Innholdsfortegnelse for Winter 2025 i Kayak Session Magazine

Our world has a beautiful way of beginning again. Season after season, it shifts and restores what has been broken. Mother Nature regenerates, over and over. Gifted with incredible patience, bordering on stubbornness, she always finds a way to renew herself. Even where we, humans, have caused harm, as we too often do, Mother Nature patiently finds her way back. But only if we let her. When the world fell quiet during the pandemic, we saw how quickly she began to heal when left to herself. Fish glided again through harbors once choked with motorboats. Wild animals crept back toward our weary cities, and the air itself seemed to lighten as dormant factories exhaled their last smoke. Who would have thought things could change so fast? Even experts were surprised…

The eighth edition of the Megha Kayak Fest in Meghalaya, Northeast India, concluded with resounding success. This year’s event was especially significant as it hosted the AWP Asian Extreme Kayak Championships for the first time in India. The festival began on October 15th with the Intermediate Downriver Race for junior paddlers. After that, the pros headed to the Lower Umtrew to scout and practice for the main events. That night was spent camping in the steamy jungle, which was part of the adventure. Despite rough terrain, vehicles stuck in the mud, and the challenge of reaching the remote site, spirits stayed high throughout the event. Campfires, tents, and shared hardship brought everyone together in true expedition style. October 16th saw the Enduro Race down the long, technical Terminus Rapid, which…

The sixth edition of the Modi Khola Express Whitewater Kayak Championship roared through the Modi Valley this year, blending late-monsoon rain with flashes of sunshine, crisp whitewater, and that community vibe only Nepal can deliver. It was one of those weekends that remind you why paddlers call Nepal the beating heart of the whitewater world. The Modi Khola isn’t just a racecourse; it’s a cultural experience. The river winds below towering Himalayan giants, past rice terraces and villages where locals cheer, cook, dance, and make sure no paddler leaves hungry. Good food, strong current, and stronger friendships: that’s the real trophy here. This year, Nepal Kayak Club called it the “last run” of the Modi Khola Express. But the people of the valley had something to say about that. “Come…

At the end of August, kayakers from across Europe gathered in Nottingham, England, to compete in the European Open. The event was a two-day mix of freestyle and fun on the water, run by River Legacy and GB Freestyle. The freestyle competition is split into elite and progression categories. This year, the elite field doubled as both the British Championships and a European Cup, drawing some of Europe’s biggest names in freestyle kayaking to the Holme Pierrepont Whitewater Course. The competition was held in the famous Inlet Hole, with heats throughout Saturday and finals in the evening. A new wild card feature was introduced this year: paddlers who placed sixth through eighth in the heats could earn a single ride in the final, adding an extra layer of excitement to…

As the calendar year continued to move along, crews around the world began preparing for arguably the world’s greatest big water river: Pakistan’s Indus River. Upon arriving in Islamabad, Jeremy Nash, Owen Doyle, Isaac Hull, Gibson Kafsky, Jack Grim, Henry Cherp, and Alec Voorhees anxiously awaited the answer to the question on everyone’s mind: how high would the Indus be? Reports from other expeditions on the Sary Jaz and Muksu Rivers earlier that season suggested heavy melt and high water across Central Asia's mountain ranges. After a full day’s drive north, a couple of warm-up laps on the Hunza River, and the final push from Gilgit to Skardu, their first glimpse into the Rhondu Gorge confirmed their suspicions: the river was very high. As the group caught glimpses of iconic…

With its bubbling, whisky-colored waters, the River Bruar has carved itself deep into the foothills of Scotland’s Am Monadh Raudh mountain range. Thanks to its sizable drainage system, the river boasts a cataract of impressive rock archways, tall waterfalls, boiling caves, and dark pools. Its beauty attracts many onlookers, from curious tourists to wild swimmers and canyoners. Poets have written about the Bruar, and it even has its own gentrified tourist trap, the House of Bruar, where you can buy cashmere and tweed along with £40 lobster and chips. For kayakers, however, the section is elusive. Two hydroelectric schemes high in the catchment reduce the river to a trickle for most of the year—ideal for canyoners, but seldom enough to warrant taking a kayak. However, planned dam maintenance this September,…

