With the state’s record snowpack finally running off, California is becoming Grand Central for expert whitewater kayakers looking to catch its classic runs at water levels not seen in years. One paddler leading the charge is none other than Dane Jackson, who headed west for a quick week in the Sierras before hitting the competition circuit at such events as Colorado’s GoPro Games.
From the Big Kimshew, which flows out of the Northern Sierras into the West Branch of the Feather River near the town of Paradise, to signature sections of the Kern and the Yuba, he and his cadre of kayakers including Patrick Sheehan, squeezed in as many Cali classics as they could, dialing in each one in standard Dane fashion.
“The little bit of time I have already had in Cali this season has been fantastic, with good laps on the South Yuba, and the Cadillacs, Cataracts and Thunder runs on the Kern,” he says. “It’s fun being here earlier in the season with the opportunity to potentially see sections I haven’t got a chance to see, like the Big Kimshew I got on last week, which was absolutely epic. In the end it’s already been a great start, and there is still tons of snow all over this state, so we are in for a long and epic season.”
His time on the Kern also included an epic surf session on the Cheese Wave, which he called “absolutely ridiculous…I didn’t think wave surfing could get any better.”
But don’t take our word for it. Check a couple of his YouTube vids below to see Cali’s epic runoff season from his eyelid-peeled-back eyes.
A Sampling of Dane’s Cali Collection (Hint: Wear Your Noseplugs)
South Fork Yuba River
Cadillacs (Upper Cataracts) of the Kern (7,500 cfs)