Who tries a “new” line on the Southeast’s notorious Oceana Rapid? In a C-1, to boot? Erik Amason does, going far right on the Southeast badge of courage recently, straight into an epic side surf halfway down before exiting through the monster. The move, captured on Facebook, prompted such callouts an accolades as “He’s absolutely nailing the art of paddling the C1… huge fan!” from C-2 Olympic gold medalist Joe Jacobi to, “Is it me or is Amason quietly tearing it up everywhere he goes?” from three-time World Cup Kayak Slalom Champion and Olympian Scott Shipley. (Cover photo: Amazon, en route to winning the Great Falls Race on the Potomac.)
We caught up with the 41-year-old, family-trained mono-blade paddler to learn more about his penchant and passion for single-blade paddling:
Name: Erik Amason
Age: 41
Day job? Commercial real estate broker
How long have you been paddling? My dad started taking me out in the summer of 1989 on the Potomac river in DC, so about 36 years now.
How did you get into C-1ing? My dad was a C-boater, so I wanted to do what he did. I paddled kayaks for fun occasionally but mostly focused on C-1ing.
What do you like about it? I like the novelty of C boating. Paddling drops or runs in a C boat that have never seen a C boat descent before feels more cutting-edge, with a higher level of technicality.
What are some of your biggest C-1 milestones? I’ll list a few: First and only North Fork American C1 descent (I only ran Heath 1 (40ft) and Heath 2 (60ft), walked Rattlesnake (50ft), Scotts drop (100ft), and Wabena (70ft); first and only Cane Creek Falls C-1 descent (70-footer); Possible first Ds on Rock Stack falls, sketchy 40-foot falls on Falling Cater Creek,) and Thunder River, a super steep, stretchy, long rapid into the Ocoee); a no-portage run down the South Silver; the second highest descent of Desoto Falls at 6,000 cfs (a 70-footer); the first and only Cumberland Falls C-1 descent (another 70-footer); the second descent of Foster Falls (70 footer); the highest run on the main line of Pinball Rapid on LRC at 3,000 cfs and possible highest descent of its Suicide Section at 8,000 cfs; the highest descent of Suck Creek and 3 feet; the 4th descent of Danes Drop on the Upper Middle Kaweah; a no-portage run on the East Fork of the Kaweah; the youngest descent of Great Falls of the Potomac River at age 12 with Nejc Poberaj, at least until Dane Jackson did it at age 10; a 25th World ranking on the 2005 Slalom World Cup tour; multiple national championship medals in C-1 slalom; highest Great Falls of the Potomac Maryland line at 4.2 feet and Virginia line at 4.5 feet (which I believe has been broken now); a first descent of Dead Run, the steepest tributary to the Potomac; and a no-portage run of the Garden of the Gods section of the East Fork Pigeon River, where there have been only a hand full of no-portage descents ever.
I also did the first and only C-1 descent Achesturze Gorge on the Oetz River in Austria, above the famous Wellerburke section; the first and only C-1 descent of Rhine Falls in Switzerland; the first descent of the Ostertalbach Waterfall Gorge in Germany, and only C-1 descent of Buchenegger Falls (a stout and sketchy 40-footer); second C-1 descent Big Boy Falls on the Raven Fork in North Carolina, and a first C-1 descent on Brick Layer Rapid on the Cullasaja; multiple first C-1 Ds on many of the big drops on the Toxaway River; the first and only C-1 descent of the middle line on Dead Dutchman Rapid on the Nile River, as well as the first and only C-1 descent of the middle line of its Itunda Rapid; the first and only C-1 descent of 50/50 in the Ashlu Box Canyon in British Columbia; and the first and only C-1 descent of Seven Sisters Falls in Quebec.
It seems like waterfalls are your fortè…what do you like about them? I like waterfalls because they’re the most spectacular kinds of whitewater. I like the challenge they present. They’re the hardest types of rapids to do well in a kayak. With regard to C1ing waterfalls, this is a largely unexplored area in the sport. Only a handful of C1ers in the history of our sport have repped out large drops getting into the 50-,60-,70-, and 80-foot range. This is attractive to me that there is still so much more to explore in this zone. There is a lot of technique, outfitting, and safety considerations that are still largely unexplored for C1s regarding large drops. I moved to the Southeast near Chattanooga about seven years ago and there are a lot of large waterfalls in this area. It’s exciting now having these types of drops only a short drive from where I live…so this is a current focus of mine because I hadn’t had this exposure to them before.
It seems like you like high water runs also? I enjoy all types of whitewater but I grew up on big water. I love to paddle my home river on the Potomac and put in at Great Falls when it’s running 100,000 cfs. The Potomac has many lines but the main channel of the river has the biggest waves and the biggest holes in the area and is really fun. Even at average flows the main lines out of Great Falls feel like the pushiest sections on the Payette or the Stikine; the Potomac can be a great training ground for big water.
Any C-1 mentors or heros? C-1 mentors include my dad, Warren Amason; and my slalom coaches Davey Hearn, Cathy Hearn, Silvan Poberaj, and Yves Narduzzi. For C-1 heros, I’d have to go with Mike Yee, Allen Braswell, Tony Estanguet, Michal Martikan, Jordan Poffenberger, Tad Dennis, and Landon Miller.
What’s the hardest run you’ve C-1ed? Royal Gorge, North Fork American
How was it taking that new line in Oceana…would you do it again? It was definitely more challenging than I thought it was going to be. But I would try it again.
What’s your take on the state of C-1ing today? C-1ing today is still very exciting. I think there is still so much to be done out there in a C-1. I think the racing scene in C-1 is still really exciting and there are many new styles in a C-boat that are still developing in the slalom community that are fun to watch, for both women and men. I think the state of C-1 river running is at a little bit of a low point since some big name C-1 senders have dialed back, switched disciplines, left the sport, or just gone off the radar like Jan Choutka, Tad Dennis, Brad McMillan, Jordan Poffenberger, and Landon Miller. However, I have really been excited about the C-1ing that the Scottish guy Angus Ruairidh Gibson has been doing. He’s been getting into a lot of interesting runs in a C-1 and has done some big C-1 sends on some notable drops in Norway and around the UK.
