On Wednesday we went to the upper Pedawawa river in Algonquin Park. This river while in some ways is more like the rivers I normally run (low volume creeks), the drops we had to run were much larger. The boofs were only about six feet but seeing as I had only done my first boof they day before it was kind of intimidating. But after running the first drop I wasn't  scared at all. I ended up walking to the top of the rapid to run it three more times. A little further down the river we paddled under a bridge. And everyone got out to jump off it. I was told it was about thirty some odd feet to the water below but while standing on the bridge it looked much further. I climbed under the railing and after a few seconds I jumped. After free falling for what seemed like forever, I hit the water. I did so many things on the trip that I never would have ever thought were a possibility before coming to Keeners. I was pretty scared to do anything the first week but by the third I had improved more than I ever thought I could.

Ending blog

What is pride? Pride could be winning at something, doing something good and being a part of something that builds on what you do and what you do to others that can make a group of people stronger then moving water. I think pride is one of the most important emotions felt in people because it doesn't just creat bonds in a group or make people stronger in what they believe in.. It fills in a part of you and makes you a better person and a happier person it doesn't just make you strong as a group but it will make you stronger as an individual and a strong person doesnt put people down, they lift people up and that's important. I find pride in being in a group like keeners because the whole thing is based on trust and responsibility and that can build an awesome group that can do anything and that's what keeners is to me and I'm going to take what I've learned and put it on the river and bring it with me to whoever I meet and wherever I go and I really want to expand the sport because it's so much more then just kayaking when your working with other people in dangerous situations and travel the world and helping people, That's something you don't find in a lot of other sports. I'm really lucky to have been apart of this group of people and being taught by the pioneers of freestyle kayaking and I'm super exited to expand my kayaking threw different styles and being creative and more adventures then others would because this is where I want to stand out and I think that I can not only do what I love best but I can help others and make the
Jdifference I want to see In the world while I do it.        
  - Owen Jaynes -

Upper Pet Trip by Kaden McLaughlin

On Wednesday we went to the Upper Petawawa river for our Keener River Trip. We went to the Pet to run more rivers that are unfamiliar to practice running and scouting new rapids safely. The Upper Pet is a very remote river located in Algonquin. You have to walk about 45 minutes to the put-in up a dirt railroad track. It is a very straight walk, so you have a lot of options for how to carry your kayak.

A few ways to carry your kayak are on your head, your shoulder, or dragging it behind you. We had people trying all of these methods with varying degrees of success. My favorite way is to drag it behind you so your shoulders don't hurt when you get there.

This is a playboat or a creekboat run. If you are not good at boofing I recommend a creek boat as they are more forgiving. This means you can go through the holes even if you mess up your boof. The first boof is a fun, non sticky hole at these levels that is fun to boof or try to freewheel. A freewheel is where you cartwheel off the end of the drop. The next drop is a little downstream and it is a pretty easy rapid too. Here, the river splits into two channels. The Right side is easier, while the Left is a steep slide into a hole where I helped set safety at the bottom. If you don't boof here, it isn't too bad, because the hole is easy to surf out of.

The last drop was a lot of fun. It was a seven foot boof into a read and run rapid. Here, I recommend to right and not left, as I petoned really hard here. Luckily, I didn't damage my boat.

Overall, the Upper Pet is a great beginner creek run to get used to boofing, and reading and running unfamiliar rapids. I really enjoyed my trip and would gladly go back, hopefully with slightly more water. 

My three weeks at keeners - Ava Christensen

     The past few weeks have been so much fun. I've gotten beatdown in phil's hole and a bunch of other sticky holes on the Ottowa. My loops have become way more consistent and I can now bow stall on flat water! (most of the time) We also swam into a log to learn how to get out of a strainer in and out of a kayak. On the weekends I've had some awsome surfs on garb and baby face. Today we went on a trip to the upper petawala. The hike in took like 45 minutes, but it was worth it. Most of the day we focused on boofing. I wish this session wasn't almost over, but I'm so
excited for next year!

Memories-By Cameron O'Connor

        Well its week three and things are going great!  I have made lots of new friends and have learned lots on the water.  So many memories have been made wile at keeners, so here are three of my favourite moments from the trip.

1)  Ryan chasing the chipmunk around the cabin.  This trip one of the keeners. Ryan really hated a chipmunk that kept taking his chap stick.  For the rest of the trip Ryan has been trying to catch this chipmunk. 

2)  Next up in my favourite memories would have to be hitting my first airscrews on Garb.  I tried so many times for so many days trying to get this one trip.  One day i was very close to the airscrew, so coach Matt helped me by recording my rides.  We reviewed my films and practiced the motions on land.  Finally we took it to the boats, and i hit the airscrew after a few more try's.

3)  My third favourite memory was our trip to Walmart.  We spent about an hour shopping for the most random stuff like ice cream, chicken nuggets, flash drives, ect… At the end of our shopping we went to checkout,  coach Matt was very impressed with the amount of stuff we bought. After we left the store, we made plans to have a big weekend party.  

I had such a greta time hanging out with so many great people wile at keeners.  I hope i will have the chance to come back next year!!

