Greetings from Choshuenco! Choshuenco is a one-road town about three hours south of Pucon, accessible only by dirt roads that encircle dazzling lake after dazzling lake. We have our own little lake here in Choshuenco and have been taking advantage of the scenery to enhance our classroom environments. The lower Fuy drains into Lago Choshuenco, which makes the take-out a five minute stroll from our cute hotel, La Posada. Everyone is loving the Fuy! The Upper Fuy boasts an awesome run- a super clean 25-footer, Salto Los Leones, followed by an awesome class V section. I’ll let the more experienced boasters describe the run in more colors for you!
Our first afternoon in Choshuenco, we headed to Salto Los Leones for a park and huck. Everyone killed it, including some ladies who were timid at first, then so stoked at their accomplishments! Jessica ran a beautiful line on her first ever waterfall, and Stephen scared us all as he threw his paddle from the top of the drop. Clay and I both got a little bruised from under-rotating or over-rotating our flips from the top of the waterfall into the swimming hole.
Yesterday we took a break from the whitewater and ventured out to Huilo Huilo, to scout two gigantic waterfalls, a 150 footer and a 130 footer! Some of the daredevils think they’re runnable. Either way, it was a gorgeous place to spend an afternoon hiking around.
On the academic front, classes are running smoothly; Eric, Alex and Clay wrote delightful stories to share aloud in class for a creative writing assignment. Lorenzo’s Spanish classes have been learning Spanish through videos, such as Meet the Robinsons and The Lion King. Video class is putting together a video called “How to by Boof, by Billy Harris”.
Yes, we are all happy, healthy and well-fed; we are getting three scrumptious meals a day. Last night for dinner we had a tantalizing soup stuffed with cilantro, potatoes, corn, green beans and carrots. Some of the kids were already starting to leave the table, satisfied, when the second course appeared- sausages and mashed potatoes, with a sweet peach for dessert. The only complaint we have this week is the weather; rain, rain, go away!
In three days, we will return to Pucon for about a week before embarking on our great adventure south to the Futaleafu!
We are about 3/4 of the way through our stay in quaint little Choshuenco. New to this year is a paved main street as well as paved sections of road on the way into the town. We are staying at La Posada a small hostel right in the middle of town. There is a large beach here lake side and a pretty frickin sweet rusted up old boat. We have however not only brought the party to this town, but also the rain. It has rained here non-stop since day two and there are no signs of it lightening up.
The Fuy is definitely a highlight of this little venture. There are three sections to this river. The upper is a mixture of steep rapids and waterfalls highlighted by the park and huck 25 footer. The middle and lower are both boulder garden type drops. The middle and lower sections can be run one to the other however to run the upper into everything else may be a bit of a venture.
Yesterday we took a small break from the river and went to Huilo-Huilo private park or something like that, I don’t think it was a national park. There was 2 huge waterfalls one a 130 footer and the other a 90 footer called Salto de Puma.
See you on the water!
I am incredibly proud of my photography students: Zoe Ross, Taylor Cote and Matt Hill. Being a photographer at New River Academy is no easy task. A camera and the necessary gear such as batteries, film cards, cables, lenses, tripods and cleaning supplies, are delicate, heavy, and expensive things. Caring for them, particularly under our circumstances of constant travel and camping, can be quite an arduous task.
With each adventure we take as a school, the photo students have an added task to contend with. They carry their boat over their shoulder, their paddle in one hand and their pelican box in the other. While the rest of us contemplate our perfect line down the waterfall, the photo students are computing in their heads the equation of light + action+ and available vantage point for shooting. They climb cliffs, scramble down into river beds, fight through steep hillsides of bamboo and thorns, and drag themselves across zip lines to get the most innovative shot.
Being a photography teacher has given me a new appreciation for a photographer’s role in their photographs. This should seem obvious- who else but the photographer could be responsible for their own shot? But before this semester, I never payed homage to the photographer at all. Looking at a photograph of David Hughes running a huge waterfall, I would think to myself, “David is doing something so awesome! And that waterfall is beautiful! I wish I did things like David did so I could have photos of me like that!” I gave the subject all the credit! And while it’s true, without the handsome boys and girls running big drops in pretty places, none of us would have the portfolio we do. But I never would think, “Wow, what composition this photographer achieved! The exposure is perfect, look how the water seems to be suspended mid air, it must have been difficult to use such a fast shutter speed in that limited light. And the area is so remote- amazing that photographer lugged her giant lens and delicate camera so far into the wilderness!”