Paddling the Marañón was incredible, and learning its stories along the way deepened the connection to the river. This August, the River Collective organized its annual Students for Rivers Camp on the Río Marañón in Peru, often called the “Grand Canyon of South America.” The camp combined whitewater kayaking and rafting with science, art, and activism, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds to learn about rivers and inspire action to protect them. Steep hills, red cliffs, and abundant cacti are just some of the stunning features that define this remote stretch of the free-flowing river that connects the Andes and the Amazon. Yet the Marañón is at a crossroads. Planned dams and contamination threaten the river, while movements for long-term legal protection are gaining momentum. Recently, the Indigenous Kukama women’s…

For more than a century, the Klamath River flowed in fragments. From the high desert of southern Oregon to the Pacific coast of northern California, its path was broken by concrete walls that sealed away its salmon. The Klamath, Karuk, Yurok, Modoc, Hupa, and Shasta Tribes have lived beside this river for generations, their languages, foods, and rituals intertwined with its flow. When the concrete was poured, the entity that supported life, sustenance, and ceremony was cut off. Between 1918 and 1962, six hydroelectric dams were built to generate power and feed irrigation across the basin. The still water warmed and oxygen thinned, creating the perfect conditions for disease. Then, in 2002, tens of thousands of salmon died in a single season, a collapse that marked one of the worst fish…

THE PADDLE SPORTS SHOW STRASBOURG, FRANCE, SEPTEMBER 2025 The biggest names in paddlesports—athletes, brands, industry professionals, filmmakers, and photographers—came together once again this September in Strasbourg, France, for the annual Paddle Sports Show. As the leading tradeshow for industry professionals, the Paddle Sports Show highlighted groundbreaking brands, promising outdoor tech, and the best in whitewater, sea kayaking, canoeing, SUP, civil security, and more. This year’s edition also featured a series of conferences tackling key topics at the heart of our industry, along with an outstanding Film Festival showcasing productions worthy of National Geographic quality. Visit thepaddlesportshow.com to explore the different events, and check out Paddler Guide TV on YouTube for insight videos, conference replays, and product reviews. See you next year in Strasbourg, from September 30th to October 2nd, 2026.…

Every Labor Day weekend, paddlers descend on the western Adirondacks for one of the most anticipated grassroots festivals in North America: BeaverFest, a multi-day celebration of hard-fought scheduled whitewater releases. The 2025 gathering delivered classic northeast chaos. Releases on the Beaver, Raquette, and Black Rivers drew paddlers from across the U.S. and Canada, many of them chasing points in the Whitewater King of New York race series. Congrats to Logan Kendricks and Hollis Braun for earning the titles of King and Queen of New York this year. But the soul of BeaverFest is the end-of-summer reunion at the Snow Ridge Ski Resort, where camping, bonfires, and live bands keep the stoke high between laps. This year’s crowds were just as large, thanks to a long weekend of perfect flows and…

This year’s Palm and Pyranha Park Jam was a roaring success. The tour kicked off in Hohenlimburg, Germany, before crossing the UK with stops at Lee Valley, Northampton Active, and Tees Barrage in England, Cardiff International White Water and the River Dee in Wales, and Glasgow in Scotland. The crew was stoked to have athletes such as Adrian Mattern, Kalob Grady, Zack Mutton, and Heidi Walsh join the fun, along with many more Palm and Pyranha team paddlers. The goal of Park Jam is to have fun on the water while engaging with local paddling communities, especially young paddlers, and sharing the stoke and love of kayaking at their local play parks. The annual event, formerly known as Bren’s Park Jam, was created nine years ago alongside Bren Orton to…

The 36th annual Great Falls Race returned in August 2025 after being canceled by rising water the year before. This year, the river was fairly high for most of the summer but dropped to a perfect level for Saturday’s Virginia Lines Race. Thirty-six competitors took the plunge over the Spout, with the best-of-two-runs format meaning you could mess up one run and still have a shot at winning. In the end, it was a tie between Kaelin Friedenson and Anand Blum on their fastest lap, but the tiebreaker of fastest combined time gave the win to Anand. Tyler Westfall was third. For the women, Kirra Paulus posted the fastest time over defending champion Tara Blair and Olympian Sofia Reinoso after two race laps. On Sunday, the athletes returned to the…

