In photo class we have been learning about the rules of photography, so far we have gone over leading lines, balancing equations and the rule of thirds as well as how to use shutter speed to create awesome photos.

Galen: Rule of Thirds

Leading Lines

Hunts Eye: Leading Lines

Leading Lines to the upcoming model

Hunt

Grapes Balancing Equations

Balancing Equations

Leona Falls with a slower shutter speed

Where we are staying and Photo with Depth

Background with our local dog

Framing with Chris

Futaleufu is a Classic Chilean paddling destination. Soon to be the Kayak Schools home in Patagonia.

After a beautiful but dry Christmas break at home in Idaho, snow flakes and flurries were forecasted to flood in just about the time I was supposed to take off for my much anticipated return to the kayaking promised land of Chile.  Luckily, everyone’s flights just snuck through between storms and we are all happily back at our home base in Pucon and ready for a semester filled with local creeks and rivers, as well as journeys and stays to the waterfalls and big waves of the Fuy and the Futaleufu.

Chile is the land of perfect waterfalls for kayakers of all skill levels.

This quarter, we are indescribably excited to have Stephen Wright as our full time head coach.  Since we arrived a week ago, the students have already indulged in his succinct and bottomless knowledge on the sport of kayaking in the disciplines of both freestyle and creeking.  While in Pucon, the team will continue to paddle and play on the Palguin, the Trancura (our back-door river), and the Liacura, which has an excellent play hole in right now.

Tomorrow, we take off for a ten-day stay on the Fuy River, which is known for it’s beautiful water, jungle setting, and mix of fun surf and waterfalls.  Its different sections offer all levels of paddlers challenges and it is the perfect place to practice boofing, plugging, precise river running, and wave and downriver freestyle moves.

We are looking forward to a group of parents meeting us on the Fuy River for the first leg of the New River Academy Parent Trip.  The trip is being led by Clay Wright and Kurt Casey, two of the best and most well-known paddlers in the world… only the best for New River Academy parents!  In between hikes, optional kayaking, and other ventures, the parents will be able to visit and attend classes, watch kayaking practice, and see first hand the wonderful opportunities that their children get to experience every day.

Chile is no stranger to stunning scenery. Like this view of Rio Yesso.

After a brief return to Pucon, the team will head south to the world acclaimed Futaleufu River in Northern Patagonia.  A truly magical valley of steep and stunning mountains and unbelievable bright-blue water, this is a river that captures the hearts of everyone who has the privilege of visiting.  We will be based right on the Futa and will have big water rapids and play waves right outside our tents and cabins for three entire weeks!

I certainly am excited for what’s to come… it seems you just can’t beat Chile!

“If there is one thing I am proud of accomplishing with New River Academy it has been to attract and hire the best of the best instructors.  For this year’s Parent Trip it was Clay Wright, Kurt Casey, Pablo Casey and myself.  With this level of leadership, personality and Chile it’s easy to get excited.” – David Hughes

Meet Your Guides

Clay Wright

Clay Wright brings character, charisma and leadership to a great program.

Clay is a living legend and ambassador in the whitewater world.  You name it and Clay has done it:  appearances in many kayak films including National Geographic, multi-time US Team Member, sponsored athlete for over 20 years, and youth programs coach.  Whether it is competing, leading expeditions, developing freestyle score systems, or teaching safety Clay Wright is at the forefront of whitewater.  Clay has been guest coaching with Huge Experiences’ New River Academy since our beginning in 2001.  It is an honor to have Clay’s persona as part of this year’s Family Trip.

Kurt and Pablo Casey Leading as Father-son Team

Kurt Casey embraces his beautiful family in Chile. Pablo, Luna, Eva and Kurt at the beach.Kurt and Pablo Casey

Kurt Casey wrote the book on Chile and Peru whitewater.  Well, he wrote the online guides and is the foremost expert on South American whitewater. That’s pretty cool and we’re a bit envious to be honest.  If you are a paddler in Chile and really want the beta then there is no better person than Kurt.

Check out the fruits of Kurt’s lifetime exploration missions:

RiversofChile.com

PeruWhitewater.com

Kurt is Pucon locally respected for possibly the highest number of first descents of anyone in the world.  Just last year Kurt notched an unprecedented 6 first D’s in just four days.  Last week when Kurt invited Clay from the Pucon Kayak Hostel on a mission to the Futa we had a good ideal Kurt had been looking at the topos and sure enough Clay soon was texting about his most recent First D.

