Video: Kayaker Drops 35 Meters Over Keyhole Falls

Professional Kayaker Aniol Serrasolses recently traveled to British Columbia, Canada to paddle the amazing looking Keyhole Falls. His hope was to drop this legendary waterway, which features an approach down a narrow canyon, and whitewater that gushes over the falls at more than 3000-cubic meters per minute. The video below captures that 35 meter (114 foot) drop in stunning fashion and from multiple perspectives, including from within the cockpit. Not for the faint of heart, this one will certainly get your heart pumping.

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Video: Mexica Kayaking Vacation

The best way to describe this video is five minutes of pure kayaking porn. It was shot by paddler/filmmaker Ryan McAvoy and friends on a recent trip to Mexico, where they discovered some amazing whitewater. The short film shows the group paddling through narrow canyons, dropping waterfalls, and generally having a great time on some impressive looking rivers. It looks like they had a lot of fun along the way.

My Mexican Vacation from Ryan McAvoy on Vimeo.

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Video: Journey to the Stikine and the Sacred Headwaters

The Stikine River of British Columbia is considered one of the best whitewater destinations on the entire planet. This short film takes us to that amazing place with a group of kayakers who are looking to explore that remote and beautiful destination. But the Stikine is under threat from developers who want to dam the river or mine the landscapes that surround it. The documentary not only shows us how amazing the Stikine is, but also how endangered it is as well.

Journey to the Stikine and the Sacred Headwaters from Mountain Mind Collective on Vimeo.

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Video: GoPro Cam Catches 70-Foot Drop Over Outlet Falls

Ever wondered what it feels like to go over a 70-foot waterfall? If you're a sane person, the answer to that question is no! But, just in case, we have this video to help us experience that feat from the safety of our homes. It features pro kayaker Rush Sturges as he drops over Outlet Falls in in Washington state. At the time the clip was shot, it appears that the river was swelling with the spring melt off, and the water is rushing at a fast pace. Paddling a freezing river over a big waterfall isn't my idea of fun, but I'm glad Sturges had his GoPro along for the ride.

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Video: Kayaking the Verzasca in Switzerland

Here's a fun little paddling video that features kayakers Sam Sutton and Sven Lämmler taking on the wild whitewater found on the narrow confines of the Verzasca River in Switzerland. It gives us a great view of this roller coaster ride through the Swiss mountains. The Verzasca is a mere 30 km (18.6 miles) in length, but it offers plenty of excitement for such a short river. Looks like a blast!

Verzasca from Sven Lämmler on Vimeo.

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Video: Kayaking Kerela, India

Earlier this year, kayakers Sam Sutton, Bradely Lauder, and Mire Kodada traveled to the remote Kerela region of India to explore opportunities to go kayaking in the largely unexplored and untouched part of that country. What they found was some of the best whitewater that they had ever seen, on rivers that few – if any – other paddlers had ever descended. The video below shares some of that adventure, with some amazing footage from this beautiful part of the world.

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Blind Kayakers Wrap Up Grand Canyon Paddle (With Video)

A few weeks back, I posted a story about blind adventurers Erik Weihenmayer and Lonnie Bedwell launching their bid to paddle the length of the Grand Canyon. At the time, the two men – along with their support team – were just preparing to embark on their expedition, which was expected to take about three weeks to complete, covering the entire 277-mile (445 km) stretch of the Colorado River. Earlier this week, they wrapped up that incredible journey, both both Erik and Lonnie paddling the challenging stretch of water.

The treacherous whitewater found inside the Grand Canyon can be difficult to run even for those who have the ability to see the river. For these two blind kayakers, it must have been both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Both trained diligently for the trip, and had lots of experience on other rivers, but their accomplishment is impressive and inspiring none the less.

For Erik, this is just another big adventure that has allowed him to remind the rest of us just what we can accomplish in life, no matter what barriers are thrown up in front of us. As you probably already know, Weihenmayer is the first, and only, blind person to summit Everest. He has also climbed the other Seven Summits, ridden his bike across Vietnam, competed in adventure races, gone backcountry skiing, and more.

Lonnie has a similarly inspiring story. He was Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, serving aboard submarines. He lost his sight due to a hunting accident, but took some time before he started pursuing adventures of his own. Bewell eventually taught himself how to kayak on a lake on his Indian farm, before he started paddling rivers. In 2013, he made a descent of the Colorado in the Grand Canyon as part of team of military veterans.


The team has left the Grand Canyon and are all on their way home now, their mission a success. Congratulations to everyone who took part in this endeavor. It will certainly serve as an inspiration to others for a long time.

To get a better sense of what the journey was like, read the expedition dispatches at KayakingBlind.org. Then, check out the video below, which highlights some of the whitewater they encountered along the way.

