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Nice ride! 🤘

i see that you got the lone wolf greenjacket. that things sick

You guys are making me jealous.

Nice video - brings back lots of memories. I used to park my Mad River ME in the middle of Swimmers, put my paddle underneath the ropes that held my floatation bags, and just watch the world go by. That is until some out of control rafters would come screaming around the turn. Same with Charlie's Washing Machine. Getting trashed by a raft in Charlie's is not so fun, though.

Nice!! Well done! From Jonah and Christina

I'm good friends with Bobby he is awesome I paddle with him some times. I im also on my way to paddle the lower gauley

it would be sweet if you paddled my home river in fredericksburg va. the rappahannock

Lotta good braces in that short vid

Awesome video! Definitely could have used this a year ago when I moved here

Great video. Thanks for posting. I am inspired. I go back and forth between attaining in my slalom kayak and playing in my playboat. My favorite so far was the center hole wave at 6.75 with a slalom boat. I also loved the center hole at 6.0 for my playboat. Your video makes me want to check out the VA chute more and go for the first time Offutt Wave.

18:58 That's Steve! Him and I surf everything in our half slices! He's a rockstar on the river!

Very good. I'm a class III boater and you've been a great inspiration for moving up. Keep em comin!!

What river is this ?

Great video, Chris. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

you haven't given us a full vid in 2 months. I'm craving a new Potomac beater video.

Looks familiar - I did the same thing in the last two horseshoe sessions. Missing a roll (or 3) is a good start to involuntarily being on your way down.

Is this great falls?

Hey man, you do a great job with these…funny story, just getting back into paddling after a long hiatus…lived here for 20 years but never really took advantage of all the spots around here so nice to have these details (ie, I’ve done all 3 lines of great falls but never paddled little falls😂)…anyway, is there a good FB group to coordinate with locals for runs around here? Want to do Savage during release but would like to follow some ppl down if possible…anyway, thanks a ton and good work on these vids

Very well done video with great editing. I noticed that you said that “they” provide safety. There is no “they” at Jeff’s Valley Falls clinic. The persons who ended up taking on all the responsibilities of safety were there to participate in running the waterfalls just as you were. Every person who shows up for the clinic should be taking an active role in helping with safety. If you don’t feel equipped to set safety at the bottom of a rapid, you can stand on top of a rock and give the boaters in line the “all clear” signal to let them know they can run the drop without worrying that there might be a swimmer at the bottom. If you show up on clinic day, you are part of the group and you have responsibility to that group. It’s not good group dynamics to expect others to drive 5 to 10 hours round trip and not be able to run the falls because the other participants don’t step up and help out with safety roles.

Heading to the Lower Yough 8/19-8/24 if you want to get some laps in

Good work, brother. I just started on this run last year (sadly, I don't paddle much) and feel kind of like you appeared, which is to say, we belong out there but are also excited in feeling as though there's a ton more to clean up and learn. Not to be "that guy," but even in extended circles, I don't hear people calling the UY class 5. But that's not to downplay it because most will refer to that mile as "real class 4" as opposed to an inflated rating. Pretty much everyone I know says it's the regional training ground for developing the skills to go run almost anything else around the county.

The rapid you call "Unnamed, But Go Right" is called Three Sisters. The thing to do is to catch the eddies behind all three rocks in the center of the river. Plus, after catching the eddy behind the second rock, the largest one, ferry across to an eddy on the river right bank. Then ferry across to the eddy behind the third rock.

Great run Chris and loved the video!

Nicely done. I don't remember THAT level of traffic back in the '80s . I remember a lot of boats, but "a lot" then was more like two parties out of that LA style traffic jam. Wow.

My advice is to get out there on the yough as often as possible its the perfect river to get better at kayaking

In 1996 we ran the lower at 9.6 ft at the ohiopyle gauge. It was a different river

