amazing week! I don’t think I had
any idea I was going to have SO much fun!” — Mary Frances Hansford, Atlanta, GA

“I feel like a lot of attention has been paid to detail and catered to women. Meaning, just enough sensitivity and pampering (smiles, positive, constructive criticism and wine) yet still a full on paddling trip. I loved the yoga too. What a great compliment to paddling and for an exhausted mother/ co-business partner!” — Greyson Briere, Asheville, NC

“I learned so much about kayaking, Mexico, and myself. This trip was more than a kayaking trip, it was an introspective, cultural kayaking experience. You have put together a fantastic vacation.” – Salli Katz, AL

” Anna has weaved a wonderful creation of fun exciting rivers, gradual skill progression, authentic foreign cultural experiences and a supportive environment to let your guard down and just have fun learning the wonderful sport of whitewater kayaking. She calls it Girls at Play and I’d recommend it to any woman!” — Angie Purcell, PA

“This trip exceeded my expectations!  I’ve been paddling for a year, but I learned more this passed week than in the past 12 months.” –Eleni Fargos, NJ

“It was a real pleasure to see the level of skill exhibited by the women support staff and yourself especially since I have mostly paddled with men.   Also, appreciated the way the week was structured both on the river and off.” — Janice Fiore, PA

“I am still a little high from the trip, must be something in the air down there. Life always brings exactly the gems I need to grow and prosper… many thanks.” — Cindy Frost, Austin, TX

We arrived a week before our first trip to spend some time paddling on our own and doing recon trips on all of the rivers.  Our friends Jason and Kara McClure also decided to check out the paddling around Jalco the same week.  And, once we were down there I got to catch up with some Canadian paddlers and friends whom I hadn’t seen in a few years and who work and live in Mexico.  It turned out to be a really fun week of paddling and hiking.

We paddled the Pescados, the Actopan, the Antigua and the Alseseca.  We also did one of my favorite canyon hikes.  The hike starts in the village and follows burro trails up to and past a natural swimming hole into a long, deep canyon.  As you go up the canyon you have to do some bouldering, climbing and crawling over, around and under big rocks.  Eventually you get to a spot where you scurry up the side of a steep hill, through a grove of coffee and tangerine trees to wooden ladders that take you up the canyon wall.  There’s nothing that tastes better when you’re hot and sweaty than tangerines that you’ve just picked from the tree!  From there we walked across the meseta to another burro trail that lead down the mountain and back to the village.  The view of the valley from the highest point was breathtaking.

Along with the paddling and hiking we also enjoyed delicious food.  Our favorite place is El Navegante taco stand.  El Navegante use to be a raft guide and now he makes the best pork and pineapple tacos ever!  The bad thing is that he only sets up on weekends.

Even though it didn’t feel lik e Christmas to us because we weren’t with our families, Mexicans definitely get into the festive spirit.  One of my favorite traditions in the village are the groups of kids who decorate a tree branch, make rattles and go door to door singing Mexican Christmas carols.  If they come to your door and sing you give them a few pesos and then they carry on to the next house.  At New Years there’s a similar tradition where the adults get into the action too.   Groups get together with instruments and one or two people dress up as elders who represent the old year going out.  They sing and dance for you and then you give them a few pesos.  It’s really fun.

The day after Christmas Andrew and I hosted an awesome group of paddlers for a week of fun and kayaking.  There were different skill levels in the group so we split up and tackled different rivers on different days, coming together to paddle for a few runs.  It was a great trip and we’re so glad this group got together and wanted to come to Mexico!  In addition to the singing groups at New Years we were also treated to an Afro-Cuban band and African Dance performers as well as a fire show.  Everyone was so tired from all of the paddling that only a few of us made it to midnight!

On our way home Andrew and I spent a day in Mexico City where we were surprised to find an ice rink, an artificial snow tube run and a snowball fight area in the middle of the Zocalo.  And there were beautiful Christmas lights on the buildings surrounding the Zocalo too.  We ate at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Girasoles and that was a delicious way to end our holiday trip to Mexico.  Luckily I get to go back this week to run my women’s trips!  Below are some more photos from my camera, enjoy!

I personally really enjoy paddling the Green, but I haven’t run Gorilla in some years and I have no desire to race over it!  So, I have a lot of respect for the men and women who race.  This year’s top female is 21 year old Adriene Levknecht, a very talented paddler who lives in Hendersonville, NC and is no stranger to the class V scene.   Not only did she win the women’s division, but she also broke the record for the fastest women’s time ever.  I enjoy paddling with Adriene and I thought you’d like to hear about how she approaches paddling so I asked her a few questions.  Here’s some insight into the life of this talented young paddler.

