To send or not to send By: Emmett Jaynes

When faced with a difficult decision to run a challenging rapid one would have to look over all the consequences and or the risks  when analyzing a rapid. Some of the things that I like to consider are the following:

Hazards: When one is looking over a river they need to pay attention to all the hazards like boils, whirlpools, rocks, and shallow areas. These are all put in to perspective to come to a final decision of if the rapid is safe or not, and where the best line will be to avoid any hazards. 
Safty: Scouting a river is not always to look for hazards it is also good to find areas to set up safty when needed, or find fun lines to try. When looking for a place to set up safety, one would look for an eddy or an open area where there is good footing and a safe area for you to be in and so you can help a person who is in need. It is important to find a spot that doesn't put you in any danger.

Physical abilities: One you look over the rapid, ask myself if they are physicaly able to run the rapid. if you are confident in running the rapid ask yourself if have taken over all the risk you would normally think you can do it.

Can you send it or not: if you are completly confident and you have thought of all the possible ways your run could roll out to be, then by all means SEND IT.
If the Rapid is a bit out of your confort zone:  I myself would still think even if the rapid is so far the hardest you might ever do, you need to push your limits to progress yourself in the kayaking world, you need to challenge your self by doing things you would not think of ever doing, but you want to do it safely.

Times Fly - Brooks Botta

It's hard to believe that so much time has already! The halfway mark for Keeners has officially past, but it seems as though I have only been here a few days! Over the past few weeks, I have developed many new tricks, and increased my river prowess through swift water rescue! But, just as importantly, I have cultivated many friendships. Through many groans in the weekly morning Yoga sessions, to cheers as you are finally able to nail a trick after numerous failures; the comradery grows quickly. The Ottawa is an amazing river and allows you to develop very quickly as a boater. My kick flips are becoming more consistent and the blunts are finally making sense! 

Even though swift water rescue class may sound like a drag, it is unbelievably fun, and allows you to protect yourself, and friends on the river! One of my favorite activities has to be the "Log Game"; a log is put in a narrow chute that can be quickly removed in order to confront Keener's with scenarios that may make them uncomfortable. Keener's then swim the chute and attempt to swim over the top of the log. Over the course of the event, we were clotheslined by the log numerous times to the giggles of other students while some managed to swim over to the shock of others! I am grateful to say that I have spent these days at a wonderful camp with great friends! 

Brooks Botta 

An exterior skull - James White

If you have ever hit your head while going down a rapid, you have either not been wearing a helmet or, you have not been wearing it properly. So, for my "How to" blog, I've decided to tell you how to properly wear/put on a helmet.

• Step 1: Put the helmet on your head.
• Step 2: Adjust the straps on the back of the helmet so that you can shake your head without the              helmet moving.
• Step 3: Put on your chin-strap located below your chin.
• Step 4: Adjust the chin strap until you can no longer put a finger between the strap and your                    chin.
• Step 5: Shake your head (If you have done this right, then your helmet should no longer shake).
• Step 6: Go kayaking (Assuming you have all of your other equipment on).

Now that you know how to wear your helmet, you can go out kayaking with slightly less worry about hitting your head on a rock.

Trust: By Sarah Eadie

My final speech on Monday night included a farewell speech and a topic
on trust. I enjoyed given this speech and thought that maybe I could
share some of my thoughts through this blog post.

What is trust?

Trust is both and emotional and logical act. Emotionally, it is where
you expose your vulnerabilities to people, but believing they will not
take advantage of your openness. Logically, it is where you have
assessed the probabilities of gain and loss, calculating expected
utility based on hard performance data, and concluded that the person
in question will behave in a predictable manner
We feel trust. Emotions associated with trust include companionship,
friendship, love, agreement, relaxation, comfort.


why is it important to have trust on and off water?

having trust on the water is a huge component to being able to have
confidence and be successful when kayaking. without trust there is no
way an individual will be able to push past boundaries and progress to
a higher comfort level. when learning how to kayak, many of us are
hesitant to sit in a confined boat that could most likely tip at any
second. we are mentally wired to panic in any situation where we can
not breath, and this is exactly what happens the first few attempts at
roals or even wet exits. But when we can trust that someone more
experienced and capable is near by, ready to help us, it is easier to
put our trust in that person and know that our safety is theyre top
priority. inexperienced and experienced kayakers alike need to have
the ability to trust there fellow kayakers. whitewater is exciting but
at the same time it can be dangerous. there will most certainly be
times where you need to put your trust and in some cases your life
into another persons hands. Some situations cannot be solved single
handedly and you will need help.Even when practicing or performing a
new skill, kayakers need people they can trust to help in case of an
emergency, these people need to show that they are trustworthy and
committed to whats expected of them.