Mondays

blogging on mondays often leaves me stumbled on what to blog about today i'm gonna share the troubles mondays are a pretty uneventful day.  Even though they are very freestyle focused and I learned a lot especially after lunch narrowing it down to one thing is very hard on wednesdays you can talk about racing and on thursday the blog can virtually write itself and  the weekends the bountiful free time gives you hours to think.  This is why monday is the worst blog day.

birthday girl - bella szpala

August 21st, 2016. also known as my 15th birthday. I could not have asked for a better place or a better group of people to spend it with. I woke up to chocolate chip pancakes made by my incredible housemates and a birthday sash made for me by mathieu. skip ahead to movies in the thunderdome and a lot of food. my parents and my sister stopped by as well with donuts and a box full of popcorn and chips. end it with cake at wilderness tours and id consider this one of the best birthdays I've ever had. it's been great keeners. I'll miss you. see you next year. 

Curiosity Killed the Cat- Sabra Sisler

Curiosity is horrible according to the common proverb "curiosity killed the cat". 

It may be true that ignorance is bliss. It may be true that ignorance breeds confidence. It may be true that ignorance simply comes from a lack of understanding. All these things may be true, but who wants to live a monotonous life consisting of nothing good or bad?

I find that this cliche contradicts everything the Keener program stands for. The entire purpose of the Keener program is to push our limits and the easiest way to do that is simply by being curious and having the desire to try new things. I strive to live every day to it's fullest and to learn everything humanly possible. I want to bombard with my brain with so much new knowledge every day that I'm forced to change my perception on life based on all the things I learn. Here at Keeners I have been able to push myself to reach my maximum potential. I try new lines, I try new tricks, I try everything that my mind thinks has the potential to be even the slightest bit interesting. I might not be amazing at racing, or freestyle boating, or technical lines, but the best thing I have going for me is that I am not afraid to fail. I've gotten beat down, lost races, and missed many waves; all of which make me a better kayaker and a more willing participant. The frustrating and disappointing moments have made my successes that much sweeter. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it didn't kill a keener.

Brown Competition Friday- Ethan Frangenberg

              Competition Friday is a Weekly event to give keeners the opportunity to experience competition and show what they have learned. While watching the competition, I noticed huge improvement from fellow keeners compared to last week, even though the feature was different. We even scored a raft that decided to join, which scored 2 points, for a surf and a 180 spin!

             Even though there is a score system, Stevo said that the score does not determine the better boater or define skill level, but is basically challenging you to do the most and biggest tricks in two or three rides. One shout out I would like to give is to Mark, who caught Baby face for the first time, and even got a pretty decent surf!

     As for me, I got my first blunt in the practice rides. Although I did not get them in the competition, I learned that you should not feel like poo if you did a poo turn instead of a blunt. My ride consisted of a roll in the hole, a few spins, a roundhouse, and not hearing the whistle for my ride to end ( =0)!
Overall, Everyone did incredibly, and That makes me and everyone else happy.

Week 2 By Owen Jaynes

This week was  a great week to start to learn to tricks like kickflips and loops and simple things like that because I've been getting more comfortable in my boat and being in bigger features like Phils and Satlers. They are both really big and terrifying holes and this week I've learned how to surf them with more control and having fun at the same time.

Today before I went to do my beat down, my nose plug broke and I was not happy about that, but I ended up doing fine without it. I succeeded in today's beatdown and I am happy with the progression I've made and am eager to get back on the river and to learn some more. This week I want to focus on getting my whitewater loops better and get the kick flip of destiny.

Swimming Into a Strainer by Marlon Andrew

On Monday we swam into a strainer....on purpose. It was completely safe and there were coaches all around us. But to me the idea seemed so wrong. When you start out whitewater kayaking everyone says don't swim into strainers, just don't do it. But here we were, willingly being thrown into a stationary log by the current around us. For me, it took a lot of courage to make the first jump into the water. I got slammed into the log but it didn't hurt half as much as I thought it would. After a couple of seconds I purposefully went under the strainer to get unstuck and be washed down stream. I got out of the water and realised that what I had just done was super fun. And a couple minutes later, there I was jumping into the water once again.

Why you should come to keeners- Ryan Eckhoff

- [ ] My keener experience so far has been amazingly awesome and fun. I have learned so much in just two weeks including my flat water loop, river safety, airscrew and how to rescue swimmers. When I first got here I didn't even know how to bow stall but in just two days I got it down and then a day later I was flat water looping. One of the most important thing about being a good kayaker is being good at safety, rescuing people that are unconscious or need help getting out of the water and saving there gear. What is also important is to make sure that you have the right safety gear including a throw rope, good kayaking  shoes, and knowing how to tie nots. So if you want to learn everything you need to know about kayaking you should definitely come to keeners. it will change the way you look at kayaking at least for me it did. I have been kayaking for about 3-4 years and I spent a year learning my role, a year learning my loops and spins, for me there was a big learning curve and it was super frustrating. So pretty much I wish I hade came here when I first started to kayak, I now at least 4 people that are a keener that came here with a really weak role and nothing else. One week later they were hand rolling and stern stalling. so if you want to advance your kayaking really fast, COME TO KEENERS!!!!

Whitehouse - Casey Dorfman

Traveling internationally by yourself is a little rough, so I’ll try to make this quick.  On a kind of dark, ridiculously hot morning late in July, I set off for Canada armed with only a kayak and some clothes to a foreign land full of even more white people than America, yep it’s possible, welcome to Ontario.  After about 3 hours of waiting around in Toronto, rewatching a bunch of movies on the plane, and a slow shuttle ride through the rain, I arrived at keenerville only a week late.

