Whitewater Leadership is the pinnacle accumulation of all the skills required in Sending. The Whitewater Leader paddles with confidence, is safe, and inspires their fellow boater on the water. Every Leader has their own river-steez that develops over time, and every leader has learned something from another boater. Two of my favorite people to lead me down a new class V river are brothers Jake and Matt Risch.Hailing from the Granite State, New Hampshire is well known for its steep burly creeks and rich kayaking history. Jake and his younger brother Matt have kayaked extensively, locally here in New England and internationally in places such as Nepal and Ecuador.
I met the Risch brother my 2nd year teaching Kayaking on the W. Branch of the Penobscot in 2005. Since then I have taken directions from them in eddy’s above huge drops on such class V runs as the Bottom Moose (NY), Beaver-Eagle and Moshier Sections (NY), and the Raquette River (NY). We have paddled countless Maine rivers and creeks together also.
Their attention to the group, calm and easy directions above big rapids, and enjoyment of the fun lines are what inspire me to send it. So, to let them inspire your sending, and I’ll let them talk about the rest.
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| Matt leading Jake in Turkey 2006 |
Tell us a little about yourself and your kayaking
Jake: I started kayaking through the outing club at Clarkson University in Potsdam NY in 1998 during my softmore year. My “instructor” was an upper classmen from Pennsylvania named Joel Bankstra. Joel is an amazing paddler who grew up paddling the Upper Yough and other Mid-Atlantic runs and chose upstate NY for college because of the amazing variety of whitewater there. Unfortunately there was a shortage of Class IV-V boaters in the area for him to paddle with. Looking back on it Joel developed a system within the outing club to quickly identify those with the potential to be a class V creeker and rapidly develop their skills so that he could have partners to explore the Gems of upstate NY. His system was simple: Take the would be paddlers out during the late fall rains or first February or March melt off, on a class III run that would give them a taste of real whitewater. Ensure that everyone had at least one swim in the frigid water (Joel had an amazing ability to clean up a swim, on more than one occasion I witnessed him, from both the cockpit and in the water, rescue both swimmer and boat and paddle simultaneously above a class IV drop). And, finish it off by having everyone hike through the snow back to the car at the put in. Those that came back for a second day of kayaking were then accepted for the fast track school of creeking. Maybe not the best method to grow the sport but a darn effective way to rapidly develop a crew of solid creeking partners
After passing this initiation in the fall and being thoroughly hooked on the sport my buddy Mark and I spent the next two years following the stern of Joels Overflow down the rivers and creeks of upstate NY. We paddled many burly class IV drops before we learned how to roll. The drop pool nature of the rivers, our sense of adventure and Joels ability to clean up a mess was all we needed. I still remember the classic advice: “If you start to feel unstable just paddle harder I’ll see you in the pool at the bottom”
I borrowed a couple of outing club boats that summer and introduced my little brother to the sport in the same fashion. We spent hours on hours at the lake teaching ourselves how to roll and exploring the Class I-IV classics in NH and near our camp in northern Maine. By the time I left college in 2000 I was part of a strong crew of creek boaters in Potsdam NY and had paddled most of the great runs north of the Adarondacks.
After graduation, I accepted an ROTC commission in the Army and was stationed in Germany with a follow on assignment in Italy. Over 4 years living in Europe I was able to paddle the glacier runs in the German, Swiss and Austrian Alps and the Steep Creeks in Italy. By the spring of 2004 I had 60 days of vacation saved up and was at the end of my active duty service requirement. Matt took a semester off of from Johnson State in Vermont and lived with me in Italy. We embarked on a month and a half road trip that took us paddling through Slovenia, Croatia, Corsica, and Northern Italy. This trip sparked our passion for kayaking expeditions. Since then I have participated and/or led paddling trips to Spain, Norway, Turkey, Nepal (twice), New Zealand, and Indonesia.
I have had professional leadership training through ROTC and service as an Officer in the US Army and through Project Manager training in my civilian career. I have also completed a Maine Level I whitewater raft guides course with North Country Rivers and a Heli Ski Guide course with Alaska Heli-Skiing in Haines Alaska. My outdoor leadership skills were first developed in the Boy Scouts where I earned the Rank of Eagle Scout.
