Tales from the Cripps

Darcy Gaechter generated a lot of talk when she became the first women to kayak the Amazon river from source to sea. That's why we're going to talk about none of that today, because Darcy has, for decades, been a core member of the whitewater kayaking scene in North and South America, with a massive resume of whitewater paddling accomplishments.

Today we sample some of her experiences, from preparing to run the Stikine, to the state of women in whitewater, and running a whitewater guiding business.

Here are links to the Ecuador conservation and outreach efforts Darcy discussed during the podcast:
Ecuador River Institute Fundraiser

Yaki Churis fundraiser and Yaku Churis program

Find out much more about Darcy:
Darcy's book on her Amazon source to sea expedition: Amazon Woman
Darcy on the Today Show
Darcy's guiding company Small World Adventures

And finally: https://www.lmgt.com/?q=Darcy+Gaechter

Today's episode's sponsors:

4Corners Riversports
4Corners Riversports is located in Durango, Colorado. They are a full service paddlesports retail and rental store! If you are looking to get on the water, look no further than 4Corners Riversports. Call them at 970-259-3893 or visit their website www.riversports.com

Taylor Barker with The Group Real Estate Steamboat
I have known and paddled with Taylor for years. If you're interested in purchasing a property in the Steamboat area, Taylor is happy to share his expertise and help you find the perfect property. You can reach him at 336-314-4353 or by email at [email protected].

This podcast is being featured in the podcast section of paddlinglife.com.  If you haven’t already visited the site, check it out for news, stories, reviews, and just about anything related to the paddling life.

For comments, questions, or if you have a story worth sharing, pitch it to me:
[email protected]

Send me a text message with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Support the show

For some southeastern boys, the world is too big to stay in one place. Stan Prichard discovered a love for kayaking and the outdoors early in life and responded "hell yeah" to any offer that came his way. That attitude took him around the globe doing first descents, international class V classics, as well as pushing water levels on local classics. He did all this while still pursuing his love for skiing, climbing and outdoor fun.

Come take a ride through the anthology of some Stan's greatest hits over the last 3 decades of paddling.

Today's episode's sponsors:

4Corners Riversports
4Corners Riversports is located in Durango, Colorado. They are a full service paddlesports retail and rental store! If you are looking to get on the water, look no further than 4Corners Riversports. Call them at 970-259-3893 or visit their website www.riversports.com

Taylor Barker with The Group Real Estate Steamboat
I have known and paddled with Taylor for years. If you're interested in purchasing a property in the Steamboat area, Taylor is happy to share his expertise and help you find the perfect property. You can reach him at 336-314-4353 or by email at [email protected].

This podcast is being featured in the podcast section of paddlinglife.com.  If you haven’t already visited the site, check it out for news, stories, reviews, and just about anything related to the paddling life.

For comments, questions, or if you have a story worth sharing, pitch it to me:
[email protected]

Send me a text message with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Support the show

Pedro Oliva had a dream when he was just a kid, that he was going to see the world and do something great. A good way to fulfill that dream? Be the guy that Ben Stookesberry can count on to always say "yes" to his next crazy mission.

That attitude propelled Pedro around the world on countless kayaking expeditions, gave him a brief stint as the world waterfall descent record holder, and landed him as the star of a syndicated television program showcasing his adventures.

Using his energy, passion, and recognition, he's now focused on passing on his experience to the next generation and raising awareness around the importance of protecting the natural environments that he's spent a lifetime exploring.

Find Pedro on instagram at @pedroolivakaiak
You can find a multitude of media on Pedro on the internet.

