Lifting the head is the most common inhibitor to a good roll.  The head lifts because the paddler is punching out with the left hand, pulling down with the right blade or maintaining a tightness in the left hip (not allowing the left hip to relax so that the right hip can perform a good hip snap).  In addition to these physical causes that lead to the head lifting there is also the underlying emotion of fear that essentially manifests all of these physical reactions.

Considering the fact that humans can’t breathe under water it’s understandable that we feel fearful when we flip over.  However, if we want to learn the roll and develop a bombproof whitewater roll we need to change our reaction to being upside down from one of fear to one of acceptance and maybe even of fun (at least when practicing).  Here’s why:  When we resist flipping over we are sending the message to our bodies that we don’t want to be in this position and that makes our bodies tense which in turn leads to all of the physical reactions previously mentioned that in turn make us miss our roll.  Shedding the resistance and fear will physically manifest as loose hips, light paddle, strong hip snap and head down.

At first glance it may appear that acceptance implies apathy; however, there is a big distinction between the two.  By acceptance I mean accepting that the situation is what it is in this moment without judgement of good or bad.  The judgement is what creates a story in our heads which can, in turn, lead us to believe things that just aren’t true.  For example, when we flip upside down and panic because we don’t want to be there it can seem like we’re under for 30 seconds when really we were only under for 5.  Because it seems like we’re under for 30 seconds we get scared and rush our roll which leads to tight hips, head coming up and missing our roll.

In the same situation if we just accept that we’re upside down without the story of how scary that is we could say to ourselves: “OK, I’m upside down and now I’m going to try my roll.”  The situation is much more relaxed and you are able to set an intention to roll.  In this scenario you’re mental state is relaxed and so is your body.  Feeling relaxed is the first step in accomplishing a roll.  When we accept what is and act from that place of acceptance our actions are more intentional and powerful.  Acceptance actually empowers your actions.  So the next time you flip upside down accept that you’re upside down and then do something productive about it — roll!

This same concept applies to situations off the water as well.  For example:  A few weeks ago the city of Veracruz in Mexico experienced an upsurge in drug-related violence that prompted us to move our winter paddling trips to Costa Rica.  In the beginning I resisted the whole situation because I didn’t want it to be happening.  I love paddling in Mexico and I didn’t want to have to change my plan.  My resistance to the situation caused me suffering and stress.  Once I accepted that the situation is what it is and that I had to take action to ensure safe and fun trips the prospect of new opportunities in Costa Rica became exciting!  I took action and changed our plans and allowed for new experiences to flow in.  Now we have amazing trips planned in Costa Rica!

The next time you feel that life throws you a curve ball by flipping you over in a rapid or introducing change accept what is happening and then take action that will bring you in the direction you want to go — usually up!

If you’re interested in more kayak instruction and helpful kayaking tips check out our instruction programs!  And if you’re interested in an awesome paddling vacation in Costa Rica CLICK HERE!

Girls at Play will be hosting Ladies on the Ledges this October! We will meet at the Ledges Park on the French Broad River Tuesday evenings after work (5:30-6:00) and paddle ’til dark. Bring your boats and attain up the rapids for killer cardio work out, technique tips & tricks and stroke refinement. And if ladies are up for it, we’ll grab dinner at Earth Fare after.

Meet other paddling ladies, get a great work out and learn some new skills!!

Are you looking to hone in on your skills and technique so you can get out there and attain even better? Join us for one of our Weekend Whitewater Clinics in Asheville.

Tip #1:  Remember that you have a lot of room to maneuver in big water.  One of the reasons why I feel so comfortable in big water is because to me it’s like paddling a big highway.  Most of the time the ‘V’s at the entrance of rapids are bigger so  you have more room to set up for your moves. This is especially true in class III and IV big water.  There is less margin for error in Class V big water as with all class V.  Having said that…

Tip #2:  The water may be more powerful than it looks so you need to commit to your moves and paddle aggressively.  This is especially true if you have to make a lateral move from left to right or right to left to punch through a reactionary wave or avoid a hole.  Since you do have a highway to start you can give yourself even more room to get that lateral momentum going.  Paddle harder than you think you need to when first starting to paddle big water and make your moves earlier.