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| Matt leads a rescue on the Beaver, NY |
Matt: I grew up in Madison, NH, just south of North Conway in the Mount Washington Valley. My brother Jake and I were skiers from the time we could walk and I spent my childhood chasing him around the ski areas of the region. In Junior High Jake became interested in ski jumping, which meant that I was not far behind. Ski Jumping became a passion for us because it was something that was exciting and fun. We started to compete regionally and as our passion for the sport grew and our skills progressed we both started to compete on a national level, Jumping Olympic sized hills. My main motivation for continuing to progress in the sport was to jump the big hills as that is where the fun was. The biggest hill I jumped was the K120. Jumping off of this hill you would be traveling at an excess of 60 mph at the take off and be in the air for several seconds. It was the closest I could get to flying.
Jake is four years my senior and went to college in 1996. He decided to attend Clarkson University in upstate New York and during his Sophomore year there he met a guy named Joel who was a paddler and needed some company. Joel took my brother and his friend Mark under his wing and started dropping them down some of the classic rivers in the area. When Jake came home that summer he had two borrowed kayaks in tow and began teaching me in the same fashion. We went and paddled rivers just the two of us and mostly we learned by doing. I think we had an AMC guidbook for New England and we ran rivers such as the Magalloway, the Bearcamp, Deaddimond, and the Swift all before we had a roll. It didn’t take too many swims to realize I need to learn to roll. With this as my goal I spent the rest of that first summer teaching myself how to roll. We have a cabin on Shin Pond in Northern Maine and I spent hours a day flipping the kayak over and trying to roll it back up.
After learning how to roll my interest in paddling took hold. Every chance I got I was on the water in my kayak. In college I started to lead people down whitewater. Before then I had just been following my brother and his friends or some of the local paddling community in the valley. In college I was forced to find my own crew so I decided to follow in Joel’s footsteps and found people who were interested and started them on the paddling fast track. I met Jessie Bieluch in the Fall of my freshman year seeking him out because he was the only other person on campus who had boats on the roof of his car. We didn’t paddle together until the next spring when we took a trip to his house in Connecticut. The first thing we paddled was Satan’s Kingdom, which is a short class II stretch of water right near his house. Jessie took the lead because he had done it before, and he promptly dropped over a little pour over and swam. I gave him the benefit of the doubt because it was the first day out for both of us. That night one of his friends from home told us about a stretch of whitewater he knew about on the border with Massachusetts. Based on his description, it sounded really fun to me. The river wound up being the Hubbard, which is a class V creek. We paddled a section we could see from the road, which I later found out you are not supposed to run because it feeds the drinking water reservoir for a town. After paddling the illegal stretch some guys showed up and were doing the actual run. We ended up tagging along with that group and everything went fine, Jesse had to be roped out of one hole but was able to stay in his boat. I didn’t learn until later that Jessie was way above his comfort level on that run. I was blind to his lack of experience because of my desire to paddle hard whitewater. Like myself, Jesse was happy to be paddling with his friends and pushing his limits with someone he trusted. I continued to push him and fellow Johnson State alum Jamie Cover for the next several years.
During my college years I also started to paddle internationally. Jake was stationed in Europe for his four year commitment to the US Army. I took a semester off and lived with him in Italy for three months. During that time we paddled in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and the French Island of Corsica. It was the start of my addiction for traveling and kayaking. Including that trip I have now paddled in fourteen countries on six continents. I am also a level II Maine whitewater Guide and have been guiding on the Penobscot off and on since 2005.
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| Jake sends a Nepali Boulder Garden |
Briefly define what whitewater leadership means to you
Jake: Whitewater leadership has many dimensions. It can be a formal responsibility (i.e instructor, paid guide, club trip leader) or an informal relationship based on ability and level of experience in general or with the specific run. I tend to paddle more in the informal leadership model than the formal model. There are also on river leadership skills:
· Setting Safety
· Scouting / Reading Whitewater
· Passing river beta
· Helping up and coming boaters to make sound decisions
· Talking someone down a river that is just above their skill level
· Managing the pace of the group
And off river leadership skills:
· Logistics
· River Selection
· Group Organization
· Medical / First Aid
· Emergency Situation Management
In an informal setting on a trip you may have multiple leaders who have strengths in specific areas. On the river the boater with the most experience on the run or on the water in the case of personal first descents for the group tends to take the informal leadership role. Sometimes the most experienced boater has to focus in on getting the least experienced member of the group down and let others take over the on water lead. When paddling with a tight crew on a PFD there is less of a formal leader role and more of an overlapping leader role where the 1st paddler gets out and assesses a rapid and passes the beta to the following paddlers. This paddler then sets safety while the rest of the crew runs the rapid. The 1st one down will then probe ahead and start scouting and setting safety at the next drop. The “leader” role constantly rotates through the group at each new drop.
