Green River Narrows and Eternity Hole

May 8th, 2012 by

Nice day, nice boof.

Coach Craig Kleckner boofing down the Watauga.

Almost every kayaker on the east coast has at least heard of the Green River Narrows, well this past week the New River Academy was fortunate enough to spend nearly a week in Hendersonville, NC which allowed us easy access to the Green River Narrows as the dam allowed.  The water was off at the start of the weekend forcing us to find other options.  Our first day we decided to drive to the Watauga Creek for a warm up run before running the Green Narrows.

After our travel to the river, we ended up at the Watauga ready to run a Southeast classic.  This run consists of some good boulder garden rapids along with a few fun boofs.  The most dramatic drop of the run was a rapid called State Line.  This was a great creek to practice our scouting and setting safety techniques that we learn off river.  This run proved to be a great gauge as to what students would be able to safely navigate the Green River Narrows.

Our next day on the water was a trip to the Tuckasegee River to play in one of the Southeast’s best play holes, Eternity Hole.  The story I heard is that a few college students came together, moved a few rocks around, and created a great play spot.  This spot gives up some big air loops along with all of the other tricks.  After a solid day of play the students participated in hosting a film festival called Patagonia Rising, this was to raise money for the anti-dam efforts on the Maipo River.

Team scouting Gorilla

The following day the Green was running, so we packed up the van and took a small group down concentrating on our lines and safety for the up coming days.  The day went very smooth with minimal issues and then we had a good idea what other students we could safely take down the next day.  Our next day nearly all of the students were able to safely paddle down and have one of the best days on the Green.  We were even able to let three students run Gorilla, we set proper safety at the top and bottom and those that ran it were in the safest possible scenario.  At the end of the day, the students came away with a new appreciation for Southeast creeking.

Hunt Jennings getting it done on the Green.

Taking a group of students down a run like the Green can be stressful without proper planning by the coaches and without special guests that know the run really well.  Special thanks to the paddlers that helped with some good river beta, Mike Patterson, Dane Jackson, Trent, and even one of out students Hunt Jennings.  This was a true test of planning, preparation, and safety and I must say that with everyone’s help we were able to make it happen very smoothly.

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Posted in Kayak School, Kayaking | 1 Comment »

New River Academy in Northern West Virginia

May 7th, 2012 by

After spending a few days at our base in Fayetteville, West Virginia, we were on the road again to Northern West Virginia. Three hours north from our base in Fayetteville is the Tygart River. For ten days we are based five minutes from the Tygart in the Frost Run Retreat. It is a beautiful log cabin with a huge kitchen and living space. It also has a wrap around porch that is pretty big, which makes a great place to have classes. The cabin is located on top of a hill with 40 acres of land so it is a nice secluded place for us to relax. It is also close to some rivers other than the Tygart. It is close to a few creek runs and the Cheat River.

 

The Tygart is a fun class 3-4 river that is usually run in playboats because there is so much good play on it. Usually the play consists of a few holes and catch-on-the-fly waves, but to our surprise we found an amazing wave with eddy access right down the road from our cabin. It is a really fast, green wave that you can throw almost any trick on. We were so lucky to come across this wave.

 

The other river that we have paddled since we have been here is the Cheat River. We went to Cheat Fest for the first day, which was the down-river race. Hundreds of people showed up to do this race, which started after 5. Conveniently planned so that locals could still participate in the race after work. The mass start with so many people was crazy and amazing to be a part of. Everyone there was so enthusiastic about paddling this river. Some were there to win and some were there just to get out with a group of friends and paddle the river. I was there to paddle a new river for the first time and have a great time doing it. I did exactly that. I had a great time learning the rapids on the Cheat and meeting local paddlers and fellow racers.

Coach Craig Kleckner throwing a huge air blunt on the wave we found on the Tygart.

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Meet Your Gap Year Instructor Tino Specht

May 3rd, 2012 by

For high school grads and university students choose New River’s favorite program… Patagonia Gap Year.

Dates: October 18 to December 20, for more info email NewRiverGap@gmail.com.