Tip #3:  When you paddle big water you’re going to have to punch through big waves and wave holes so be aggressive about it.  Make sure that you’re paddling strong and not freezing up in the middle of wave trains.  Waves are less likely to flip you over if you’re padding and maintaining a speed that is as fast or faster than the current.  Stay focused on your paddling not on your nerves.

Tips #4:  Paddle through boils with speed.  Boils can be the most disconcerting part of paddling big water because they even bubble up in flatwater!  The best way to deal with boils is to get speed and paddle through them.  As you get more comfortable with boils you’ll be able to use your edges to stabilize better as you paddle through and you’ll be able to slow down and even use the boils to play!

Tip #5:  Take paddle strokes as you’re moving up a wave.  This will give you momentum up and over the peak.  Then be ready to do it again in the next wave.  Not only is this good technique, it’s also a lot of fun!  As you get more comfortable in wave trains you’ll be able to relax more, keep your hips looser and take fewer strokes when needed.  The tops of waves are also great places to take a look downstream to see what’s coming.  It’s your highest point so practice looking around from the top.

Tiip #6:  If you swim in big water be as self sufficient and aggressive as you can.  If you paddle whitewater you know about the ‘feet up/safe swimmer position.’  The safe swimmer position on your back with your feet pointed downstream in front of you is important for shallow, rocky rivers.  In big water you want to be more pro-active, especially if you know where to swim.  Keep a hold of your boat and paddle if possible because they can get swept away quickly in the powerful water — especially the paddle.  When you have the opportunity to swim into an eddy or toward a friend who can help swim aggressively.  The eddy lines are bigger and swirlier so they are going to take more energy to get across.

Tip #7:  The water is deep so take your time setting up for your roll and try as many combat rolls as you can before bailing.  One of the big advantages of learning to paddle in big water is that you can hang out upside down much longer without running into rocks.  And if you do swim you’re not bouncing off of rocks which makes it easier to swim aggressively.  On our Main Salmon trip I witnessed some big shifts in paddlers from not wanting to hang upside at all to getting impressive combat rolls.  Everyone likes that!!

I hope these tips are helpful on your journey to paddling bigger water.  Enjoy and see you on the river!

These are my tips for learning to kayak in big water.

If you enjoyed this article you might also be interested in our Idaho Main Salmon trip, September 5-10 2012. Or if you are in the mood for a tropical escape, check out our Mexico adventures!

It is a great read! Pick up a copy the magazine to read in full! Thanks to Kate and Canoe & Kayak Magazine for sharing this article about her Mexican experience. And thanks also to Paul Villecourt who illustrates the trip with his stunning photographs.

Doesn’t this make you want to come to Mexico with us!?!  Sign up today for world class kayaking and yoga instruction, beautiful scenery, and the confidence booster of a lifetime!

Why set goals?  Because goals are inspiring and give us something positive to focus our energy on, which, in turn, brings about positive change in our lives. Setting goals helps us to envision our best selves being at our best and accomplishing amazing things. According to Brian Tracy, an expert in business achievement consulting, “When we set goals, we develop direction, we develop focused and channeled energy, and we accomplish more in a short time than we could accomplish in years.”    Setting goals for your paddling will get you motivated to paddle, get you on the water more often, which in turn, means more time to enjoy yourself and have fun!

Goals are for everyone, not just high-end competitive athletes.  We don’t have to always set lofty goals like making the National or Olympic team.  Our goals may be simpler like getting in our kayak once a month, or once every weekend during the summer.  Maybe your goal will be to improve your forward stroke or build strength in your core for more effortless paddling, lifting and loading. Goals come in all shapes and sizes because we come in all shapes and sizes!