Great video and analysis. I want to add a couple of bits regarding lines: 1. National - While Bobby's description of the line is straightforward, it is very easy for the paddler to overestimate how much left to right angle is needed, especially when the paddler sets up starting far right in the main current. I like to use the breaking wave at 17:01 and the V wave at 17:05 as my reference points for where the boat needs to be. For the first wave, I line up my boat center right on the green breaking part of the wave with a smidge of right angle (1 o'clock at the absolute most relative to center of the channel). This and a few powerful and efficient forward strokes sets me up for the second wave, where I opt to place the boat just to the right of the peak of the green tongue. By that point, I can straighten the boat just before the boof with a left draw and then transition that draw stroke straight into a boof stroke to sail right through without getting eddied out or caught in the boil point of the hole. Relative to your line in this video, my preferred line is around one boat width further left. Keith's line was similar to my preference, but he was a few inches too far in the main current and really had to fight to get back to the right side. All of this said, there is nothing wrong with catching the eddy below the boof in and of itself - it is an excellent technical exercise after all. However, with how crowded the Upper gets on release days, especially at National, learning how to fly through the boof without complications in the landing is a great idea in order to minimize the chances of somebody running you over if they follow too close, which is something that happens all the time. This is also why I always use the staging eddy on river left when running the boof and try to wait at a minimum of five seconds (preferably ten) after the last boat has disappeared over the horizon line before paddling down, and I try to hold my crews to similar standards. Even better would be getting an all clear signal from somebody standing on shore before paddling down, and there's usually at least one person on shore cognizant enough to recognize when somebody is looking for a clear signal. 2. Zinger - Your mistake at Zinger is an incredibly common one for first-timers on the Upper Yough to make. That's a deceptively unforgiving spot and, for what it's worth, consistently ranks as my least favorite spot on the entire river. I'm 50+ laps into running the Upper Yough by this point and I still make that mistake sometimes. I would recommend starting out a little further river left at the top of the initial slide and set up the follow through with a smidge more right angle so the boat can drive across that sketchy diagonal wave at the pinch as opposed to falling into it parallel like you did. That's definitely a spot to have nailed down before running the Upper in a half or full slice boat. Overall, while you still have work to do on your boat control (I think we all do no matter how good we think we are), the fact you only flipped twice and didn't swim on your PFD tells me that you're more than ready for the Upper and beginning to learn everything about it inside and out. And don't worry too much about dry hairing it - it took me 12 laps to achieve a proper dry hair run and I have a strong slalom background as the foundation for my technique. As for thoughts on the responsibilities of experienced Class IV-V boaters showing new Class IV boaters down a river like the Upper Yough, I would argue that they need these things: 1) an intimate knowledge of the river, 2) swiftwater rescue training, and 3) either a strong knowledge of or the ability to quickly observe and learn the strengths and weaknesses of the paddlers they are showing down the river. The Upper Yough is not a river where I tend to show new Class IV boaters down who I don't already paddle with regularly on Class III/III+. There have been a couple of exceptions to that rule; however, in order to make those exceptions, I need to already know in one way or another that the paddler(s) are Class IV capable or better. Having all of that knowledge beforehand allows me to be flexible over what lines I choose to take when showing people down a river for the first time, especially in the case of the Upper Yough where almost every single rapid has a minimum of three distinct lines, and oftentimes far more.

what level?

Some very solid boat control throughout. Such a great progression since your early videos. Great paddling by all of the Calleva crew. The traffic on this day was a serious factor, like it wasn’t difficult enough already. Snappy roll at Zinger. Your comments were spot on, adequate without being instructional as your skills should be solidly instinctual to attempt this. I’ve got a ways to go. Who were all the Calleva instructors leading? I heard some of them.

Just did my PFD of this yesterday. I wish I had your video before I went 😂. I went down it in my Firecracker rather than a Creeker and had a tough time (many flips) but had a super fun time nevertheless

Movin on up!!! Good run boss!

Kayaking is badass!

What’s the river schools name. I’d like to reach out to them

Far left at Tommy’s

Great recovery

Rafts aren't allowed below 1.9? We're running trips at 1.3 today, so...

I finally got my PFD of the LoYo last weekend with a small Calleva group. Late start to the season w travel and minor wrist fracture. Inadvertently left my nose plugs behind when I removed the ear flaps from my helmet at the parking lot (which resulted in 3 swims). Paddling my Antix 2 (in hindsight, half-slice probably wasn’t the best choice for my PFD). The first swim was at cucumber when I followed another in our group into the hole below right of the middle submerged rock instead of hugging the left. Photo guy got some epic pics though as I was in great form, completely submarined to the chin, came out well until I hit a rock just after. Harder to roll when your head is dragging rocks (w/o nose plugs)! Going back next Friday w/ a large CCA group led by Jordan T.

7:48 Insider info, I'm a river shore hiker, the "bent tree" to the right of screen, in that area are the "Ear Boulder", the "G Pothole Boulder" and the "Cave Boulder" all in that right hand shore boulder area near that "bent tree" at Dartmouth Rapids, Ohiopyle. For river shore hikers looking for the most beautiful "eroded river shore boulders" the Dartmouth Rapids river shore, near that bent large pine tree, has some of the most striking erosion river shore boulders in the whole park. (I've got videos how to hike there, but kayakers who stop there could conceivably stop and see them.)

5:00 That's "Mike the photographer" (16 years vet at Cucumber Rapids boulder field). He works for "Ohiopyle Photography". Shout "Hi Mike" to troll him.

Horseshoe on the kern?

Were you there this past weekend? I was out there on Sunday with a crew. Hot as hell but a good day.

Yesterday i fell out of my raft at the falls of the nantahala river in north Carolina

I could spend all day going through those

Big water is no joke!

Dang!! I stay to the left on that one!

One of my favorite places. Comp channel is outstanding

Love all of your videos my friend.

Me downstream watching this: “Chris is going to need a bow rescue”. But then you didn’t!

Sick. Is it offutt?

Chris Thank yiu for your helpp thus weekend if you ever disciver how your boat got moved let me know. Thanks again you embody the characteristics of why I love the kayakking community.