Once renowned for its famous world-class freestyle wave, the Mis River in Italy now hosts an annual gathering every first week of September. On September 6th-7th, the Jurassic Kayak Festival celebrated its seventh edition, reuniting hundreds of paddlers from Italy and beyond in northeastern Italy. Springing from the Dolomites, the Mis River joins the Cordevole before flowing into the Piave River, offering a joyful class II-III descent for all ages and skill levels. These rivers can be difficult to paddle at the right levels without rain, but the dam release guarantees great conditions during the festival, making it the perfect chance to tick them off your bucket list. This year, more than 200 kayaks, canoes, and SUPs of all shapes and colors dotted these outstanding braided stretches of rivers, framed…

Women remain a minority in whitewater disciplines, even though progress is being made. That’s why women camps began in 2008 in France, with freestyle sessions led by volunteer coaches and supported by the FFCK. Since 2023, river camps have also taken place in Voss in collaboration with the Vosselveklubb. The first camp in Norway hosted just eight participants, but interest grew quickly, and the following year there were twenty-five. The aim is to encourage more women to develop their paddling skills and to participate in competitions. Just as important is building confidence and leadership. In mixed groups, it is often the men who take the lead, so these camps create space for women to feel comfortable leading and trusting their own abilities. Participants greatly appreciated the positive coaching approach with…

The Grand Canyon of the Stikine is the pinnacle of quality whitewater. Countless rapids, few portages, and the sheer magnitude of the canyon make it truly one of a kind. That probably explains why there were at least thirty kayakers across multiple groups at the put-in when the Montana crew—Jude Franczyk, Alec Fletcher, Finley Bishop, and Louis Overington—arrived on August 9th, escaping the dry rivers at home. By morning, the put-in felt like a party: some crews were setting out for one-day laps, others preparing for multi-day missions. Jude and his crew were starting their first lap of the trip, a two-day descent meant to enjoy the gorge and take their time working through the whitewater. Day one went as smoothly as it could have: clean lines, reading and running…

Although not a globally renowned destination, Madagascar—the world’s fourth-largest island—has been drawing more paddling crews in recent years, as kayakers seek new adventures on the ancient African continent. About 100 kilometers west of the capital lies the put-in for what may be one of the country’s most classic multiday runs, despite having only a handful of documented descents. This is the Mangoro River, flowing roughly 270 kilometers northwest before meeting the Indian Ocean. This time, four kayakers took on the challenge: Joseph Todd (Toad), Patrick Sheehan, Nouria Newman, and Kilian Ivelic. The journey began on a cold morning, followed by five long hours of flatwater before the first campsite. One of the ongoing challenges of paddling in Africa is finding fuel for camp stoves—a problem they didn’t solve on this…

For more information on these and other issues that American Whitewater is working on, go to www.americanwhitewater.org River running is not just a sport; it’s a culture with deep ties to ancestral hunting traditions, trade routes, and respect for rivers and fellow river travelers. Often, wild rivers offer solitude, and you may not encounter any other groups on the water while kayaking. But on other days, understanding and practicing proper whitewater etiquette is crucial for ensuring safety, harmony, and a positive experience on the river. Even within your own group, especially with relatively new or less experienced paddlers, being courteous, friendly, and gracious can go a long way toward having your best run under the sun. Rivers are a source of joy for all kayaking enthusiasts, or else, why would…

For many, the vision quest to Gauley Fest began a few hundred miles away. Your gang has loaded up boats, packed useless things, and some instant coffee. But most importantly: boat, paddle, spray skirt, PFD, helmet. The couple of hours on the road passed quickly, carried by banter and talk of how excited everyone is to get back and see the hoodrat friends they’ve grown closer to at each whitewater festival. Some might have gone the previous weekend already, getting secret line beta from Rad Dobson. New eddy catches in Pillow Rock, Hawaii 5-0, and Iron Ring were the most intriguing, adding spice to the already classic run. New boat designs recently released felt like puzzle pieces made for the river. New moves, new technology, and old friends. A match…

A new chapter has begun for freestyle kayaking in Switzerland. With a fresh leadership team at the national federation, new ideas and ambitions are reshaping the sport. For years, freestyle had seemed nearly forgotten in the country, with only small-scale national championships taking place. Now the goal is to bring the discipline back into the spotlight. This season marked a turning point. Thanks to a qualification event in Hünigen, Switzerland sent its first national freestyle team to a World Championship since the 2009 edition in Thun, sixteen years ago. In addition, two competitions were scheduled in Bremgarten: the Swiss Championship and the Late Summer Freestyle. The Swiss Championship on June 29th opened to perfect conditions. With bright sunshine, ideal water levels, and a refreshing river, a large community of paddlers…