Trust is the foundation of any type of relationship, without it there
is no way one can fully learn about someones life or someones intent.


how can it affect your confidence in the group that you paddle with?

being able to rely on everyone around me, to ensure my safety in the
event that something goes wrong is a huge test of trust.Ive learnt
that I swim ALOT and because of this I know that my group of fellow
keeners and instructors are ready to help me out in any way possible,
whether its making sure i'm not hurt, towing my kayak back to shore, or
making sure all my equipment is accounted for. A great example of
this trust is the hand of god.once you realize you are unable to roll
( wether its because you've lost your paddle or the rapids just too
strong) there is always the choice of swimming or waiting for a hand of
god.Last week I was paddling down the Lorne and flipped, i wasn't able
to roll but I also didn't want to swim.moving down stream, upside down
and confused, I held my breath and hoped that someone would either t
rescue me or hand of god me. It felt like forever but I had the trust
that someone would come help.

Our Awesome Keener Group

In my opinion trust is the key to success on and off the water. I have
learnt this along with so much more, through this session. I love
Keeners and will forever remember the people and experiences, i have
met and made.

I'd like to thank all the coaches that have been with me through the
ups and down. i'd like to thank my parents for allowing me to have
such an amazing opportunity. And finally i'd like to thank all my
fellow keeners, who have made these past weeks amazing even if I was
the only girl.

Keep Calm and Paddle On (by David Koyrakh)

Hey! David Koyrakh here, for my Week 2 blog post.

Last weekend was this session's first weekend at Keeners, which means we got to go free paddling! Since we didn't have to take First Aid on Saturday some friends and I decided we'd run the main channel. After about an hour of bothering people Jahn and I formed our river squad: Jacob, Maddie, Jahn, and me.
One thing to note is that it was raining on and off for a few days prior, so the water level was rising.
...No, it was skyrocketing.
But we didn't realize that until we passed McCoy's, where all of the familiar rock islands were not so familiar anymore. Everything looked different, and then it hit us: the water level had gone up.
At first we were excited, more water means more fun!
But then we got to the lunch site and learned that the gauge was at 5.5, compared to 4.25 in the morning (which is a lot considering it was 0.5 all week beforehand). And it was still going up!
Someone in our group (not gonna name any names) started freaking out.
"We gotta turn back!", he cried.
"Lets get Devyn to pick us up!", he screamed.
"I need an adult!", he whined.
But the rest of the group wouldn't hear it. We managed to calm our buddy down after about 20 minutes, with our final compromise being that we would scout every rapid and portage if needed.
So on we went.
We Paddled.
And we Kept Calm.
And everything went smoothly until we got to Colosseum, which looked huge (at this point of our trip the river was at about 6). We scouted for a little while, and then Jacob, Maddie, and Jahn ran it with no problem. I decided that I`d paddle out to the far right side and avoid the juice, the flesh, the action, of Colosseum rapid, and all went well. The trip was a success. We had a blast.

Moral of the story, if you are already on the river and things take an unexpected turn, assess your situation.
If it is safe, what do you do?
Keep Calm, Paddle On.

Nicole Week 6

Alright Keeners! Its been a great first two sessions but its time to move into a new session and it’ll be great you’ll love it. Though it has been sad to see the Keeners that we have grown close with from session two go I am really looking forward to meeting the keeners who are arriving for third session. As I am already talking to you about how sad it is to see the keeners from last session go yet happy to see the new keeners come I am going to touch on something that is often overlooked in the blogs, rather than talking about our week and what we did every day and how amazing the kayaking is; I am going to talk about the physiological aspect and friendship building that goes on in Keeners.

As you know here at Keenerville we are thrown together in houses (Yakistan, White House, Robertson’s, and Istanbul) without knowing each other and suddenly you are expected to share a room with a stranger, and a bathroom, kitchen and common space with six. Not only that but you are expected to share the chores and food, all of these things present challenges as sometimes the people you are living with may not be the type of people you would become friends with at home. I feel like this is one of the most amazing parts about the keener program, you get to meet all of these amazing people who you may never have talked to had they not come to this program the main basis of conversations being kayaking at first then you begin to realize that you actually have something in common with this person who you met a week ago. I have personally seen these friendships bring people out of their shells and make them more comfortable in a social environment.

