Athlete Stories
Paddling stories from professional athletes. Get stoked with tales from those pushing the boundaries of today’s kayaking, stand up paddling, canoe, and whitewater rafting.
Athlete Stories
Tokyo Sneak Peak: The Top 5 Women Slalom Kayakers to Keep an Eye On
From oldest to youngest, the inside skinny on the top female slalom paddlers at this year’s Olympics. Spain’s Maialen Chourraut is the only Olympic male and female...
Athlete Stories
Director’s Statement: Rush Sturges on the Premier of “The River Runner”
Any kayaker who’s worth his or her weight in noseplugs knows of Rush Sturges, an accomplished filmmaker and expedition kayaker who grew up on...
Athlete Stories
Cool Running: Jamaica’s Solomon Maragh Makes Slalom History
Call it Cool Paddling. In the 1993 movie "Cool Running," a group of Jamaicans created history by qualifying for the bobsled competition at the...
Athlete Stories
A Klamath Undertaking: Trio SUPs Source to Sea on Cali’s Klamath
Feel good about your little 10-mile SUP day trip? That’s paddling peanuts. A threesome of adventurers has you beat, supping source-to-sea down 234 miles...
Athlete Stories
Holy Beatdown! Level6 King of Alps Comp Goes Awwwfff!
25 Nations – 250 Paddlers – 100% Fun. That sums up Italy’s King of the Alps kayak contest, which organizers held with COVID protocols...
Athlete Stories
Tokyo Here We Come: Meet the 3 Whitewater Paddlers Representing the USA at the Olympics
All eyes were on US racers at the 2021 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic, on June 11–13, as berths at...
Athlete Stories
Foiled Again: Chris Bertish Plans to Solo Wing Foil 2,750 Miles Across the Pacific
Watesports athlete Chris Bertish is at it again. In a venture dubbed the TransPac Wing Project, he plans to solo wing foil 2,750 nautical...
Athlete Stories
Middle Fork, Main and…Selway? A 310-mile Packraft/Ski Combo in Idaho
Proud of your measly little portage? A group of hard chargers in Idaho skied across the Sawtooths to Marsh Creek, then used their Alpacka...
Athlete Stories
PL Q&A: Catching Up With “From the River” Author Joe Booth
Longtime kayaker and author Joe Booth recently released his new book “From the River: A Guidebook to Sobriety from a Lifetime of Lessons Paddling”...
Athlete Stories
PL Founder Buchanan Featured on HammerFactor Podcast
Any boater worth the salt on his crusted-over polypro innerlayers has tuned into the HammerFactor, a paddling-centric podcast run by industry veterans John Grace,...
Athlete Stories
Catching Up (And Life lessons) With Big Water Dave
Recently, Paddling Life staffers had the chance to kayak Colorado's Cross Mountain of the Yampa with none other than Big Water Dave, a 65-year-old...
Athlete Stories
Emily Jackson Comes Clean on Kayak Fishing
You might know Emily Jackson as a perennial powerhouse when it comes to freestyle paddling. An executive at Jackson Kayak, she’s a two-time World...
Athlete Stories
Muggridge, Marr, Macewan Bag CN’s Flier Creek in New Redbull Film
Curtailed by a lack of international travel last year, Redbull kayaker Ed Muggridge came up with the idea to tackle something closer to home,...
Athlete Stories
Breaking Down the C-1 Crossbow Draw (with Video!)
So you’re already a cartilage-missing miscreant who enjoys paddling a single blade more than a double. We won't hold that against you. Half the...
Athlete Stories
Yacht Surfing with Dane Jackson
With plenty of idle time on his hands to dream up ideas during the pandemic, Jackson Kayaks' Dane Jackson came up with a doozie:...
Athlete Stories
A Paddler’s Ode to His Dear Friend Alan Panebaker
This water sport I love has given me so much, but it also has tested me in ways I could never have fathomed. Kayaking...
Athlete Stories
21 Year Old Breaks World Record for Youngest Female to Row Solo Across Ocean
Jasmine Harrison, 21, from Thirsk in North Yorkshire, has broken the world record by becoming the youngest female to row solo across any ocean...
Athlete Stories
Catching Up With Photographer, Ageless Surf Kayaker and Avila Beach Paddlesports Founder Vince Shay
As a marine wildlife photographer, sea kayak/SUP outfitter and former hard-charging surf kayaker and boat designer, Vince Shay is no stranger when it comes...
Apparel
PL Exclusive: Inside Level6 with Founder Stig Larsson
What started for Level6 founder Stig Larsson “as an idea on a little surf beach in Costa Rica” has blossomed into a full-blown paddlesports...
Athlete Stories
Catching Up With: Aniol Serrasolses on the Pandemic, His New Kids Program and More
One of the most accomplished paddlers of our time, Spain’s Aniol Serrasolses fell in love with kayaking at a young age and has been...
Athlete Stories
Pyranha Launches Boat Raffle/Cancer Fundraiser for Athlete Fiance
The paddling world is pretty tight knit and comes together when someone’s in need. That’s the case with Pyranha, which is launching a boat...
Athlete Stories
PL Q&A Exclusive: Filmmaker Scott Blankenfeld Releases New Vid of Cali’s South Silver First Descent
First run in the late ‘90s, California’s South Silver drains the Sierra Nevada in a torrent of cascades, creating one of the best granite-lined,...
Athlete Stories
Emily Jackson on Finding Balance in Life
Balance is far more than something you find in your boat. It’s just as important — perhaps even more so — in life. So what...
Athlete Stories
Watch Vid of 9-year-old Paddling Skykomish’s Class IV Boulder Drop (and Q&A with the Father)
A 9-year-old boy's attempt to become the youngest person to whitewater kayak through the Skykomish's notorious Class IV rapid Boulder Drop in Washington might...
Latest news
Kokatat Sold
After 50 years under the direction and ownership of its founder, Steve O’Meara, Kokatat has been purchased by the company’s Director of...
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Flash Flood Kills Rafter in Grand Canyon
A 29-year-old woman was found dead and others were injured following a flash flood July 14 in Grand Canyon National...
Tokyo Sneak Peak: The Top 5 Women Slalom Kayakers to Keep an Eye On
From oldest to youngest, the inside skinny on the top female slalom paddlers at this year’s Olympics. Spain’s Maialen Chourraut is the...
Must read
Tokyo Sneak Peak: The Top 5 Women Slalom Kayakers to Keep an Eye On
From oldest to youngest, the inside skinny on the...
Director’s Statement: Rush Sturges on the Premier of “The River Runner”
Any kayaker who’s worth his or her weight in...
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Professor Paddle
Jen Kleck, 37, owner of San Diego, Calif.’s Aqua Adventures, is on a mission. Not Mission Bay, where her sea kayak company puts 3,000 people on the water each year, but a mission for a U.S. first: In May, she heads to the UK to test for her Level 5 Coaching certification from the British Canoe Union (BCU). Only three women in the entire world have the honor. Paddling Life caught up with Jen on a recent paddling trip to Baja to find out more about the upcoming certification.