When paddling the Ottawa River you are exposed to big, non consequential, and friendly whitewater. This means you are almost never paddling a rapid which can seriously hurt or injure you. The only rapid which is an exception to this statement is the famous class 4\5 rapids found at the Garvins section of the middle channel. Almost every kayak paddler to ever come across this section makes the well calculated but easy decision to portage the section. However more experienced and skilled paddlers frequently run 1 of the 4 channels. The 4 channels at garvins consist of Elevator Shaft: 4+, Dragons Tongue: 5, St chute: 4, and Wt chute: 4.
I myself have run both elevator shaft and dragons tongue while at keeners and would like to explain how not to run these kinds of rapids (from my own experience)
1. Foolishly thinking that because you have run a rapid cleanly once that you can run it cleanly again with less focus.
Finding myself scouting elevator shaft with a few other Keeners I was not understanding just how dangerous the rapid really is. Having already completed a clean line on it before, I made the mistake of basing every thing i was planning to do on my last run of the rapid. Which by the way was at a completly different level. This can lead you to disaster when a river level can fluctuate a lot causing the rapid to change.
2. Dont let your emotions cloud your judgement.
This is a huge problem especially when running big and hard whitewater rapids. Having already flipped over at the bottom of elevator shaft I was overcome with dissapointment and anger towards myself. Not considering what went wrong i proceeded to run back up to the top and then tried again twice more, tweaking my line and failing. This was a perfect example of me failing to recognize where my problem actually was (in my bracing at the bottom of the rapid) and allowing my emotions to turn myself into a liability on the river which not only endangers me but it endangers my fellow paddlers as well.
3. Not listening to your guide or instructor
There is no greater screw up than not listening properly to what your guide or instructor is trying to tell you. When O kept screwing up my elevator shaft run i was not listening or consulting with my instructors about what i was doing wrong. I was naively thinking it was my line that was screwed up and not anything else. My instructor Kalob Grady (super talented and world renowned paddler) was trying to tell me that it was my lack of bracing at the bottom of the rapid that was causing me to flip over and beater into the rocks and not my line that was the issue. Looking back on it now i was not really listening to what he was saying and was alowing my own judgement of myself to make my fix's instead of an experienced paddler like Kalob who can spot everything wrong with what I was doing.
4. Not asking all the questions about a line before running a class 5 rapid
Running dragons tongue is perhaps one of the most exilerating and most fearful feelings you can have on the Ottawa River. Shooting down a big green tongue at lightspeed into some of the biggest holes you've ever seen makes you understand exactly why its considered a class 5 rapid. When it was my turn to descend the rapid, I did not know that at the end of the huge tongue you needed to boof the hole right at the base. Having no idea the boof was necessary i plugged straight into the hole and took the rockiest and shallowest 10 second beating of my life. This is completely my fault for not taking the time to understand my line completely and looking back now that decision was a very big liability to myself and my fellow paddlers.
Running a hard rapid requires careful consideration in regards to skill and god judgement. This guide does not reflect the worst case scenario when running any kind of whitewater. When running any kind of river, past whitewater experience and a guide is highly recommended. Anyone can run a rapid but having the necessary skills to paddle it is what seperates a skilled kayaker from a ordinary person. I have run both rapids mentioned in the article successfully but I still have a lot to learn when it comes to reading and running big water.
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