Coming in to keeners a has been…let’s just say an interesting experience.  The first day I got here it was a little intimidating, especially living in the den of testosterone, hormones, mountain dew, Nutella, moist dishes, and dripping wet gear that is whitehouse.  Yep, that’s where I’m living right now.  It is pretty fun times.  I have basically everything Owen has said to me for the past 5 days permanently scarred deep into my brain, some jokes just can’t be un-thought.  But it’s okay, I’m beginning to recover slowly.  The shower situation is also smells a little bit like sulfur and makes a low grunting sound as the water flows down.  Let’s just say that living in whitehouse has been sort of like listening to the same Shakira song every day for hours on end. I have sort of gotten used to the rhythm, random bursts of Spanish (from Lorenzo), and strangely very sexual vibes. (ask whitehouse people about the cracker game).

Okay, new update.  Since Wednesday and the infamous keener Walmart trip, life at whitehouse has taken a turn for the better.  The food situation is substantially improved and we now have basically an endless supply of chicken nuggets, watermelon, and Ben and Jerries.  We have a new dog or perrito that Lorenzo seriously considers to be a pig who snorts but is kind of sad but also kind of cute.  Things are looking up.

5 Simple Steps Towards Surfing a Whale - Mark Wilson

     
     Shamu is our resident (inflatable) surfing orca whale here at Keenerville. And to be honest it's almost as much fun to surf the whale as it is to surf a kayak. The following steps will teach you exactly how to surf a whale on the Ottawa River.

Step 1: Assemble a team: Surfing an orca whale is no easy job and requires a few buddies to help out. It's important that you pick out people who can paddle hard and want to have fun. Also you may want to consider picking someone who knows how to guide a raft.

Step 2: Get your gear: Some gear you will need is your PFD, helmet and some good footwear. You'll need a raft and as many raft paddles as you have team members. And of course you'll need that trusty surfing whale.

Step 3: Location: It's important to pick a great playspot that isn't a super long paddle away because (as we discovered) rafting in flatwater isn't super fun. We picked Horseshoe Hole because it's just out the door of Keenerville.

Step 4: Surf the raft: You first want to surf the wave in the raft. Have everybody paddle hard or you'll miss it. This is when you want to have the whale surfer all set up at the front of the raft.

Step 5: Surf the whale: As soon as you get the raft surfing, it's time for the whale surfing to begin. As soon as possible, you want to jump off the raft, put the whale between your legs as if you're riding a bike, and surf that whale.

     If you're lucky (Example: Lorenzo) you'll catch a “killer” surf (Get it? “killer” surf, “killer” whale). However, if you aren't lucky (Example: myself) you'll likely get run over by the raft. Which is not much fun while you're riding an orca whale.

     We are lucky at the Keener program to have a whale like Shamu around. Surfing whales is a whole lot more fun and less weird than you would think and hopefully these steps help get you on your way to having your very own whale surfing adventures. 

Everyday is Thursday - Ava Christensen

  Bigwater beatdown Thursday is where on thursdays we start the day off in Phil"s hole and try and get beatdown, for fun of course. And then throughout the day we continue to get beatdown and do other tasks that force us to get out of our comfort zones. But most days since ive gotten here ive mannaged to have a beatdown. Yesterday was not an exception. We did a relay race and then on my way down i landed in the stickiest part of horseshoe. I got beatdown for a few seconds and then facesurfed. I managed to finally roll back up (still in the hole) and another keener comes down and boofs over me and my boat, then gets stuck surfing babyface. It was REALLY FUN! Then later that day we went down to pushbutton and I threw a loop. Ive been trying to do a loop in pushbotton since i got here!

3 whys to race on the Ottawa river : kaden

There are many ways to have fun on the Ottawa river even if you have run it for a long time. The Ottawa is a very safe river because every rapid ends in  a pool of  flat water. This means you can do many things that you can do on this river that you cant do on the other rivers. One of favorite ways to have fun on the Ottawa is racing. Every Wednesday at Keeners is Race Day Wednesday. One reason why I like racing is because it helps me learn other parts of kayaking, not just playboating. In this blog, I list a couple races we did this past Wednesday so you can try them too.

One way to race on the Ottawa is a  relay race down the first rapid, McCoys Chute. The way we did a relay race was by hitting a beach volleyball across the top of McCoy rapid it looked challenging. The second leg of the race as from Squirtboat eddy to the river right shore and then back to the river left shore. Then someone goes from the football eddy to the swimmers island to the finish line.

Another race we did was through the Lorne.  My favourite race here is the Legs out to Lunch. To do this race you need to pull your skirt and then put your legs out of the kayak. now you are ready to run garb and Waikiki. Don't forget to take the driest line!

Lastly,  at the forth and fifth rapid (Normans and Coliseum) you pull out the ball that you used for the first race and you will have a team of 3 to get the ball down both Normans and Coliseum. The first team to the bottom with the ball wins.

This race is harder than it looks! Yesterday, my ball got stuck in one of the holes on Coliseum and I had to catch an eddy and wait until someone else could hit it out. Good thing we had a team.

My favourite of these three is legs out to the takeout, because you never know who is going to win and I always have a good chance.

Happy Racing!

