Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Want to learn from whitewater’s best, while paddling some of the best rivers in the country? Head to The Whitewater Symposium in White Salmon, Wash., Oct. 12-14 for a weekend of seminars, symposiums, on-water instruction and more, all in the heart of prime paddling...

Warm Springs Rapid on the Yampa wasn't the only rapid rearranged by Mother Nature this year. Hance rapid on the Grand will also take a closer scout after a flash flood changed it in late August...

With its low water through much of the season, fewer paddlers than normal got to run Yampa Canyon in Colorado’s Dinosaur National Monument, and dodge the giant hole at the bottom of its signature Warms Springs rapid. Those who run it next year might want to give the rapid a second look while scouting. In early August, a flash flood, rock fall or both cascaded down the canyon, altering the landmark drop significantly.

You could hear a pin drop when he took the stage. Thankfully for Martin Litton, 95, winner of Canoe & Kayak magazine’s Lifetime Achievement award at this summer’s Outdoor Retailer tradeshow, it wasn’t a thole pin from his dory-rowing days on the Grand Canyon. The silence came out of sheer respect for one of the world's top river environmentalists...

He’s baaaack. Decades after founding footwear giant Teva in 1984, a born-in-the-Grand-Canyon brand that has since become synonymous with river running, Teva founder Mark Thatcher is at it again launching a new footwear company called Sazzi...

Believe it or not, in this year of historically low runoff in Colorado, the state's main artery, the Colorado River, is running higher than average in Class V Gore Canyon and Class II Lower Gore Canyon downstream (1,150 cfs), and perfect for rafters in Shoshone Canyon near Glenwood Springs. And paddlers owe it all to something called the Shoshone Outage Protocol...

With the Lyons Outdoor Games and FIBArk wrapping up in Colorado, and river fest followers now flocking to Gunnison, Festival season is in full swing in Colorado, with familiar names on the podium. A quick wrap PL-style on who’s done what where...

The first weekend of May 2012 witnessed some of the best river action east of the Mississippi at the 15th annual French Broad River...

Paddlers might be partying a little harder than usual at this year's Teva Games. Mother Nature has thrown every curve ball possible to the organizers of the Teva Mountain Games — from sinkholes and snowstorms to floods. This year it's drought. While organizers remain hopeful all whitewater and SUP events will take place as planned May 31-June 3, they'll make a final race status decision May 29....

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act this year, American Rivers named the Coal River as topping America’s Most Endangered Rivers, shining a spotlight on the threat mountaintop removal mining poses to clean water and public health. Read on for full list...

No one got cheated out of any fun at this year’s 17th annual Cheat River Festival, highlighted by the “Massacre-ence” kayak race on West Virginia’s Cheat River May 4. Marking the largest, mass start kayak race in the country with more than 155 boaters, this year above average (3.9 feet) water levels provided plenty of pandemonium...

Boaters in the Northwest got a backyard run back as, for the first time since Condit Dam was breached in October 2011, a public access is once again available downstream of Husum Falls on the lower White Salmon. Bonus: A new play wave upstream of the bridge...

Talk about a fundraiser. While river festivals around the country try to raise funds for their respective waterways this spring, this year’s annual First Descents Ball, which raises money for the non-profit helping kids with cancer, raised a whopping $450,000....

Borrowing a line from Field of Dreams, the Nantahala Outdoor Center gears up this week for the 2012 NOC Freestyle Shootout April 20-22, the first official freestyle event to be held at the newly built Nantahala Wave, designed for the upcoming 2013 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships...

A new program launched by American Rivers, the nation’s leading river conservation organization, is helping local businesses and outfitters connect with customers and join the effort to protect rivers and clean water...

Small World Adventures, which runs uber-sweet kayaking trips in Ecuador from its lodge on the banks of the Quijos River, is entering a new chapter with the sale of Small World and Cabanas Tres Rios lodge to Guy Erb, of Spokane, Wash. Erb plans on joining the SWA team for the 2012/2013 season and is leaving the structure of the staff, trips and logistics the same. Having been there to sample its first-class whitewater wares, PL checks in...

A few more kids might be getting wet than normal this paddling season, thanks to a new series of grants offered by Outdoor Nation. The group recently announced the 13 winners of its Paddle Nation Project, aimed at connecting young Americans with their waterways through recreational paddling...

Paddlers give up water? A tall order, perhaps, but that’s what Teva is asking paddlers to do on the eve of the 19th annual World Water Day...

Kayakers tackling Class V Gore Canyon on the Colorado might soon be bringing playboats on their racks as well as creekers. Grand County is planning to build a whitewater park on the Colorado River below Gore Canyon, just above Pumphouse and at Inspiration Point. But the movement needs paddlers' help by March 7...

The Green River's whitewater canyon Gates of Lodore and the popular fishing stretches upstream in Brown's Park have at least had a water flow stay of execution with FERC recently dismissing the initial permit application for pipeline project that would pull water out of the Flaming Gorge Dam upstream...

Sure, Freya Hoffmeister might have circum-navigated Australia. We’d like to see her keep up with the exploits of Australian Tanya Faux. This spring, Faux, a longtime creek and rodeo competitor and Australia’s2008 Adventurer of the Year, is leading a group of eight women into one of Australia’s most rugged and remote areas: a 30-day uncharted, unsupported, river exploration of the Kimberley region that aims to promote the Save the Kimberley campaign. Oh, and did we mention the Class V and crocs?

Okay, all you free-loading dirtbags. No more free lunch. It's permit season. So get off your duff and send in your applications for your favorite river trip instead of waiting to get asked along. Plus, that way you can invite who you want (which hopefully will include us). Here's all the info you need...

River guides rejoice: finally a book you can all relate to. Former river guide Tom Mahony’s Flooding Granite (Casperian Books) details the plight of river guide Zack Pruitt, a college drop-out who abandoned his girlfriend and young son when things got tough and headed back to the Sierra Nevada to guide. But he gets more than he bargained for. PL catches up with the author for a quick Q&A, and gives it a thumbs-up for those jonesing for whitewater action this winter...

After much time watching guests struggle during unexpected whitewater swims, Hamish McMaster, 20 year whitewater veteran and owner of the International Whitewater Company, Water By Nature developed the leg floaty.