http://jacksonkayak.com/face-time/

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http://www.canoeicf.com/icf/elitecanoeing/Athlete-of-the-Month/Previous-AoftM/Nick-Troutman.html

Nick

Our good friend Tony Lunt was kind enough to invite Emily and myself along with 13 other friends to join him on his trip. It was a really cool trip no only because of the amazing scenery, or the great whitewater, but also because of the cool people. I had known half of the group before we left, though I feel like I knew everyone by the end of the trip.

We were on the canyon for 13 days, which at first seemed like it would be a long trip, though by the end no one wanted to leave, and it felt as though we had barely scratched the surface of the entirety of the magnificent place.

I knew we were in for a treat when after the first day I had been blown away by the canyon’s awesome beauty, and our group’s dynamics, and the professionalism of our guides, not to mention the great food. On day 7 we had filet mignon, how cool is that?

Our fearless leader, and good friend, Phil Boyer lead us down the sweetest big water lines the canyon had to offer. We also got to check out some amazing side hikes waterfalls, caves and canyons.

Emily and I had a blast getting to hang out, play and kayak with everyone. I would like to give a big thanks to Tony for inviting us on this trip. This was truly one of the coolest experiences of my life. This really is something that everyone in the world should experience, see and understand, for it is The Grand Canyon!

I will be posting a video from our trip soon, but for now here are some pictures from our awesome trip.

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Jessie Stone organized a group paddle at the Tville play spot, along with a Face Time showing Collinsville Canoe & Kayak.

It was an awesome afternoon paddling with everyone. I was able to try out a SUP board as well as help Emily Kuhlberg work on her rolling.

After the Film showing a couple of us went out to dinner.

Here are a couple pictures from the paddle and Face Time showing.

What we do is simple teach kids how to kayak. Though we are talking about kids who sometimes don’t even know how to swim. The first day we take them to the pool to get comfortable being in the water and getting their hair wet. We then make them feel comfortable being in the kayaks, and exiting the boats as well. From here we start using the skirts, and get them on their way to rolling a bracing.

By the third day we take the kids to the beach and bays of Long Island. The kids are always excited about this because many of them haven’t been to the beaches before. We continue working on basic skills and playing games.

Our last two days are spent on the river. We work on dealing with rocks and eddy lines and everything else the river has. It is also cool for the whole group the experience the wild life out on the rivers, such the Bald Eagle we were able to witness.

Our final Graduation was the Farmington river. This is a class 2-3 river which all the kids were able to paddle. Once we got to the take out we all swam around in the local playspot before heading back to NYC.

It was a great week, teaching this kids about kayaking, the river, nature, and show them confidence that they can take with them.

Here is a video from the Week teaching the Inner City Kids Camp.

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Everyday I saw him I asked if he would like to come kayaking with me. Obviously the river can be a bit intimidating, and being only 10 years old, with no idea of kayaking, expect watching some of my video, he decided to pass on the opportunity.

So after 6 weeks, Jonny’s dad, my Uncle Tom, comes to pick him up. Now Tom has always wanted to try kayaking, and asked if I could take him for a run down the river. This is where things got a bit complicated, because Tom flew in on a Thursday afternoon, and I was leaving for the Grand Canyon Friday. I had one shot to do this, and hoped that Tom would be into the idea of traveling 20 hours and jumping into a kayak with me.

Luckily for me, both Jonny and Uncle Tom showed up Thursday night ready to Rock. I then had to find a second Duo guide, and found my Mexican buddy Rafa to be the perfect fit.

It was a great opportunity, I was able to share my love of kayaking with some family who had no idea about it. Uncle Tom was fully ready to get wet and after a couple rolls in the flat water he was comfortable. Jonny on the other hand didn’t want to get wet, and definitely didn’t want to roll. With some encouragement we had him rolling and loving it.

Next up was the Phil’s Hole punch. Anyone who knows anything about the Ottawa knows about the giant Phil’s Hole, which is avoided by most. Rafa and I confidently guided our two rookies down with ease. Tom and Jonny didn’t know what hit them. With new stories to tell, and smiles all around, Rafa and I continued down through Corner Wave, and Right side Horseshoe.

With some eager beavers in the front of our kayaks, we decided to give a shot at surfing Baby Face. This was much easier with 60 pound Jonny in the front. Though in the end, with one swim, and two rolls, we had both Jonny and Uncle Tom surfing.

As we took out after our adventure down McCoys, Jonny asked about the large slide and ramp. After demonstrating how it worked, I let them both give it a shot.

We all ended the great day will smiles, laughter and a couple drinks and good steaks at my parents house.

Here is the video of our Adventure down McCoys rapid of the Ottawa River.

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Practically everything in Colorado is flooding right now, including Glenwood which came up to 24, 000 CFS.

There was everyone and there grandmother in line up for the wave. Including kayakers, surfers, SUP, and boogie boarders.

The wave would green out every so often, maximizing the Air time.

Check out this quick little video from the wave.

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The people at South Main had worked hard to make a new play wave over the winter. As it turned out the wave was awesome, and with the high water it just kept on getting better.

It was an amazing weekend, with great weather and even better water levels. We got to meet some new people and visit with some old friends.

Check out this little video from the weekend.

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One of my favorite runs is the South Branch of the Middle Feather. This run is just so stacked with big clean slides and drops, it is a creeker’s paradise.

Last week the South Branch seemed to be on everybody’s hit list. We had a 9 car caravan on our way to the Put-In. I was fortunate enough to get three days in, two on the Day 1 section, and our last day we decided to check out the Day 2 section.

Here is somewhat of a virtual tour of the South Branch of the Middle Feather. Check it out.

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I have been to the Reno River Festival for 5 years now, I have placed 11th, 6th, 4th, 3rd, and this year I won. To me this year was some of the toughest competition yet, with most of the competitors doing combos moves. Though it was obvious to everyone that young Jason Craig (16) was bringing on the heat. He had placed 3rd in Prelims, and had won Quarter and Semi Finals. EJ and I both knew going into finals that we would have to throw our best rides to beat this youngster.

In the end the results turned out:

1st: Nick Troutman

2nd: Jason Craig

3rd: Eric Jackson

The Women’s class had some great rides as well. They are closing the gap between women and men, which is really cool to see. After some big tricks the Women’s results were:

1st: Emily Jackson

2nd: Ruth Gordon

3rd: Devon Barker

Check out this video from the Reno River Festival:

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