Watching Zoe, Taylor and Matt constantly adjusting their focus, change out lenses, climb trees and give up their own oppertunity to run a drop in order to shoot someone else running it, really makes me appreciate how far they go and how hard they work. Photography is one of those rare things that everyone benefits from. The photo students glow with pride when others admire their work, and the subjects of those photos glow with pride when they put them up on facebook and everyone at home raves about their latest big adventure.
Of course, then there is the hours spent in front of their screen touching up photos, uploading them to Flikr, giving slide shows and writing blog posts. With internet that flickers in and out, this can be a long a tedious process. My students work for hours at a time perfecting and sharing their photos, and always with positive, energetic diligence.
Thank you Zoe, Taylor and Matt, I am so proud of the work you do!
Although my actual river time on the Achibueno was limited (see past article about teacups and back pain), time spent taking photos definitely made up for it. Situated in a quaint little chalet type lodge, surrounded by snowcapped peaks, and access provided only by a Chilean 4×4 road (the road was not so much a road, but an adventure) our Achibueno base was by far the most rustic, as well as the most relaxing. We arrived late in the afternoon to a warm fire and dinner only an hour away. We have been eating like kings, so don’t worry mom and dad. I set up my hammock and did a little homework. As the sun was starting to wane the time arrived for some longer exposure shots. I captured an excellent photo of Andy writing our physics test by head-lamp. The next day after a half day of school we did the never ending run. What we thought was 9 kilometers turned into 900… minus like 885, the last half of which we were barely scraping over rocks. The upper section, though short was just as fun. There are more boofs per mile than any other river ever, there were more bpm’s than techno music. After two colder days off I pulled my self up by my bootie straps and ran the upper section. Though short it did provide tons of fun. With some more technical maneuvers, and some burlier holes the run turned into a super sweet game of follow the leader.
The time off the water did provide me with some great pictures. For our photo class our assignment was to do long exposure shots. The grand fire place provided a great source for lighting as well as the gathering of people. It was hard to get star trails this time around, but the clouds did move relatively fast so that helped to provide some cool night shots. The time spent at the Achibueno was great, no interwebs and limited electricity brought us closer together, but the smell from camping and wet gear may have driven us a little apart, however I am very grateful for dave for organizing such a wonderful string of destinations. High five Dave!
See you on the water!
Over a beautiful Thanksgiving meal high up in the Andes in a remote lodge on the banks of the Achibueno, the New River Academy enjoyed an inspired poetry reading. Zoe Ross read aloud the poem which was a collaborative effort of the American Literature Class. Zoe, Clay Whitiker, Alex Anderson and Eric Bartl had slaved away on this poem for four consecutive days while we were in Pichilemu, sitting on the beach and using the surf and sand as inspiration. They used their vocab words in the poem; and you could see the jaws drop as they rhymed Convivial with Unbelievable and Unspeakable, Eremitic with Roll the Credits, and many more….Taylor Cote, my ultra-creative creative writing student, read her own poem, the product of many hours of class and free time. Hers utilized an intricate rhyme scheme that pulled us right into her words, and she mentioned every single one of us in her epic. There was a collective murmur of delight when she rhymed “the scenery is breathtaking, even though we be test taking…” Double syllabic feminine rhymes rock!!
Matt Hill read two poems he wrote, both old fashion ballads utilizing an abab rhyme scheme. He is a buddy Robert Frost, which makes me, his Vermonter English Teacher, extremely proud.
Tracy d’Arbeloff and David Hughes read aloud from Pablo Neruda in both English and Spanish, and Tino Specht gave us an unusual treat by reading an EE Cummings poem in both languages as well. EE Cummings takes his poetic licence off-roading, so to speak, and he is a challenge to read aloud in English. So cheer to Tino for the beautiful reading in Spanish! Eric Bartl read aloud from Robert Frost’s The Road Less Taken, The official New River Academy Poem. And I read two poems, one I wrote in creative writing which I’ll post here, and one that I wrote nine years ago, when I attended a traveling adventure high school.
It was a lively, peaceful and rare gem of an evening. There was candle light, fire light, steam on the thick glass windows and outside a sky blazing with stars and a white moon. Inside we listened to one another, applauded each other, and each gave a small speech of personal thanks to each other, our families, the school, the country of Chile, and the people at home who helped us get here.
They say that the paddling community has only 85% the number of participants than in 2000. Where are the youth paddling? Are they paddling? After traveling all around the country with New River Academy I have noticed that there is a surprising lack young paddlers. On the Gauley I observed that the average paddler was between the age of 25 and god-knows-how-old. The only other young paddlers out there I saw other than our group was that of World Class Academy. Even here in Colorado I am noticing a lack of younger paddlers. When I go out and paddle it is me and about 4 of my friends, we make up a lot of Steamboat’s core youth paddling community.