No Barriers Grand Canyon Expedition White Water Highlights from Erik Weihenmayer on Vimeo.

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Video: Introducing the Red Bull Ger Get It Extreme Relay Race

You have to hand it to the folks at Red Bull. They sure know how to put together some epic events, and their marketing efforts are second to none. Take for example the video below, which is a promo for their Ger Get It race, which is a relay that demands teams paddle, run, climb, and mountain bike their way across a tough course. This looks like a lot of fun, and combines some of my favorite outdoor activities into one single event.

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Peak to Peak 2014 Expedition a Success!

Back in August, I posted a story about the Peak to Peak 2014 Expedition, an attempt by adventurers Grant "Axe" Rawlinson and Alan Silva to climb the highest mountains in the U.K. and France, while traveling between those two peaks completely under human power. I'm happy to report that they were successful in their endeavor, and had a heck of an adventure along the way.

The two men began the expedition by first climbing Ben Nevis, a 1344 meter (4409 ft) mountain located in Lochaber region of the Scottish Highlands. If you know anything about Ben Nevis, you probably know that there is a popular tourist trail that leads to the top. But Grant and Alan weren't planning on taking that route. Instead, they wanted to go off the beaten path, and scale the North Face of the mountain, which actually requires some technical rock climbing to complete. Unfortunately, a late start didn't allow them the time to go that intended climb however, so they elected on an alternate route known as the CMD arete. This wasn't as technical, but did involve quite a bit of rock scrambling instead.

After successfully reaching the highest point in the U.K., the two men climbed aboard their bikes the following day, and started to ride south. They peddled their way through the Scottish Highlands, past Glencoe Valley, into Glasgow, and eventually across the border into England itself. Their cycling journey continued through the Yorkshire Dales, in and out of quaint little English villages, and includes a fair share of stops at popular pubs along the way.

Eventually, the duo arrived in London, where the next phase of the journey would begin. They had to face the daunting task of crossing the English Channel, which they did by kayak, although there was a hitch. French regulations prohibit paddling across the channel, to Grant and Alan completed most of the journey under their own power, then boarded a support ship to take them across a French shipping channel so that they would be compliant with the rules and regulations. This was a 5-6 mile stretch of water, which prohibited them from making the entire journey under their own power. While it is okay to swim across the English Channel, the French don't want any unseemly paddlers coming to their shores.


Once safely in France, they returned to their bikes and started their ride towards the Alps, and Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe. It took them 8 days to do so, following back country roads, as they were not allowed to cycle on the main highways. They once again enjoyed scenic, pastoral, countryside, along with inviting French villages, good food, and lovely places to stay.

By the time they arrived in Chamonix, and were preparing for their final challenge – a summit of Mont Blanc – the boys were starting to run out of time. They had set aside just 24 days for the entire expedition, and they had been on the road for more than 18 already. They needed good weather, and some luck on their side, if they hoped to complete the Peak to Peak adventure on schedule.

Climbing the mountain would take a couple of days, as they made the ascent in traditional Alps fashion, going hut-to-hut, until they could launch a final push to the top early one morning. A successful summit came later in the day, and Grant and Alan would eventually descend back to Chamonix with their mission accomplished.

I have given you just a brief overview of the journey. If you really want to hear what it was all about, you should read the full account that Grant posted to his website. It contains far more details and good information for anyone who would like to make a similar expedition in the future.

Congratulations to Axe and Alan on competing this adventure. It is a good example of what is possible when you have just a few weeks vacation to play with, but want to do something adventurous, without requiring a lot of money. This is definitely an inspiration to adventurers everywhere.

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Video: Paddling in Africa to Save the White Nile

The legendary White Nile River in Uganda is under threat by the construction of a new dam, which could alter the paddling scene, not to mention the environment, there dramatically in the years to come. In an effort to raise awareness of this situation, two adventurous young women – Mariann Sæther and Nouria Newman – have gone to Africa to run some of the iconic rapids, and to show support for the kayaking industry that has sprung up along the river. An industry that is being threatened as well. The video below shares their story and gives us a glimpse of what it is like paddle the dramatic whitewater of the White Nile.

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Adventurous Couple Paddling to DC to Save Their Favorite Wilderness

Dave and Amy Freeman are quite the inspirational couple. Over the course of their adventures, they have traveled more than 30,000 miles (48,280 km) by canoe, kayak, and dogsled through some incredibly remote wilderness areas ranging from the Amazon to the Arctic. They've also covered some incredible distances on foot too. Last year, they wrapped up an 11,647-mile (18,744 km) expedition across North America, which earned them National Geographic Adventurers of the Year status. With that project behind them, you knew it was only a matter of time before the set out on their next journey, and in late August they did just that. The couple is now on another long distance journey, this time Paddling to DC to save one of their favorite outdoor wilderness area.

