US Freestyle Team Trials at Glenwood Springs, CO

Hannah and Althea excited to hit the wave

We left Missoula, MT on the afternoon of May 25^th eager to get to Glenwood for the highly anticipated wave and Team Trials event. After spending a night in Salt Lake City at Hannah Kertesz’s house, we finally arrived at the wave with the full team of: Scott Doherty (MT), Ben Kinsella (MT), Quinton Barnett (MT), Brian Jamieson (WA), Hannah (UT), Althea Sullivan (OR), and Quinn Connell (OR). Following our first practice session on the terrific breaking wave we then headed to the Palmer’s house. The Palmer family graciously put us up with excellent accommodations at their warm home, along with numerous other members of the paddling community. On behalf of everyone you housed and fed, Thanks!

First class accommodations at the Palmer's home

The next three days were spent visiting the wave twice a day, resting in between sessions to review video, work on homework, or to socialize with the other paddlers in town for the event. As the days progressed we all became more confident with the wave and each of our individual approaches to having our best performances over the weekend. One afternoon was also spent at the Glenwood Community Center assisting with the local boat swap, which turned out to be a fun activity and a great opportunity for our group to get to know many of the other junior paddlers.

Hannah Kertesz looking smooth and solid in the wave's chaos

Big tricks on big waves

When the weekend arrived we were all excited to compete and to watch the other competitors performances. During the event, we also had a tent set up for a nice place to hang out in the shade while we weren’t competing or assisting the event organizers with time keeping. All in all, World Class had a proud showing with four of our present and past students making the U.S. Freestyle Team selected to represent the U.S. at the world championships in Thun, Switzerland later this summer. Of notable mention were also Hannah Kertesz and Quinn Connell, the first ones out for the junior women’s and junior men’s teams, respectively.

Quinn, mid-McNasty

World Class Kayak Academy representation on the 2009 U.S. Freestyle Team

Michael Palmer (10’) – Jr. Men’s – 3^rd

Johnny Meyers (04’) – Men’s – 3^rd

Rush Sturges (03’) – Men’s – 5^th

Adriene Levknecht (05’) – Women’s – 2^nd

Quinn getting his moves perfected

A great, fun and well-organized event!

Nice work, everyone, on your efforts at the event. You worked hard to get there and competed with grace and determination – we are proud of you. Thanks, as well to the entire community of Glenwood Springs, you have an amazing playspot and a supportive atmosphere for kayakers. We look forward to coming back soon!

Scott Doherty

WCKA Athletes at Teva Mountain Games

School might be out of session, but World Class continues to bring young kayakers to the best rivers and competitions the summer offers. For the month of June, Colorado happens to be one of these hotspots with a different competition every weekend all throughout the state. Our students originally from this part of the country will rave to you about the variety in paddling this state offers. From the big waves in Glenwood Springs to the creeks in Crested Butte, no matter where a kayaker travels here, there is whitewater to paddle.

A classic event for the Colorado tour is the Teva Mountain Games held in Vail June 4^th-7^th. This event has it all and draws in some of the world’s most talented athletes in multiple extreme sports. The kayaking events always end up being the most attended and most exciting of the games.

Kicking off the weekend, the Homestake Extreme Creek Race sets the bar high for anyone who thinks they can maneuver through class IV/V whitewater the fastest. World Class' Sebastian Scholl competed in the race alongside the fastest and smooth athletes in the world, powering down the creek with a powerful finesse.  Head Coach Jesse Shimrock made it to the finals in this event, also representing WCKA with style.  

Sebastian daftly maneuvering Homestake's technical and steep rapids 

WCKA alum, Adrienne Levknecht, flying off one of Homestake's many drops

Back in the town of Vail Freestyle competitions continued throughout the weekend with current and former students throwing down hard. This wave is one of the best venues for a large competition. Two bridges, up and downstream of the wave, allow for 360 degrees of viewing pleasure for the massive crowds draw to this event.

Current student Michael Palmer competed in his new Guiguiprodd carbon fiber boat. This lightweight boat, along with some serious freestyle moves, allowed him to hold his own among the world’s most talented kayakers with a 12^th place in the qualifiers.

Michael hitting a massive loop for the crowd's pleasure

Michael in his lightweight boat, smiling at his high scoring run on the wave

Griff Griffith, another student signed on for this fall’s Peru semester, also threw down with the best in the competition giving the pro’s a run for their money. In addition to competing in the freestyle competition, Griff placed an incredible 11th place in the downriver sprint, just seconds behind pro athletes Tommy Hilleke and Geoff Calhoun.

