How To Surf Garb Passably - Patrick Kyle

The first time you drop into Garb feels like you get hit by a bus - don't panic, everything will be OK, so long as you edge the right way and don't face plant the rapidly moving water. If this doesn't deter you follow the next couple of steps to place yourself at a confidence level where you can start to have fun and learn some moves:

1) Make sure you avoid the curler coming out of the eddy - the large bubbly, foaming line of "don't go overness." This will rocket you far to river right and you will miss the wave or catch an edge and capsize. Drop in further down to miss the curler.

2) Don't stop paddling, once you're out of the eddy and dropping down, keep paddling towards Moby Dick and the full impact shouldn't overwhelm you. Keep your bow pointing right and lift up your left edge. Now you are off to the side comfortably skipping along the rail.

3) Wait until the top of the foam pile is to your left and carve on top of it - you may flush, but if you don't to begin with, you aren't trying hard enough.

4) Now you are sitting at the top of the foam pile, high up and in the perfect position to zoom down the wave. Lean forwards and your boat will drop down the foam pile and hit the green water. You will probably bounce, maybe get a little air depending, but make sure the face forward the whole time and you should be fine.

5) Point back to Moby Dick and surf out to the right of the foam pile and drop back. Follow steps 3 and 4 again. Repeat until confident on positioning on this wave.

All is set - if you follow these 5 simple steps, you should easily be able to attempt some epic tricks without being frustrated about the set up... enjoy.

Safety on the River by Bryce Aaron

This past weekend we learned first aid and Swiftwater Rescue. What I am going to talk about today is river signs and why they are important.

To start off, there are a few basic river sings that we should all know:

X- Crossing your arms in an "X" means don't come down.

l- With your arms or paddle straight up in the air mean all clear come down.

_-A horizontal line with your paddle mean don't come down too.

When a paddler mean a circle in the air then point in a direction means eddie out on left or right. If it's followed by a number, most likely "1" or "2" means it is a 1 or 2 person eddie.

Whistle blows are also important but vary between groups. 1 is normally look upstream, 2 is someone is getting worked or swam but is ok, and 3 is HELP, eddie out and go help. These calls do vary so it is good to review them before any run.

I hope that these river signals will help you on your next river. As a reminder it is always good to review these signals with your crew before you do your river.

Chasing Glory by Bennett Fleming

Drop edge, paddle out, turn back into the curler, lean in and stroke. Surf.

Eyes upstream, carve out onto the shoulder, look into the foam and drive in. Cycle.

Drop down the wave, takeoff edge, lean back, look ahead of the rotation and bring it around. Air 

screw.

Surf, cycle, airscrew. Glory.

Now do it again.

This year being my third and last year at keeners, I have felt many things. Fear, pain, and regret, to name a few, but the one thing that keeps me coming back is the feeling of glory. Never mind the amazing coaches or the beautiful river, the feeling of pure joy and elation just gets me every time. I remember one of my first kayaking instructors, a former keener. I remember how amazing he was, cartwheeling and looping in the flat water, and I remember his ever so far away goal, to air screw. At the time, it seemed so impossible. To fly and contort in such a way just seemed so distant, but now I know that many things I deemed impossible are now within my reach. With a little coaching and a lot of effort I completed an airscrew, and it felt glorious. I felt it all throughout my body, and I was so shocked at what I had just done, I didn’t even try to stay on the wave. To me, glory is one of, if not the most enjoyable feelings in the world.

But the thing with glory is its fleeting nature. You can chase and nip at its heels, and sometimes take a bite larger than the last, but glory will still elude you. After doing a trick that you’ve perfected over and over, the glory starts to dull. It’s not glorious, it’s expected. So you find new ways of tasting glory, new tricks, new lines, but in the end, glory will still outrun you. 

So that’s it right? We’re doomed to chase a fleeting high, only to be disappointed over and over? Not quite. It may be fleeting, but it’s contagious. When I see someone more experienced or less experienced than me complete something that they’ve been working on, when I see their glory radiating throughout their body, I can’t help but to feel that glory too, and that’s what I love about keeners, and kayaking in general for that matter. I will always be surrounded by people radiating glory, be it big tricks, beatdowns, or big pancakes, and the ever present feeling of joy, no matter how strong, will keep me chasing glory forever.