If setting goals is so awesome and brings about so much positive change then why doesn’t everybody do it?  There are a number of reasons, but ones that stand out in particular are lack of support and fear of failure.  Have you ever thought of a really cool idea that you were excited about and shared with a friend only to be told that it wouldn’t work?  I certainly have.  When I first came up with the idea of producing an instructional kayaking dvd for women and offering women’s only kayak classes I definitely got some negative feedback.  Luckily I didn’t let it discourage me and kept my focus on my goals.  Now I have a thriving business based on women’s kayak instruction, trips and retreats!

I’ve read a lot of business books and one of the most common threads in all of them is that entrepreneurs often get told that their ideas are crazy, silly, or unrealistic.  This was said to the founders of companies like Starbucks and Microsoft!  We usually only hear of people once they are successful and assume that they have some special talent that we don’t have that made them so successful.  That just isn’t true.  For instance, I started my paddling career working in the kitchen of a rafting company.  Most of the guides and paddlers never thought that I would ever paddle.  Their nickname for me was ‘kitchen girl’ and they wouldn’t give me the time of day.  But I had a goal:  Learn to kayak.  And I stuck with that goal and sought out people who would teach me and got on the water every chance I had until I was good enough to make the National Freestyle Team.

We all have amazing potential to be successful and good at something.  And becoming good at something like kayaking can skyrocket our confidence and self-worth in all aspects of our lives.  Setting goals is an important part of developing that success on the water and off the water.

You may ask:  What if I set a goal and then fail to achieve it?  Fear of failure is probably the biggest reason people don’t set goals.  Yet there is opportunity in failure.  Most successful people know this.  When I was competing on the whitewater kayaking freestyle circuit I always learned more from the competitions in which I ‘failed’ than the ones in which I made the podium.  Failure is in the eye of the beholder.  You can choose to see an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and experience or you can choose to allow ‘failure’ to hold you back.  It’s all in your attitude and if you have a strong set of goals then it’s easier to learn from the situation and then set those lessons in motion toward your goal.

Now let’s get to the good stuff of how to set goals.

1. Get a pen and paper (I wasn’t joking at the beginning of this article!) and write down the question:  “If money were no object I would…”  Write down your answers below in bulletpoints.  Write up to twelve answers.
2. Choose the ones that sound the most realistic to you.  This is important because to be achievable goals have to be realistic.  That doesn’t mean that you don’t write down the super lofty goals.  Please do!!  But it’s important to discern that winning the lottery tomorrow may not be the best goal to focus your energy on.
3. Take another sheet and make two columns.  At the top of the left-hand column write ‘Goal’ and at the top of the right hand column write ‘Steps.’  Write the goals in the left-hand column and then write down the steps or actions you are going to take to achieve each goal.  Start with an action you can do right now.  Perhaps it’s emailing friends to plan a kayak outing or maybe it’s starting a savings account for that new boat.  There is always some action, however small, that you can take right now.  Maybe it’s changing your attitude. Check the steps up as you go and modify them as you gain experience and momentum.
4. Post your goals in a spot where you see them everyday.  Read them everyday and only share them with people who support your goals, especially if you’re setting goals for the first time.

These are the basics of goal setting.  I encourage you to reflect on your paddling and set a few goals for the summer.  Start off small with goals and steps that you feel are attainable. Once you see the results from these then start setting loftier goals. Keep your goals in sight, take the steps and get ready for your potential on and off the water to explode!

For more inspiration and ideas on how to improve your kayaking and personal life, check out line of instructional DVDs.  Also, a Winter kayaking getaway to Mexico is a great way to build confidence and practice setting and working towards goals!

We then geared back up and hit the Boise River. Practicing ferries, eddy turns and peal outs, the women did great! We then paddled on down the river to a fun wave train rapid where the women all did awesome! We then tried ferrying on the stronger current and just played around.