SRT-by Cameron O'Connor

        This Start of the week was amazing!  Both days Monday and Tuesday, the Keeners and I took part in SRT training.  SRT, is the swift water Rescue class.  In the class we did many educational and fun activities.  On Monday we swam all day.  In the morning we learned how to throw ropes to people in the river, and how to wade into strong currents.  In the afternoon, we went to the Death Slot and learned how to swim under and over logs.  After Monday we where all tired, but excited for the next day of SRT.  
        To the start of Tuesday, we started SRT later in the day.  The SRT group split into 3 different groups, and all ran different lines all through the day with one of the coaches.   We caught lots of eddies and did many hard moves until, ST chute.  This rapid is a big slide with a tricky entrance  with lots of rocks at the bottom.  Most of the keeners ran this rapid, but some walked to the lunch site.  Lunch was the normal hot dogs and hamburgers, however it was very good.  After our lunch we went to the body recirculating hole down the river some way.   We did a gear and body entrapments, and had tethered swimmers jump in and help each other out of the hole.  At first i was terrified to go into the hole,  however at the end of the day i had an amazing time learning SRT.  

SRT is surpising!!! By Julia Frangenberg

     We recently began swiftwater rescue training, and I must admit that I was very nervous. But when we had a briefing by our teacher, Matt, I was more comfortable knowing what safety material we'd be learning. The first thing we learned was how to use a throw rope, and although I didn't throw far enough on most of my attempts, I certainly learned something. Next, we went to a small chute where Clay and Matt had set up a really cool log that was worn down so that it didn't have any branches that were sharp. We learned some useful techniques on how to get yourself out of a strainer using your feet and hands. I succeeded in getting out of the water by bracing my feet against the log and climbing out of the water. While I didn't manage to get over the log or complete all of the drills without going under the log, I had so much fun and have gained a lot of knowledge that I will keep and refresh. Although the idea of SRT can bring anxiety to many people, what I will say is that it's not half as scary as it looks. The most amazing part about this experience was probably overcoming that fear the first time I went under the log, and knowing that although right this instant you probably haven't saved anyone truly in distress, I feel comforted knowing that just taking this class could be saving someone's life in the future someday. Thank you to all my instructors who have helped me become a better, safer kayaker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Taking time to appreciate the ottawa - jacob f

The ottawa river is an awesome place. I love just sitting in garb eddie and looking around while thinking "how awesome is it that the rocks are just as they are to form the perfect wave?". But seriously the chance of garb being created again somewhere is like 1 - 1 x 10^1000, its just insane. We are super luck to have this playground in our backyard. All around the other there are hundreds of features on this river, and no matter the water level there are many different awesome things to do. This river is one a kind and we should all do our own part to help maintain it.

About me! Sean

my name is Sean Diaz. I'm 17 from Port Perry Ontario and I'm going into grade 12. I'm a very athletic guy, I play pretty competitive hockey and baseball and used to play lacrosse.  I like to take risks a lot and have fun with my life. I came to keeners to push my limits. At first I'm REALLY shy but once I open up to you you're more than likely gonna like me. I like almost every kind of music and I listen to rap before games to get me pumped up. fun fact I'm also an above average Apple juice player and I can down a can of Mountain Dew in less than 5 seconds. and my Instagram is @SeanDiaz89. give your boy a follow!!!

Sean

Swiftwater Rescue Training -Finley Melnikoff

Yesterday we had our first day of SRT training. Much to my surprise, it was actually very fun. We started off the day throwing ropes, which I was not even remotely good at. Then after a short safety talk and lunch we were out onto the water, swimming through rapids and throwing ropes to rescue the people in our group who chose to swim. Eventually, I got the hang of aiming correctly and even "saved" a few people. To finish up the day we went to a floating log that we swam under and over to teach us about river strainers. Watching people struggle to get over the log (and struggling myself) was definitely the best part of my day and I'm glad that I took the course.

Stern Stall -Zac Cole

coming to keener on my first day was very intimidating kids where doing stern stall and bow stalls and the odd flat water loop and I was off trying to double pump.  I worked very hard trying to perfect my stern stall. I was always practicing on flat water and when coaches said I couldn't do it because it made me slow I would paddle harder and then practice after being ahead of the group.  However come the end of Thursday and Friday I had bad leg pains and found rolling hard and decided to not to try anymore. After doing two small sessions on baby face Friday, Saturday and Sunday I was coming back a couple of minutes early on Sunday with  Ryan and Riley two of the best kayakers trying to do there flat water loops.  I decided my leg was a lot better and fit to try and I finally hit my stern stall.  Somehow I made one when Anna told me to pose over a 3 minute period I wasn't even in the bow up position for a second and luckily she got it.  This starts hopefully the first of many tricks I can do on flat water

Freestyle Friday : Riley Frank

After being on the ottawa for a week the session 3 keeners had our first freestyle Friday. IF you don't know what freestyle friday is i will tell you. Freestyle friday is a whole morning on garb or Pushbutton. After lunch we take two rides while one of the coaches films. Once our rides are done we paddle out the rest of the Main Chanel. upon arriving back at keenerville we put the rides up on the TV and judge them as a group. Points range from the campers who's first time in a play boat was the beginning of the session all the way up the coaches rides in the mid teens. I am loving this place so far. the warm water and big waves makes it a personal paradise. Looking forward to more sessions on just about every wave the ottawa has to offer.