Read… What ages can apply to Patagonia Gap Year.

Meet Your Gap Year Instructor Tino Specht

If you could hire the perfect leader for an adventure program what would you ask in the interview process?  How would you filter that leader’s skills from other applicants who naturally show their best during an interview?

Tino Specht and his million dollar smile.

The answer to the above questions is a bit deceiving. You see Tino Specht was both a student and an intern at New River Academy. He’s been prepped, conditioned, and polished into the perfect role model/leader/teacher/coach all rolled into one guy.  That’s kind of a joke… Tino is a natural leader. But yes his program experience throughout Chile makes him even more of an ideal instructor. Plus he has four years teaching experience. Tino’s ever present passion for mastering video media combined with an emphasis on how to express compelling stories made him a naturally gifted instructor.

How does giving and volunteering lead students to winning jobs?

As a media production company owner Tino turns down more media work than he accepts. How did he rise to the top in such a competitive field? Tino mastered the school’s philosophy of networking and began volunteering video media work for programs like Zoar, Ottawa Kayak School, and New River Academy. Soon enough those programs were paying Tino for video projects and even going out of their way to help him secure coveted jobs with other companies via their endorsement network. Volunteer and quality work distinguished Tino from other bidding media production companies. In effect his giving of product created a network that few young minds realize the benefits.

Below Video Tino Scripts a Commercial Ad for Pucon Kayak Hostel

How will you script your story? What music, images, interviews and words will convey your message?

A Compelling Story is a Competitive Edge

Click for Tino Specht Vimeo Page

Have you ever heard a remarkable storyteller? You sit on the edge of your seat listening to what happens next. The plot goes up and down as you get excited and later relieved. Story telling is an art and storytellers have one thing in common. They understand how to evoke emotions and to get the listener, reader, or viewer to become involved. Progressively, Tino’s stories played out through images and scripted dialogue become more powerful. Tino has earned the reputation for quality video media work and the job offers keep coming.

Coach Tino Specht at the top of the "Cali-slide" on Pucon's Rio Nevado.

“Tino if I had it to do over again I’d be a doctor. You see doctors are one of the few professions where you can take your skill with you anywhere and make a great living. I’m tied to my properties…” –Joe Kowalski, Owner Wilderness Tours and Ottawa Kayak School

Intelligent company owners want someone who can convey their story in a way that makes people want to experience their product. Tino took Joe Kowalski’s above quote to heart, he learnt and works toward mastering media production as his life craft. Now, Tino passionately shares his knowledge with gap year students.

Learning Media Productions… You’re the Social Media Generation

Professional video production is not easy. Beginners will randomly shoot shots and slap music to it, that’s the easiest level. The professional will meet with their client uncovering a story to convey, an intriguing way to present a product asking what words and interviews should apply.  As a professional you build this story via your images and the creative art project is often less than one minute.

You are the cyber generation. Video and photo media journalism are skills that will give you a career advantage.

Jumping to Safety?

It’s hard to write about Tino and not mention his influence on safety. Beginning with the first day Tino teaches safety first in effect setting the semester standard. Tino has rules like, “Show up to a rapid without your rope and you do 25 pushups.” Or “No shoes. No paddling.” The gap year student age is an age where students are in prime athletic and learning form. Meaning they can learn skills faster than their experience level. This is where an experienced safety instructor helps you understand decision-making and how to protect yourself.

What is Tino’s role within Patagonia Gap Year?

  • Media Journalism Instructor:  Photo and Video
  • Head Coach
  • Logistics and Leadership Instructor
  • Tino also teaches to those interested a wilderness survival and herbalogy course.

For high school grads and university students choose New River’s favorite program… Patagonia Gap Year.

Dates: October 18 to December 20, for more info email NewRiverGap@gmail.com.

Read… What ages can apply to Patagonia Gap Year.

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Shouldering It | Yoga for Kayaking: Shoulders

May 2nd, 2012 by

The mark of a kayaker, more than the beat up hands or a twice broken nose, or even a vocabulary diminished to the adjectives of “brown” and “stout”, would have to be the shoulders. The broad, muscular, possibly even overdeveloped, yet with a history of subluxation or dislocation, shoulders.