Thanks ladies and Idaho River Sport for such an awesome day!! It is so exciting to see women getting psyched about the sport and connecting on the water!! Hope to see you all again on the water!

To paddle with us on the Summer Tour next year, keep an eye out for when we’ll be back in your area!  Also, you might be interested in our Idaho wilderness adventure!  If you can’t wait till next summer to paddle with us, check out our winter getaways to Mexico!

Interested in doing more yoga, or merging yoga with kayaking?  Check out our new Yoga for Kayaking DVD!  Also remember, all of our clinics and trips to Mexico and Idaho incorporate yoga into the daily schedule!

Check out another great blog post about yoga, kayaking, and THE BREATH!

Have you ever wondered what a kayak specifically designed for women would look like? A kayak that wasn’t just a smaller, narrower version of an existing design – a boat that was truly designed to fit and perform for a woman’s body? We have wondered and we’re very excited about an upcoming project that has the potential to produce a women’s specific kayak! Read on for more information about this potentially groundbreaking project spearheaded by Risa Shimoda and how you can be a part of the innovation!

Help us change a paradigm!

Nearly all kayaks today are designed by men. Not surprisingly, most models also perform better for men than for women, due to several physiological differences. While some paddling schools report equal or greater numbers of women in beginner classes, the male/female ratio among those who stick with it is 3 or more to 1. There are many reasons for this attrition, but I believe one relates to the design of today’s kayaks.

Newer models have reduced this gender inequity tremendously – produced in several sizes, and outfitted to accommodate multiple body shapes. However, one fundamental difference in the anatomy of men and women has not been addressed in kayak designs – their respective center of gravity (CG), contributing to the perception of many women that they are less able to learn basic skills, have fun as a recreational enthusiast and excel as an elite athlete compared to their male counterparts.

A kayak design concept for women that takes advantage of a woman’s structural attributes could reduce the gap between potential performance and mastery between men and women, and expand the paddling market in a new way. Addressing this CG-related challenge involves an investigation of ergonomic, volume/ displacement, and manufacturing materials.

After approaching several well-known university design departments for their agreement to put this quandary to the capabilities of future engineering product designers, Carnegie Mellon University has offered an opportunity to ask students this Fall (2011) to explore this design challenge and recommend a solution that could be applied to various genres of kayaks.

There is no guarantee that students will find a solution, and an unconventional solution might be impractical to manufacture. However, they might just come up with an elegant and practical concept! Either way, we will have advanced the pea so that another research project might get closer, and a kayak company might be encouraged to develop a great kayak for ladies (don’t hold your breath).

Here’s the crazy part of this project: class materials and students’ lab fees will cost $7,000 for the semester. I do not have the resources to implement the Carnegie Mellon project, and am asking for donations. You are not donating to a non-profit charity, and you are not purchasing a discount on a boat ‘if it comes out.’ You won’t see the $ again, though you will be part of a movement, whether the specific project succeeds or simply creates awesome awareness about the issue.

If the students develop intellectual property worthy of protection, they will be the owners of its patent. However, a non-profit organization tbd would own the licensing rights and could use licensing fees to encourage and reward women kayakers who want to contribute to the future of the sport. I will not benefit financially from the license.

Funds are due to Carnegie Mellon August 1^st. We are limiting each person’s contribution to $25 or $26.30 online (the extra covers the PayPal processing fee) at www.theshimodagroup.com/blog. Checks can be sent payable to “Carnegie Mellon University” to Risa at 601 Hudson Ave. #102, Takoma Park, MD 20912. If we can get 280 people to donate $25, we are there! If we raise more than $7,000, I’ll keep the balance in PayPal for use as a startup fund for the non-profit, return it to those donors who put us over the top, or take a booth at the 2011 Gauley Festival to further the discussion. Thank you for your support of this groundbreaking project!