Matt: Whitewater leadership is something that comes with experience and a desire to progress. Leadership is not something I push for, more something that happens naturally. A lot of times while paddling I find myself out front in read and run situations. I personally like discovering the unknown and I like to be the one to pick the lines. I feel like I get distracted from experiencing the river if I am following someone else’s lines. Leadership on the river is not just limited to leading the way down the river, it is also about instilling trust in your fellow paddlers. I think it is very important as a leader to have everyone’s interest in mind on the river. There is a need to recognize when someone is feeling overwhelmed. Leadership is about encouraging people to push themselves without pressuring them to go beyond their comfort level. A good leader will also step back and let other people lead. This is something my brother did for me early on in my boating. He encouraged me to take the lead and make my own decisions. Whenever I would ask him what the line was he would say, “What do you think it is?” If the line I picked was good he would tell me to go for it. I would also ask him if he thought I could run a rapid and his response was always the same, “What do you think?” He always made me make my own decisions and then supported me. I think that is an important thing to be aware of when boating. It is an individual sport with a team component. People need to make their own decisions and live with the consequences. It is not fair to tell people what to do or criticize them for making a bad choice. My brother, myself, and the people we paddle with try to keep a very open flow of dialog when discussing hard rapids. We talk very freely and give our opinions on lines and consequences. Once someone has made a decision that is the end of the conversation and all effort is put towards making whatever the decision was happen. In this way, we make sure that there is no doubt in the decision, because if you have made the choice to run something fear and doubt need to be the last thing on your mind. Making the decision to walk can have psychological impacts on a paddler. It is my habit to never question someone’s motives for walking.
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| Jake and Kiwi Mike Scouting Indo |
When you are leading someone down their personal first descent of a new river, what factors do you consider? What specific skills do you use?
Jake: My general philosophy is to encourage people make their own decisions on the river. I will give them as much information on the general difficulty and hazards of a river before we put on. It is them up to them to decide if they are up to the run. Once we are on the river there are a few methods I’ll use to get someone down depending on their ability level vs the difficulty of the run and confidence that day.
If we are on a run that I am familiar on with a boater that is well within their skill level we will proceed down river discussing each significant rapid in the eddy above. I try to be concise and efficient when describing a rapid. I describe where to enter, any must make moves, and where to eddy out at the bottom. Once the preferred line is clear I will then explain the must avoid spots. I do not try and explain every wave, hole or diagonal on the rapid. The key to good beta is to be clear and concise and give the paddler just enough info to safely run the rapid but not so much that they get confused or can’t remember it all.
If we are on a new river with a solid crew and we get to a spot where we can’t see the next eddy. Generally one person will get out and scout and relay the beta back to the others either by hand signals if it is a less complex rapid or by returning to the group and describing the rapid. This allows the group to keep up a quicker pace and avoid spending too much time scouting and running out of daylight
When we do have to scout as a group, I encourage the person who is on their PFD to pick their own line and then describe it to me. This gets them practice analyzing river features and making decisions. I will then add in my experience, point out a feature they may have missed or recommend a safer or more fun variation to their intended line. I try to develop good decision making on the river rather than blind following.
My general philosophy is that it is always up to the individual weather to put on or run a rapid. Members of the group have the responsibility of giving the paddler the best advice and information about the line, hazards and a frank assessment of the paddlers ability, but it is the individuals choice to run or portage. Once that decision is made it is up to the group to do its best to support the portage or set the best safety for the newer paddler. I never will try to pressure someone to run or not to run a rapid and avoid passing judgment for walking something they could have run or stepping it up and running something that may be a step above their skills.
Matt: Leading people down PFDs is all about judging their comfort level and how well you know them as a paddler and also on a personal level. Paddling with my close friends I can lead them down rivers more freely because I know when they are feeling gripped. If it is someone I don’t know very well I will be a bit more cautious and scout more often. The person being led also has a responsibility to speak up if they are feeling in over their head. Still, as the leader you need to be looking for signs and remember what it was like for you your first time down a run.
