Archive

Don’t be surprised if Julian Monroe Fisher starts saying, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” Fisher is one-fifth of the way through his five-year Great African Expedition, exploring Africa’s interior using Folbot Greenland II expedition kayaks...

Okay, all you paddlers. Here’s your chance to put one of your peers on the podium. National Geographic just released its candidates for its Adventurer of the Year, with kayaker Steve Fisher making the cut for its People’s Choice category for last year’s run of the Congo’s Inga rapids, as documented in his film The Grand Inga Project. So get off your duffs and vote…

Long-time rafting supplier Avon was sold as part of a package that included the entire Zodiac line. OpenGate Capital, LLC has acquired Zodiac Recreational from Zodiac Marine & Pool, a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group. It is unknown how the acquisition will affect production or distribution for Avon customers.

Jackson Kayaks and Bending Branches paddles were among paddlesports manufacturers praised in Kokatat's first annual American Made Outdoor Gear Awards. Aluminum bottle manufacturer Liberty Bottleworks took the overall prize.

Johnson Outdoors Watercraft Inc., home to Necky Kayaks, Ocean Kayak, Old Town Canoes & Kayaks and Carlisle paddles, introduces industry veteran David Hadden as its new Brand Director - Watercraft.

According to river runners Jon Barker and Clancy Reece, anything worth doing is worth overdoing – which is exactly what led them to tempt fate on a flooding Salmon River in 1996 to see how far they could float Reece’s homemade wooden dory through the largest wilderness tract in the Lower 48 in 24 hours. The result, as captured drop by drop by former Idaho raft guide Jo Deurbrouck in her new award-winning book Anything Worth Doing, is a storyline every paddler who has dipped a blade in water can appreciate…

While fish kayaks have gotten all the attention in the paddling/angling combo world, a company out of Colorado is making a name by letting you fish tandem out of an inflatable. PL tested out Creek Company’s new Voyager 2 -- a miniature, frameless pontoon-style raft -- on a fall outing on northwest Colorado’s Elk River and gives it a solid thumbs-up when it comes to casting and river running...

As The Who might put it in Tommy, “How do you think he does it? What makes him so good?” Dane Jackson pinballed his way down some of Chile’s toughest whitewater in five events of the 2012 Whitewater Grand Prix, sealing his second straight overall title with commanding wins in the final Boatercross and Whitewater Enduro races on Chile’s big-water Rio Futaleufu...

Your local creeks might be devoid of their best paddlers right about now. That’s because 30 of the world’s best from 13 countries have been invited to Chile for the Second Annual Whitewater Grand Prix kayaking championship, underway as we speak with three of five events completed. In the driver’s seat so far are last year’s winner Dane Jackson, Isaac Levinson and France’s Eric Deguil, with France’s Nouria Newman leading the women's pack…

Outdoor Nation, a national initiative helping reconnect millennials to the outdoors, is accepting applications for Paddle Nation Project Grants, now in its second year, and will award $2,500 to a minimum of 20 innovative paddle projects across the U.S.

The origin of the Swamp Fox 50 Mile Paddle/Camp Trail actually dates back to the Swamp Fox National Recreational Trail, which was developed in 1968. Much of the Swamp Fox National Recreational Trail was eventually incorporated into the Swamp Fox Passage of the Palmetto Trail, a project conceived in 1994 to establish a network of more than 420 miles of hiking and cycling trails connecting the mountains of the Upstate with the sea in the Low Country. Now paddlers have 50 miles of rustic camping to connect their tour of the lakes.

Okay, so this is a little longer tome than PL normally runs. But Chris Harjes' graduation-present-to-himself, train-accessed run of Quebec's West Magpie has everything any PL reader should covet, from black flies to dehydrated bacon and mind-blowing, wilderness boating...

Last week Olympic whitewater paddling sensation Tony Estanguet announced his retirement from the sport, with plans to continue serving the Olympic games and youth athletes for years to come.

Surfer Magazine named Paddle2Live SUP fundraising adventure group as the Surfer Poll Agent of Change 2012 award recipient.

The Teva Mountain Games are the Teva Mountain Games no more. The world's biggest stage for freestyle and creek racing will still be around, just not with Teva as a sponsor. Teva president Joel Heath announced Nov. 28 that the footwear giant is pulling out of the Games after an 11-year run. PL checks in with Heath for the lowdown...

“Honey, I’m heading out for a short paddle...I’ll be back in three months...” That sums up the summer for Reno, Nev.‘s Adam Bradley, who recently returned from a three-month Odyssey biking, hiking and paddling from his back door in Reno to the Bering Sea. PL catches up with the madman for his take on the trek...

If you want to test out apparel made specifically for getting wet, it helps to do so on the manufacturer’s home turf. And if that turf involves surf, so much the better. Such was the case when, on vacation in Maui, we found ourselves Supping with Bluesmiths founder John Smalley, whose apparel line is making waves as fast as its wearers are catching them….

In what is billed as the new standard in how-to-roll DVD’s, “This is the Roll,” provides technical demonstrations on some of sea-kayaking’s hardest moves. World-class instructors Cheri Perry and Turner Wilson demonstrate and teach the three most important Greenland style rolls for open water paddlers: The Standard Roll, the Reverse Sweep and the Storm Roll.

Nominations for the International Whitewater Hall of Fame (IWHOF) Class of 2013 are being accepted through December 1. These nominations give paddlers the opportunity to join an esteemed group of the world's most accomplished whitewater pioneers, explorers, champions and advocates.

Charleston, SC-based Folbot folding kayaks will be auctioning its last remaining Metrobot—a special edition Folbot Citibot with an iconic NYC subway map on the deck—in an effort to support the American Red Cross after Frankenstorm Sandy’s impact on New York City.

Georgia’s Tallulah River has just one weekend left this year for paddlers to run its rapids on November 17-18. The waterfalls flowing through Tallulah Gorge State Park grow to more than 10 times their normal flows during releases, drawing kayakers from across the country.

A master woodworker who constructed magnificent canoe and kayak paddles, Keith Backlund died on the evening of October 25 at the age of 60.

Wondering where the best whitewater kayakers in the world will be in December? They'll be in Chile for the second annual Whitewater Gran Prix, a unique Class V stage-style event that is quickly going viral. A look at who got the golden ticket to compete, and PL's pick for the winner...

Has there ever been a movie out of Hollywood that has done more to put paddling on the map? Deliverance, that iconic canoeing flick that put paddling and the Southeast on the nation’s radar for good, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, with the cinematic staying power of Hypalon….