Scouting at McCoys

The best part of all of the friendships you make at Keeners is that they carry over into everything that you do and it gives you connections world wide for example, in first session I met two people from Norway and two people from Costa Rica, then second session someone from Switzerland with both sessions having multiple keeners from across North America. This is amazing because now I have people to call who may be able to lead me down new rivers and I already have trust in them and know their skill level so it is better than having a stranger lead me down the river.

Thanks for listening

-Nicole

Nicole Dannecker Week 6 Blog

Playing the game of "war" as part of a morning activity.

Hey everyone its Nicole again here with my sixth week keener blog! Its hard to believe that it is already the beginning on the last week of second session I guess its true when they say time flies when you’re having fun, especially since our amazing keener mom Anna Bruno helps us make the most of our keener experience both on and off the water by giving us solid advice and planning extra activities for us to do such as our Wal-Mart/Movies trip or taking us to the Beachburg fair this past Friday. Keeners would truly not be the same without her in the family. Then there are our amazing keener coaches Clay Wright, Tyler Curtis, Devyn Scott, Claire O’Hara and Stephen Wright, unfortunately Stephen and Claire will be leaving us this week. I for one have learned so much from them and I hope to paddle with them again one day! The coaches are one of the reasons that this program is so truly unique, they are some of the best paddlers in the world and they are able to relate to us when teaching us tricks whether it be getting a loop, or trying to get onto a wave that you can't seem to catch. They push us to strive to do our best and I have never achieved more in my kayaking career than I have this summer under their guidance and assistance.

          Though there are many challenges while in this program from the physical challenges such as paddling every day for three weeks to the mental challenges such as the Monday night speeches I could not think of a better way to spend my summer! The encouraging environment that surrounds all of us while we are here makes it easy to try new things or get up and speak in front of all of the keeners that you have only known for a couple weeks and feel comfortable and confident. The keener program is truly the experience of a life time and I am truly grateful to all of the people who made it possible for not only me but the other keeners to come and have this experience. 

Week #2, Post #2!

Hi guys, Jarand writing!

This have been one of the most awesome weeks in my life. This life is a dream life; kayaking all day, eating restaurant food, and social evenings! A good variant of the principle eat, sleep and paddle! I am really recommending OKS keeners!

Scouting Iron Ring our first BWBDT

This day has been incredible; bigwater beatdown thursday is really a bigwater beatdown day! We started the day with Swift Water Rescue, which is super fun, and also very important when you are on the river. We paddled down to the Lorne and ate lunch when SRT was done. Then, after lunch started the real BWBDT. We paddled down the rapids against coliseum, were we went out of the kayak to scout. That was the first time I saw the wave Kaihuna big! It was ENORMOUS! We were told that we didn't had to paddle down this big rapid, but everyone had to swim it! There were mixed feelings in the group, but this was a challenge many finished very well. All swimmers came down safely. I was full of adrenaline, and I thought that this highlight of the day. I was wrong.

We went up to our kayaks again, and we could choose how we wanted to run this rapid. Me and 4-5 other keeners paddled down into the eddy next to Kaihuna. We decided to surf it. Matt rode it first. It was incredible. After Matt
came Canon, and then me. It is definitely the biggest wave I've ever surfed. It was probably not the longest surf but it was intense! We were all very exited. It was the greatest day of the session so far, definitely.

Last blog next week!
Jarand

Greyson's Final Week

So as the final week begins, the water levels continue to drop here on the Ottawa. This session has had incredible water levels starting all the way up at about 15 with waves like Mini-Bus dropping all the way to about 1/2 today allowing Push Button, Baby Face, and Corner Wave to come in. This session has allowed us as Keeners to experience many different features on the river and experience many different things, from the steeper, creeky lines at Garvins chutes, to hole surfing at Warm Apple Pie and wave surfing on features from Mini Bus to Corner Wave.

Giving the Thumbs up as I get ready to Swim at the Lorne
for SRT training. I opted to refresh it because I had
so much fun last year. 