When it comes to explaining a rapid from the eddy above or scouting a rapid there are several things to consider. Is there a significant hazard that has to be avoided? If so scout. Can it be explained in three moves or less? If not, scout. For example, enter right, move left across the tongue, and boof off the nose. This is a good simple description of the moves that could be needed to run a rapid. Try not to get too in depth when explaining rapids as it will just confuse people and they may miss the important parts. I had a guy give me way to much info about “Go Left on the Green.” We were in the eddy above and I asked what the line was for running the standard line not the sneak. He started talking and a minute later I decided to run the sneak again because he had given me so much information and I had no idea what the line was. The next time I ran it I asked someone else and they said “Boof off the log going left, continue left across the current, and boof off the nose in the center drop. If you start to flip in the slot at the bottom, don’t fight it.” With those simple instructions I was able to run it cleanly. The first guy was talking about paddle position and number of right-handed strokes and I got lost in all the detail.
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| Matt about to fire up a PFD in Ecuador |
Can you suggest some ways how others can grow and develop these skills?
Jake: First off I think that leadership ability is genetic and you either have it or you don’t. That being said those with the inherent leadership qualities are the ones that seak out opportunities to lead and those without those traits generally do not. So if you even have an interest in leading you probably have the traits required and just have to polish the skills.
For aspiring whitewater leaders the most important thing is gaining experience. Paddle with good boaters you respect as leaders and study the traits that make them good leaders. Also look at group leaders that get you frustrated and figure out what they are doing that you don’t like and can remove from your leadership tool kit. Also develop the rescue and safety skills through self study, swift water rescue training, guide training and/or through mentorship with a more experienced boater. Finally get out and lead less experience boaters down runs you are familiar with, and/or take the lead on a challenging run with a solid group backing you up. The best way to learn leadership skills is getting out front and leading. You will quickly learn what works and what doesn’t. After the run ask the more experienced boaters and those who you led down for feedback and asses what went right and what you can improve upon.
The most important trait for a whitewater leader is the ability to remain cool, calm and collected when the shit hits the fan. This allows you to make sound rational decisions that will save your group.
Matt: Paddle as much as possible and take the lead whenever you can. Paddle with everyone and teach someone to paddle and you will learn a lot about yourself as a paddler. In Nepal Josh Early and I were battling for being lead boat because we both loved the experience of being out front. We were both paddling at the top of our game and it felt right to be out front. We also realized that we were being a bit selfish and needed to let others get that same experience so we encouraged the other members of our group to take the lead and Erin Savage ended up leading the group through a pretty stout class IV rapid which I think was a high point in the trip for her.
When you put on a new river and someone is leading you, what qualities do you look for?
Jake: I look for someone with local knowledge of the run, or if we are all on a PFD solid experience and sound proven decision making abilities. I also look for the ability to provide clear concise directions in the eddy above a drop. Boyce Greer was one of the best at this. I was fortunate to have him and fellow Northeast whitewater pioneer Greg Hanlon lead me down the Taureau section of the Jaques Cartier for the 1st time. The second Class V on the run is called 1st triple drop. In the eddy above Boyce said “this is probably the biggest drop you will ever run blind” and proceeded to give me the best beta I have ever received about a rapid. “Enter left of center and boof the 1st drop heading towards that overhanging rock, turn down river and drive off the next boof river left, paddle over the third drop anywhere but river left is better…meet me in the pool at the bottom.” And with that he was off over the horizon line.
The Taureau builds from flat water up to Class V in the 1st five miles the middle 5 miles is continuous Class V and the last 5 miles gradually lets up until the float out to the take out. It is an intimidating run with a huge reputation in the northeast. On my first trip my nerves were ramping up with the difficulty of the whitewater with the anticipation of the 5 mile crux of the run. The first two Class V’s are 1st Double Drop and 1st Triple Drop. A strong start on those two rapids sets up your confidence for the rest of the run. Boyces beta was clear concise and direct. He gave me enough information to style the drop without wasting words on unnecessary features or information. Based on Boyces directions I stuck the line and found my confidence for the remaining 10 miles of Wilderness River that lay ahead.
