UMOC Whitewater Kayaking and Canoeing

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Calendar - Trips & Pool

River Trips

Lessons

Pool Sessions

Leaders

Become a Leader

Movies!

Links

What is Whitewater Kayaking?? Top

UMOC paddler Chris Ledoux in Pushbutton rapid on the Ottawa River, Beachburg Ontario, Canada

Welcome to the UMass Outing Club's Whitewater Kayaking group!! Do you think you would be excited by getting into a little plastic boat and playing in it in whitewater river rapids? Who can try it? Anyone!! Where and when? At a UMOC pool session or on a beginner whitewater kayaking trip! Give it a try and let us help you catch a glimpse of what it's like!

Front surfing, back surfing, stern squirts, flat spins, movement abeam, cartwheels, wavewheels, freewheels, splitwheels, bow stalls, stern stalls, loops, blunts, Pan-Ams, McNastys; these are some of the things you can learn to do in a whitewater kayak. "What is a whitewater kayak and what the heck are all those things you just listed??"

There's plenty of information, pictures and videos on the web that show lot's of different things called kayaking. Spend some quality time downloading and watching the videos UMOC members have made of some of their paddling adventures over the last several years. You can find them in the Movies! link from the menu, above. Wikipedia also has some nice pages about whitewater kayaking. Be ready though - some of what you find makes whitewater kayaking look difficult and advanced. While you can definitely aspire to the most exotic levels of paddling in UMOC, there's a lot of different rivers and experiences out there to be had. We have some right here near UMass! Whitewater kayaking encompasses a whole continuum of challenge and intensity. It can range from calm, barely moving water to the big, (scary??) looking, exciting stuff of huge waves and dizzying waterfalls you see in flashy movies and videos. One of the best things about whitewater kayaking though is that you can pretty much choose just what level of challenge you want because there are so many different rivers all over and they are all unique.

UMOC paddler Ryan Shackleton in Garburator rapid on the Ottawa River, Beachburg, Ontario, Canada

In UMOC we start at the beginning with safety and the basics. The goal for everyone is to have fun and have the opportunity to progress toward whatever kinds of paddling they feel comfortable with and enjoy! Many of UMOC's whitewater kayakers are play boaters these days. Some creek boating also finds it's way into our experiences once in a while too.

We are always looking for new members to share the fun with, playing in moving water in amazing little plastic boats!

River Trips Top

It's hard to describe just how much fun and satisfaction whitewater kayaking river trips can be! Beginner river trips are often done on the Fife Brook section of the Deerfield River in Florida, Massachusetts. That section of river provides great conditions for trying a whitewater kayak in moving water for the first time. It offers many good spots to try out basic skills on moving water that we've practiced for at the pool or the local pond.

UMOC paddlers at the Ball Mountain Dam outflow on the West River, Jamaica, VT

After a few trips to Fife Brook many people are ready to start trying some other local rivers. Every river offers it's own unique features and fun! Slowly but surely each person figures out her or his pace for learning how to use and enjoy their boat. That includes things like rolling back upright in moving water, identifying river features, how to negotiate (or play with!) them and how to safely navigate the river from beginning to end.

As people progress, more fun and excitng possibilities open up. There are numerous rivers, and exciting features on them which are within easy driving distance of Amherst, Massachusetts. Some are as nearby as 15 minutes away (The Connecticut River, with spring-time runoff) and some as far away as 10 hours of driving, like to Ontario, Canada in the summer. You can be sure that if we are driving 10 hours to go paddling that the adventure and fun is WELL worth it! Most rivers we paddle are within 45 minutes to and hour and a half away. There's half a dozen or more in that category and they are all different and fun as well. Some of the paddling at all these different places that club members go can be seen on the club's Movies! page.

Finally, river trips are a lot of fun just because of all the good times you have hanging out with your fellow paddling friends! Not to mention that over time you usually get to know lot's of fun and tasty restaraunts all over the place too!

We ask everyone to signup for river trips ahead of time. Signup sheets are posted in the Whitewater Kayaking section of the club's online message board.

Here are some pictures from our river trips:

   Random Kayaking Trips
   Wave-O-Saurus 4/16/07
   Swift Water Rescue

Lessons Top

Lessons are taught as part of pool sessions and river/outdoors paddling trips. UMOC emphasizes safety-consciousness in all it's activities. Whitewater kayaking is no exception. The club bases it's approach to teaching and participating in whitewater kayaking activities on the guidelines of the American Canoe Association (ACA). The ACA is a national, non-profit organization that operates to promote safety in all paddlesports. UMOC's whitewater kayaking leaders are club members who are ACA certified Whitewater Kayaking Instructors. Whitwater kayaking assistants are club members who are working to become leaders by helping existing leaders with teaching at pool sessions and on river trips. Everyone works together to have fun while staying focused on safety and learning good decision making and judgement skills. Our goal is for everyone to learn how to be safe and skilled whitewater paddlers. The more people that do, the more paddling and fun we can all have!

Leaders & Assistants Top

UMOC's goal is to recruit new paddlers and teach them how to be safe, have fun and become skilled! And to keep that tradition going for future club members! Our whitewater kayaking leaders and assistants are the people making that happen. To teach paddling, it's important to be able to handle yourself comfortably and competantly at the level of challenge involved. UMOC requires leaders and assistants to be certified by the ACA or work with a UMOC instructor who is. The ACA certified instructors, in conjunction with the other leaders and assistants, know how to teach safety, skills and fun. Together these are the people who introduce new club members to the world of paddling and help others develop into assistants, leaders and instructors.

