Explosive Breach of Condit Dam from Andy Maser on Vimeo.

October 26th, 2011 is certainly a day that will go down in history. After the Blaster in Charge yelled “fire in the hole!” and ignited the charges packed into the bottom of 125′ tall Condit Dam, the White Salmon River was explosively set free for the first time in 100 years.  The lake took less than 2 hours to drain, carrying an incredible amount of sediment and debris downstream to the Columbia.  Now, a more gradual process begins–the erosion of millions of cubic yards of trapped silt, the return of threatened salmon and ultimately the complete removal of Condit Dam.

The burning question on everyone’s mind now is–what new whitewater do we have to look forward to and when will we be able to paddle it? First, technically, the river will be closed until sometime in the fall of 2012 when the dam is completely gone and the sediment stabilized. Both PacifiCorp (the dam owner) and JR Merit (the contractor removing the dam) are very clear that any attempts to paddle the river before it is officially opened will be dealt with seriously. Secondly, at this time it is physically impossible to paddle any part of this section of the White Salmon. The pool below the dam has filled with sediment and the water level is now above the tunnel. A huge logjam has formed in the canyon just downstream of the dam, making that section impassable. And, of course, taking out just upstream of the dam isn’t really an option because of the massive unstable sediment banks.

But, the prospect for new whitewater looks promising. There is exposed bedrock and gradient, already forming temporary rapids. Conditions are changing extremely quickly as the sediment erodes, so the river looks drastically different from day to day. Regardless of conditions, I certainly won’t be doing any exploration before next fall when the river is opened, but it will definitely be fun to watch the progress.

In the meantime, stay tuned for updates on how the river re-formation process is going. Our two long-term timelapse cameras will be up and running for the next couple of years as the river settles into a channel and the dam is removed. It will definitely be a fun and unique thing to watch! Project website: http://whitesalmontimelapse.wordpress.com/

Also, check out this article on National Geographic news that includes my video from the day.

Special thanks to American Rivers, American Whitewater, Clif Bar and Pro Photo Supply for making this coverage possible!

Year of the River: Episode 2 from Andy Maser on Vimeo.

On October 26th, Condit Dam on the White Salmon River in Washington will be packed with enough explosives to blow a huge hole in the base of the concrete wall.  Moments after the climactic explosion, 10,000 CFS will gush from the tunnel and drain Northwestern Lake completely in 6 hours.  That’s the moment paddlers have been waiting for since dam removal talk begin 10 years ago—that’s when we get to see, for the first time, whitewater that’s been hidden under the lake for the last 100 years.

The White Salmon system—made up of the White Salmon itself and its sister river, the Little White Salmon—is, hands down, the best class V backyard playground in the country.  And the White Salmon also supports a thriving rafting industry and paddling for all other skill levels—all in the spectacular scenery of the Columbia River Gorge.

For as long as people have kayaked the White Salmon, the 125 foot tall Condit Dam has created a 3-mile long lake that separated two popular whitewater sections of the river.  In 2 weeks, the lake will be drained and these two sections relinked.  To say that the local paddling community is on the edge of its seat with anticipation is a huge understatement.

Rumors are flying about what’s waiting below the lake.  There’s steep gradient and a deep canyon, so there’s sure to be new whitewater.

The only other creatures that may be more excited about the removal of Condit Dam are the threatened salmon and steelhead that will once again be able to access the upper parts of the White Salmon to spawn.  A test program is showing how quickly the salmon will bounce back—they just need to be able to get home.

by Alan Panebaker

Mike McDonnell surfing on the White River in South Royalton, VT. Like many of the rivers in the state, this river has serious pollution issues stemming mainly from agricultural stormwater runoff.

The state of Vermont is home to some of the most memorable and high quality runs I have ever done. The geology is unique, and the renowned landscape is lush in the spring and summer, and brilliant in the fall. The rivers, like the state, are underrated, unique and worthwhile when there is flow. Vermont boasts classic creeks like the Big Branch, Middlebury Gorge, and the New Haven. It is within a day’s drive of classics in Quebec, New York, and Maine also. Basically, it is a great place to live and paddle, and I have fallen in love with the state over the past three years here, when I studied environmental law at Vermont Law School.

