While Paddling Life constantly scours the internet for people paddling interesting and bold watercraft, we stumbled upon one person using no craft al all—just swimming the Gauley. While we got Ody Elrod to talk with us about his ear-popping exploits, we do have to offer a caveat: Kids don’t try this at home!
PL: How did you get into swimming whitewater?
OE: I am a third generation raft guide, even my grandma is still guiding in Alaska. But I’m the only one who has decided to swim and do more risky stuff. I’ve been a raft guide for five years now and I’ve swam rivers for about four years. The past year I’ve started kayaking, since I have gotten over the fear of being stuck in a boat.
PL: Where do you live?
OE: I travel in a camper. Currently, I am a dog musher in Krabloonik, Colorado, near Snowmass guiding dog sleds.
PL: Tell us about your kayaking?
OE: In the 15 months I’ve been kayaking, the biggest accomplishment is probably running Tahquamenon Falls, one of the largest falls in the East Coast. The Upper Falls is about 50 feet.
PL: What rivers have you swam and how fun is it?
OE: I’ve swam maybe seven rivers including the Hiwassee, sections of the Tellico, Ocoee, the New and the Gauley, and sections of Clear Creek here in Colorado.
It’s so much fun to just swim over drops like Baby Falls on the Telico, there is really nothing like it. I showed up for the Alf Festival and met Paul Parsons. I showed up early with the intent to be safety for the open boaters at the waterfall, and while he was there it happened twice that they needed some help. Before the canoeists came Paul took many photos of me just swimming the falls, taking a pool floaty and a Walmart inflatable as well.
PL: The Gauley has a lot of sieves and undercuts. How did you get comfortable with the decision to swim it and what did you learn from it?
OE: The biggest thing I had to conquer with the Gauley was the fear of possibility and how overwhelming it can be. “Bravery is not the absence of fear but the mastery over it.” Every time I swim there is a battle within before I get to the rapid or dive through the hole or swim next to the undercut. That fear hovers over me and is something you have to respect enough to acknowledge before you dismiss it. Because it is scary and for the most part it is a science.
Before I swam the Gauley I boogie boarded it to learn where the line was. I built my own river board —an old manager at the rafting company helped me make one. It was made of a soft foam with waterhose handles all around on it. It took about a month to make. I got so many cramps and kicked until I couldn’t feel my legs any more. There is nothing like being so personal with the water. My old boss John told me about Robbie Gilson’s “Frogmen of the Gauley River”. There is only one video of swimming the Gauley and this is it on You Tube. Learning where to swim and be in the balance of the chaos and be near the sieves but find where the line is. Every time I swim there it is always the same line. I love to melt down at Sweets Falls since I see it as a simple safe line. At Pillow Rock I run the hero line. It’s deep and you can melt through anything that isn’t a pourover as long as you’re actively swimming.
PL: We reached out to Jeff Snyder about this…he’s also fascinated with currents and swimming rivers, at least in his younger days, and swam the Upper Yough and Gauley. He’s a legend in whitewater who created “striding” (standing atop an IK with a long paddle). He said, “It’s important to understand the risk to reward rule, as well as the difference between want and need. Start at the beginning and then grow gradually with skill level.” Thoughts?
OE: I’ve only been swimming the Gauley for two years, and it’s great to have mentors like Jeff. Mine is Robbie Gilson, who has been doing it for much longer (maybe even 10 years). He’s the one who inspired me to swim the Gauley and he is quite a Frog Man. He showed me over four years that it was possible, and I thought about it for that amount of time. Robbie is a raft guide and more of a kayaker who does photo and video boating out on the Gauley.
PL: Any special training?
OE: This year I will turn 23, so I’m still young a fait enough.But the fitness level and training I did helped me lose over 100 pounds in preparation for the Gauley. It’s like running on a treadmill with a gun to your head.
PL: What equipment do you use?
OE: As far as equipment, I usually wear a wetsuit and always a PFD and helmet. I use a Sweet helmet, the Rocker, which seems to have the best protection. Before that I used a Sweet Strutter, but didn’t like that the bill would catch water and push upwards. The Rocker is better due to that problem. I also use Churchill Fins, webbed gloves and a snorkel mask, oftentimes without the snorkel. I like to look up a lot to see where I am and to breathe. I use an Astral low profile PFD, YTV 1. Super low-profile is always better for swimming.
PL: Where did you grow up?
OE: I grew up in Cleveland, Tennessee, about 30 minutes from the Ocoee River where I started swimming and started my raft guide career. My first swim was Cat’s Pajamas.
PL: And you like the Gauley the most?
OE: Every year I try to go to West Virginia because swimming the Gauley is something I am very passionate about. I want to go back this fall after the raft guiding season. This year I want to explore Colorado via kayak, and won’t be swimming it. I feel like the Gauley has rapids that are Class V with volume that provides space to safely swim in. That being said, I’d never swim the Gauley lower than fall flows, because of the sieves. Out of all the rapids the hardest is Lost Paddle—it’s a long way to swim and hold your breath—and the scariest is Iron Ring, which I have to prepare mentally because the consequences are pretty serious.
Watch video of Robbie Gilson going for it on the Gauley!
Photo of OE running Tahquamenon Falls
Instagram handle @river.boofs
Photos by Paul Parsons