Scotland doesn’t have many whitewater races, but the ones it does have are pure gold. And the Garry Boater X is the crown jewel: a uniquely accessible, inclusive, and extremely rowdy celebration of Scottish kayaking culture. On July 26th, over 90 racers descended on the River Garry for a day of head-to-head chaos. This is no polished slalom affair; it’s loud, continuous, and crowd-rousing, with up to seven paddlers tearing down a bouncy Class III section in each heat. The event prides itself on having no categories other than male and female, and this year, under-18s competed for the first time, with the youngest being 11. The initial draw is completely random, so a club newbie can, and often will, find themselves up against a premier division animal in their…

The 2025 Lord of the Fork Race ran under beautiful October skies on the Russell Fork River, threading through the Appalachian hills. The put-in for Breaks Gorge sits in Virginia and the takeout across the state line in Kentucky, but most racers traveled from far beyond these mountains, following the seasonal migration of river rats drawn by the annual dam release and the promise of whitewater. More than one hundred paddlers competed this year, confirming Lord of the Fork as one of the most competitive and beloved races on the East Coast. Twenty women lined up to start, continuing the race tradition of sending the ladies off first. Adriene Levknecht proved once again that she reigns as Queen of the Russell Fork, clocking a sizzling time of 7:04. Alex Horne…

Over 130 athletes gathered in Anshun, China, for the 2025 Huangguoshu International Whitewater Open. Aiming to give the event greater international exposure, organizers invited top paddlers, including Nouria Newman, Adrian Mattern, Tom Dolle, Paul Aubertin, and David Sodomka, who traveled to China to compete and explore the country. Racers took part in two stages set against the beautiful colors of the Chinese autumn. The first was a 300-meter sprint beneath the Huangguoshu Waterfall, a backdrop familiar to most Chinese schoolchildren from their textbooks. The short course demanded explosive power and precision, with tiring flatwater sections between drops. The second stage was a five-kilometer race through the “Little Yellow Duck” scenic area, a stretch of playful drops and moderate rapids that offered a good mix of challenge and fun. Alongside kayaking,…

Bell Falls is a massive double drop visible from the road on the way to the canyon section of the Rivière Rouge. At normal flow, this stout was undoubtedly considered unrunnable by everyone who got close enough to scout it. At the base of the dam, multiple backwash holes and recirculating eddies, along with a rock barrier left over from dynamite used during dam construction, made the rapid extremely hazardous. The configuration of the drops between steep walls made safety even more complicated. For years, local kayaker Andrew Oxley watched the drop from his family’s house across the river, always wondering if it could be done. Determined, he climbed to the lip of the drop many times, trying to figure out if there was a water-level window where it might…

From Winningen in the Moselle Valley to the shores of the North Sea in the Netherlands, the Clean River Project has made a name for itself as one of Germany’s most influential environmental education initiatives. Founded in 2012 by Stephan Horch, the project has inspired thousands through its creative approach to raising awareness about water pollution, including its award-winning children’s workshop Recycling Roadies, recognized as Germany’s best education program. Stephan Horch, who has loved the element of water since childhood, first became aware of the alarming amount of plastic pollution on his home river, the Moselle. As a professional photo designer, it was natural for him to begin documenting and sharing his experiences through photography. Yet he soon realized that photos alone weren’t enough to truly engage people, so the…

You know that moment when everyone’s about to part ways, and you realize you’re not ready for it to end? That’s me, standing in western Norway, watching the crew pack up as this half-mad idea I’ve been dreaming about for years finally begins to take shape. For weeks, I’ve been scanning weather forecasts like a hawk, waiting for that perfect window: clear skies, steady water levels, and calm winds. I’ve imagined doing this mission countless times before, but the timing never worked out. You need the right conditions, the right crew, and a bit of luck. And somehow, in this moment, the stars have finally aligned. The weather is flawless, and three good friends are still within shouting distance. There’s no way I can let them leave just yet. “It’s…