Check out the awesome Red Bull film Locked In documenting their first descent of the Beriman Gorge at: https://www.redbull.com/us-en/films/locked-in

A super interesting video documenting the history of the highest waterfall record descents in a kayak compliments of kayakhistory on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cer_5T3AUER/?id=2858659403761008913_48729946411

An article by Eugene Buchanan with a nice compilation of large waterfall descents: https://www.mensjournal.com/adventure/going-over-and-staying-in

An awesome account of running Anaconda Falls by Jesse Coombs: https://oregonkayaking.net/tales/anaconda/anaconda.html

A clip of Rafa Ortiz's descent of Anaconda Falls: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1812859069146646

Today's episode's sponsors:

4Corners Riversports
4Corners Riversports is located in Durango, Colorado. They are a full service paddlesports retail and rental store! If you are looking to get on the water, look no further than 4Corners Riversports. Call them at 970-259-3893 or visit their website www.riversports.com

Taylor Barker with The Group Real Estate Steamboat
I have known and paddled with Taylor for years. If you're interested in purchasing a property in the Steamboat area, Taylor is happy to share his expertise and help you find the perfect property. You can reach him at 336-314-4353 or by email at [email protected].

This podcast is being featured in the podcast section of paddlinglife.com.  If you haven’t already visited the site, check it out for news, stories, reviews, and just about anything related to the paddling life.

For comments, questions, or if you have a story worth sharing, pitch it to me:
[email protected]

Send me a text message with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Support the show

From humble childhood float trips on the Colorado River to navigating some of the stoutest whitewater in Ecuador, Will Griffith has some stories to tell. In today's episode we might rattle a few cages discussing some controversial paddling behaviors, but there's no denying the paddling skills of Jamboy, and that he's made an imprint on the paddling scene. So open your ears, open your mind, open your heart, and let's go jammin'.

Here are links to some of the videos we discussed:
Climb - Yosemite 2013 (includes a clip of the Yosemite waterfall footage)
Gore Canyon - Kayaking & Climbing - Griffith Brothers
Gore Canyon 8400-8600 cfs



Today's episode's sponsors:

4Corners Riversports
4Corners Riversports is located in Durango, Colorado. They are a full service paddlesports retail and rental store! If you are looking to get on the water, look no further than 4Corners Riversports. Call them at 970-259-3893 or visit their website www.riversports.com

Taylor Barker with The Group Real Estate Steamboat
I have known and paddled with Taylor for years. If you're interested in purchasing a property in the Steamboat area, Taylor is happy to share his expertise and help you find the perfect property. You can reach him at 336-314-4353 or by email at [email protected].

This podcast is being featured in the podcast section of paddlinglife.com.  If you haven’t already visited the site, check it out for news, stories, reviews, and just about anything related to the paddling life.

For comments, questions, or if you have a story worth sharing, pitch it to me:
[email protected]

Send me a text message with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Support the show

Best interview with Emily Jackson of this year, or best interview with Emily Jackson ever? Take a listen, and you can be the judge.

Emily is part of one of the most quintessential whitewater kayaking families in the world today. She's an accomplished athlete, businesswoman, parent, and explorer of the world. Emily is nothing if not thoughtful and entertaining as we explore some nefarious travel stories, growing up in the Jackson family, parenting, gender in kayaking, Jackson Kayak's acquisition of Werner paddles, and more.

Today's episode's sponsors:

4Corners Riversports
4Corners Riversports is located in Durango, Colorado. They are a full service paddlesports retail and rental store! If you are looking to get on the water, look no further than 4Corners Riversports. Call them at 970-259-3893 or visit their website www.riversports.com

Taylor Barker with The Group Real Estate Steamboat
I have known and paddled with Taylor for years. If you're interested in purchasing a property in the Steamboat area, Taylor is happy to share his expertise and help you find the perfect property. You can reach him at 336-314-4353 or by email at [email protected].

This podcast is being featured in the podcast section of paddlinglife.com.  If you haven’t already visited the site, check it out for news, stories, reviews, and just about anything related to the paddling life.

For comments, questions, or if you have a story worth sharing, pitch it to me:
[email protected]

Send me a text message with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Support the show

Do we become more humble with age? My guest Leif Anderson says he has, but humility did not come easily. Let's go back to a time where a young and cocky Leif set out with a crew from Ft. Collins, CO to conquer the Arizona kayaking scene, in one short weekend.