Peace,

Riley

one year later - bella szpala

i love paddling. every chance I get to paddle i take. the thing is I don't get a lot of chances. i live in the middle of a city and there isn't a lot of water i can paddle super nearby. neither of my parents kayak so i don't have anyone to take me, and i don't trust my twelve year old sister to save me if i swim or get hurt, and I'm not sure i trust myself to save her. i'm also a really busy person. i go to school, i do extra curricula's aside from kayaking, so a lot of the time i just don't have the time. the odds are really against me.

for the past six or so years i have taken a week out of my summer, for the last two summers i have taken three weeks, to come to wilderness tours and paddle with ottawa kayak school. often these are the only times i get to paddle. since my last year at keeners i have paddled exactly zero rapids, and the only times i would even sit in my kayak would either be in a pool or a lake practicing my roll, or in my garage just sitting there being sad that i can't go on the water. 

the thing about kayaking though is that it's hard to forget how to do. it's kind of like riding a bike. sure some things have changed since last year, but i haven't gotten drastically worse. i'm extremely thankful for all the chances i get to paddle with oks and on my own, and i'm trying to make it a goal of mine to get in my boat more, and maybe even come up to the ottawa river, even if it's just for a day. i wish i could paddle more often, but i know that i can always come back to keeners as i left, ready to get better for next year.

Car Rides With Joe-william von shilling

Yes, the man, the myth, the legend, Mr Joe Kowalski. My second summer at Keeners has been drastically different than my first. My first year here involved, kayaking and relaxing and hanging out with the other fellow Keeners at Keenerville. However, this year, most of my time is being spent as a senior Keener, which involves working at Wilderness Tours on the weekends. Though, this hasn’t stopped me from having the time of my life. My first workday started off with waking up, rolling out of bed, getting my stuff together, taking a shower and waiting for my ride. Little did I know that I was about to get in a car with a philosopher, visionary, business man and entertaining legend.

As the car pulled up in the turn around circle, all I could think about was how I was going to teach people how to roll their kayaks with no prior kayak instruction experience. As soon as I got into the car with Joe, I was immediately drawn off of my worries and into his ideas on why he wanted to hire us after Keeners. He seemed very keen on having us on staff for next year either on kayak school or as a guide, but on staff none the less. He explained why he liked having ex-keeners on staff and talked about how some ex-keeners are some of his best staff on and off of the river. Yes, this may seem like a pretty mundane topic and most people in his position would say the same things, but he seemed so enthusiastic about it that his energy about working at WT seemed to transfer over to me and next thing I know I am sitting on the beach thinking about where at WT I would like to work next year. Anyone who seems unmotivated to do work of any sorts should go for a drive with Joe and their passion for everything will come back to life. 

The next weekend that I work began the same way, but this time I am not nervous at all about teaching but I am much more nervous about the car ride with my (hopefully) future employer. I was so moved by his passion that he has for the past present and future of WT and all of his endeavours. This ride was much more normal until he asked me what I wanted to do after high school. Of course I answered with University and that I was still in the process of deciding where and what I was going to study but that it was in the business field. As I was talking, I felt as though he was genuinely listening to me and was interested in what I had to say, I thought that that was great. Then, as I found out the previous weekend, there is always a lesson when Joe is in the car. He then shared the story of a man who’s name I cannot remember, and how he had no back up plan with his university degree and felt that he had done the wrong degree and went back to school for accounting. The lesson of this story was to always have a back up plan, and in this case, get an accounting degree with any business degree of my choosing. He explained how accounting an math were a universal language and that it could be used wherever and whenever even if times change. This was the car ride where I began to realize that Joe is always thinking of the future and how he wants to make sure that everyone he meets has the chance to have a bright future. 

The many rides with Joe succeeding these two were full of insightful  topics and wisdom, however one really stood out to me. The lesson that I learned from him that ride was that the world now revolves around politics and how even something as simple as picking a location of an event is all politics. I knew that politics drove governing bodies, events and organization, but he opened up a whole new side on how things work in this world. Being a business man and having to make huge decisions, he is the first person I would trust when talking about how politics drive everything. The main example of the ride was the placement and timing of the Canadian Freestyle Kayak Team Trials in Valleyfield. He was explaining how the governing body does not have to take into consideration how others feel about it and how there is no voting system in place. The real lesson was that to be (and stay) a leader, you must make decisions that most people are alright with. But to be a great leader, you must make decisions that accommodate to everyone, and thats what makes it so hard. 

Other rides included, both of our views on green energy, economics, the Ottawa River, Whistler, Elon Musk, the Grand Canyon, books and the future, some funny, some sad and everything in between. What I will be taking away from Keeners is the work experience, the friends, the kayaking abilities, but most importantly, the wisdom and thoughts that have been brought up during my car rides with Joe Kowalski, the man, the myth, the legend, the visionary, the business man and a quality entertainer.

Thank you Joe. 

How to be a Beater (All of Which I have Successfully Completed): Sabra

• Boof on top of other people's boats because they were in your way and you didn't leave enough space before going down the rapid.
• Lose your paddle while emptying a fellow beater's boat. 
• Look downstream while surfing, flush out of the wave, then proceed to slap yourself in the face (a rule established by the coaches) because looking downstream is practically illegal. 
• Try to get beat down in Phil's hole multiple times, but instead just punch through it (the ultimate beater doesn't even have the ability to get beat down).
• Attempt to hit the splat rock but instead just smash your bow and flip. 
• Blame losing a race on another more capable member of your team on Race day Wednesday (sorry Lorenzo). 
• Portage up to McCoy's shoot then as you get to the stop look down and cringe, realizing you forgot your boat at the bottom of the rapid.
• Have your best ever ride on push button directly before your first competition ride, then epically fail with a whopping five points on your actual competition ride. 
• Try to jump into a pour over hole and fall face first and backwards while simultaneously smashing into some rocks and landing on top of another Keener. I still have no idea whose face got awfully familiar with my foot.

