My last few days were quite fun with a group of very fired-up paddlers here to learn, play, and socialize. We were not on our devices other than taking photos, checking levels, etc. It felt good really getting to know everyone and have a good time on and off the water. Day one was 76 degrees and we did two sessions in one day. Kristine fed us three meals/day in good Kristine form, which is too much food, and really good food, and quite the variety. The River started off at 3,500 cfs, but was up to 4,600 by the second day. It rained 3″ that night and it was 20,000 cfs by day 3 morning. Jay from Quantico area, CJ from Asheville, and Gwenn from San Francisco were my students and Joe Ball was my helper/student. Jay was the least experienced and needed a confidence boost as his roll was “iffy” at the beginning. I was the motivator to assure he achieved what he came for and didn’t let himself down. What a huge learning curve he went through. CJ was very experienced with many years under his belt and was ready for a breakthrough in his skills. he had quite a few “Ah-Ha!” moments and should be much better at coaching himself from now on. I was impressed by his skills and progression. Gwenn was the most skilled upon arrival and my job was to provide him a venue to try new things and keep progressing.
Jes (CJ) getting his gear packed up after a big day on the water.
Gwenn and Jay scouting the 20,000 cfs level before morning session starts.
He never hesitated about going into the big water. i could have taken him down Sieve City at high water and he would have not hesitated, but we didn’t have enough safety for my liking for a student. That didn’t stop him from surfing the main hole at over 10,000 cfs, and running the toughest lines. He also rallied for a high-water Falls run with me.
The Venue, the waterfalls… but those waterfalls… hard to beat backdrop.
Off the water, we did a lot of eating, playing games, and relaxing. Corn Hole, Shuffleboard, Ax Throwing, Disc Golf, Hot tubbing, ping pong, etc.. I had Fat Tire on tap, but only Jay, Joe, and I partook in that option.
One of the things that everyone said they wanted to cover in my clinic was “EJ’s Longevity Training”. I sent out a survey to all of my students (in all clinics) and so far 100% of them put that as a 5 out of 5 in importance to them. I had no idea that it would be so popular. Most people are pretty sceptical of my approaches to physical and mental health when they hear about them and have been for 40 years. I think just my age and time has people starting to take a look and wonder if there is something to it. I certainly don’t claim to know everything or think that what I do for myself will automatically work for somebody else. However, when it comes to best practices, I do believe that what is known to be true in today’s “normal world” is really bad information and a huge handicap to anyone who actually has the desire and motivation to be better than average. If nothing else, I can provide a different perspective, one that is just sharing what I am doing myself and the results and the theory for why the results. Gwenn bought himself a Ringer and Jay may get one soon too. It was fun to see how everyone “Lit up” when they got in the boat.
Next week is another one with a group from all over the place: western states, Western Canada, East, North, and South. I look forward to more motivated, hard-working, hard-paying people to play with! Here is a video I made of the last week.
🙂
EJ