kokatat

I’m a sprinter. Not in the literal runner’s sense of the word but in life. I have been really good at going hard for short periods of time which is why, I suppose, the 9-5 thing never suited me. Back in my mid-twenties, I went through what I affectionately call, my “period of misguided ambition”…

Have you ever watched a kayak video and thought, “I wish I could ask that amazing paddler how they do that [insert stroke/move/trick here]” Sometimes when you get off the water, do you wonder, “Why do I keep flipping in that [insert feature here]? It would great if I could just ask an expert.” Are…

Whitewater Paradise in the Columbia River Gorge The name Wet Planet was first spoken in a beat up Suburban while bouncing down a jungle road in Costa Rica, when co-founders Todd Collins and Jaco Klinkenberg were discussing their vision for the ultimate whitewater company.  Wet Planet is based in White Salmon, Washington on (you guessed…

    When Melissa DeMarie found herself side-lined with a shoulder injury four years ago, her dream of getting more women on the water finally found the right time to come alive. She founded California Women’s Watersport Collective and kicked it off on a shoe string budget with a few meet-up paddles and one weekend clinic for women’s kayaking on the South Fork American River. Once the first clinic’s registration overflowed onto a waiting list and people starting asking what else was available there was no turning back. Instigator, Melissa DeMarie. Photo: Adam Walker Since then, CWWC (aka Cali Collective) has gone from a few women with big ideas to an inspiring all-inclusive community on and off the water. A woman’s experience of the world is different from men’s and that holds true on the water. The way women face…

Dearest Friends of the Whitewater World, Please allow me this opportunity to tell you all how much I love you. No, I am not drunk, nor have I been court-mandated to do so. Rather, in this shoulder season of reflection, amidst the ashen skies and stripped, sleeping trees of my native Vermont, I wonder about…