The absolute best way to become a beater is to have moderate skill, yet still be willing to try absolutely anything. I am officially a beater!

keener spelled backwards is try - bella szpala

ok so it's actually reneek, BUT if you change the last e into a c it becomes reneck. if you remove the first two letters of reneck you get neck. you know what's in a neck? muscles. you use muscles to kayak, which is what keeners do. you know what else is a muscle? triceps. if you replace every vowel in tricep with the letter y you get trycyp. now take away the last two letters of this word. you are left with try. therefore keener spelled backwards is try. 

it's super important to try everything you can at keeners. say you've never dropped into phils hole before. keeners is the perfect place to try that. its super safe and you have the best of the best coaching you through it. if you chicken out and don't end up trying to drop in you may never get the chance again. on the flip side if you do try it you might find out how much you love it. better yet you might fail. what do you do if you fail? do you give up completely and never kayak again? no! you try again. 

I cannot count the amount of things I've tried at keeners that I've never gotten to try anywhere else. I've made it my goal to try as many things as I can, no matter how much they scare me, because I know the other keeners and my coaches will be right there to help me do it. after all, I'm a keener, and keener spelled backwards is try. 

Appreciating the Little Things -Finley Melnikoff

My name is Finley Melnikoff, I'm 16, and I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina. I've been paddling since I was 8 years old, thanks to my mom who put me into a boat the minute I could fit into one. Paddling to me has always been about which rivers I could run and not about stopping at one spot to play for more than an hour. Coming to the Keener Program was a big change because we always stop in one place for hours and just surf. Today, we spent 2-3 hours in a wave called Pushbutton trying out new tricks for our competition. I failed a fair amount of the tricks I attempted, but overall the experience of trying them outweighed the failures. Pulling off a new trick really is one of the best feelings in the world. If I hadn't come to Keeners I probably would have missed out on surfing Pushbutton, and in turn, missed out on an amazing learning experience. So thanks to all of the coaches who have helped me stop to appreciate every little thing on the Ottawa River.

Big Water Beatdown THURSDAY!!!!!! by Ethan Frangenberg

         Big Water Beatdown Thursday is a day in which each kayaker is expected to push their comfort zone, either by going into a huge hole, or doing something they have never done before. I found thursday very fun, because the whole group got to either run or get chundered/face surfed in Phil's hole, which was fun to watch and do. We started the day with Stevo making a diagram of Phil's Hole, all the way down to Baby Face (WAAAAAAH!!!). We would be swimming the "thread the needle" line, which is to barely miss sadler's and barely miss Left side Phil's. When we finally came to the river to swim the rapid at McCoy's, I was somewhat nervous about it because Phil's hole was very ginormous, and also sadler's looked scary. However, When we finally swam it, it was more fun than scary. When I went through Phil's Hole, I got tumbled around, and got pushed under the foam pile, so I could not feel anything. I came out cheering and swam to the football eddy. We later ran it and I got to throw a HUUUGE rocket move off of Phil's Hole, which was probably the biggest one in my life.

       The best beatdown(s) award went to Ryan for both quality and quantity. He would see a hole and jump into it regardless of size or shape, with or without a paddle. It was hilarious watching him get beatdown, mostly because of his face:      =O. All in all, Beatown Thursday is awesome!!!!

BIG WATER BEATDOWN THURSDAY by Owen Jaynes

Thursday I'd big water BEATDOWN down. That's when all the Keeners try to push Their big water limits by jumping into every hole we see. Over the weeks we are here this will help us feel more confident in the big water parts and I know it helped me a lot. I feel so much more confident in my boat approaching Challenging obsticals or big features such as Phils hole, lower horse shoe and coliseum. I've learned a lot about water safety and reading the river and a bunch of other useful strategies to get down the river while being safe and having fun. I'm looking forward to the upcoming events and days on my home river.

BIG water BEAT down - Ryan Eckhoff

My name is Ryan Eckhoff and I am from Breckinridge co I have been kayaking ever since I was 10 years so about 6 season (5 years). Living in Breckinridge gives me  3-4 months out of the year to kayak depending on the snow melt. This is my first year being a keener, I have learned so much just in 4 days including a flat water loop, how to air screw, and how to get a awesome beat down in just about every steep and sticky hole. I love big water beat down Thursdays because it makes you and the coaches scared and  excited but also teaches you how to get out of rely sticky holes. There are many sticky fun holes on the Ottawa named satlers, Phil's hole right side and left side and blacks. I find satlers, right side Phil's and blacks to be really sticky and fun. I have also learn how to swim big rapids, swim whirlpools and pore overs and that you can't drop into a wave or hole from upstream if there are people waiting in the eddy. All of this and more makes it fun and safe to learn and do, so if you want to be a really good kayaker you should definitely come to Keeners, it's a program that is 3-4 weeks long and you get to kayak with some of the best kayakers in the world, Dan Jackson, nick troutman, Stephen write, clay write (not related), mathieu dumoulin and kalob grady. These coaches will teach you everything you need to know to be a good and safe kayaker.