I’m also seeking volunteers from Washington, DC area to help with an intro clinic for CM Students at the Potomac (late September or early October), and Pittsburgh to meet with them during the semester. If we can leverage Skype or webinar technology, we will include as many interested parties as possible in the project presentations. Email risa@theshimodagroup.com if you are interested in helping show the students how kayaks fit women, currently (or not!).

We love talking about gear and helping women chose the best pieces of equipment for their bodies, interests, and wallet.  To tap into our knowledge about purchasing new kayaks or other pieces of gear, check out some of our clinics or personal instruction!

Anna:  The fun started with a clinic on the Green River hosted by Sunrift Adventures in Traveller’s Rest, SC.  The Green is my  favorite hometown river!  Saturday provided us with a beautiful beginner day on the Lower Green that involved some slalom maneuvering between people floating on tubes.   That was followed up by an exciting intermediate paddle on Sunday down the Upper.  We  hung out a Bayliss to run it a few times and try out the different lines and also did some surfing in my favorite spot on the river.  The weather cooperated with a typical Western North Carolina thunderstorm right after we took off.   After the weekend Cindy loaded her kayak on the top of her rental car using a nifty soft rack system and took off to go to the Nantahala Gorge to catch up with friends and paddle the Ocoee and Pigeon.  I stayed in Asheville and did some office work (not as exciting).

Cindy:  The next weekend we packed our panties and headed for the Potomac and were officially on tour!  After driving 8 hours through Virginia the first thing we did when we got to D.C. was throw our boats on the water.    We paddled up to Maryland Chute a favorite play spot in the area to knock off the road dust and it did just the trick.  We then navigated our way past the Pentagon, Washington Monument, the Capitol Building and many other monuments to Nate and Liz’s house for the start of a wonderful week of hospitality by Potomac River Outfitters!

Anna:  We were up and at it for a weekend of clinics and awesome water.  Saturday was an awesome beginner clinic on a beautiful flatwater section of the Potomac followed by a short run on Violets.  Lots of roll practice and fun in the current.  We were stoked to hear that most of the women in the clinic were hooked on kayaking and couldn’t wait to get back out!  Sunday’s clinic was super sweet as we got to paddle the Little Falls section with some kick-butt intermediate women.  It was inspiring to watch the ladies go for the big water lines!  Paddling on the Potomac is wild because you’re only 11 miles from the White House and yet it feels like the middle of nowhere (besides the HUGE houses that lines the Virginia side).

Cindy:  On Monday Anna and I took a day off and went into the city via the subway and checked out the National Museum of the American Indian.  It was awesome and inspirational. We also hung out on the Mall, people watched, drank coffee and took creative photos of the capital building and the monuments.  We then decided to take the metro to Foggy Bottom and walk to Georgetown to meet Nate and Liz for dinner.  This provided us with plenty of opportunity for exercise, window shopping and more people watching.  One thing is for sure, high-waisted mini skirts are in fashion in Gtown right now.

The next day found us on the Mather Gorge Section of the Potomac, just below Great Falls.  Wow, what a sight.  Herons were abundant swooping and fishing everywhere.  Before putting on the river we checked out the overlook to Great Falls.  Risa Shimoda, female paddling pioneer, was our tour guide.  As she was pointing out the lines on Great Falls I could see Anna’s wheels turning.   Completing our shuttle for the day we ran into Jason Beakes and some buddies who were headed out to run the falls so we booked it to the overlook to see their lines.  It was awesome.  What was even more awesome was the soundtrack from tourists on the overlook also watching the boys run the falls.  Lots of ‘Whoa!’ in various accents.  The deal was sealed and Anna was to run the falls the next day!  Yay!

The next afternoon I watched as Jason and Anna paddled down one of the many canals in the area to put on for Great Falls.  I made it to the overlook as they were scouting and got this footage http://youtu.be/BC-eNE3PdLs of Anna running the falls.  Anna told me she had some nerves about it for sure and she went out there and went for it, good lessons to keep raising the bar for myself.   Off the hook and inspirational!!