You know what I am talking about, the shoulders that make it annoying to squeeze three or four in the back seat on a shuttle run, because there is no room for your shoulders, despite the fact that you could fit one more person into the hip space. Kayakers rely on their shoulders. They help drive and power our paddling, allow us flexibility in our rolls, and give us something to rest our boats on when we carry them to and from the river.

Besides the physical strain on your shoulders during a day paddling, there are the  long hours sitting in a car to get to and from the river, as well as the stress from our daily lives.

It is only logical that our shoulders bear the brunt of our stress, and can often be stiff and sore coming off the water. I have seen many a kayaker or raft guide melt when a fellow paddler comes up and places their hands on that magic spot on your back, right next to your shoulder blades. You know the one I’m talking about. And yes, I wish there was someone there right now too.

Below is one of my favorite shoulder stretches- It is an easy stretch that even beginners to yoga to do. It doesn’t require crazy flexibility, and will help to relieve some of the knots and tension in your neck and shoulders.

Inhale, and allow your left hand to reach up towards the sky. Allow for a few breaths here. Extend your stretch with each inhale.

Allow yourself to rest here, with your shoulder and ear on the mat, before lifting your right hand to the sky.

Come into a bind by placing your right hand on your left hip. Gaze looks up to the sky.

Bind from the reverse angle.

Start on all fours, in a table top position. Your hands should be under your shoulders, with your knees under your hips.

Inhale, allow your left hand to lift up off the mat, and rotate up toward the sky, opening your chest to the left. Your gaze follows your hand, looking up towards your fingers.

Exhale, allow your left hand to cross under your body, feeding through the gap between your right arm and right knee. This will bring your left shoulder, arm and ear to rest on the mat.

Inhale, allow your right arm to lift up off the mat, reaching toward the sky. Take a few deep breaths while holding this position. With each exhale, allow your body to relax, and feel the ground support your shoulder.

For a deeper stretch, you may take your right hand, and bring it to your left hip, coming into a bind.

To release the stretch, place your right hand back on the mat. Lift your left arm and shoulder off the mat, and once more, stretch your left hand up to the sky, opening your chest to the left.

Place your left hand back on the mat, returning to tabletop position, and repeat on the opposite side.

Enjoy!

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Running the Green

May 1st, 2012 by

The Green is probably one of the hardest runs we do with the school. It is a class 4+ creek filled with rocks, tight channels, and fun drops. It is a technical run made up of boulder gardens and fun slides. There are three bigger rapids on the run with one must-portage. Everyone ran the first big rapid called Zwicks. Some ran the second one, which is called Gorilla, where I took some photos. The third one, Sunshine, most of us walked expect for the people who have done the run many times such as Hunt Jennings, who was our guide for most of the run and some of the teachers.

 

The Green is one of Hunt’s home rivers in the heart of North Carolina so he is an expert on all the lines. The first day that the school ran it, he took only a small group to teach them all the lines and the rest of us hiked in to the river to see part of it. This part happened to be right near Gorilla and a fun slide rapid. It was really good to be able to see a few of the rapids and get a feel for the style of the river before being thrown on it. It was definitely different than anything I have run before. The biggest difference between this river and rivers that I’ve paddled before was that there were rocks everywhere!

 

Not everyone was allowed to run the Gorilla rapid because it is a big drop that potentially lands on rock. It also has a difficult entrance that could possibly flip you above the drop. Which could be really bad. Therefore, I decided not to run this rapid my first time on this river. Instead I took photos for everyone who did run it. After hiking in and seeing how picturesque the drop was I was sure not to forget my camera for this run. Many of the boys walked up multiple times for this photo shoot and just to get the thrill of running the rapid again or to improve their line. Here are some of the photos that I shot at the Gorilla rapid.

Some of the group scouting Gorilla.

 

Mike Patterson styling the drop; showing the students how it's done.

 

Kira is ready to rescue any swimmers or boats at the bottom of Gorilla.

