Charging

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I was lucky enough to get a GoPro camera over break, and have had a lot of fun so far testing it out on the rivers in Chile over my break. The majority of the school went home for Christmas, but I got to stay the entire 6 weeks in Chile, running some stouter rapids. One of the rapids I was most excited to run was “Stout 10″: a burly 10 foot boof that is right above the Middle Palguin, a 70 foot waterfall into a flat pool.

Still Charging

Line Up

Boof

Land

Style

Throw a Brown Claw

Ferry

Feel the Rush

Enjoy The View

Ride It Proud

Check Your Vitals

Fist Pump

Here is a photo sequence I took with my Go Pro of running Stout 10 on Middle Palguin in Chile. I had great lines on both and great fun! I will let the photos say the rest. Hopefully you can get a sense of what it was like to run it.  Enjoy!

Its Easy to Apply to New River Academy

Its Easy to Apply to New River Academy

Using Torso Rotation to Pan Am on Nile Special

New River Academy is back in Chile to kick off our spring semester. We are excited to welcome Jackson Team member Stephen Wright to the team as our Head coach for our time in Chile. Our first day out, we took advantage of our location on the banks of the Trancura river to do a flat water workout. It was great to get everyone back on the water, and to start off the semester by re-emphasizing some of the foundational skills inherent to improving as a kayaker. The following day we had a team paddle on the upper Trancura, where we worked on increasing power in our forward strokes.

Both days, whether river running or playboating, one of the main points that we kept coming back to was the importance of torso rotation for kayaking, and how few paddlers use torso rotation properly. But what exactly is torso rotation? What can we do to improve upon it off the water?

Uppavista Navasana: Feet planted on the floor, belly button drawn up and in.

Lift your torso up out of your hip sockets, rotate to the right, leading from the belly button.

Lean back slightly as you open your arms. Focus on rotating from the belly button, opening your chest and shoulders.

Torso Rotation refers to the action of rotating your torso, or upper body area to gain power for paddle strokes and other motions. Through rotation, the large muscles in your core “wind up”, rather like a spring. When you unwind, these muscles release, allowing for a short burst of power.

This rotation and release is where majority of your power comes from for the kayaker. It  helps to load and power even the most basic forward and sweep strokes, and it is torso rotation that allows for the majority of freestyle kayaking moves- from the simple cartwheel or bowstall, to blunts and other more advanced moves.

One of the main reasons torso rotation is done improperly is that many kayakers rotate from the shoulder girdle, rather than from the lower part of the torso. This is a common mistake in many yoga poses as well. This means that even though your shoulders move from side to side, your ribcage, lower torso and the majority of your abdominal muscles remain still.

I find one of the best visuals for proper rotation is to imagine as though your belly button had a flashlight in it. To rotate properly, you want the beam of the flashlight to move. This means lifting the torso up out of the hip sockets, and leading the rotation from the navel.This twists the lower part of the core, leaving the shoulder girdle quiet and the spine in a single, straight line from hip to crown.

Upavista Navasana : Variation with rotation. 

One great exercise to build core strength and aid in proper rotation is this variation on upavista navasana- or upward boat pose. Core strength is essential for any kayaker- and any yogi! Having a strong core helps protect your spine, support your posture and power your paddling/poses

.

Start seated, knees bent up towards the sky, feet planted firmly on the ground in front of you. Crown of the head is lifted, belly button is drawn in towards the spine. Palms are together in prayer, in front of your heart, elbows out to the side.

Inhale, lift your torso up out of your hip sockets, exhale, rotate to the right, leading from the belly button. Inhale lift, and rotate back to center. Exhale, repeat to the opposite side.

For added variation, as you exhale and rotate, open your arms and lean back slightly. Inhale, hands return to prayer as you lift and rotate back to neutral.

For those who like an additional abdominal workout, try lifting your feet off the floor. This  balancing forces your core muscles to work harder to stabilize your torso as you rotate. I find it is easiest to start by lifting one leg at a time, finding your balance before you begin your rotation.

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David Miller is happy to be back on the water in Chile!

After spending time at home in the midst of a Canadian winter for 6 weeks I was very ready to come back to Pucon, one of my favorites places in Chile. When I found out that we would only be here for 5 days I was a little disappointed but I knew it was going to be a great 5 days to say the least. The hostel has changed since we have been here last semester making it even safer and more comfortable. There are more places to lock up your gear and electronics. There is even another dome which we use for morning workouts and hanging out in. The boy’s dorm is finished as well. It looks great! There are big rooms with many beds and beautiful paintings on the wall. The family-like atmosphere of the hostel is even better with more paddlers and more students. We have two new additions to our school this semester: Paul and Keaton. They joined us to take part in the gap year program at NRA. They take a few classes with us and paddle with us everyday!

Another thing that was scarce in Canada in the winter was paddling. It was so great to get back to Chile and paddle the first day right in our own backyard. On the Rio Trancura there is a fun play hole that we paddled our first day with our new coach Stephen Wright. Not only is he one of the best playboaters in the world but he is also an amazing creeker. He is extremely well qualified to teach us both playboating and creeking and has already taught me and everyone else so many new things. He was able to help me improve my bow stall immensely by saying a simple two words. We are definitely lucky to have !Stephen! as a coach. The first day we were back on the water we had every student out there paddling which is a rarity for us. It was an awesome way to start off the quarter.

As much as we love the hostel we won’t be here for long. In two days we are leaving for the Fuy to meet up with the parent trip before returning to Pucon. The Fuy is about two hours away from Pucon. The section that we will be running is a class 3+ creek with a few drops. It is a few hours south so it may be a little bit more chilly. After the Fuy we will be back in Pucon for a few days then we are heading to the Futalafu. The Futa will be a long journey for us. It is about and 18 hour drive south so it will definitely be colder in Futa. On the Futalafu we will be doing lots of playboating. It is a big volume river with lots of fun play waves. Can’t wait to make it to these other two destinations but I will sure miss Pucon.

Its Easy to Apply to New River Academy

The view from our house

I heard about New River while doing a summer program called the Keeners on the Ottawa river. It sounded amazing and I was convinced it was the right thing for me. It is a perfect opportunity to get out and see the world, while also kayaking, before university. 12 Months after hearing about the program here I am in the Maipo valley in Chile! My first day included a sweet run on the lower Maipo, and I am very excited for our run today!

Video by Hunt Jennings.