chilly-willy-electionday-whitewater (BEGINNER)

OVERVIEW

HEYO river rats!!!

(This is a long description but please read the whole thing cold whitewater is a complex endeavor and we want to make sure ppl have a good time and try out whitewater at the right time for them!)

Thankfully we have election day OFF SCHOOL WHICH MEANS WE CAN GO GET SOME RIVER TIMEEEEEEE!!!! If you love paddling in the cold, or want to learn to love paddling in the cold, come join Mitch and I to learn whitewater Stand Up Paddleboarding or Kayaking!

This trip WILL be chilly, that means cold hands, cold toes, and wet skin– if you don’t like being chilly, you can definitely wait till we get some warm weather water trips out later in the year– BUT we will have gear to help keep you as warm as possible. This means, for paddleboarders: wetsuits and booties; and for kayakers: dry suit or dry top. You can also fit layers under these things– wool or water wicking base layers and socks are great for under any of this gear. NO COTTON

This is a beginner trip, so you don’t need to have any paddling skills at all HOWEVER you should have some basic swimming skills, especially with the cold weather. As long as you know how to swim relatively well, you should be fine, and that is the only prerequisite for this trip yay! We will go over basic outfitting of whitewater gear, basic paddle strokes, reading and running rapids, and perhaps even exciting activities such as surfing and the kayak roll! With that said, this is a more instructional trip and we will try to cater to everyone’s experience/skill level and be as hands off/on as people would like.

For this trip, we’re going to be doing the upper James section in Richmond. This section consists of some class I and II whitewater, which means the rapids are very beginner friendly, and are great to learn skills on. There’s also a nice flatwater section for learning, and wonderful rocks to chill, snack, swim, and explore off of (if its warm enough that we want to chill). It stretches about 4.5 miles from Pony Pasture Park to Reedy Creek Park, right within a stone’s throw of downtown RVA.

American Whitewater link (with descriptions of the rapids and the section):
https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/view/river-detail/1951/main

Mitch will be teaching y’all how to do some basic whitewater kayak skills on this section, and I will be teaching y’all to do some basic whitewater paddleboarding skills. When signing up for this trip, you can pick whichever sport calls most to you (I know paddleboarding sounds crazy but I PROMISE it’s cool and fun and not that hard)!

For any of you crazies who have read this and want to get chilly on the river, come hang with us!!!!!

WHEN
10:00 – meet at corner of echols, confirm boat and gear sizings, hit za road.
11:30 – arrive at reedy creek park, drop cars for shuttle, do any needed changing/dry clothes distribution
12:00 – arrive at pony pasture park, unload and gear up, quick gear and outfitting seminar as needed, choice of JAH FLUME or chill pool (river entry method), start paddlin!
1:30 – chill mid-river on super secret river chill spots, mad snacking and potential roll instruction ensues (if warm enough!!)
4:00 (at latest) – arrive, having paddled our little hearts out, at reedy creek, take out, load up, dry off, reset shuttle
4:30 – on our way back to cville!
6:00 – back at echols
*** these times are in an attempt to be conservative but jah river (and humans) is unpredictable and things may run over ***
WHAT WE BRING
– us; in the form of animistic river spirit guides
– kayaks/paddleboards and their respective paddles
– PFDs (life jackets), kayak skirts, and helmets
–Wetsuits/drysuits/booties
– extra water and a couple dry bags
WHAT YOU BRING
– you; in the form of an aquatic or semi-aquatic native fauna
–Clothes (WOOL OR WATER WICKING) that will fit under a wetsuit or drysuit (should be form fitting)
–Wool socks if you have them will save your feetsies from a cold day
– shoes that are cool with being in the river (if you aren’t asking us for booties)
– sunscreen/maybe a hat if you want
– water + snackssss (for post river mostly)
– change of WARM WARM clothes and a towel for after (maybe a beanie and some wool socks dedicated for end of paddle warmth)
– maybe a plastic bag or your own version of a dry bag for your stuff you want on the river (snack, sunscreen ect.). we have dry bags but this can be your bag within the bag (bagception)
NOTICE
whitewater sports are inherently dangerous. we lead trips at a level where we feel confident about our ability to keep people on our trip safe. your safety also depends on YOU, your honest communication of your abilities and state of being, as well as respect towards any safety advice.
thanks for reading the entire trip descrip! we hope to see ya on the river