Mike McDonnell on the Big Branch. One of the best in the state.

With all the beauty and the hidden gems the state offers, it has a dirty secret: agricultural and stormwater pollution issues. Runoff from agricultural lands and sprawling development have created widespread pollution issues. Lake Champlain, the nation’s sixth largest body of freshwater, suffers from a serious phosphorous pollution problem. In addition, smaller streams and rivers are polluted by runoff from excessive paved surfaces which prohibit runoff from snow and rainfall from being absorbed by vegetated areas. Therefore, pollutants travel directly into the rivers and harm fish and other organisms as well as creating toxic algae blooms in places like Lake Champlain.

A flooded junk yard on the Lamoille River after a heavy rain: another example of the pollution problem in Vermont and the reason why it is important to have activities like junk yards out of the flood plain.

From a kayaking point of view, the water pollution problem is relevant for two reasons. First, as whitewater people, we should be concerned with this natural resource and do whatever we can to protect it. Second, the only time there is water in New England is during heavy rainfall and spring snowmelt. Coincidentally, the major water runoff problem and the good paddling coincide. So even if you don’t care about algae blooms in the lake, you might worry about the e Coli content in your local river when those rare surf spots come in.

Justin Beckwith in the Middlebury Gorge—one of the coolest geological spots in New England in my opinion.
So what should we do as paddlers to combat this problem? Unfortunately, a lot of the major issues with water pollution deal with land use law, and state enforcement of agricultural activities (which has been a huge problem in recent years). Therefore, fixing the problem is more of a political question because we like farmers in Vermont. There are organizations that are working to stop the runoff problem and push for smarter growth. I would always recommend supporting them. The Conservation Law Foundation and the Vermont Natural Resources Council are a couple that come to mind.

Mike McDonnell on the North Branch of the Winooski—a super high quality river that rarely runs.

As for things you can do personally, try:
-    Washing your car on your lawn to limit the amount of dirty soapy water that flows into storm drains
-    Checking for leaking fluids from your car and recycle your used motor oil
-    Use low-phosphorous or no phosphorous laundry detergent and other biodegradable household cleaning products
-    Don’t overfertilize your lawn, and don’t overwater it because this can cause fertilizer and other pollutants to overflow into storm drains
-    Plant things in bare spots in your lawn to reduce erosion
-    If you’re building a house, keep the paved areas around it to a minimum
-    Clean paint brushes in a sink, not outdoors and dispose of the leftovers with the local hazardous waste collection program if there is one

I hope this helps spur some ideas, and gets you motivated to get out boating and keep a heads up on water pollution issues. Because kayaking is a whole lot less cool when it stinks and it makes you sick.

Alan Panebaker

Here’s an ad featuring Greg, former employee at Mahoney’s Outfitters who now works for NFS as an Environmental Scientist. We salute Greg for his efforts to keep our waterways safe and free of contamination.

submitted by Travis Winn

Our fears were confirmed, heavy snow had fallen, barring the two passes between us and the put on for the Upper Yangtze. We could only find one minivan driver willing to attempt the journey, after 2 hours of pulling and pushing by the team, the driver had failed to make the top of the first pass. A tractor driver had spent the afternoon crossing the pass and was heading downhill, stopped, convinced our driver it was impossible and we were crazy for trying. “No amount of money in the world would convince me back over the pass” was his comment as we begged him for a lift. After a brief team meeting whilst the minivan driver hurriedly turned around, we decided our only option for accessing this section was to continue on foot. We unloaded boats and equipment, donned drysuits, pogies and BA’s and started the drag into the impending twilight as heavy snow fell around us. At 12:23 pm we hit the summit of the 4200m pass, all relieved that it could only be downhill to the nearest village. The solitary line of tracks we found in the deep snow were big cat prints and a pile of fresh scat, had we come close to an encounter with a rare snow leopard!? After another 2 hours of hauling we were spent, and hunkered down at 2.30 am, still far from the village. Under blue skies, the team made it to the village in the morning, after recounting our previous evenings endeavours on the pass, the villagers were so impressed with our determination they very kindly sorted us out a 4 wheel drive jeep to take us over the next pass, and the put in.