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New River Academy Junior Girls Rip it up at the 2012 NOC Shootout

April 28th, 2012 by

Last weekend we attended a freestyle competition at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina. It turned out to be a great event with many different competitions and demonstrations other than just the main attraction: the freestyle competition. Among the other events were a stand-up paddle board race and an attainment race. There was also a great speech by Chris Gragtmans, a true ambassador of the sport of kayaking. This speech was targeted mostly to competitors and people that are just being introduced to the sport of whitewater kayaking. It was perfect for getting everyone pumped up to compete the following day, especially the junior women.

 

The competition flowed smoothly both days for the junior women’s class. There were only four girls competing so therefore there was only one heat. Three out of the four girls competing in junior women’s were our very own girls. The fourth girl, who placed first, is planning to attend New River Academy next year. It is needless to say that we were all really supportive of each other. Instead of just having our first round as finals on Saturday, we got to compete Sunday as well for a finals round. This was lucky for us because the first day was almost a practice round and we got to work on our rides to preform them again on Sunday.

 

The competition was not too serious for the NRA girls. We had the best time that we could possibly have. We made a playlist for the DJ to play during our rides. Everyone including our teachers were dancing and laughing at our awesome playlist. While dancing and laughing we still all made a point to cheer really loudly for each other while we were doing our rides. It was not all fun and games. All of the girls got down to business and threw down tricks that maybe we didn’t even know we had. Alex Muck threw her first loop ever in the second day of competition. Hayley Stuart threw a lot of nice cartwheel ends and her recently learned entry move. I threw some loops and spins and tried my first space godzilla. I was extremely excited about trying one even if it didn’t score. Rowan Stuart won with her huge loops and space godzillas. Congrats to everyone who competed! I had a great time and I can’t wait to compete with these girls again.

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What ages can apply to Patagonia Gap Year?

April 24th, 2012 by

For high school grads and university students choose New River’s favorite program… Patagonia Gap Year.

Dates: October 18 to December 20, for more info email NewRiverGap@gmail.com.

What ages can apply to Patagonia Gap Year?

Tamara Semehen and Clay Whitaker take a creative writing course during the Patagonia Gap Year spring semester.

The answer falls into one of three categories.

  1. Students who recently graduated high school. Often these students have heavy pressures to know their future career, they might be burnt out on education, or just not have the maturity to foresee success university.
  2. Students who have taken a year or two of university. Underclass univ students may not enjoy their current university, still do not know their major, need a major change, or again just need a break and prep for jobs.
  3. Students graduating university.  These students have worked the hardest and want a life-break prior to entering their career. PGY place this group into higher leadership roles.

What are universities not teaching students?

The real world can be challenging. Will you be ready to meet financial demands knowing how to hold a budget. What communication skills have you learnt? Are you responsible enough to work independently? And do you realize the life advantages of learning social media skills with our video and photo journalism courses.

Gappers staged a video and photo media shoot at the Rio Nevado slide. Now that's a cool class experience.

“How do I Apply to Patagonia Gap Year?

Step 1- Download and submit the Phase I Application. 

Step 2- If you receive an acceptance letter then Congratulations! You’re on your way to a great experience.

Step 3- Download and submit the Phase II Application with deposit to officially enroll.

For high school grads and university students choose New River’s favorite program… Patagonia Gap Year.

Dates: October 18 to December 20, for more info email NewRiverGap@gmail.com.

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Anna Bruno AKA Blog Nazi

April 20th, 2012 by

 

Anna, AKA our "Blog Nazi" Photo by Miles Clark.

Once a week our blog deadline roles around and we find our selves scrambling to get our blogs finish in time just to go boating. This is because Anna won’t let us boat unless we get our weekly blog done for that day. Today is not my lucky day because just as I was about to put on the water, (not having posted my blog) Anna swoops in and tells me that I have to go finish a blog before boating today.

The sad part is there really is no arguing with her because she tells you a week in advance when your blog needs to be up. We all have different days we need to have our blogs up and mine is Friday. Every friday and she never forgets. I am scrabbling right now to finish this blog before lunch so I can get a quick play session in on the New NOC wave that was put in just two days ago, and get in more training for tomorrows competition!