Kurt is married to Eva Luna and together they parent Pablo and Luna Casey.  Kurt hails from Pittsburgh where he graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and  still remotely works with the family mining equipment business as VP of Latin America Sales for Casey Equipment Corporation.  Kurt will surely bring a cultural and geographical wealth of knowledge to the program.

Pablo Casey-

 Eleven year old Pablo is Kurt’s son fluent in English and Spanish.  For families bringing kids Pablo will serve as a helpful translator as you guys play on local rivers and lagunas. Pablo has already notched a few of his own cascades and New River Academy is excited for the day when Pablo is old enough to apply.

David Hughes-

David Hughes has been leading Chile based trips for 14 years is excited to share his favorite destinations with families.

David has led student and family international trips for over 15 years and may have more logged days of Chilean whitewater leadership than anyone in the past ten years. This year is special for David as Pucon Kayak Hostel hosts it’s largest group yet with the New River Academy families.

“Trip goals first and foremost would be to organize a medium that allows parents and children to optimize their Huge Experiences in this glorious country.  It’s a priceless opportunity for everyone involved.  Hiring the best guides in the world only further insures success.”

If you are attending then you might want to check out the,

“Parent Trip Itinerary.”  

Its not every day that you are put in the shoes of your teachers. This last week I had the privilege of coaching a kids kayaking camp at Pucon Kayak Hostel. Being a senior at New River Academy I never knew how much our teachers and coaches actually have to put up with until now. The logistics behind what we do at New River Academy are well thought out before any student ever knows. In this last week I have had fun teaching and watching these young boys grow as paddlers and individuals. What I never saw before was all the behind the scenes work that goes into everything we do in Chile.

River runs with Kids Camp

Rarely do beginners have the chance of learning basic kayaking skills in Chile. In the last  week at Pucon Kayak Hostel we taught kids how to read water, roll with style and throw the brown. Learning to kayak in Chile could be one of the best experiences a kid could ever have. First you start out with roll practice in a beautiful lake just north of Patagonia. Then we crank up the heat, taking them to a local hot springs where every student got their roll. Next they take advantage of the classic rivers, like the lower Fuy and the Rio Tolten. But the boys told me that  by far their favorite run was the lower Maichin.

Chile holds some of the best white water in the world. So no matter what skill level you are, from class V in a kayak to strolling down a beautiful class I on a stand up paddle board Chile has it all.

While in Pichilemu, our Spanish instructor presented us with an assignment to ask around town and find directions to another nearby fishing town, Bucalemu. Simple enough, Keaton and I headed out into the town to talk to some locals and see if we couldn’t find our way down the coast. We started by buying an atlas of Chile at a gas station and locating the town on the map. Once we knew where Bucalemu was, we began asking people for the local directions out of Pichilemu and towards Bucalemu. One man drew me a map in my notebook that actually turned out more helpful than I expected when we almost missed a crucial turn. His map clearly dictated a right-turn where if we had gone straight we most certainly would’ve been lost. Although we got sidetracked by the beautiful scenery on our drive, we made it to Bucalemu. Bucalemu is a small town on the coast in Chile rich with heritage and culture. The people there live off the ocean and are mostly fishermen. The town is incredibly beautiful and photogenic from towering cliffs to insignificant tidal pools that trap the seaweed floating in from the ocean. The rock structures were unlike any I had ever seen before; formed of some kind of layered stone with many cracks and caves scattered throughout the landscape. We climbed to the top of a cliff that was on the southern point of the beach there, and from which we had the most breathtaking view of the entire town. The weather, however, could have been much better, as a cold front rolled in during our drive to Bucalemu. We could see the low lying clouds breezing in just above the horizon and by the time we arrived in Bucalemu we were surrounded in a shroud of cold, humid air. That was not enough to kill our good times though. We still managed to take tons of pictures and video, and explore the culture of a Chilean fishing village. Once we had had our fill of filming, we stopped at a small café for a quick bite to eat and then we jumped back on the road back towards Pichilemu. Unfortunately, there were no big swells off the beach, so surfing wasn’t quite worth it, however, we took some time to relax and regain our energy from all our previous days of big wave riding. Tomorrow we head out towards “el siete tazas” or the seven teacups where we will hopefully have enough water to sun some clean waterfalls. Until then, we’re going to try to surf at least for a little while today, and we’re going to rent some horses to walk around the beach on. Either way, today will be one of our more relaxed surfing days.