The 140 mile section of the Yangtze we had chosen had seen two previous attempts in 1986 during the great race for the Yangtze and we were surprised to hear that no team had been back in lower water levels to see what these gorges contained. The river here forms the boundary between Sichuan Province and the Tibetan Autonumous Region and after obtaining original 1986 expedition maps, knew that when the river downstream cuts through a 5000 metre mountain range in a tight gorge, we could expect some serious white water action.

Putting in on day one, the sun shone warm on our backs with not a cloud in the sky and we were thankful for making it to his historic river. Unfortunately with sun on our backs, shade on our fronts and many small wave trains, it wasn’t long before our decks started icing up, along with paddle shafts, PFD’s and beards. Several of the team were even fortunate enough to have icicles forming off the front of their helmets. A quick fire at lunchtime allowed defrosting and the afternoon brought the first major rapid, raging through a granite gorge and bringing us a taste of things to come.

During the next couple of days, the Yangze swelled in volume as more meltwater tributaries fell in from either bank. The team’s apprehension grew as we neared the tighest, steepest section of river which we had dubbed in advance ‘Panda Leaping Gorge’, hoping it was a little cuddlier its downstream neighbor Tiger Leaping Gorge. After the inital low gradient, we were fully aware that the river would have to lose significant height at some point. We weren’t disappointed and fortunately the major rapids were of a pool drop nature, with easy bank access and all had runnable big volume lines. Several days of amazing white water followed as the river cut deep between snow capped peaks, we all felt extremely privileged to witness these spectacular innaccessible canyons. On the last day we entered a hydro power construction site.  Once the dam is completed, another incredible section of river will be lost forever. At the end of the construction site, the river reminded us of what it might have had in store for us, as an enormous landslide created the only unnrunable rapid of the section. Two hours of boulder strewn portage and a few km’s of mellower rapids led us to the first road bridge in over 140 miles of river. Taking out on the Tibetan bank under the watchful gaze of the border police, we had victory beers and loaded up boats onto a jeep for our return to civilisation, the promise of warm beds and an endless supply of good food….

The Yangtze was our final river, and our trip had come to an end. In 5 weeks we have paddled 4 rivers in Sichuan, covering over 350 miles of river. The team were blown away by the quality of white water in this region, and aware that there is much still untouched, awaiting further exploration. Sadly, every river we paddled had ongoing construction of dams and hydropower schemes, fortelling the dissapearance of many great sections of river. The future for the rivers of the area is one of sadness and loss, not only for potential kayaking but also for the amazing people we met along the way, who for generations have called these river valleys home.

The team would like to offer many thanks to Astral for supporting the expedition, everyone loved their Green Jackets finding them super comfortable, reliable and constructed to an exceptional high standard, well able to cope with the rigours of hard self support paddling.

Ben McKeown, a writer for the UK based website The Big Blue Tree, recently completed an article which analyzes some of the different buoyant materials used in PFD manufacturing and their impacts (or lack thereof) on the natural environment.  In the article Ben explores the alternatives to toxic PVC which have sprouted over the years since Astral’s inception.

Read the full article here

Photos and text by Kyle Dickman.

For the last week, we’ve been in Laos kayaking portions of the Mekong River to research the effects the proposed Don Sahong Dam will have on the main stem of the river. To see exactly where the crew spent their time paddling, check out their SPOT Messenger map. This dam has the potential to stop fish migrations up Khone Falls, with potentially disastrous effects on the region’s fish populations and as a result, food supply.