Our Leaders & Assistants...

Resource Area

Access to the resource area is given to actve whitewater kayaking leaders and assistants. It includes information such as policies and procedures for club-organized whitewater kayaking activities, access to club equipment and it's care, and information from gear manufacturers and vendors. Please contact the whitewater kayaking activity chairperson with any questions.

Pool Sessions Top

UMOC paddler Hosanna Lillydahl helping a fellow club member learn how to roll

The comfortable environment of an indoor pool is an ideal opportunity for seeing what it feels like to sit in a whitewater kayak, in the water! You will also be taught how to safely get yourself out of the boat when you flip upside down. If you feel like going further, after that you can continue on to the next trick - working on learning how to roll your kayak back upright without having to get out of it! Are you already a novice or advanced whitewater kayaker? Come anyway and practice, play and have fun!

We ask everyone to signup for pool sessions ahead of time. Signup sheets are posted in the Whitewater Kayaking section of the club's online message board.

FIRST TIMERS CAN ONLY BEGIN AT THE THURSDAY NIGHT SESSIONS, when we teach for that. Once you've attended that lesson you can come to all subsequent sessions.

Normally there are sessions on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Once a semester or so UMass takes a Tuesday away from us so be sure to check for a signup sheet! Pre-session meeting time for first-timers is 7:20pm. Pre-session meeting time for anyone planning on using club gear otherwise is 7:25pm. In all cases the pool is actually open for use from 7:30pm-9:30pm.

Cost is $2 for UMOC members and $4 for everyone else. Club membership at $20 can be purchased at the session. Cash only for all. Exact change is appreciated. Money must be paid at the lifeguard table before getting into the pool. All you need to bring is a towel and a bathing suit; UMOC has the boats and other related equipment.

A typical UMOC evening pool session

The pool is in Totman gymnasium The meeting place for first timers is at the pool's back door, inside the northwest stairwell of the building. "How am I supposed to easily figure out where THAT is??", you mutter exaspiratedly. The LGRC tower is at the north end of campus. Downtown Amherst lies beyond the south end of campus. The Mullen's Center is down on the west side of campus. Orchard Hill and Central are up the east side. Knowing all that, picture yourself in the center of Totman on a map and assess which corner of the building would be northwest of your position. How's that for an outdoorsy way to find your way to the correct spot?

Enter the outside doors and go up one short flight of stairs. The maroon metal door in the wall, on the right, in front of you is the back door into the pool area. The double metal doors off on the left with the pushbutton combination locking knob lead into the women's locker roon. If no one appears to be around when you arrive we have probably already gone into the boat room. The boat room is located inside of the women's locker room. Guys can enter the women's locker room to head into the boat room if the door is left propped open. Be respectful though. Before entering please announce yourself loudly as a guy that's coming in from the outing club to go to the boat room. Ask if everyone inside is dressed and wait for a yes before you enter. Alternatively, if the door to the pool area has already been propped open you can just come in that way.

Thank you to all of our dedicated paddlers for putting on these sessions. For more information contact the whitewater kayaking activity chairperson at kayaking-chair@umoc.stuaf.umass.edu

Becoming a Leader or Assistant (pssst!.. How about you??) Top

A group of UMOC paddling trip Leaders, Assistants and students gets ready to paddle the West River in Jamaica, VT

Who can become a Leader or Assistant? Anyone who meets the criteria below! Why do it? As a college paddling club new members are always appearing, and established ones usually must move on, eventually. Everyone's experiences along the way hopefully include a lot of good times and thrilling adventures! Making those things happen takes everyone's time, effort and working together. Leaders and Assistants keep the club alive by giving back the same kind of time and effort to new people that they received when they were learning to paddle. At the same time they also get to feel the excitement and accomplishment of those first experiences again in a new way. Last but not least, the things learned when becoming a Leader or Assistant make you a better paddler, without exception! If you have interest and availability, we encourage you to inquire about becoming involved. Here's some criteria to consider:

Assistants

Be excited about whitewater kayaking!
Enjoy working with people!
Come to pool sessions to learn and practice teaching the basic skills of wet exits, self-rescue and rolling back upright
Come out on beginner trips and learn safety, manuevering and play skills in moving water
As your skills grow, you learn from and begin helping leaders teach others
Attend the next UMOC Leadership Training Weekend, conducted each year at the beginning of September
Help with club work like putting on events and activities
Membership in UMOC and the ACA
Have a lot of fun doing all of the above!

Leaders

Meet all the requirements of Assistants
ACA Level 3 Certification or higher
Teach at pool sessions
Organize and lead river trips for beginner and novice club paddlers
Inspire and help other club paddlers to become Assistants and Leaders

Please contact the whitewater kayaking activity chairperson if you're interested in becoming a leader or assistant!

ACA Certification

Once every year or so the club holds an ACA Whitewater Kayak Instructor certification course. Notices for upcoming instances of these are posted on the club's paddling schedule and online message board. Contact the whitewater kayaking activity chairperson for course details.

Equipment Needs

A kayak and some paddles wait for their turn in Garburator rapid on the Ottawa River, Beachburg, Ontario.

Whitewater kayaking requires a number of things like boats, paddles, helmets, etc. For those who get bitten hard by the water bug and start becoming people who help the club with teaching others, as well as doing their own paddling, it can become difficult to count on always having all the right equipment available if you're dependent on the club's gear which many people are trying to share. That's when it becomes important to both you and the club for you to start getting some of your own equipment. The club works with gear manufacturers and vendors to get help with their pricing for Leaders and Assistants.

Whitewater Kayaking Links Top