What is Whitewater Kayaking??
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| | 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!
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River Trips
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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.
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| | UMOC paddlers at the Ball Mountain Dam outflow on the West River, Jamaica, VT |
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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!
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American Whitewater
Check Water Levels
Girls At Play!
American Canoe Association
Northeast Paddler's Message Board
Boater Talk
Ledyard Canoe Club
UConn Kayaking Club
