Baby Falls

[Riverken]

I've done quite well running Baby Falls until I get to the water at the bottom. There is always room for improvement.

When running Baby Falls (in an Option, if that is relevant) is it better to lean back, forward or just sit up straight?

[pmp]

your body will remain upright relative to ummm verticality. But curl your back for the landing.

[Riverken]

Thanks. Can you point me at a video of somebody doing it correctly?

[canoewhitewater]

Ken, this one looks like it has a couple of successful runs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfnFb6I3QFw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Riverken]

Here is another one with a whole bunch of people running the falls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoamjsuJvdY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks to me like the principal determinants of a successful run are:

A good, strong stroke off the lip, and

Staying well to the left. The people who go down the middle tend to pencil in.

I can't see any relation between back position position and success, but I could easily be missing something.

It's confusing to me because, on the one hand, leaning back would tend to keep your bow up, which is good, but it would also raise your center of gravity, which is bad. BUT, leaning forward would lower your bow, which is bad, but it would put you in position to place a strong forward stroke just after you hit the water, which is good (if I understand Paul's comment about curling your back, I think this may be his point,that is curl your back rather than lean forward, so that you can be in position to stroke, but not depress the bow too much--right?). But if you are vertical going over the falls, I don't think there is much help for you.

It's just a blizzard outside, and all I can think about is going to ALF.

[arhdc]

I think the crux is the move off of the lip to have proper boat placement to hit your line and then get some kind of hard forward boof stroke. The boof stroke will leave you with a backward body lean. Now the options are remain back, return to neutral or lean forward. In this case I would say that your body position when you land needs to be such that you can either brace or better yet grab a good forward stroke when you land thus returning to a neutral position, leaning neither forward or back or perhaps just slightly forward, if a forward stroke on landing is the plan, is going to be your best bet. Baby is not a long drop so on film it will look a lot like you are leaning back because that is where your boof stroke puts you even if you are transitioning forward to neutral for the landing.

[Riverken]

Thanks. That all makes good sense.

I'm smiling at your comment that Baby Falls is not a long drop. I wish I felt that way.

[Big Al]

IMHO, it's much easier and has significantly fewer potential consequences than Ohiopyle Falls on Lower Yough and/or Wonder Falls on Lower Big Sandy. And, from the carnage I've witnessed and heard about, much easier than the two drops at Valley Falls on the Tygart.

Big Al

[hankrankin]

When u grab the lip to make your boof stroke you should; plant your paddle, pull thru the lip and make a full stroke while crunching your body FORWARD, this will force you to bring your knees toward your chest, which will force your bow UP! I think a lot of people get confused and think that they should plant the paddle at the lip and pull it thru and lean back to make the stroke longer and therefore pull them out over the lip more. this is not the case, leaning back makes your knees/bow fall down.

This is not limited to baby falls, this proper boof stroke will work on many other drops

[dafriend]

+1 On Hank's comment. Another way to say the same thing: Visualize bringing your knees up to your chest like you're doing a cannonball jump off the falls. The paddle planted in the lip gives you something to pull against for the knee raise.

I think that having your body in more or less a normal seated posture relative to the boat when it lands gives you the best balance and most options for stroke, brace, hit the deck... whatever. Leaning back is certainly less stable than sitting upright. To me it looks like the successful paddlers are sitting upright to the boat and not to the fall-line.

[hankrankin]

+1 On Hank's comment. Another way to say the same thing: Visualize bringing your knees up to your chest like you're doing a cannonball jump off the falls.

Love this! i'm totally gonna be thinking about doing cannonballs off of every drop now

[Rand C1]

Hitting your boof stroke at the lip sort of makes all that happen, for me anyway.
Rand

[canoeman61]

Re. Hank's comment:

crunching your body FORWARD, this will force you to bring your knees toward your chest, which will force your bow UP!

Phil Foti taught me this when I asked him about running vertical drops in a Fly. The shorter the boat, the more this comes into play. If you lean back in a short boat, your knees are pushing the bow down. I would think it matters less in a longer boat.

[dafriend]

I would think it matters less in a longer boat.

Well... leaning back in a Spark tends to matter quite a lot.
Been there. Done that. Nearly perfect pencil.
<proof>

[Pierre LaPaddelle]

I would think it matters less in a longer boat.

. . . Been there. Done that. Nearly perfect pencil. . .

Great shot, dafriend!

Must be something contagious, this leaning back stuff.

Here are three doofuses who have been working on the same technique, all looking like pencils. (Including a couple of turns by one in an aforementioned Spark, with predictable results.)

http://youtu.be/c-5BDS_OSbs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rick