One of the things that I am most thankful for is my family. Throughout my life, no matter what I have chosen to do, they have always been there to back me up and support me. These are a couple of pictures that I took over Christmas break to show my family how much I appreciate them.

This is a shot of some of my family and Grandparents. I am so thankful that my family has always been so close to each other, and always there to support each other.

My little sister Mackenzie. Mackenzie is a super active, super athletic little girl. She's always fun to be with and has an awesome sense of humor. Even though I will always be stronger than her, she still thinks that she can beat me up.

My mom is awesome! She works hard, and still has time to take care of her four kids. I would never have been able to do half the things I have done without her, including going to New River Academy. In her spare time, she likes to read, relax, play tennis, work out, and watch videos of stouts.

I am so thankful to my dad for providing me with amazing opportunities. He is the hardest working person I know, and he is also the reason why I have been able to travel to so many awesome places and do so many cool things. Thanks for supporting me Dad. In my dad's spare time he likes to do anything out doors. Camping, canoeing, fishing, hiking, and even a little kayaking!

My sister is awesome. She is a sick kayaker, and also the reason that I started kayaking. She is always working hard at everything she does, and she has become one of the best female kayakers that I know. I'm so thankful that even if none of my friends want to go kayaking, my sister Alexis Grace is always motivated to go.

My sister gearing up for another day on the water.

My littler brother is a super talented kid. He has the best grades in his 8th grade class, and he is one of the few committed Bassoon players in Chattanooga. He practices every day, and has been selected to play in a bunch of honors bands. My brother Harrison is super fun to hang out with, and even though I can always beat him in Call of Duty, I still like to play him.

My brother Harrison practicing his Bassoon.

My Grandparents are the coolest people you will ever meet. They have always supported me in everything I do, and they always have good advice to give me when I have questions. They are the happiest and funniest people I know. And they love Sponge Bob.

My littler sister Mackenzie loves her Iphone.

Thanks to all of my family for being who you are and for supporting me!

Hey guys, check out my new Facebook album with lots of pictures from the previous semester in Chile with New River Academy.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.320179314671979.80697.100000397391576&type=3

What we thought was going to be a normal day in Pucon, turned out to end with a big surprise. After classes got out, we were informed that not only would we be running one of the best creeks in the area, but we would also be guest coached by one of the best creek boaters in the world! After a brief tutorial on how to brown claw from Evan Garcia, we loaded up and headed to the Rio Nevado, a classic Pucon run that has just about every type of rapid; from big slides, to waterfalls. The first rapid on the Rio Nevado is a long slide, with several different lines. The cleanest line is to start left and work your way right, to miss a big kicker flake in the center. Or, if you want some airtime, you can purposely go center to get launched by the kicker. But whichever line you decide to take, you have to have some basic fundamental skills to hit your line.

This is where guest coach Evan Garcia came in. When asked for some advice on how to hit your line on a slide, Evan had some good tips for us. The main thing to realize about slides, Evan says, is that “You’re not actually paddling on water, so it’s important on a slide, to get momentum before the move you actually want to make”. Evan is pointing out, that once you are on the slide, you can’t actually pull on water with your strokes, so if there is a line that you have to make, you have to make up for the lack of strokes by getting enough speed going into the slide to make your line part way down. Giving a specific example on the Rio Nevado, Evan says, “So if you want to make a move left to right like you do on this slide, you actually want to start at the top of it, and finish the move you start at the top, all the way at the bottom, because once you’re on that slide, you have a centimeter of water, and you can’t paddle off of it.”

Some addition tips that Evan gave were, “Basically you just want to be really smooth, and loose in the hips on slides, because you are going to be hitting little flake rocks, and as long as you absorb those hits, and don’t over correct one way, you are going to stay up right, and pointing downstream.”

These are some awesome tips from a great paddler, and hopefully we can all use this advice to improve our lines on the river!

Evan Garcia, showing us how it's done on the Nevados slide.

Evan browning at the end of the slide.

Anton and Evan styling the slide one after another. Anton can even do it with a huge leaf on his back.

Evan and Anton finishing up the slide with good lines.

Student Galen Volckhausen follows in our coach's footsteps.

Student Kincaid Wurl gets air in the center of the slide.

Student Wayne Poulsen has a good line on the slide.