GAP:  How long have you been paddling and hoe did you into the sport?

AL:  I have been in kayaks for about 14 years.  Growing up in Michigan my parents were both sea kayakers so that got taught to me when I was a child. That spawned into river kayaking when I was around 11.

GAP:   Your Mom paddles and she is very supportive of you. How does it feel to have a Mom who paddles? Is it fun?

AL:  I love it, I really like going kayaking with her when I can. She is my biggest fan and I am her biggest fan for sure.  She just paddled down the Tellico and I love being able to talk to her about kayaking, it is a really big part in both of our lives. She can understand the lingo and I don’t have to dumb anything down for her. I love her more than anything I have ever felt and I know I couldn’t do what I do without her and her support.

GAP:  What was your training strategy for the race?

AL:  Living with Shane Benedict. He pushed me as much as he could. I spent a lot of time doing flat water on Lake Summit. I did a mix between sprints and somewhere around a 6 minute fast paddle. I also tried to spend a lot of time calming myself down and visualizing myself having fast, clean lines.

GAP:  What was your biggest challenge leading up to the race and how did you overcome it?

AL:  I never felt like I had any pressure to win but people always have the proverbial “are you going to win the Green Race” question and those are always hard to answer. I tried really hard to not let that get into my head and just make a personal goal for myself and want to succeed in that goal. I really needed to stay calm on the day of the Race because I didn’t want to overshoot anything and crash. Shane did a good job talking me down and kept telling me to stay calm all morning.

GAP:  Do you have any pre-paddling rituals?

AL:  I try to do the same thing every morning so my body gets used to the feeling. I eat eggs, some bacon, and drink a bunch of coffee. I also drink a Nalgene before I go paddling. I do those things every day including race day. I like to paddle upstream and surf the wave at the end of the Upper Green that my Mom loves to surf, there is no one up there and I can get into my confidence easily up there.

GAP:  What were you thinking coming into the Notch?

AL:  Probably not to crash in front of 500+ people, that I was confident in my training and my ability to not screw up.

GAP: How did you feel at the finish line? Did you know you had broken the women’s record?

AL:  I was super fired up that I had a really good run.  I wasn’t sure if I had broken the 5 min range, but I knew I was right on the cusp. I had caught up to Laura during my run which had fired me up.   I knew I had broken the record because I timed my run on my watch to know at least around how fast I was.

GAP:  Would you like to see more women racing the Green and what would you say to encourage more women to paddle Class V?

AL:  I always get fired up about women out on the Green and other Class 5 creeks. I think it is hard for women to really get out of their head prior to a race. It takes a lot of hard work for women to take a hit and get back up again.  To women who want to race or paddle class V: stay calm, visualize, and practice as much as possible.

GAP:   Anything else you’d like to say to boater chicks?

AL:  Find a solid crew to kayak with. Tell them what kind of kayaking you want to do. Don’t feel like you have to run a rapid because other people want you to run it. Don’t rush into big rapids if you don’t want to. Get out there and do what you love to do!

Photo of Adriene running Sunshine after the race courtesy of Shane Benedict at Liquidlogic Kayaks.

At this year’s Symposium I taught paddling classes, sat on panels, tried a SUP, did a kick-butt kayak fitness workout, paddled with old friends, learned from industry veterans and just had a really good time! I met a lot of great people and soaked in the beautiful fall colors of New England.  The vibe was positive, full of excitement and cutting edge ideas.  One special element for me was getting to catch up with my friend Jessie Stone and her organization Soft Power Health.  Back in 2004 I traveled to Uganda to help her with her grassroots efforts of preventing and treating malaria in local communities along the White Nile River.  Since then the organization has taken off and continues to grow and do amazing things at the grassroots level to improve people’s lives in Uganda.   Jessie’s work is very inspiring so please check it out.  Click here to learn more about the organization.

Thanks to Zoar and Janet Cowie for organizing and running an awesome event!  Here are two photos taken by Mark Singleton.  And here’s a link to photographer Adam DuComb’s website where many more photos from the weekend are posted.

Enjoy and see you at the Symposium next year!

Ladies on the Lower G kicked off the weekend with a river run down the Lower Gauley on Friday.  We had 20 women participate and raised $500.00 for AW.  It was a sunny day full of paddling, chatting and smiles.  At the end of the day there was a raffle with prizes donated by Kokatat and Girls at Play.  Everyone won a prize!  The ladies left feeling tired, yet energized from the day.   I’m grateful for all of the women who participated and to Kokatat for donating some great gear to raffle off!  I also want to thank Kathy Zerkle, Karen Mann and Anne Conolly for helping out and taking photos.