Kayaking has taught me many great life skills. Perseverance, attitude, hard work. Now tell me if you are a parent or parent figure, these are qualities that you would like your child to have, eh? Sure paddling may be scary at first but given the right time and frame of mind, which is a very important thing to have, kayaking can be a life long endeavor. I don’t think that I will ever stop kayaking; it is a firm tree that has taken root in my heart and provides me the fruit of joy and personal growth.
Kayakers are always willing to help. Many ‘normal’ people only help after finding out what’s in it for them. More than just help fellow humans I believe that kayakers also have a better connection with their earth as well. We look out for our rivers, we look out for the fish in them, and we look out for the people who use them; not just for recreation, but for other things like irrigation and drinking water. We loath pollution, like that of mining waste filling valleys, or dumping of chemical; we protect fish populations, or at least try to help them by opposing dams that inhibit natural migration.
Determination. Huge part of kayaking. In the middle of a rapid you can’t just give up, you need to keep going and you need to do it right. This may be a fear of death but it is all about determination. You have to be determined to get to the end in one piece, to get past the obstacle by paddling as hard as possible. Your muscles may burn, your hands may be blistered but you need to get past that and think only about what must be done at that one moment. This may also be called perseverance, and with out it I feel like I would not accomplish anything, not try anything. That’s another thing kayaking is all about trying new things. New experiences, Huge Experiences.
This is why I am so lucky to go to New River Academy. I get to travel all around the world while kayaking at the same time. See new places, meet new people, and see different ways of living. I like to think of my kayak as a passport. Not only as a way to get from point A to point B, but also a way of meeting new people, and interacting with different cultures. I see kayaking and rivers as a worldly venture, one that can not be bound to certain areas or demographics. Kayaking can not be put into a box and stored, it needs to stay free, to crash down the tumbling rapids, and wind lazily down the canyons.
Kayaking is my life, river water is my blood, and my gear is my skin. The numbers may be declining, there may be less youth paddling, but kayaking will never die. It is a lifestyle, a teacher, and a friend. Open the front door and let him in, and like a friend who is a pilot, kayaking will take you places you’ve never imagined.
Our first mentor activity of the year was a sobering one. With local brothers Lorenzo and Pangal as our guides, we drove high into the chilly air of the Andean mountains. There, where the road disolved into gray scree and the glaciated peaks of rose sharply in all directions, we found the crumbling remains of one of Pinochet’s Death Camps.
In 1972, Augusto Jose Pinochet Ugarte was appointed commander in cheif of the Chilean army by president Salvador Allende. In August 1973, with strong and active support from the CIA, Pinochet led a coup d’etat, which overthrew Allende’s democratically elected government. In addition, it disolved the Chilean navy, air foce and national police force. Under Pinochet’s reign, some 200,000 people went into exile, 80,000 were interned, 30,000 were tortured, and 4,000 were murdered (although these figures are widely thought to be grossly underestimated.) High up in the mountains around San Alfonso del Maipo, New River Academy students view the remains of Pinochet’s handiwork.
Here is the latest info on the Upper Maipo River run down here in Chile. The Upper Maipo section is definately big water.
From the start at the end of the Rio Yeso the Maipo is a full on river run. There are many large pour-overs as well as tons of huge waves. There is little to no flat water between the rapids with many little waves to play on as well as holes. The biggest main rapid is called French Curve. French Curve consists of a very large pour-over as well as two undercut rocks on river right. The whole rapid curves left hence the name french curve. At the pour over most of the water pushes right into the undercut rocks making the rapid very dangerous. Portage is strongly recommended. The run should not be taken lightly after french curve. The water is still huge and there are also many huge pour-overs and waves that are able to flip a boat at any moment.
Definite class 4-5
Don’t let the description scare you though, it is 100% fun.
I’ve posted a lot of articles about how much fun we, New River Academy students, are having and what we have been up to, but this is one of the most important points. Last summer I was at the Ottawa Kayak School Keeners camp I discovered two high schools for kayakers: New River Academy and World Class Kayak Academy. Now I am not here to bash World Class, but I am about to give you reasons as to why I chose New River Academy.
For a little while after camp I gave both schools some thought, but then I went back to my previous school in Steamboat Springs for another year. Half way through the year I realized that there was absolutely no way that I could continue with the current predicament. Midway through winter I started to hit a slump, I couldn’t kayak, and was feeling bored with a monotous routine. Sifting through a pile of random papers the New River Academy booklet fell out and prompted the thought about a kayaking high school again. One of my friends who I used to go to school with, Griff Griffith, who was and still is a student at World Class, so I decided to hit him up for some information, he provided valid points on the benefits of going to a kayaking high school.