Anna:  I was super nervous paddling Great Falls, but I also knew that I had the skills and would be super stoked if I did.  It was REALLY fun!  It feels really good to run something big like that and to use the tricks in my ‘toolbox’ to stay calm, focused and on-line.  Jason was a fantastic guide and knew how to explain the perfect lines.  I was really proud because it can be tempting to take the easy way and stay in my comfort zone, yet taking risks and accomplishing goals is much more satisfying, fun and inspirational for all aspects of my life.  Jazzed on running the Falls we went straight to Angler’s where I met Sonya for a private while Cindy hopped in my playboat for some surfing on Maryland Chute.  The evening ended with awesome food prepared by Nate!

Cindy:  The Potomac was so generous: a wonderful community of paddlers,Potomac River Outfitters, the Great Falls, dinner always at 9  : ), Henry the schnoodle GAP honorary mascot, little falls and bloody lips, always taking a different more scenic route than the last through the city and the list could go on and on.

Heading out of DC with spirits high we drove up the throat of the East Coast…holy cow…Baltimore, Philly, NYC seriously right through the Bronx and Queens in the pouring rain with 5 kayaks on top, some serious class V driving!  We found ourselves in Vermont at a peaceful campsite and Andrew was waiting with some homemade pot pies…yummy.  Wanderlust festival and Deepak Chopra were the reasons for pit stop in the green state.  While Anna was exploring new Yoga postures and studying with all the best teachers in Yoga, I hit the Appalachian Trail for 8 miles of pure mud and bliss, so good to say hello to my old friend the trail.  Deepak Chopra was amazing that evening.  It was my first introduction to him and he is right on, we are all connected in more ways than I had imagined.

Anna:  Our pit stop in VT was amazing for me.  Not only did I get to spend an evening with my awesome husband who was on his way to Zoar, but I also got to take yoga classes with some of the most renowned yoga teachers in the world.  Each class had over 400 students in it and still, they were profound.  The first Om that we chanted was truly moving.  Never before had I tuned into and shared the vibration of so many people at once.  Highlights for me were taking a class with John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga, learning more about shoulder, back and neck therapy from Desiree Rumbough (great for me and my kayak students!) and the reminder from Sean Corne to take responsibility for my life and follow my path with love, compassion and courage.  After three yoga classes in a row and an amazing talk by Deepak Chopra I was pretty sore, tired yet energized and inspired.

Cindy:  On to Old Forge NY, what in my mind is the heart of the Adirondacks.   We met the folks at Mountain Man and word was a local creek was in with all the rain, so we made plans for an evening run of the Woodhull aka The Miracle Mile.   In the meantime, Anne hooked us up with some SUP boards and we paddled into the flat waters behind the store.  I was certain I would see a moose and was keeping my eyes peeled, now I am convinced they are just really shy and were hiding from me.  Trading our SUP boards in for creek boats we headed to the Woodhull with a posse of four other stoked paddlers.  It was the Miracle Mile!  A great intro to creeking for me and a playground for Anna.  Shuttling back to the top was just as fun too!  What a group of enthusiastic and tenacious paddlers, Bamm!  We took off the creek just as it was dark meeting up with our host for the night, Anne, over a beer…me still a little in awe of creeking.The next morning would find us meeting up with six amazing women to paddle the Middle Moose.  With water levels up it made for a fun and adventurous day.