EP National Geographic Mekong Expedition

Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures

From National Geographic Adventure:

At Khone Falls, the river divides into hundreds of different channels and drops off a 60-foot cascading waterfall. Which channels fish use to migrate depends on the size of the waterfall. Basically, the bigger the vertical drop, the fewer fish use the channel to migrate.

We’ve outfitted Trip’s kayak with a depth-finder and a GPS to map water velocity, depth, and gradient. We’re hoping to figure out what the migration parameters are for different species of fish (as in, big fish migrate up this channel because the water velocity is less than 20 mph, or whatever the case may be). What we find, will tell us if other channels share the same characteristics as Don Sahong, the site of the proposed dam. Don Sahong is hypothesized to be used most by migratory fishes because of its relatively mild whitewater.

We’ve been at Khone Falls for four days now. The first two days we rode mopeds past water buffalo and monasteries to scout waterfalls. On Sunday, we decided to run Somphamit Falls, a difficult stair-stepping 60-foot drop with fish traps lining the banks. Trip fired it up, recorded the data, and sent it to Sea Floor Systems, the California-based company who designed the system we’re using to process the data.

The fish traps suggest fish use Somphamit Falls as a migratory channel, but the data will show us whether they’re making it past the waterfall in dry season or being turned back. Does this channel share some of the same characteristics as Don Sahong? I’ll let you know what we find out.

See more photos from this expedition in the Gallery

Volcan Villarica

by Todd Wells

Photos by: Candace Sanders, Erik Parker, Jason Cohen, Hannah Kertesz, and Ben Kinsella.

Spending the last semester of my high school career with the World Class Kayak Academy (WCKA) has been unlike any of my previous academic experiences. WCKA is a traveling college preparatory school that focuses on whitewater kayaking. One quarter of each semester is spent studying and kayaking abroad, while the other is spent traveling along either the West Coast or East Coast.

My journey with WCKA began at the airport in Dallas, Texas where I met with my nine classmates and four teachers from all over the country. After our brief introductions we left for the eight hour flight to Santiago, Chile. In Santiago we loaded our kayaks and gear onto our 17 passenger van and its accompanying trailer and set out for the two hour drive to the Rio Maipo.

The next day, in the town of Banos Morales, I began my first day of the WCKA lifestyle. Waking up at 7:00 in the morning we started off the day with an hour of work out. Shortly afterward we sat down to a beautiful spread of traditional Chilean breakfast prepared by our local cooks, Israel and Estrella. After breakfast we all prepared for our first of five one hour classes. At first sitting down to a class of five students seemed awkward, but within the first hour of class I grew to appreciate the small and interactive classes. At noon we took an hour break from class for lunch then finished the last two periods of the day. As soon as all of our classes were finished we loaded our boats into the trailer and drove to the put-in for the Upper section of the Maipo River. At the put in we geared up, chose a buddy for the day, and talked about safety precautions and communication on the river. Between the big waves and high volume rapids of the Rio Maipo we all enjoyed getting to better know each other. After a couple hours on the river we returned to our camp for a hearty dinner where we discussed plans for the next day. Finally, before going to sleep, we each spent what free time we had finishing our homework and preparing for the following day.

For the next few days we followed a similar schedule, keeping each day fresh with different classes, original workout programs, and new sections of river. On one of our days off from school we all hiked to a lush valley beneath the towering peaks of the Andes and enjoyed a refreshing swim in a beautiful spring fed lake. After enjoying all that Banos Morales and the Rio Maipo had to offer we packed up our gear and moved south to the Rio Claro.

Though we spent less time on the Claro, we all had plenty of fun between the perfect waterfalls of the Siete Tazas (Seven Teacups) section and the crystal clear swimming holes less than a hundred feet from our campground. The Claro is one of the most beautiful rivers that I have ever visited, but it is a very popular tourist destination and its banks are heavily littered in trash. As part of WCKA’s dedication to community service all the students and teachers spent four hours one afternoon removing litter from over a mile of the river. In those four hours we removed over 20 full trash bags, and at the end of the day rewarded ourselves with a dip in one of the pristine swimming holes. At the end of our stay at the Rio Claro we packed up our gear and drove even further south to Pucon.

