Ben's First Keener Blog Post

At ropes and knots

Hey everyone, this is Ben White from Carbondale, Colorado, here for my first year as a Keener. I'm 17 years old, and have been paddling for a little over a year. So far, I've been having the time of my life on the Ottawa with the Keener program. The Ottawa has been all I hoped for and more so far. The big water provides new challenges that I don't often find in narrow, low-volume Colorado rivers, like massive wave trains, holes, and whirlpools. Pretty much like what I paddle in Colorado on a much larger scale.

On Tuesday, we headed down the main channel, and luckily, mini-bus was still in and able to be surfed. I've always dreamed of surfing Mini-Bus ever since I began to playboat, and my dream finally came true, a terrifying and exciting dream indeed. It was so awesome to get a taste of one of the biggest waves in the world, the biggest wave I've ever surfed (Much bigger than the waves at local Colorado play parks).

Dropping into Elevator Shaft: One of the rapids on the Ottawa the most similar to Colorado.

On Race Wednesday, I ended up winning the B-Group finals, through Lower No Name. Overall I'm having an amazing time on the Ottawa, and I'm looking forward to the next 5 weeks on the river with the Keeners. Stooooked as ever!!!