Matt: I ask myself, can I trust this person? If the answer is yes, then it’s good to go. It is easy for me to paddle with different people and have them lead me down things because I always know that I can fall back on my own instincts and skill. I can always get out and scout and choose my own line. One should never put full control in someone else’s hands. Following people blindly down a river is fine if they have the skill and you trust them, but as a paddler you should never get into a situation where you are being completely dependant on someone else to make it down a river.
What can you recommend to up and coming whitewater leaders?
Jake: Get out and paddle as much as possible on different rivers with different people. Develop a crew that is your base group but expand your network and paddle with lots of different folks. Get off of your local runs and go out exploring. In order to rapidly gain experience you have to go out and have a variety of experiences. Get out of your confort zone and try new rivers, aspects of the sport, always keep learning.
Matt: Leadership comes from experience. Whether it is your own experience or learning from others it is important to paddle a lot and to paddle with different people. Teach other people to paddle and be humble and open to others’ suggestions. Don’t be afraid to lead.
Please give us some notes on what equipment factors a whitewater leader might consider?
Jake: I try to carry enough equipment to deal with likely emergency scenarios on the river. This list of equipment changes depending on the character, remoteness and difficulty of the river and number of paddlers in your group. Starting with the customary rope, pin-kit and basic 1st aid kit I add in an emergency overnight kit on remote rivers that has fire starter, headlamp, high energy candy bars or food bars. For exploratory creeking I may bring a folding saw for dealing with lumber and longer rope to deal with a mandatory rappel and/or hauling boats out of or lowering into deep gorges. If we are going someplace that medical attention will be delayed or is substandard a more robust first aid kit is appropriate. For each river/trip I go on I try to assess the likely hazards I could face and have enough gear to deal with those hazards and to improvise in the case of a more catastrophic incident.
I try and select gear that has multiple uses. My carry system for the boat contains elements of my pin kit. If you are going to face the possibility of a rappel or having to rock climb out of a river than your throw rope should be rated to hold a fall, Break down paddles make excellent splints and exra-base layers can double as slings for a dislocated or broken arm.
When JB and I were in New Zealand we flew in to the Lower Hokitika a classic class V creek on the south Island. In hindsight putting on that river without a local guide and expecting to get it done in one day was a bit ambitious. We ended up having three major portages that involved scrambling up 1000’ scree fields and having to improvise fall protection and haul systems from our throw bags and pin kits. When we arrived at the third and final shear walled gorge at dusk we decided to stick it out on the bank rather than dropping into an unknown gorge or continuing to portage through the Kiwi Bush in the dark. Having a headlamp, firestarter, extra dry layers and some snickers bars kept us reasonably comfortable as we waited for the sun to come back and certainly kept us out of hypothermia territory overnight.
Last winter Matt and I found ourselves in a situation where we were both out of our boats at the same time on a local class V stretch. Both ropes were in the boats downstream. My girlfriend had to engineer a rescue using only the Cam straps from the truck. Some of the lesson we learned from that incident was one always make sure your bank support (if you have it) has a rope and two that waste mounted throw lines are handy when paddling with small groups on hard whitewater when the worst case scenario happens.
Based on those two incidents I have developed a gear system for remote rivers that keeps, rope, simple pin kit and a very basic forced overnight kit on my body. This gives me the minimum gear I need to improvise in a rescue or survival situation when the worst happens and you find yourself on the bank without your boat
Matt: I think there is a basic set of gear a group of people should have when paddling. The gear is divided into group and personal. Every person in the group should have a throwbag. Depending on the size of the group, they should have two pin kits, (I keep one in my PFD) a good first aid kit, and a break down paddle (for any run you would not want to walk out of). As the group size goes up so should the numbers of each item. A spare skirt isn’t a bad idea either when on multi day trips with little to no possibility of hiking out. Other items to consider are survival gear such as lighters, emergency bivies, and boat repair tools. I have a Philips head screw driver stuck in the pillar of my boat so I can tighten screws as needed. Someone in the group should also have duct tape or a better idea would be some bitchathane (sp?) or roofing tape.