One day I will appreciate all the work Anna does to make our blogs happen!

Eric Bartl Jackson kayak Team Member
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Tallulaha Fest weekend with Safety on the Nantahala.

April 20th, 2012 by

The scene of Oceana from below.

This past weekend we took the students to the Tallulah Festival to run the Tallulah Gorge.  The Tallulah River is a southeast gem only running about eight times a year via dam release and even this is a big success after many years of petitioning for any release.   After a long drive from our home base in the New River Gorge, we arrived at the River Campground across the street from the festival grounds.  River Campground set us up with a bunkhouse that we were all able to live in and around for the weekend.   We were set up with a sweet fireplace to do our cooking over also equipped with a basketball net that served up some hoops.

 

Our first day into the gorge was with low water so it was a great introduction to the creek for everyone.  For those that are not familiar with this run, it starts with 538 steps; I counted four times and got this number twice so I am sticking with it.  After our step workout getting into the gorge we stuck together and as a group took a scout at the largest rapid of the day, Oceana.  This rapid drops about thirty feet over a slide about fifty feet with a “thing” that you must avoid on your right.  Although there is many lines on this rapid the most common line is down the left side.  With nearly all of the students running this drop down the left we had a Galen, Hunt, and Eric exploring some of the more challenging lines.

 

Hunt Jennings dropping into Oceana

On day two, the water was a bit higher and for safety and efficiency, we decided to split into two separate groups.  After that, we were able to communicate more effectively and run the creek without much stress.  The different levels from day one to day two allowed students to see the some rapids become easier and some are more difficult.  The rest of the run is filled with little boofs, boulder gardens, and some sweet slides.  Then to finish the run off was about a two-mile paddle across a lake, but bonus, there is a rope swing just before you get out, so after a few swings, flips, and flops we finished the paddle.  That day closed with us breaking down camp and moving on to NOC where we will remain until the NOC Shootout.

 

Wayne helping Galen with a vertical extraction

With NOC still working on the feature and Eternity hole not running this was the perfect day for some actual on water safety training.  We had used the perfect location for three common rescue situations.  We used the Cascade section of the Nantahala which gave us a boulder garden where we pinned a boat, the next drop had a cave which the students need to get a person and a boat out of, and a vertical rock wall where the students needed to get someone out that had a broken arm. The boat pin scenario focused on a z-drag, the cave focused on how to get a paddler and his boat across the river safely, and vertical extraction focused on setting an anchors making a harness and using a Muenter knot for belaying a person.  Now we are on the Nantahala River watching and training on the feature as they try to create a great feature to host this freestyle event and the world event next year.

 

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New River Academy Training For Competition at NOC

April 20th, 2012 by

New River Academy is currently at the NOC white water park in NC. They just finished fixing the hole and there will be a competition this Saturday, April 21st. The competition is called the NOC shoot out. Our head coach Craig has been helping us train for the competition.

Going for a loop. (Not at NOC)

There are a couple points that are key for a competition. First, Craig has been having us start with tricks that are easy, that we can do, and that will get points on the board. Even if you are competing against someone who is much better then you if you get some points up they could mess their ride up and give you a chance. Second, he has had us start to plan our ride. This means that we want to know in advance what tricks we are going to do in what order. That way when we get out on the wave we don’t need to think about what we will do next we already know. Third, is to know the points and tricks.

Two weeks ago, Craig gave us score sheets and told us to memorize the tricks and their point value. This way we know exactly what we will know exactly how much our rides are earning us. This last point Craig did not teach us but I think it should be first.

When you compete, compete against yourself. Do your best to have a better ride than your last. If you try and have a better ride then everyone else in your division than your are leaving it up to them whether you win or lose. If you compete against yourself then it is up to you weather you have a good ride or not. Even if you do not win the competition you could still have the best ride of your life and know that you have improved.

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New River Academy
Rt. 2 Box 245
Fayetteville, WV 25484
(304)- 574-0403
Fax: (304) 513-2247
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