Griff getting reading to head out on Vail's wave

Griff hitting all the right moves

Many other junior athletes competed over the weekend showing the world that the next generation will be pushing the limits! I'm really looking forward to traveling around the world this these guys and all the other incredible young athletes already signed up for the fall semester.

Check back in for updates on Team Trials, the upcoming FiBark festival in Salida and WCKA's summer sessions!

by Susan Hollingsworth

Oregon to Washington - by Ben Stanistreet

After leaving our yurts in Florence, we spent a few days in Eugene. We would like to thank the River House, Eugene’s recreation center, for accommodating us. While in Eugene we surfed a small wave right in town called “Cotton Candy,” and also paddled the Miracle Mile on the NF MF of the Willamette River. The Miracle Mile is a fun class III-IV run with continuous boulder-garden style rapids. We held class daily in the Eugene public library. Libraries have been a very useful resource during our west coast tour.

The "Unbroken Chain" on Miracle Mile - photo by Ben Stanistreet

We left Eugene on the 18th and drove to our next destination, the Columbia River Gorge and the rivers of southern Washington. We would like to give a big thanks to All Adventures Rafting for letting us camp in their back yard, which is conveniently located at the take out for the Green Truss section of the White Salmon. Our first day here, we woke up early and drove to Tao Berman’s house for morning workout. Tao is a local of these parts and a famous kayaker. He has a nice home gym and was “nice” enough to let us use it. The next day our arms felt like they were going to fall off from the hundreds of pull-ups we did at Tao’s, but it was a cool opportunity to work out “like the pros.” Tao also paddled with us on the Green Truss section later that day. Scott Doherty met us here for a few days of paddling and hanging out with the school as well.

Ben Hurd fires off Big Brother on the Green Truss - photo by Jason Cohen

We spend most paddling workouts either on the Farmlands or the Green Truss on the White Salmon, but the Little White Salmon and Upper Wind have also been fun, after-school river runs. We took advantage of a weekend day to hike-in and run Punchbowl Falls on Eagle Creek. At about 30 feet, it is the biggest drop most students have ever hucked.

Jesse Shimrock boofin' Punch Bowl Falls - photo by Jason Cohen

It’s amazing how fast the time goes by when we stay in one place for more than a week. On class days we drive across the Columbia River into the town of Hood River, Oregon, and take advantage of the public library. Dog River Coffee Co., right down the hill from the library, has been a favorite spot to have class and relax. I am sitting here in the coffee shop as I write this, enjoying the laid back atmosphere and the smell of fresh ground coffee. The coffee here is very good, and so is the food. “The chicken pesto pizza is da bomb,” says Eric Parker.

Sun set in the Columbia Gorge - photo by Ben Stanistreet

We just began our last week of classes. In Ivan’s literature classes we are reading different books and presenting in class. Ivan allotted each of us a half hour of class to teach what we have read and whatever else we want to include. This allowed for several interesting and fun learning experiences like watching movies and having class discussions. During one class, we all left the library to walk around town by ourselves and see if we could have conversations with strangers on the street. We then regrouped in the library to discuss our experiences.

I think most of us would agree that the Gorge has been one of the coolest places we’ve stayed, and the area offers some of the best paddling we’ve seen during our west coast tour. With the end of school approaching fast, everyone is ready to be done with classes but also sad that the year at WCKA is almost over.

Coastal Dreams Come True by Eric Parker

I have two words for you: ocean surfing. Without a doubt, the ocean has offered the best playboating of the quarter. 7-foot waves crashed on our brightly colored watercrafts. The play features gave big bounces followed by big blunts and psychedelic pan ams. The Oregon coastline hosted some of the more unique paddling experiences of the semester.

Walking up after a great day on the beach! photo by Susan Hollingsworth

Sam Makman sets up on the face of a nice wave in Brookings, Oregon. photo by Susan Hollingsworth

Along with the ocean, we paddled various rivers while based in Florence. One great Coast Range run was Sweet Creek. Sweet Creek is a low volume, rocky riverbed full of slides and waterfalls. It offered the perfect opportunity for a World Class race. Thirty seconds apart, 16 student and teachers flew down the quarter mile run. After ten minutes of aggressive paddling, head coach Jesse Shimrock grabbed the gold medal with a time of 1 minute and 7 seconds, closely followed by sophomore Danny Doran. Senior, Dave Meyers, summed up the race, “It was a sick point sick on the sickter scale!”