It's pretty disappointing to only have one week left at Keeners this year but hopefully Garberator will come in. I'm super excited to continue to try and learn how to blunt in addition to other flat water tricks. Overall this has been an INCREDIBLE experience at Keeners this year by allowing us to get comfortable with big water and then apply those skills to features that come in at lower water levels as well as other home rivers. I'm definitely planning on using the skills I've learned and applying them as I push myself on harder rivers at home.

Thanks for reading,
Greyson

Nicole's First Blog of Session 1

Hey everyone its Nicole Dannecker here. It has been a great first week here at keeners and a great beginning of what I’m sure will be an exciting three weeks of kayaking down the Ottawa. I don’t know what else I can say other than the coaches Devin Scott, Tyler Curtis, Joel Kowalski, Juanito De Ugarte, and all the other keeners are great! They are very encouraging and we are growing into one big happy family, well something like that at least.

This weekend we had our first aid course for us keeners who haven’t taken it yet, and while yes it is a bit boring, it is very reassuring to know that everyone we are paddling with has the ability to take care of anyone should anything go wrong.

Running Little Trickle Rapid

 I am really excited to take on the second week with our new head coach Steven Wright and take on all of the challenges he has to offer. The last thing I have to say is that I am so grateful to my parents for getting me started with kayaking and sending me here and most of all listening to my excitement about all of the rapids here and the keener camp and also to our keener mom Anna Bruno for taking care of us and giving us advice on and off the water!

Alex's first blog

Hey!

Contemplating the line at Little Trickle 

My name is Alex I am 14 years old and am from Ottawa Ontario. I started this wonderful experience about a year ago on the Ottawa river.  As soon as I had my first day on the river I fell in love with kayaking. I'ts all I could talk about for months.  Although I didn't have much time last year for kayaking, this year I decided I was going to take advantage of the high levels and join the Keener program.  Since it was my first year in Keeners, I thought it would be really awkward but I was wrong, everyone here is so nice and is so helpful! Being a keener is by far the most fun I have had in a long time!  Between beat down day Thursday, race day Wednesday, and competition day Friday I think its safe to say I could stay here forever.  I'm really looking forward for the next 2 weeks and I hope its sunny and the water levels stay high.

Bye everyone!

Matt Smith First Blog Post

My name is Matt Smith and this is my second year as a keener. I am from Asheville, North Carolina and I really came to keeners for the instruction and size of the rapids. I have not been disappointed. 

Today started out like any other with a run and an ab workout. We ate breakfast, cleaned up, put our gear on and did our routine warm ups. We then split up into two groups, one of which ran the middle channel while the other ran the main channel. I decided to run the main channel to get a chance to surf Buseater. In total I got 5 runs on Buseater, 3 of which I stayed in long enough to throw some tricks. We then floated down to Butcher’s Knife and played in the whirlpools. By playing in the whirlpools I mean paddling into them, spinning around a bit, and then if you’re lucky you completely disappear and pop back up downstream. We then went down to Coliseum, scouted it, and ran a sick route down the center.

 All in all, this was one of my best days on the river and I’m pumped up to do some more!

Race Day Wednesday By Canon Shaw

Hi my name is Canon Shaw and I am 16 from Ithaca New York. This is my second year at Keeners and its only gotten better since last time. Ive been kayaking for about 3 years and have kayaked all around the South Eastern US, Colorado and here on the Ottawa river. Wednesday Race day was today and it is one of the days where we specifically focus on our down river racing skills and techniques, starting with our basic strokes and through out the day moving up to an actual race where we competed in heats of four to 6 people at a time. All in all it was a very fun and Adrenaline filled day on the water here at keeners.

Vincent- Week 1

Hey this is Vincent from CT. This is my first year at keeners and I am loving it!  On monday we went down the middle channel. It was great because the level was at 14 feet. Tuesday we went down the same channel and I had the opportutinty to run Little Trickle. It is a little technical rapid that is a lot of fun. We did some surfing on Angels Kiss, which is a smooth glassy wave. Over those 2 days I have been working on my blunt and trying to double pump my bow. I am making progress each day with the amazing coaching I am lucky to have. Today was Race Day Wednesday. Our race was on Lower No Name, which is the last rapid on the Middle. We all had a great time. I managed to get 5th in the B finals in the race and hoping to progress next week with racing. Lets see what rest of this week brings and have some intense beatdowns for big water beatdown thursday.