Dave and Amy are residents of the state of Minnesota, which is home to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This spectacularly beautiful and remote place is truly a fantastic escape for outdoor enthusiasts looking to get back in touch with nature. Surrounded by the Superior National Forest, it is a fantastic place for a paddling expedition by kayak or canoe. It is also being threatened by sulfide mining on its borders, which could have potentially disastrous consequences for the environment there. 

To protest this mining activity, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act – which created the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness – Dave and Amy have taken on a 100-day paddling journey from those waters, that will eventually end with their arrival in Washington, D.C. All told, they will cover approximately 2000 miles (3218 km) along the way, as they carry their important message about the dangers of sulfide mining along with them. 

So far, they have covered about 160 miles of paddling through the Boundary waters, and have now started to sail across a 200-mile section of Lake Superior. The couple are posting regular updates to their blog, and will be sharing stories from the journey at the National Geographic Adventure Blog as well. You can follow them as they paddle all the way to DC.

The video below explains a bit more about their cause. 

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Blind Adventurers Launch Grand Canyon Paddling Expedition

A team of kayakers that includes two blind adventurers has launched an expedition to paddle the length of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The journey will take them down 277 miles (445 km) filled with some of the most challenging and iconic rapids in all of North America. The Canyon's unpredictable whitewater can make for a wild ride for paddlers who have perfect vision, but for the two men on this journey who lack sight, it will be a completely different experience altogether.

The two blind paddlers are Erik Weihenmayer and Lonnie Bedwell. Weihenmayer's name is no doubt familiar to Adventure Blog readers, as we have been following his preparation for this trip for some time. He is no stranger to outdoor adventure having staked claim to being the first – and only – blind person to ever climb Mt. Everest. Erik's adventures have also taken him to the top of the other Seven Summits, on a cycling journey across Vietnam, and mountain biking and skiing in various locations, amongst other pursuits. Bedwell is a former Navy Petty Officer and submariner who lost his sight in a hunting accident. He too continues his favorite outdoor pursuits, and has already paddled the length of the Grand Canyon in the past. His experience will be helpful to the entire team.

Joining Erik and Lonnine on this journey will be kayakers Seth Dahl, Chris Drew, Steven Mace, Timmy O'Neill, Rob Raker, and Harlan Taney. Each of them has a great deal of paddling experience that will prove invaluable to the expedition as well. The entire journey is being filmed by a production company too.

The team, which consists of nine paddlers, launched from Lee's Ferry yesterday, and will now spend the better part of the next three weeks descending the river. They are attempting this excursion to not only continue to show what visually impaired people can accomplish, but to also inspire others to take on the biggest challenges in their life as well. You can follow their progress at KayakingBlind.org. Good luck to Erik, Lonnie, and the entire squad.

Kayaking Blind Grand Canyon Teaser from Erik Weihenmayer on Vimeo.

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Video: Nouria Newman Makes First Female Descent of Stikine

A couple of weeks back I posted a wonderful video of a team of kayakers running the Stikine River in  British Columbia. In the late summer, and heading into the fall, the Stikine becomes a paddler's dream, with fantastic whitewater to test their skills. Recently, French kayaker Nouria Newman became the first woman to complete a full descent of the river, completing all 45 miles of the descent without a portage. In the video below, she shares that experience and takes us through one of the most iconic paddles in all of North America.

Nouria Newman - Site Zed from Mountain Mind Collective on Vimeo.

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Video: Paddling Panther Creek Gorge in California

Panther Creek Gorge, located on the upper middle Kaweah River in Sequoia National Park is a tough place to get to, let alone paddle. In fact, until this summer, this section of the river had only been run twice before, and no one has been there since 2008. A team of kayakers made the descent earlier in the year however, and brought back some fantastic footage of the amazing whitewater that can be found there. This is a run that only truly experience paddlers can make, but it looks like quite a ride.

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A Kayaking Expedition Through Canada's Torngat Wilderness

Yesterday I posted a story from Canoe & Kayak magazine about Ben Stookesberry's attempt to paddle the legendary Dudh Kosi River in Nepal. That amazing expedition took place this past spring, but it isn't the only adventure that Stookesberry has been on this year. In July, he set out for Quebec, Canada to explore the remote Tomgat wilderness, a place that is largely unvisited and unexplored, even in the 21st century.

Calling his latest project Destination Tomgat, Stookesberry set out on the journey in early July on what promised to be a two-month long expedition. Along the way he has been joined at various times by an exceptional group of paddlers, including Pedro Olivia, Erik Boomer, Ben Marr, and Chris Korbulic. 

Olivia joined Ben on a 480-mile paddle along the George River, which leads into the ultimate prize, the Tomgat Mountas. They found some epic whitewater on the tributaries that lead to the George, including dropping some big waterfalls on the Nutillilk River, and making just the second descent of one 25-miles stretch on the Ford River as well. Along the way, they put their Jackson Karma UL kayaks through their paces, finding them to be surprisingly versatile for hauling gear, and handling more challenging water conditions.