On Saturday I headed to the festival site to set up the Kokatat booth out of which I also promoted Girls at Play.  It worked out great!  I had samples of the ’09 line of Kokatat gear, including the new Ronin Rescue Vest which is now available in the US.  And new this fall, I also had a few samples of the Girls at Play Limited Edition Ronin PFD — Now available on the site!

Kokatat teamed up with AW to raffle off a new Rogue drytop embroidered with the AW logo. The raffle was open to AW members only.  Members signed up with AW, filled out their ticket and brought it over to the bucket at the Kokatat booth where the drytop was hanging.  The raffle took place around 10:30 p.m. and we had hundreds of tickets to draw from.  I got to meet lots of great people in the process.  The winner was a woman by the name of Erin who was very excited!

Sunday and Monday I spent paddling with awesome friends whom I hadn’t seen in some time.  I had a blast catching up with pioneer female paddlers like  Shannon Carroll, Harriet Taylor, Colleen Laffey and Katie Johnson, among others.  It was great to paddle and enjoy the river with them.  There was lots of giggling…   Here are some photos for you to enjoy.  See you on the river!

Saturday morning started off with a gentle yoga class.   After breakfast we headed to the lake where we introduced the beginners to the wet exit and basic concepts while the more advanced students worked on their rolls with Anne.   The Tuck through town section of the Tuckaseegee was our afternoon river run.  Eddies, ferries and running rapids filled our afternoon and we were excited to see a big, beautiful Bald Eagle fly overhead!  Pretty amazing and not very common for that particular section of river.

We returned to circle after the river where we revisited affirmations, talked about our challenges and successes that day and practiced a new guided meditation with Sharon.  That evening after another delicious dinner at Relia’s more of the women were treated to their massages.

Sunday started with another yoga class, a bit more rigorous this time to wake us up!  After breakfast we headed to the Tuck Gorge for the day.  Fun, friendly, scenic  whitewater.  It was a great day on the river where we continued to work on our river running skills, rolling and just enjoying the experience.  A few more massages, dinner and then farewells.

The Whitewater Goddess Retreat is my favorite program because it combines many of my passions:  Paddling, yoga, massage and personal transformation.  The retreat atmosphere allows for challenge and growth in a fun, friendly, supportive and holistic environment.  It takes into consideration the fact that kayaking is much more than the physical act of paddling down a river.  There are important mental and emotional aspects of kayaking that are just as, if not more important than the physical component. The Whitewater Goddess Retreat takes the time to address all parts of kayaking.

I’m grateful for each and every one of the nine women who joined the retreat this year. Each one brought something unique and special to the program.  Enjoy the photos below, most of which were taken my Mary Stager.  Happy Paddling!

Set up for the event included parking a semi full of kayaks in the middle of Central Park and unloading them down stairs to Bethesda Fountain, the venue for the paddling. We had to unload a lot of boats and we were happy to have the assistance of some of the park employees — awesome, strong women who caught onto lifting and carrying boats fast! I was impressed. Most of them had never seen kayaks before and they handled them easily.

Friday night we were invited to a reception that included delicious food catered by one of the best chefs in the city (lucky us!). Originally the reception was suppose to be on the rooftop of the building, but it was rainy so they moved it inside. We did have the opportunity to go up on the roof and enjoy the nice skyline view of the city, the tree-top view of the park and the some of the buildings on upper east side. It was very cool.

Our hotel was right off of Time Square, which feels crazy with all of the billboards, lights and tourists. We spent some time in the M&M and Hershey stores there. They actually provide a lot of entertainment… especially the M&M store.

During the event, which was only 4 hours, we introduced over 300 people to kayaking. Toward the end of the afternoon there was a long line with people waiting up to an hour to get into a kayak. Had the weather been sunny I’m sure we would have seen hundreds more.

It was really awesome for me to watch people have so much fun in kayaks and really enjoy being outside. I had a great time chatting with people and helping them with their paddling. Kayaking really does transform people’s attitudes, moods, and lives and I’m so grateful every time I get to witness that on whitewater or flatwater. I enjoy bringing kayaking to people everywhere!

I paddled around a Dagger Alchemy most of the event and then switched into a Perception Tribute. Both boats are very different and very fun on flatwater! I even saw some wildlife… fish, turtles and a beautiful small Heron. Central Park is beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed the event. I appreciate Confluence and EMS bringing kayaking to people everywhere! Enjoy these photos of the event.