out in nature
Kayaking is much more than a good time
By Ashley Mc EWAN
My complicated relationship with whitewater kayaking began when I was a toddler . I remember my father tying a string to the stern ( the back ) of my boat and letting me paddle around the pond behind the house . When I would get scared or stuck he would reel me back in . Later , we would paddle a rocky class II section of the Potomac River and then he would tow me back up the green flatwater in the canal ; me delighted with the ride , he getting in his resistance workout . My favorite memory is of paddling the turquoise Actopan River in Mexico as a kid . The water rushes right out of the rock and is so clear you can see bubbles coming up through the waves !
I also remember often feeling cold and afraid . When I was about nine years old , I entered a whitewater slalom race on the Youghiogheny River . It is an amazing and little-known Olympic sport called Riversport Slalom . At one point I had to ferry my boat from one side of the river to the other , above a
Above : A childhood visit to kayak the crystalline waters of Mexico ’ s Actopan River ; opposite : Ashley ’ s father , Tom McEwan , age 72 , on Silencia Falls in Mexico . Tom started the paddling program at Calleva in the 1990s . massive hydraulic .* My dad paddled behind me , shouting encouragement the whole time . I made the move and was rewarded with the special feeling of exhaustion and accomplishment . This feeling is linked in my mind with extreme sports , one I have come to love and seek out in my adult life .
I have always considered kayaking to be a family activity . Anytime I put my boat in on the river I am bound to see a cousin or a second cousin or someone that I call a cousin despite dubious actual relations , out there , too . My grandmother was the first in my family to get interested in whitewater kayaking . She would paddle a long fiberglass boat on the Potomac River in the 1960s , before there were many kayakers , and certainly not many women ! She passed that love for river exploration and kayaking as a sport to her children . My uncle competed in whitewater slalom at the Olympic level , medaling in the first ever competition at the 1972 games . My dad pioneered many runs around the world , most notably in this area the 1975 first decent on Great Falls of the Potomac . These family members ’ greatest accomplishments , however , in my opinion , is the hundreds of people they have introduced to the sport . I imagine the blue wave of love for kayaking rippling out to people that they have met and taught , and those they have in turn met and taught , all across the world .
Now I work in the paddle sports industry for a small nonprofit in the DC area called Calleva , started by some of those river-folk cousins . I am a level 4 whitewater instructor and get to work with people experiencing all of those
40 plenty I autumn harvest 2021