This podcast was inspired by Leif and Evan's dueling blog entries from 2010, which you will not want to miss:
Leif's account
Evan's account: part 1
Evan's account: part 2

Just to prove how cocky Leif was in his early days, and because it's one of my good memories of running the Big South, here's my 2009 Big South video where Leif became the star of the show as the only paddler that day motivated to fire up the big ones.
Big South 2009


Today's episode's sponsors:

4Corners Riversports
4Corners Riversports is located in Durango, Colorado. They are a full service paddlesports retail and rental store! If you are looking to get on the water, look no further than 4Corners Riversports. Call them at 970-259-3893 or visit their website www.riversports.com

Taylor Barker with The Group Real Estate Steamboat
I have known and paddled with Taylor for years. If you're interested in purchasing a property in the Steamboat area, Taylor is happy to share his expertise and help you find the perfect property. You can reach him at 336-314-4353 or by email at [email protected].

This podcast is being featured in the podcast section of paddlinglife.com.  If you haven’t already visited the site, check it out for news, stories, reviews, and just about anything related to the paddling life.

For comments, questions, or if you have a story worth sharing, pitch it to me:
[email protected]

Send me a text message with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Support the show

Serrasolses Brothers River Co

    When people talk about the best whitewater kayaker in the world, the list is understandably short. But I doubt there's a list out there that doesn't include Aniol Serrasolses. He's made a name for himself pushing the limits of the sport in almost every aspect: inventing new downriver freestyle moves, first descents, styling huge vertical drops, and exploring the boundaries of big water rivers.

I was lucky enough to catch up with Aniol as he was passing through Boulder, CO on his summer tour of North America. We talk about his relationship with the Stikine, dealing with fear, paddling with Scott Lingren, paddling some of the biggest rivers in Patagonia, as well as his latest transition - building a home on the Rio Futaleufu in Chile and starting a guiding and instructional business.

Find out more about Aniol's guiding, instructional and accommodation offerings at: Serrasolses Brothers River Co (https://www.sbriverco.com/)

You'll find no shortage of video footage of Aniol on the internet, but here a few of the videos mentioned during the interview:

Stikine High Water Solo

Patagonia Quad-crown

The Hunza

High Water Indus


Today's episode's sponsors:

4Corners Riversports
4Corners Riversports is located in Durango, Colorado. They are a full service paddlesports retail and rental store! If you are looking to get on the water, look no further than 4Corners Riversports. Call them at 970-259-3893 or visit their website www.riversports.com

Taylor Barker with The Group Real Estate Steamboat
I have known and paddled with Taylor for years. If you're interested in purchasing a property in the Steamboat area, Taylor is happy to share his expertise and help you find the perfect property. You can reach him at 336-314-4353 or by email at [email protected].

This podcast is being featured in the podcast section of paddlinglife.com.  If you haven’t already visited the site, check it out for news, stories, reviews, and just about anything related to the paddling life.

For comments, questions, or if you have a story worth sharing, pitch it to me:
[email protected]

Send me a text message with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Support the show

Coto is back! It's been almost a year and a half since doing one of my favorite interviews with Andrey Coto in episode 9. When we last left him, he had dreams of starting a kayak school in his home town in Costa Rica, in order to pass along all the benefits he's received from kayaking to the next generation.

Coto fills us in on how to go to the Little White race and come home with a wad of cash, how to check 5 kayaks onto an airplane and get a discount, at that. And to cap it off is an update on how the Jaguar Kayak School is progressing, as well as his latest vision for an exchange program.

You can contact Coto at:
https://jaguarkayak.com/
[email protected]
+506 7245 7762
https://www.instagram.com/andrey.coto.robles/
https://www.facebook.com/andrey.c.robles

And don't miss his great edit of running Escalante Creek in Colorado last year.


Today's episode's sponsors:

4Corners Riversports
4Corners Riversports is located in Durango, Colorado. They are a full service paddlesports retail and rental store! If you are looking to get on the water, look no further than 4Corners Riversports. Call them at 970-259-3893 or visit their website www.riversports.com

Taylor Barker with The Group Real Estate Steamboat
I have known and paddled with Taylor for years. If you're interested in purchasing a property in the Steamboat area, Taylor is happy to share his expertise and help you find the perfect property. You can reach him at 336-314-4353 or by email at [email protected].

