Introduction to Stakeout!

Above: One of my airscrew attempts on the Ruins
Left: one of my surfs on Gladiator during the XL




Below: Nouria Newman and I both running Coliseum for the first time at such a high water level

               Hey, my name is Edward Muggridge, I have been kayaking since the summer of 2010 and I am 16 years old. During the fall of 2012 I felt as though I was in isolation from anything to do with kayaking. It was awful. Day after day of dreaming about mini bus and high water runs down the Ottawa. It came to a point where I realized that this dream was within my reach. I had already been talking about a possible weeklong trip over March break staying with my two Ottawa River local friends Quinton and Kalem Kennedy. Early in November I was informed that mini bus had magically appeared and after 2 days I decided to make a mad dash to the river to surf this massive wave! After spending a weekend at various levels of minibus I had officially fallen in love with the sport. I found myself a minimum wage job in my neighbourhood stocking shelves at the market. This was my way of funding a trip in the spring. After 5 long months of working 26 hours every week I finally managed to purchase all of my own gear including my drysuit, boat and camera equipment. The late spring was making it tough to wait for but before you know it I was given the unimaginable opportunity or taking part in the famous big water adventures on the Ottawa River. I was given the amazing opportunity to take part in these adventures by the Grady family who were kind enough to let me live with them for 2 weeks in April and 1 week in May for the Ottawa XL competition. This spring really changed the way I look at whitewater. I have never paddled in water with snow on the banks or chunks of ice the size of a house flowing down the river with you. It adds an entirely new aspect to the sport and causes you to be cautious, something that many of us can often forget about when we become so comfortable with paddling our home rivers. During this spring I was given the chance to do a lot of things. Kalob Grady and I believe we were the first to paddle the main channel in 2013 and also I was given the chance to be the first to surf mini bus in 2013 by Ben Marr, Pat Camblin, Joel Kowalski and Keegan Grady. It was so cool being able to hang out with all of these and be a part of stakeout. In those first two weeks in April I learned more than I thought I ever could have in such a small time frame. Three weeks passed and I was back on the bus to the valley to go kayaking for the Ottawa XL. That entire week I got to spend time at the ruins with Cooper Lemkay and Kalob Grady. The Ruins is one of the most amazing places I have ever been to not only because of the wave itself but because of the scenery around it. At the end of that week it was time for the Ottawa XL. The first part of the competition was the big wave freestyle event. The event was held on Gladiator in the middle of the Coliseum rapid on the Ottawa River. I had always seen this wave as something I would hopefully surf in my lifetime seeing as it is such a massive step up to anything I have ever dreamed of. A large group of us ran the river the day before the competition because we heard gladiator was in. most of us had never surfed it and none of us had ever surfed it at such a high level. It was so exciting yet so terrifying at the same time. That day I ferried out 5 times, I got too scared the first 3 times purposely missed the wave but then as I grew a little more courage I found it harder than I thought to actually get out to the proper spot. Sitting at the top of the eddy had to be quite possibly the most nerve-wracking thing I have ever experienced in my life. The longer you waited in line, (yes, there was a lineup for Gladiator) the more nervous you became. There were definitely times where Hunter Katich and I would argue over who should go first because neither of us were too keen on dropping in. During the day of the XL I managed to catch the wave for the first time after trying very hard to get out to it. I had a really long surf on my second ride and was way too scared to throw any tricks. Overall this spring was what I would consider to be the best spring of my life and I am sure there are many more to come. I am incredibly excited to be moving to the valley at the end of January so that I will be able to paddle every day next spring. Thanks for reading!