Jackson Kayak Team Week at Skook

August 27, 2007

By Nick Troutman

Early this summer the Jackson Kayak team had the privilege to go to the Skookumchuck tidal rapids for our Jackson Team Week. This was awesome because we got to just hang out and catch up with everyone, and paddle the amazing wave.

We were there for three days, and each day the water came up, making the wave bigger, steeper, and greener, each day. After the first day, we had figured out how to do every move possible, both ways. This was awesome being that Clay didn’t think the water was high enough to even get air on the wave.

Throughout the next two days, we all were perfecting different things, some people like Jesse Combs and Clay were just getting used to being in a playboat again, and were working on the basic blunts and panams, and working on getting air time, while Emily and LP were working on airscrews and flashbacks, and trying to perfect it more on each ride, while Dane EJ and myself were focusing on air time and trying to stick every move in one ride.

The rides were long, but we decided to always have two people on the wave to keep the line moving. It was Clay’s idea to keep the rides moving because you can literally stay on the wave forever, so we had to throw the hardest moves every pass.

We also had our slalom boats there, because we would paddle to the wave in them, because it was a two-mile flat-water paddle. The slalom boats made the paddle go quicker, but they were also a blast to fool around in on the wave.

The whirlpools were big, but not a huge as they are said to be, and we never really had a problem with the ‘tour’. Although I did do the tour on my last ride, after I was exhausted and barely tried to get into shore. The Tour is when you miss the eddy, and go for a long paddle down some swirly boily eddy lines.

We were also filming for a show called ‘Nomads’, which airs on Rush HD TV, and the National Geographic channels. That was cool, because they were trying to get all types of cool angles. They even brought in a boat and stayed right in front of the wave filming us. We also used a couple head camera and such.

Over all it was an awesome trip, and I would advise Skook as a destination for all. Between the scenery, the wildlife, and the wave, everyone should try to get out there and check it out for themselves.

Here is a quick little video about our Jackson Kayak Team week at the Skookumchuck tidal rapids (QuickTime, 8.5 MB).

Nick