In this episode, Chris Thomas sits down with Ben Lott out of New Zealand who is an ultramarathon paddler, mountaineer, adventurer, trail runner, adventure racer, and equestrian who keeps finding his way back to the Yukon year after year. In addition to his adventuring exploits he is involved with the Yukon River Quest board and is involved with the race fleet as well. We cover so much in this episode from the life changing injury that brought him to paddling and the Yukon, the importance of implicitly trusting a paddling partner, the importance of giving back to the sport of ultramarathon paddling by being involved in races, insights from being an equestrian that overlap with paddling, paddling technique, the importance for racers to care for their boats in the Yukon, making paddle sports sexy again, boob cups, and the conditions New Zealanders paddle in that make them prime competitors in the Yukon. There’s so much more to this episode, but I’ll let you hear it from Ben Lott himself on this 22nd episode of the Dabbling in Paddleism Podcast…

Ben's Instagram: @lotts_nzl

Finding Ben documentary: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkzf4lMjX77XdOuHtI-sfByeLcQ_7gQBo&si=emgCe3i3HoqRG48u

Finding Ben articles (Yukon 1000 website): https://www.yukon1000.org/findingbenpart1/

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/130808417/finding-ben-part-2-1000-miles-and-beyond

Ben's Recommended New Zealand Paddle Adventures:

-Clutha River, NZ: https://www.cluthanz.com/explore/activities-and-attractions/all-activities-and-attractions/mighty-clutha-river

-Fjordland, NZ: https://www.cluthanz.com/explore/activities-and-attractions/all-activities-and-attractions/mighty-clutha-river

Ben’s Book Recommendations:

-Let My People Go Surfing, Yvon Chouinard - https://a.co/d/ezNRpw5

-The Long Walk, Slavomir Rawicz: https://a.co/d/0INH0gB

Chris’s Book Recommendations

-Some Stories: Lessons from the Edge of Business and Sport, Yvon Chouinard - https://a.co/d/6IQ1JzG

-Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map, Rick Ridgeway - https://a.co/d/3oKcLqC