Earlier this summer again at Keeners Kayak camp I met David Hughes, founder/headmaster/instructor. Let me back up. So in the spring my parents promised that if I worked hard in the previous school and improved my people skills then they would let me apply to World Class. I had chosen WCKA because of Griff Griffith and the things that he said about the school. Back to Keeners. So during Keeners I David questioned him relentlessly about New River Academy. I was interested in exploring and kayaking South America. I had just been to Peru, World Class’ destination, and I discovered NRA was going to Chile. I had never been to Chile, so that was a bit of a deciding factor, to go somewhere new.
As it turned out New River Academy has a base in Pucon with it’s own playhole. I thought, “Wow, having your own home base in a foreign country has a ton of benefits like added safety, comfort and even just enjoyability.” I also met Stephen Forester, a current New River Academy student, and Sam Fulbright, an alumni. After listening to them talk with my parents my decisions had come to end.
I chose NRA for factors like: Their use of the Keeners Ottawa riverside base versus camping, the Chile destination, a stable Chile base, a reputable safety record, past students and just some persuasion from Sam, Stephen and David.
Still my parents had not fully committed to the idea of a kayaking high school. This is where Sam, Stephen and Dave addressed parent concerns like academics and safety. When my mom came to pick me up after Keeners, we had a long sit down with David as well as conversations with Sam and Stephen. This had my mom convinced, my dad was a little harder to sway.
Help came in the form of Eugene Buchanan, founder of Paddlinglife.net, friend and team mate on my dad’s hockey team. I intern at Paddlinglife.net and I had told David about this during the summer. David contacted Eugene with the idea of creating a Paddling Life Academic Scholarship helping my family financially. At the same time I would be learning photo journalism skills and responsible for my financial assistance. My father liked the concept of learning and working for the scholarship and agreed to enroll in New River Academy.
That’s my story of how I chose New River Academy. Be sure to look for my photos and blog posts appearing on Paddlinglife.net and my NRA Matt Hill Blog.
Thanks go to: David Hughes, Eugene Buchanan, Sam Fulbright, Stephen Forester, and greatest of all Amy and Dave Hill a.k.a Mom and Dad, you’ve made all the difference!
Tino Specht Checking in here with a very late but needed coaches report. Now that my blog is up and running you can expect to see these weekly or more.
We have had a very exciting quarter so far with a ton of huge waves starting on the Ottawa River and then some amazing river running on the Gauley and Upper Yaugh rivers.
Our first destination was the Ottawa River stationed in Beachburg, Ontario. The Ottawa is known for its warm water and perfect play features but before we could get out surfing we had to run our safety clinic which teaches basic to advanced techniques of rescue and group dynamics. Here is the short video, video class put together to give you guys a peek into our first safety training.
Our weekly paddling schedule looks something like this.
Monday: Safety Training and Freestyle Technique ( we like to start our weeks off with safety training and a new technique every day, this way the athletes have safety fresh in their minds the rest of the week as well as being able to build upon their already solid river rescue foundation)
Wednesday: Race Day and Down River Training ( On this day we scout extensively rapids together as a group and then hold some sort of a river race. This helps the athletes to pick apart a rapid and identify where they want to go with the easiest fastest lines that take the least effort or the safest lines)
Thursday: Freestyle Training ( We pick two moves a day and work intensively on them. This gives the athletes the confidence to try the moves on their own. Its all about getting over that first hump)
Friday: Competition Day ( All the skills and technique that the athletes have been working on all week comes to a point and they get to test themselves against their personal goals and their piers)
West Virginia
Since coming down to West Virginia we have had some epic days on the Gauley River since it is in our back yard. ( I know tough life eh?) The Gauley is loaded with great playspots for our freestyle training but the really cool thing about this river is that you can make it as hard or easy as you want to. Its perfect for the whole group. The river doesn’t run during the week so we have been doing tons of other outdoor activities after school. Frisbee Golf is a favorite of everyone and Dave Hughes learned that when you take a bunch of incredible young athletes and introduce them to a new game, they are going to get better than you very quickly. Anyway. Just a quick update of whats going on here.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Tino
Frisbee Golf
After an Amazing Turkey Dinner
Tino And Dave Flying the Helicopter
The Family After A Swimming Session
Taylor and Tracy making and amazing Dinner
Alex Scouting a hole on the Ottawa River during a Safety Class
Clay Throwing a rope to real someone in during a safety class on the Ottawa River
