The latest crew tipped their hats to the pioneers of the Gorge, and spoke with respect about the river itself. “The waves felt like ocean waves. They were really heavy and thick,” described Willie after several big ones broke right on him during his first run. “Niagara Gorge showed me once again how looks can be deceiving,” said Rusty Sage. “From the rim it looked like mellow class III, but down in there, it’s giant and really chaotic. You really have no control of where you go once you’re in there. And if your skirt blew, or for some reason you swam, it would be very bad news. I’ve never felt that way in my kayak before, so small and insignificant, except maybe at Rapid Number 9 on the Zambezi River at high water.”
In the end, our team agreed that they had thoroughly enjoyed their runs in the Niagara Gorge. They also agreed that if it were legal, it would certainly be a popular spot. There just aren’t many places in the U.S. that offer that type of big water kayaking. We can only hope that one day we will enjoy unfettered access to this incredible whitewater resource.
Look for the footage of the Niagara Gorge in Scott Lindgren’s film ‘Steve Fisher – Blackbook’.
Woody was even in a squirt boat, wasn't he? CosmixDebris you got any free footy to share, maybe some madness from a LVM promo? or some of that crazzy stuff Rush Sturges is filming...
An open boater ran High Ridge Run in West Virginia this spring.
Aside from hiking in with that canoe (1400' up for two miles!), he apparently ran all of the rapids the kayakers did. I keep hearing about this in awe from kayaker friends who were there.
High Ridge Run was one of most coveted first descents in the last ten years around here, and sounds like it definitely lives up to hype. Here's a report:
Semi-retired C1er Erik Amason turned back the clock for some classic moves on this creek as well -- although without any ruptured internal organs to show for it, one can't imagine this run even had him breaking a sweat:
I have no idea what is the biggest/baddest run. Every one that has been listed is beyond anything that I will ever be able to do - unless reincarnation is a reality. However, I think you can ask Nolan which is more difficult, the Niagrara Gorge or the North Fork of the Payette. Going by what Grant Amaral said in his book "Idaho, the Whitewater State", he and Nolan ran the North Fork in 1988. Yarnellboat was kind enough to post this video of the North Fork in high water
Does it really matter? As this thread has demonstrated once that Open Canoes can do anything a kayak can with a suitable pilot.
Out of interest, does anyone know if there's been a decked c1 attempt or run of the Stikine?
Joshua Kelly - "More George Smiley than James Bond"
CBoats Moderator - Not necessarily representing the CBoats staff though...(I'll use words like "moderator", "We" and "CBoats" to make it clear when I am)
philcanoe wrote:Maybe 1stD of Sunset Falls by Al Faussett ...
... in a spruce dugout.
(or perhaps something in Mexico by Louie)
That has to be it... I just recently became aware of that falls... That has to be the most powerful rapid that I have ever seen! People hardly ever run it even today, and to run it in one of those old-school canoes is just crazy
we were talking canoes