Ottawa River beatdown -Zac Cole

Coming from toronto we dont have any white water 40 minutes north of my cottage there's the gull river a glorified creek that's man made and is a 5 minute ride top to bottom with little playspots and many shallow rapids
First day on the ottawa after paddling 10-15 minutes I hit the lorne a rapid that blew me away substantially bigger then anything I've ever seen and alone felt like a beat down after hitting garb I quickly went over and felt disoriented as my kayaking experience consists of hours of flat water perfecting my role I had my paddle in an akward positon and was confused what to do and debated swimming but I pulled my self together and got my role the next day I swam garb and got sucked under for 10 seconds with matheau this was my next beat down the first time i was ever held under water last night I realized I must be in for a lot on to infamous beat down Thursday first part of the day was swimming McCoy's and due to a bad line I swam left side Phils again another beat down I made it down phils another time in my Kayak and kept side surfing until the third time where I caught Phils shot forward and flipped and started face surfing after about 5 seconds I didn't know what was gonna happen and pulled my skirt and that marked my first time swimming on ottawa I learned firstly swimming isn't bad but secondly left side phils wouldnt have held me for much longer so I couldve maybe waited it out.  Anyways it was a fun first official beatdown ever and after I ran the lorne for the first time without needing to role a rapid I almost swam at on monday this big water had a major change on other rapids.

Out on the Line - Ava Christensen

         Thursday we did ropes and knots. One of the challenges was to get a ball from a certain area without touching the ground. All we had was a tree, a rope tied to a tree and of course, the ball. At first we didn't have any ideas on how we could get the ball. Then we thought someone should bear crawl upside-down/climb over to the ball and grab it and come back. The other kids would hold up the rope, but then we realized that this would be to hard to climb there and get back. Then we decided someone could climb a little and everyone moves the rope so they can get above the ball with less effort. We tried holding one kid but he was to heavy and the only kid lighter was me. I wasn't worried at all about making it over but if my hair touched the ground then we failed, no redo's. So I had my hair in a super tight bun. Overall we did complete the challenge successfully.

Introducing Lorenzo Vellutino! Thanks For the Travels and the Stuff

My name is Lorenzo Vellutino. I am 14 years old. I am from Peru, and I am in the Keeners program because of the Juanito de Ugarte Scholarship, which I won.

This scholarship is because Juanito de Ugarte, who was a coach here at the Keener Program passed away two years ago when he was kayaking in Chile. In honor of him, Sandra de Ugarte, his sister, Anna Bruno, Carmen Kuntz, Benny Marr and many others founded this scholarship, which pays to bring one kid from Peru to Keeners each year. This year, I am the winner of this scholarship, and I really really like it.

I was super excited to come to the Keeners Program so that I could learn more and get better at Kayaking. And this is already happening!

So Today, I did my first loop and it was AWESOME! Today, also, we swam a big and huge hole. And when you go there, you go so deep, you feel your ears are going to explode! After that, you need to go up to take some air! After that, we need to go downriver, and there is a big hole. I surfed that hole, and also I did a face surf- and I was there for around 25 seconds. That was so exciting! Face Surf is when you surf a wave upside down with your face in the water.

Thank you to Level Six and Benny Marr, Anna Bruno, Carmen Kuntz, Sandra de Ugarte, Wilderness Tours, OKS Keeners, and everyone who donated gear and money to let me be part of this program! Thanks For All the Stuff! I love it! 

5 ways to get coaches mad : Kaden

This is my second session of Keeners this year and I was slowly watching the other keeners over the first session of keeners as well as this session an and I learnt how to get most of the coaches mad at you in one day.

1 not cleaning your room or hows when asked they will slowly get them mad but there is a down side:  not getting to go kayaking and other keeners will get mad as well because they do get to go kayaking either until everyones space is clean.

2  not showing up to meetings on time over and over again or get out of bed over and over again to get to streching or activities in the morning

3 drop in to waves from up stream and you will get a lecture on how that this rule is only on the Ottawa and no where else

4 being way behind the group and flailing around not trying to catch up you may get told that you should  be with the group

5 trying to get out of picking up the 10 pees of trash at the lunch and that may not let you go kayaking

Its surprising that the coaches have not often gotten that mad at keeners more often!

Why Swimming is Okay - Mark Wilson

     Wet exits are something that while learning to kayak can be very embarrassing and is sometimes shamed. Although a consistent roll is a necessity to progressing quickly in kayaking, I think that swimming should be almost encouraged.

     For a long time I've struggled to get my roll every time in whitewater. The swirling water and rocking of my boat made me very anxious underwater and I would usually swim very quickly. Whenever I swam I would get very angry at myself, think I was bad at kayaking and often I would yell at and criticize myself in the eddy after emptying my boat.

     However, I have realized during the first three days on the river at Keeners that it was all in my head and it was nothing to get angry about. Swimming helps a developing kayaker learn. I strongly believe that as long as a swim is somewhat safe (eg: most of the Ottawa River) and it isn't disrupting other paddlers’ enjoyment of the river (eg: if someone in the eddy waiting to surf something leaves to come help you) a swim should be celebrated. But after celebrating the great learning experience it's important to try again. Maybe go up and run the rapid again. Catch that wave again. And actually learn from the experience and fix what you did wrong last time. Or roll successfully with more confidence.

     Swimming rapids is also something we practice here at Keeners because it is an essential skill.

     And best of all, swimming can be fun. Personally I love swimming sometimes.

     

Overall, while it is usually discouraged, wet exiting is an essential skill that can even be fun. And most importantly, it can be something to be proud of.

It's Ok To Swim- Marlon Andrew

It's ok to swim. In some of my kayaking experiences swimming has been looked down upon. But after swimming twice on my first day, I realized that if I couldn't get up all I had to do was pull my skirt, grab my gear and head to the side of the river. After all three swims I have had, I have gone through and pointed out why I flipped, what iI could have done to change that and why I swam. This process has made me feel better about swimming and I already feel less nervous about running bigger rapids because  I know that most likely the worst thing that could happen is that I swim.