This podcast is being featured in the podcast section of paddlinglife.com.  If you haven’t already visited the site, check it out for news, stories, reviews, and just about anything related to the paddling life.

For comments, questions, or if you have a story worth sharing, pitch it to me:
[email protected]

Send me a text message with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Support the show

In this episode I sit down with Cody Howard for a ride through the undulations of life. Join us as we discuss: learning to kayak in the backyard pool, living through a piece of history in Fallujah,  unlocking whitewater runs in the elusive canyons of Arizona,  witnessing the world record waterfall descent in a kayak, and that's just scratching the surface.

0:00              Introduction
6:00              Learning to kayak in the desert
29:50           Abbreviated college life
34:30           Marine Corps
45:30           Returning to civilian life
56:00           Huckin Huge
1:00:30       Arizona Kayaking
1:10:25        Exploring the West Coast
1:34:00       Palouse Falls with Tyler Bradt
1:42:55       The gorges of Japan
1:51:00       Accidents and adaptations

There's a ton of media out there around Cody's adventures. If you want to find out more, here are a few to get you started:
Arizona mishaps:
https://paddlinglife.com/paddling-life-exclusives/definition-of-an-epic/

The account Cody referenced involving Jason Craig's very serious injury: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6vzcp5

A random collection of clips from the Huckin Huge vimeo account:
https://vimeo.com/huckinhuge

Find additonal photos on Tales From the Cripps Facebook page or Instagram talesfromthecrippspodcast

Today's episode's sponsors:

4Corners Riversports
4Corners Riversports is located in Durango, Colorado. They are a full service paddlesports retail and rental store! If you are looking to get on the water, look no further than 4Corners Riversports. Call them at 970-259-3893 or visit their website www.riversports.com

Taylor Barker with The Group Real Estate Steamboat
I have known and paddled with Taylor for years. If you're interested in purchasing a property in the Steamboat area, Taylor is happy to share his expertise and help you find the perfect property. You can reach him at 336-314-4353 or by email at [email protected].

This podcast is being featured in the podcast section of paddlinglife.com.  If you haven’t already visited the site, check it out for news, stories, reviews, and just about anything related to the paddling life.

For comments, questions, or if you have a story worth sharing, pitch it to me:
[email protected]

Send me a text message with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Support the show

Whitewater kayaking doesn't get much more homegrown than the Demshitz. In this episode I sit down with one of the Demshitz founding fathers Dave Fusilli who proves that you can run the shit and not take yourself too seriously. Find out how Dave fulfilled his dream of living in a van down by the river and more.

If you just crawled out from a hole and this is the first time you've heard of the Demshitz, the internet is teeming with great old school Demshitz videos. I didn't bring up most of these largely because the stories are already out there. Here are a few to get you started:

Demshitz Yule Creek 2010... Fusilli's huge crash

Perhaps the most epic save ever caught on video:
Kayaker saved just before swimming over a 60 foot waterfall!!

And of course, the origin of the Brown Claw.

0:00              Introduction
4:00              A brief Demshitz quiz
9:16              My Jah Gorge story
13:52           The origin story
44:02           Busted in Missoula
51:50           Green race in a sea kayak
55:51           Good times on Upper Cherry
1:01:20       Creating the Scorch X
1:12:45       The new Pyranha ReactoR
1:19:40       The relationship between boat design & paddling style
1:26:46       Closing questions


Today's episode's sponsors:

4Corners Riversports
4Corners Riversports is located in Durango, Colorado. They are a full service paddlesports retail and rental store! If you are looking to get on the water, look no further than 4Corners Riversports. Call them at 970-259-3893 or visit their website www.riversports.com

Taylor Barker with The Group Real Estate Steamboat
I have known and paddled with Taylor for years. If you're interested in purchasing a property in the Steamboat area, Taylor is happy to share his expertise and help you find the perfect property. You can reach him at 336-314-4353 or by email at [email protected].

This podcast is being featured in the podcast section of paddlinglife.com.  If you haven’t already visited the site, check it out for news, stories, reviews, and just about anything related to the paddling life.

For comments, questions, or if you have a story worth sharing, pitch it to me:
[email protected]

Send me a text message with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Support the show