After that exciting start to the journey, Stookesberry and crew had planned to catch a floatplane to the Torngat Mountains, but poor weather prevented that from happening. Instead, they the crossed 65 miles (104 km) by powerboat, then traveled overland to reach the Nachvek River. They spent the next portion of the expedition paddling that mostly unexplored waterway as well, making the first full-descent of the 18 falls that make up the Nachvek, and passing through the mountain range in the process. 

So just how remote is the Torngat wilderness? Consider this. The team has been operating more than 700 miles from the nearest road throughout much of the expedition. In fact, the region is the largest roadless area in the northeastern section of North America, which could have caused all kinds of problems if the team ran into any kind of serious trouble. Canoe & Kayak says that the wilderness will soon be made into a national park boasting a caribou herd made up of more than 200,000 animals. Many of the rivers found there have yet to be explored completely, and there is whitewater in abundance for those who actually have the means of getting there. In short, it is a pristine, almost untouched, wilderness for modern day explorers to wander.

The video below will give you even more of an idea of what this expedition is all about.  The team is expected to wrap up their journey within the next few days. 

Destination Torngat - A journey into the Labrador Wilderness from Ben Stookesberry on Vimeo.

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Kayaking the Relentless River of Everest in Nepal

Canoe & Kayak magazine has posted a remarkable story on its website detailing an amazing paddling expedition that took place in Nepal earlier this year. This past spring, expedition kayaker Ben Stookesberry was joined by Nepalese paddler Surjan Tamang, on a journey to explore the Dudh Kosi River, a legendary stretch of water in traces its origins to Mt. Everest, but over the years has carved out an identity all its own.

Back in 1976, the river was originally explored by a team of British paddlers, who brought back an impressive amount of film that they shot while on their expedition. That footage eventually became the basis for the adventure film Dudh Kosi: Relentless River of Everest, which has gone on to become one of the more legendary kayaking movies of all time. The team of six Brits traveled to Nepal to take on the river, which at that point had been totally unexplored. They were pushed to their absolute limits, as the raging rapids, impenetrable gorges, and impassable rocks tested them at every turn. The team was forced to abandon their attempt to run the entire length of the Dudh Kosi in Lukla, the starting point for the trek to Everest Base Camp. There was far more river to run below that point, it simply was too dangerous to go any further.

But that is exactly where Stookesberry wanted to go, and he needed some help from Tamang to continue his exploration. The two men dropped into a 130-foot gorge on their first day, leaving behind their only climbing rope on their first rappel into the valley. Without a rope, they would have to trust that there would be other places to exit along the way, but that meant also braving a river that was raging well beyond Category V rapids in a canyon that didn't allow satellite phone reception, and would make a helicopter rescue impossible.


For five days, the two men made their way down river. They learned early on it was best to portage around the more dangerous sections – that is when they could find a place to portage at all. Tamang attempted to run a gnarly section of the river on the first day, and ended up flipping his boat, becoming lodged in a crack, and losing his paddle in the process. That taught them to respect the river very quickly, and caution became the better part of valor moving forward.

As they descended, Stookesberry and his companion discovered a river like none they had ever seen. In some points it dropped more than 800 feet over a mile, and passed through gorges with rock walls that towered high over head. Boulder, often the size of tall buildings, chocked their path, and the rushing waters were continually pushing their skills to the limits. Over the course of the five that they spent on the water, they managed to cover just 10 downriver miles.

Reading this story from C&K was incredibly interesting to me, as it was once again a reminder that not all of the blank spots on the map have been filled in just yet. There are still plenty of places that are prepared to test the resolve of any humans who dare explore their depths, but thankfully there are also explorers who are still ready to press ahead with that challenge. The article wraps up by saying that Stookesberry intends to return to the Dudh Kosi in the future, and hopes to explore it more fully. He is also hatching plans to paddle the Tsangpo in Tibet, which is the ultimate prize for an expedition kayaker for sure.  I'm looking forward to learning more about both of these expeditions in the future.

For an idea of what the Dudh Kosi is like, check out the video below. It is a teaser for the film that the British expedition made back in 1976, but conditions there remain mostly unchanged today.

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Video: Paddling the Stikine River in British Columbia

The Stikine River, located in northern British Columbia in Canada, is one of the top paddling destination in North America during the fall. Each year, kayakers from all over the world descend on the Stikine to test their skills on the wild whitewater found there. This short film follows one such team, which visited the Stikine for the first time in the fall of 2013. The footage they captured is excellent, and it seems that the river lived up to its reputation.

Stikine Season from Adrian Kiernan on Vimeo.

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