WARNING: Big Water Ahead By Julia Frangenberg ;)

                 I am from Maryland, about fifteen minutes away from my home river, the Potomac. Usually, unless it's in the spring where the river floods, its levels are relatively low and relatively bony. I first heard about Keeners from a fellow Potomac paddler. She said that Keener was a lot of fun and a great way to learn more whitewater. My family and I agreed that this would be a great opportunity to get on some new rapids, so we drove up to Canada.
               
                 My Keeners session consists of almost twenty talented whitewater kayakers. I am the youngest one there, and have only been paddling for approximately two years. As mentioned before, the Potomac's rapids are not giant. In fact, they are rather small. So, I was not expecting the monsters of waves and holes to suddenly be splashing me in the face as I ran rapids. Fortunately, I was able to surf some really neat play spots such as Garb, Baby Face, and Push Button. Since I am used to the Potomac's soupy, 95 degree fahrenheit water, the Ottawa's cooler temperatures were heavenly. Also, the Ottawa, unlike the Potomac, is at least five feet deep on most rapids, so I don't have to worry about ramming my head into any particularly nasty rocks.

                  When my brother first showed me a video of the famous Garburator, I was stoked and have been wanting to surf it since. Thankfully (and unintentionally) I managed to catch the foam pile on Garb when running its home rapid, The Lorne. Some of the other super fun rapids I ran on my first day are Waikiki channel and Norman's, which is my favorite because of its bouncy waves. I can't wait to see what miracles these coming weeks of kayaking on the Ottawa bring!

Legs Out To Lunch-by Cameron O'Connor

        Us Keeners all now how scary Garb Rapid can be!  Most people see Garb and would never even go near this wave, however today we decided to try legs out to lunch.  Legs out to lunch is when the keeners group runs Garb in there in their kayaks with with legs out and spray skirts off.  As you can probably already tell, this wasn't the best of ideas.  Anyway we procceeded on word!  I made it through the entrance of the rapid just fine, but as soon as I hit Garb my boat filled with water, throwing me into an instant stern stall.  This filled the rest of my boat up with water and flipped me out into the river.  As soon as this happened I started swimming the right side of the river with my paddle and boat.  Once i felt in a safe position on the river, i managed to self rescue.  I drained out most of the water from my boat and started for the lunch area.  Unfortunately the Mini Bus Ledge stood between me and the lunch area.  Same as in Garb, my boat filled completely with water and flipped me out into the water.  This time, I wasn't as lucky with the self rescue.  I got sucked away from my boat by the powerful currents, and swam for shore.  After i swam for the shore, i found out that this wasn't the best idea.  I had to barrow one of my fellow keeners kayaks to chase after mine.  Clay Wright was already down chasing my boat, however i proceeded on to help with the sunken kayak.  Finally we got my boat back to shore, and we all enjoyed a great lunch.  From this experience i have learned that it is really hard to paddle through Grab, With Your Legs Out To Lunch!!

Decisions... - Holly Wilson

     So these past few days have been a tiny bit of a struggle... Actually that's a lie. These last few days, although they may have their highlights, have sucked for the most part. I was off the water for 3 days in a row, not for being a naughty child but due to sickness and injury. Day one was due to stomach problems and looking back now I wish that was the worst I had it. The rest were due to a fantastically horrid injury....

     While playing Ultimate Frisbee Tuesday morning I managed to run straight into the cap of the septic tank for our cabins. The tank already sticks out in a very inconvenient manner at the end of our field used for most Keener morning activities. I know for a fact I am not the first one to run into this hazard, many people before me have managed to. I am, however, the first to my knowledge to run at and manage a sprain like this. I ran to knock a Frisbee out of someones hand and my ankle slammed sideways into the electrical box of the cap and then slide underneath it and me.

     Of course it hurt at first, I was running full speed and slammed right into. That alone would hurt, but to also have my ankle roll underneath me like that... Well it was really painful. At first I couldn't put any weight on it and the swelling started immediately. We iced it and gave me some medication but it still hurt like crazy. So, Keener Mom Anna decided it was time for our first trip to the ER this summer, and I was just lucky enough to be the first victim.

My ankle immediately after the incident

     The ER trip was long and boring, but not one I'll soon forget. Although it lasted a about 4 hour and I had to be wheeled around because I couldn't actually walk, it was not as horrible as I thought it would be. The company , Anna Bruno and Matheiu Dumoulin, actually made the trip rather entertaining. The two of them could not sit still for more than 10 minutes at a time, so after being banned from another Tim Horton's trip by the lovely ladies at the front desk they took it upon themselves to learn how to become doctors with all the lovely equipment in my new room. The two of them can now thoroughly tell you if your ears are clean and if your reflexes are working. We can tell you the Anna's reflexes are useless. 

     After receiving the news that my X-Rays came back negative for any fractures (or so they think) we were released with the information that it is just a really awful sprain. Now I was faced with a hard decision, what to do now... Although Keeners is all about making decisions, which line is quickest, which will get me a good beat down, should I take a rest day or not, and many more that impact the experience you have here, this decision was much bigger than the rest. I had to decide everyday if I wanted to go out or not, and in the end, if I was staying for the next session. Of course everyday I wanted to go out, I came here to kayak. There was still a fear though that I would make my ankle worse by going out and cause permanent damage. Although I don't think I made the wrong choice over the past few days, it may not have been the best...