A note on throw bags: Every time you get out of your boat you should grab your throw bag. Never scout without it. You should consider a wearable one. Jake and I ran into a situation where a wearable throw bag would have been beneficial. It was last March and everything had come up super high and we decided to run the falls on the Bebe River in Camton, NH. It was just the two of us and we both ended up swimming. Both our boats got washed downstream and I ended swimming a quarter mile of class IV+ mini canyon and eventually getting to shore. Jake was able to swim to a small island/ice shelf before being washed down stream. Without our boats we had no throw bags to get Jake out of the river. He spent a good half hour in the middle of the river while his girlfriend and I figured out a way to get to him. She had to use cam straps to rappel off trees down the steep bank and then tossed him one end of two of them connected together.
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| Scouting in Norway |
When paddling internationally what kind of leadership is required/ or should be sought out?
Jake: International paddling adds another layer of challenges to the leadership skills already required for river trips. The on-river skills remain largely the same but the off river challenges increase dramatically. Logistics of getting to and from the river, finding reliable river information, language barriers, access to quality medical care, vaccinations, cultural considerations, and trimming your gear to just the minimum you can get on the plane are all additional things that one has to consider on an international trip. Every country is different, padding in Western Europe or New Zealand was much the same as paddling in the states. Nepal has much harder Logistics, and a much lower standard of medical care, but there is a good body of knowledge on the rivers and many professional river outfitters ready to help out. Our trip to Turkey we were lucky to link up with Dave Manby a British whitewater legend, with lots of experience in the area, but other than that there was no fixed whitewater industry. On the expedition to Indonesia I participated in we were totally on our own. We were likely the 1st group of paddlers to try whitewater boating in the Ache province since the civil war ended.
Leadership for international paddling trips starts with research and preparation well before the plane takes off. Once the destination is determined you have to figure out seasons for best water, sources for gear, how you are going to travel around the country and what your medical evacuation plan is going to be in case of an emergency.
In the developed world this is as simple as renting a car, buying the guidebook and finding the whitewater. In less developed countries you may end up using public transportation and/or hiring a car/van with a driver. Using public transportation to get to and from the river changes the way you have to prepare for a trip. When you leave the hotel or camp by public Bus everything you bring with you is going in your boat when you put on. In Nepal it is possible to link multiple day trips in a circuit that is 3-4 days out from your base, you may stay in tea houses or guest houses or camp in between rivers but all you can bring with you is what you are comfortable paddling with in your boat.
In Indonesia the trip leader had been working there for the red cross for three years. He had the opportunity to scout out rivers and had local friends. He sorted out a rental van and a driver who would follow us and provide shuttle.
The choice to hire a local guide and / or outfitter is up to the group and the style of trip you choose to run. For the large volume multi day rivers an outfitted rafting trip is one of the coolest river experiences you can have. Light weight boats, plenty of food and beverages, and a very comfortable camp and the ability to share the river trip with non boaters makes for a great style of trip. Going totally self supported and living out of your kayak for a week or more is also amazing and adds in new challenges and thought processes. The choice is up to the group and the trip organizer to decide. If you are hiring an outfitter it is good to check references and ensure that you are getting a professional river company. There is generally less regulations in developing countries and there are unscrupulous outfitters out there.
I try to at least have a local “fixer” when I am organizing trips overseas, especially in the developing world. A fixer is a local contact who can translate for you and knows where to go for local logistics like transport, camping/housing, cheap eats, ect. A good fixer is also critical if you have to deal with the authorities or an emergency and have to sort out the local medical scene. A local fixer in the developing world will know what areas are safe to travel in and what areas should be avoided
A fixer could be the outfitter or local guide you hire for your group, could be a local paddler you are introduced to through your paddling network or it could be the driver hired for your shuttle van or mini bus. The fixer doesn’t have to be with your group all the time but you should have a way of contacting him/her if the shit hits the fan. The less developed the country is the more important it is to have a fixer.
On our last trip to Nepal this role was provided by, Malia, the owner of GRG Adventure Kayaking the company that outfitted our raft support trip on the Karnali. We had two medical situations on the trip and Maila was able to find a doctor and sterile stitches in a small village in the wild west of Nepal and was also a lifesaver when Matt went down with complications from his Diabetes at the end of the Karnali river. Maila was able to get him checked into a teaching hospital and stayed by his side overnight dealing with the doctors, buying the medical supplies and was able to arrange for a flight back to Kathmandu and western care.
Building a team for the trip is another important factor in international trips. Having people on the trip with medical, climbing, language, cooking or other skills is important. Also the team should have compatible personalities and the trip objectives should be clear to everyone going into the trip.
