Update on Isimba Dam and the Nile

by Jessie Stone | Jun 8, 2017 | Trip Reports, Trips, Whitewater

After a busy season in Uganda both on and off the water with many attempts to find out exactly how high Isimba dam would be, we finally have news! An official survey was done at the dam site and the Isimba dam will flood through Vengeance rapid and to the base of...

The Perfect Spring (Almost) Day

by Jessie Stone | Mar 21, 2017 | 2016 Rock Star Competition, River Running, rivers, Whitewater, WW Disciplines

What’s the best Spring-soon-to-be day you can have in the Northern Hemisphere?? It goes something like this: You wake up to beautiful sunshine and cloudless skies on the mountains of the Berner Oberland in Switzerland where it was cold enough to freeze the previous...

The Clock is Ticking on the Nile!!!

by Jessie Stone | Mar 12, 2017 | 2016 Rock Star Competition, Internationalisation, Playboating, rivers, Trip Reports, Trips, United States, Whitewater, WW Disciplines

Leaving the Nile and Uganda gets harder every time I come and go these days because I know the clock is now officially ticking on the life span of the free flowing Nile that we know and love. Water levels remain unpredictable at best, but that means good things- tow...

Ugandan Freestyle Championships 2017 and Team Selections

by Jessie Stone | Mar 8, 2017 | 2016 Rock Star Competition, Event Coverage, Events, Playboating, rivers, Team JK, Whitewater, Wrap Ups, WW Disciplines

Though most people associate kayaking events in Uganda with the Nile River Festival which happens every January, this year, friday the 24th of February was the Ugandan Freestyle Championships. It was also the team selection for the Ugandan Freestyle Team which is...

Starting the Year Off Right in Uganda – The Nile River Festival

by Jessie Stone | Feb 7, 2017 | 2016 Rock Star Competition, Event Coverage, Events, Internationalisation, Playboating, United States, Whitewater, Wrap Ups, WW Disciplines

This January marked the 14-year anniversary of my first trip to Uganda – wow has time flown by! Never in a million years would I have imagined how that trip would have changed my life. Today, 14 years later, I am still paddling as much as I can on the Nile which turns...

Inner City Kids Kayaking Camp 2014 – Our 10th Year!!

by Jessie Stone | Aug 22, 2014 | Whitewater

Teaching people to kayak is something I love to do, and exposing kids to kayaking who would never otherwise have the opportunity is a very special and unique experience that has been the highlight of my teaching career over the years. Add to that that these students...

Help Save the Nile!!

by Jessie Stone | Aug 11, 2014 | Whitewater

On my most recent trip to Uganda, I arrived just in time for terrorist warnings at the Entebbe airport. Luckily, I had no idea about the warnings until well after I had landed, cleared customs, and left the airport. Since the first major and most devastating terrorist...

Fun in BV, Glenwood, and Lyons!

by Jessie Stone | Jun 13, 2014 | Whitewater

Although I have been coming to Colorado to compete since 2000, this is the first year I made it to Buena Vista for the CKS Paddlefest. The altitude of nearly 8,000ft almost killed me the first day on the water – I was coming from sea level and acclimatizing takes at...

The T’Ville Triple Crown – A Family Affair

by Jessie Stone | May 4, 2014 | Whitewater

On and off for the last 13 years, I have been competing at Tarifville Gorge on the Farmington River in different incarnations of kayaking events. The Farmington river was the first place I paddled on the East Coast back when I was in medical school 18 years ago, and I...

Wheelchair distribution in Uganda with the Walkabout Foundation

by Jessie Stone | Mar 23, 2014 | Internationalisation, United States, Whitewater

Over the last week in Uganda, we hosted the Walkabout Foundation to distribute 200 Tough Rider wheelchairs to people in need. These chairs are made in Kenya by disabled people and specially made for African (Ugandan) wear and tare. This distribution was months in the...

EJ’s 50th Birthday Party

by Jessie Stone | Mar 14, 2014 | Whitewater

The Day before EJ’s 50th birthday we paddled the river at super low water and spent over 2 hours at Muts Nuts – what an awesome wave! I had never been lucky enough to have more than one or two rides at time on it before, so it was fun to exhaust myself there and surf...

Nile Summer

by Jessie Stone | Mar 7, 2014 | Whitewater

When it’s really hot in Uganda, which it is in the months of January and February, it is hard to imagine that its cold and snowy elsewhere. It’s very easy to get accustomed to flip-flops, no sleeves, and warm Nile water. The middle of the day when sweat is pouring...