During our time in Florence we studied in our spacious yurts, one of the more unique classrooms I have ever had.

Redwood Forest and Smith River Update by Jason Cohen

A weekend stop in the Redwood Forest proved to be a great time for World Class. It began with a quick stop in Arcata to wander around for a little while in the city. It was an interesting place, to say the least, but after a few hours we were ready to return to the real world: Crescent City, California and the Jedediah Smith National and State Parks. We camped out under the beautiful and famous Redwood trees of Northern California. Our tents were dwarfed and we all felt like little gnomes scrambling around in a world for giants.

One day all of the students, except for Donny Doran and I, went to surf the ocean. The two of us chose to cruise up to the Upper South Fork of the Smith River with three coaches, and it turned out to be an awesome expedition, partly because it was a break from 19 people crowded onto one small river. It was a fairly continuous Class III-IV run, but the most amazing part was the scenery and the crystal clear water; At all points on the run I could clearly see the bottom of the river. The untouched wilderness surrounding the river reminded everyone of Narnia, and we were expecting Aslan the giant lion to jump out and slay us. He didn’t, and we made it to the take out. While discussing the run later on, Program Director LJ Groth said, “Although we didn’t get slain by Aslan, I was still frightened that the White Witch might get us during the hike out.” Overall, it is a great run and I would suggest it to anyone.

The incredibly clear waters of the Smith River. Photo by Paul Twist.

The next morning, we comleted a day of school in the forest before heading up to Florence, Oregon. Our US History teacher, Susan Hollingsworth, had us go to the ranger station to learn about things that have happened in the Redwood Forest in history. In Biology, which Susan also teaches, we went on a walk in the woods talking about life in forest. I never knew so many things existed and depended on each other in places as small as under a rock. I’m glad we can go to so many places for interactive learning experiences.

The Feather River Update by Ben Dann

LJ lays some treats off the C-rail. Photo by Paul Twist

After spending upwards of a week in Three Rivers California paddling the Kaweah River we loaded up the vans and headed north for our next destination, the North fork of the Feather River. Taylor Robertson, a good friend of World Class, set us up with info about water levels and free camping. He also joined us on the river and showed our large crew the ropes. The entire group was able enjoy the epic class IV-V water. The North Fork of the Feather was filled with bald, granite rock which made for perfect boofs scattered throughout the river. This sparked the idea to have a boof clinic with the group, perfecting our creeking strokes. Sam Makman said, “It was a turning point in my paddling career,” and everyone benefited.

Ben Dann drives for that good boof stroke. Photo by Paul Twist

Our campsite was very roomy with beautiful views of snow capped mountains and deep forestation. Unfortunately the night time temperatures were the coldest we had seen so far on the trip. This resulted in the majority of morning classes being held huddled around the campfire or loaded in the vans. The road next to the campsite had minimal traffic and the perfect incline for cruising on our long boards. It was so fun that it inspired a few kids to buy longboards in the next town, Chico, California.

While in Chico, we held classes at the local university. The Cultural Studies class conducted a social experiment in the center of town. They walked around town and asked strangers why it was so difficult to talk to strangers. Ben Stanistreet said, “Through my studies I found that once you break the awkward barrier of starting a conversation with a random person they are usually happy to talk to you.”

The entire group enjoyed the North fork of the Feather and the California life style.

Trinity Update by Quinn Connell

Looking up the gorge from the takeout. Photo by Paul Twist.

After the Feather we made our way to the Burnt Ranch Gorge of the Trinity River. We stayed at a campground that had a large open area in the middle.  This was perfect for morning workout games of capture the flag, and Dave killed it, using his speed to maneuver through the trees. The Burnt Ranch Gorge itself was a fun stretch with much more water than the other rivers we had just been paddling. It was a pool-drop run through a basalt canyon, according to Sam, “It was a sick big water run with some awesome rapids!” A couple drops had stout holes and there were many sweet boofs. A big thanks to the guys at the Straw House, a hay-insulated café where we spent a rainy class day, got to hook up to the internet and planned our world-premiere WCKA Cribs episode for journalism. We met a couple of wild characters during our stay and the teachers got a glimpse of the Burnt Ranch lifestyle first hand thanks to local Tim Thompson.