There is a lot of factors that go into organizing and leading international trips, probably enough to fill a book. The important thing is preparation and setting yourself up with the tools and skills to deal with and improvise solutions to situations as they arrive. Epics are part of international paddling. The important thing is being able to manage the situation and come back to tell the tale!
Matt: Paddling internationally is a whole different ball game. Things you take for granted in the States may be totally different overseas. One very important item to consider when traveling is respecting the local culture. For example, in Turkey we wore pants in town because it is a Muslim country and people there are very conservative and no one wore shorts. Another cultural difference we noticed was while we were watching a soccer match. Jake was sitting with his foot resting on his knee and the sole of his foot was pointed at a gentleman at another table. The man looked agitated and that is when Jake remembered that it is an insult to Muslims to show them the bottom of your feet. We apologized and everything was fine. Still, it is these little cultural differences that can make or break the local perception of the paddling community.
Another important factor to consider is medical care. Unless you are traveling to Europe you should expect that medical care would not be of the same caliber as that of the US. Sterile is a relative term in developing countries. When traveling in developing countries you should do all you can to handle your own medical issues unless it is a matter of life and death. When we went to Nepal we had two medical emergencies. One was a five inch laceration requiring stitches and the other was myself going in to diabetic ketoacidocis which put me in the hospital for five days. Both of these situations could have been prevented. Luckily, in both instances we had people with us who could handle the situation and make sure that the care being given was adequate. We learned a great deal from both incidents and will be better prepared on future trips.
Traveling alone internationally is also something I have done and when you do that you have to be good at making friends. It is best to seek out local knowledge. If there is an established rafting industry that is good place to start. Usually rafting companies operating internationally employ safety boaters so there is good chance that there will be kayakers hanging around. Be ready to offer assistance with a trip pro bono. When traveling to boat it is good to have a plan but also to know that things will change and you need to be flexible and sometimes the best things are the ones you don’t plan. Enjoy the ride and don’t get too worried if things aren’t going as planned. When traveling internationally I look for laid back experienced people who enjoy problem solving. Don’t be afraid to paddle with complete strangers as you never know whom you might meet.
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| Jake on Cold Stream in NH |
Any helpful tips to inspire the next biggest sender?
Jake: Get out there and paddle, explore and have fun. The hardest part is picking a destination and allowing yourself to take off and have an adventure!
Matt: Paddle as much as you can. Travel to a foreign country to paddle. Be humble and honest about your abilities. Know when and where to push your limits and have fun. Kayaking is fun and if it’s not then do something else.
Who do you guys respect out on the water and why?
Jake: I respect anyone who is out there getting after it having adventures on the river. My whitewater influences have been the pioneers of the sport the guys who opened up the rivers here in the north east and/or dared to travel and explore some far off river. Guys like the Kern Brothers, Boyce Greer and Greg Hanlon who pioneered most of the runs in the north east, Hendri Coetzee a modern day explorer, The members of the two Yarlung Tsangpo expeditions who’s expedition has yet to be topped and My friend Dave Manby fom England who in the 70s was part of a group who loaded up a van in London and drove overland to Kathmandu for the 1st descent of the Dudh Kosi from Everest base camp.
I’ll leave it with this Quote from Chuck Kern:
“Running hard rapids is always where the focus will be; that's where it all comes from and that’s where it's all going.”
Matt: There are too many names to mention but the ones I respect the most are the ones having the most fun. We should always remember and learn from the pioneers of our sport. I respect the guys living on the edge because they are showing us what is possible in a kayak. I respect the class III boater getting after it on the weekends with their kids because they are the ones keeping our sport alive. Kayaking is different for everyone and we all have our reasons for paddling. Mine is because it is all consuming. When you are paddling class V that is all that is on your mind there is no room for another thought in your head. You can be totally focused on a single task. That is a rare thing to find.
On the next horizon line?
Jake: We’re working on a project starting up a river rescue team here in the White Mountains and I am always thinking about the next big adventure.
Matt: Why not Send It, World?
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| The Brothers Risch lead a group of 13 down the bottom Moose, NY! |
Thanks Guys! Great information for all Senders out there!
all photos courrtesy of Jake and Matt Risch, and Jeremy Cass.
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