2nd Annual Got Boof & TRPC Intro To Creeking Clinic

Matt Gets It Done

Sunday July 27th saw the second iteration of the Got Boof and Three Rivers Paddling Club Creeking Clinic, held at Valley Falls State Park in West Virgina. This year's class included over thirty students and safety boaters making it the largest one yet. The class began with an introduction between the students and the instructors/safety boaters, and an overview of design specifics relating to creek kayaks. This discussion progressed into a discussion of both general safety and some safety specifics relating to the creeking end of kayaking. Then it was off to the drops.

Classroom Instruction



Pretend Boating

Boof Demonstration

Jason Hilton Leads By Example

Each drop was broken down individually and at each drop a specific technique was assigned to work on for each drop. Then the drops were run by the instructors to physically demonstrate the technique a few times for the visual learners among the group, then it was time for the fun. Students each took turns firing up the drops, which for many were definitely were the largest drops they had seen (judging from the size of their eyes). After each run, they were able to discuss the run with an instructor and off the went for another lap.

Good Posture

Practicing a Tuck

Post Run Discussion





Good Boof Stroke



Technique Discussion







More Instruction



Rolling Boof Demonstration



Lookin Good!









Twist and Shout


While we definitely had some carnage on this years trip, the number of excellent lines far outweighed the bad and many students, after having a less than perfect line, took great pride in walking back up to run the drop again and fix errors in their technique. This confidence to rerun drops is best placed upon the tireless efforts of a number of the safety boaters who joined me to put on this event. Of specific mention are John Giorgini, Art Barket, Matt Bernstein, John Rudland and Tom Dubois, who made sure to watch after every boater and free me (Jason Hilton) up to focus on instruction.

Safety

Safety Required (You The Man John)

Rudland Has Boof

More photos from this years event can be found in the following locations.

Jeff Macklin Photographer

Art Barket Photographer

Karolina and Tom Dubois Photographers