Anna:  The Middle Moose was at the perfect level for the clinic!  And I was really stoked to have young women in the clinic who were getting into boating.  Usually Girls at Play clinics are filled with women between the ages of 30 and 55 which I love and it was really awesome to paddle with the younger generation as well — so eager and ready to go!  Emery Tillman drove over from VT to help out with the clinic which was also perfect.  We had our trusty guide, Boulder the dog, swimming and running along with us too.
Cindy:  Pulling out of Old Forge feeling like we just hit the tip of the iceberg there for paddling.
Moseying north up to Canada through more of the Adirondacks and let me just tell you there is a lot more out there, was a treat I had not anticipated, beautiful.  Final destination for the night, the Levesque house.  We sailed across the Canadian border and into Anna’s hometown.  What a treat to meet Anna’s family and bask in their hospitality, I am a lucky girl for sure.  We made our way over to the Rouge river in Quebec, the birthplace of Anna’s paddling career.  After having a flat tire that morning we were happy to get to the river and then we ran into her first paddling instructor, Karen LaCombe.  We put on with their raft trip and it was obvious that these two women were stoked to see each other, full circle for sure.  And just think if we hadn’t had that flat…never know how the universe is going to work in your favor.  I get excited right now thinking about the ride down the Rouge…some big water and munchy little holes, I like the big water, just sayin’.  Oh and I have found out about cheese curds, dang those tasty little morsels!

Anna:  It was great fun to paddle the beautiful Seven Sisters section of the Rouge after so many years.  And running into Karen was awesome!  The river was at a really good level — about 80 cumex (that’s cubic meters per second – Canadian style).  The rafting section had big waves and holes and I was stoked to see Cindy do so well!  Her combat roll is getting bomber and she negotiated the boils well too.  It was also fun to paddle with Andrew.  He of course ran the first two waterfalls even though they were very high — too high for most people to run, but he’s not most people.  I admit that I was happy that he decided to not run the third, fourth and fifth falls because the holes at the bottom were massive, recirculating pits.  Super scary.  Unfortunately we forgot the camera so we didn’t get to capture any of it in photos.

This is our last night at my parent’s house.  We head up to the Ottawa Valley tomorrow to paddle and introduce Cindy to one of my all-time favorite rivers!  Will and Kate (the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) are arriving in Ottawa tomorrow for Canada Day celebrations so we hope to make it through the city before all of the craziness.  And we’ll tell you what happens next in our next blog post!  ‘Til then happy paddling!

For more photos of our trip please go to our facebook page!

If you would like to join us for one of our other on water adventures check out our weekend clinics and wintertime Mexico adventures!

We met our group of 5 at Alpine Quest Sports in Edwards, CO and then loaded up in cars to go to the put in at Rancho Del Rio. After setting shuttle we got to know each other a bit better by each sharing our names and goals for the day. We loosened up with some yoga stretches before getting into our boats. (So important!! Especially when you have been in your boat or sitting in a car for the majority of the last month.)

After sliding off shore into the 9000 cfs of snow melt, called the Upper Colorado, I taught the stroke segment to the group, making sure they all followed the rules of the straight arm tests. The women all already had great skills but all seemed to improve after that. Almost all of them nailed a roll to cool off in the hot sun before heading downstream to another eddy to work on more skills. We worked on eddy turns and peal outs and then headed on down to our first rapid, which was a wide downstream v into a huge bouncing wave train. The women nailed it and we all cheered at the end. We then stopped and ate some lunch, luna bars and knocked back some tasty Emergen-Cs.

From then on we attacked the big water wave trains with joy, like bouncing ducks in a row. The women all rocked it, and we had so much fun! At the take out of States Bridge we all gathered again and Em and I handed out some awesome First Ascent gift bags containing a tee-shirt, collapsible water bottle, plastic camping spork, sticker, temporary tattoo and First Ascent catalog. The ladies checked out our DVDs, tee-shirts and talked about boat styles at our car before some had to head on home and some visited the Reggae festival for a beer.

Thanks ladies of the Edwards/Vail area for joining us and Alpine Quest Sports for hosting us. And of course thanks to our amazing and generous sponsors who make so much of this possible!

Hope to see you on the water soon!
Mary Frances

Join us for one of our on-water adventures in North Carolina or Mexico! And if you’re looking for instruction off the water check out our line of Instructional DVDs. DVD’s are a great way to progress your paddling during the off-season months.