Here in Pucon I continue to enjoy living the World Class lifestyle of school, kayaking and culture, and I only look forward to what the next four weeks here in Chile have to offer.

For in multi-part Chile update and more whitewater stories visit toddwellswhitewater.blogspot.com

Capo Retig boofing on the Siete Tazas

The team in between classes

Falling off the Middle Palguin

picking up trash on the Rio Claro

Miestro Capo on the Palguin

photos © Kyle Dickman

text courtesy of EP and Under Solen Media

Epicocity Project is known for paddling some of the world’s most endangered rivers to promote conservation. But last week they kicked off an expedition on dry land – The Elephant Ivory Project – a project aimed to save wild elephants from the illegal ivory trade.

This fall, the explorers will team up the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington to collect DNA samples from elephants in the remote African jungle. These samples will help to complete a DNA map of illegal ivory poaching hotspots. With this data, scientists can pinpoint where illegal ivory is coming from and send resources to stop it in those areas. For that expedition, the Epicocity crew is venturing to a country considered too dangerous and remote for scientists to travel – the Democratic of Congo.

But before they make that trip, the team needs to research where the illegal ivory is being sold… And that’s why they’re exploring Thailand.

“Day one in Bangkok and I’ve already been offered ivory,” team-member Trip Jennings said.

The EP team is in the epicenter of it all. Bangkok has the largest ivory market in Asia – with most of that ivory coming from African elephants. Just few days in Bangkok and they can see that the ivory trade is booming. Poachers kill elephants at a rate of 10 percent per year. With just 470,000 elephants left in the world, it means that in just a few years wild elephant populations will disappear.

The EP team is determined to stop that from happening. But in order to be successful, they have to know what they’re up against – and that means researching the ivory trade in Bangkok and talking to the folks who are leading the conservation effort… And of course meeting some elephants.

To find elephants, they drove into the country and met a man taking his elephants out into the forest to eat. He let them take a ride.

“Elephants are amazing creatures – intelligent, gentle and powerful. It’s heartbreaking to know that poachers kill more than 100 elephants every day,” team-member Andy Maser said. “But it’s not hopeless. Twenty years ago, with a global upwelling of support, the ivory trade was stopped, nearly overnight. We can do that again.”

So, what can you do?

1. Support the Elephant Ivory Project. 100% of your donation will go directly to the expedition and it’s 100% tax-deductible. Let’s save some elephants!
2. Visit www.elephantivoryproject.org to learn more. Knowledge is power. Poachers kill more than 100 elephants every day. It doesn’t have to be that way. Pass it on!
3. Don’t buy ivory! The U.S. has the 2nd highest demand for ivory. Think about it

Read more stories from the field on the Elephant Ivory Project blog!

This past summer a group of West Asheville boaters took a trip to BC to go kayaking and run waterfalls. A group favorite during the trip was the Callaghan/Cheakamus double. The day consisted of waking up to a run on the Callaghan Creek, back to the Cheakamus parking lot for lunch, then up to the put-in for afternoon run(s) on the Cheakamus. This was the program for a few days before heading north to the Birkenhead River and Cayoosh Creek. There is still more footage from those runs that will be edited in the future. The footage in this video was shot by Jason Dillow, Jon Crain, and Gareth Tate & edited by Jon Crain. Hope you enjoy and don’t forget that all rivers in BC are currently under threat from private power production by some of the worlds largest corporations.

Also, Take a moment and learn about what is at stake and how it could affect your next kayaking trip to BC:

BC Creek Protection Society Homepage

Save Our Rivers Society

The Range Life – 49 Megawatts

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h92S_iSD5G8[/youtube]

Hope you enjoy,

Jon Crain