Here's a video from the wave.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb0Cy7B5lR0&feature=player_embedded

Till next time,
Elaine Campbell

The US Nationals point series also ended in Missoula. This year Nationals was based on how many events you went to and you would get point for your ranking in each event. The women's class was Haley Mills, Emily Jackson, and Elaine Campbell. The men's class was Bryan Kirk, Stephen Wright, and Jason Craig.

We left on Friday afternoon for our looooong ride home. Jeff had to visit a client on Tuesday so we had to motor-home (haha). It took us like 40 hours to get home. We can't drive fast in the RV so going 65 is unheard of. On this 3 month long trip we seriously did a loop of the US starting from VT heading south then heading back home north through MT. It's pretty amazing when you think about it being able to do travel like that which many people can't do. We are lucky because Jeff' able to work from anywhere as long as he has cell service and the internet.

We made it home and we were all so happy to finally be home. I missed my bed, the kitchen, our deck, the shower, the couch (you get the point). The cat and dog ran around the house for like a day. Jeff immediately went to the Fife Brook of the Deerfield River to paddle his c1. I started to clean out the RV before our house filled up with people. We had a bunch of friends show up on the weekend and we paddled the Dryway section of the Deerfield River. I also packed again to head to our cottage in NY near the Black River.

I left VT last Sunday after paddling and drove the truck towing our 1967 Century Cheetah ski boat which got a flat tire and of course I had no spare! Two amazing guys stopped and took the tire off the trailer drove it down the road and put a new tire on it brought it back, put it back on the trailer and off I went. He gave me his card so if I had any other problems he would get someone close by to help me out. It just shows you that there really are good people still out there.

Now I'm in NY at our cottage on Lake Ontario in Henderson Harbor and have been paddling on the Black River. Jeff put the motor boat in the water and is working on getting the sail boat in the water. I can't wait to ski and wakeboard this year! I'm still new to skiing and my goal is to get up on one ski (we'll see if it happens).

Anyway that's what's going on with me. We are headed to the Black for the Black River Fest which will be a ridiculous party tonight.

Here's some photos:

Brook and Laya enjoying Yellowstone.

Grand Tetons

Till next time,

Elaine Campbell

We got to Missoula where the Team Trials are being held and got some practice in on Brennan's Wave. Our buddy Craig called us up on Friday night and told us about this sweet wave in Great Falls, MT on the Missouri River. We packed the rig up Saturday morning with all our gear plus Haley, Erin, and Eric. We took the scenic route to Great Falls which was big mountains and grassy fields. We met up with Craig in the parking area and walked down to the wave and was immediately like OMG it's freaking amazing! We paddled for a few hours and I had the best time! It was nice to get away from the whole comp scene for a day and just paddle.

It's a newly found wave and don't think it has a name yet so we called it the Chubby Wave because on the way to the wave there's a place to eat called Chubby's hot dogs and burgers . After we paddled we went to Chubby's and just devoured a bunch of food.

Here's a video and some photos!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3aaWd6PHRo

Photos by: Jeff Campbell

Team Trials in 2 days!

Take Care,

Elaine Campbell

I made it to semi-finals and was fired up about paddling again in the comp. Semi's didn't go as well as I hoped. In Vail you flush once and it puts a beat down on you. The elevation is close to 9,000 so you start breathing hard and the freezing cold water doesn't help the situation. I couldn't get myself together to finish my ride. Finals was pretty insane it was class V freestyle. The river was flooded and ridiculous amounts of wood floated downstream. The competitors in finals put on a good show especially Dustin Urban. He threw down an amazing ride in the feature that was crazy surgy. Emily Jackson who had one chance to get out of 4^th place was able to put down a ride to take 1^st followed by Tanya Faux, and Haley Mills. It was really fun to watch.

The party Saturday night after the event was so much fun! This year was called the Black out party (luckily we didn't black out). The next morning we did laundry and headed out to Nederland to visit with Jeff's step-brother and then drove to Lyons.

The Lyons Outdoor Games was last weekend. It was really hot when we got there and then it started to rain and didn't stop for like three days. The level was high on the St. Vrain and hasn't been that high in a long time. The feature the comp is usually on was washed out and we heard about this feature in the park where the campground is that was really good. The event organizers decided to move the comp there and also moved the slalom course up the river and the boater cross. The organizers also decided to move the South St. Vrain creek Race up stream and on race day they only did one run because the level was rising and became pretty dangerous.

I made it into finals in 2^nd place, Emily Jackson was in 1^st and Haley Mills was in 3^rd. I really wanted to take 1^st so I stuck to my plan of go big or go home. It doesn't all ways work but soon it will start to come together. Emily came in 1^st, Haley 2^nd, and me 3^rd. In the men's class Nick Troutman was 1^st, Stephen Wright 2^nd, and Eric Jackson 3^rd. In the junior class Taylor Cote came in third with a great ride! Jeff my husband competed in c1 and oc1 and came in 4^th with 3 swims. It was awesome!

We are in Salida now getting ready for FiBark.

Here's a video form the Lyons Games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_r4YqY45UI

Till next time,

Elaine

Paddle Fest was also going on the same weekend of the BV Rodeo. A lot of paddlers and spectators showed up for the weekend. Lots of boats where demoed and sold. Free clinics where held all weekend for all ability levels. The water was high so most of the clinics where held on the pond.

The competition started on Friday and there where 8 women and two junior women. The wave was pretty sweet for the comp lots of air blunts, air screws, and pan-ams where thrown.

I made it into finals which where held on Saturday. The wave was even better for finals bigger and faster. My first ride clinched me fourth so my third ride I just threw down. I hit a left blunt then went for a helix, mcnasty, flip turn, and donkey flip then flushed. Only two moves got scored but is was so fun just going for it. I knew to podium I would have to have a big ride. Emily came in 1^st, Ruth 2^nd and Tanya 3^rd. I came in fourth (again). Taylor came in 1^st and Hannah 2^nd for the juniors.

BV is a sweet play park and should be on your list to hit up. You should also plan on making it to the Paddle Fest if you are in CO.

The Teva Mountain Games just ended and I'll have an update from there soon.

 Enjoy the video from the BV competition!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHBbOd_Rtqs

Till next time,

Elaine Campbell

I was a little nervous about it at first being fully committed to a creek was a tad bit overwhelming for me at first. I'm so used to being close to a road so if something goes wrong or your not feeling it you can just walk out. I'm very confident in my abilities to paddle class V but I think too much about the consequences that come with it. Anyway, I manned up and packed up my Diesel 70 with 3 dry bags filled with food, a sleeping bag and pad, and some extra paddling clothes. I also had in the Diesel 70 a first aid kit and a break down paddle.

The put in to Deer Creek was an insane class IV highway with lots of mud and massive puddles (perfect road for dirt biking). It took about 2-3 hours to get to the put in and we took a wrong turn somewhere. We finally got there by 2pm and got on the water by 3pm. Mike ran it about two weeks prior so he lead followed by Lance, Matt, Sage, Anna, and I ran sweep.

Deer Creek starts with continuous class IV creeking pretty much right away. It was a little tough at first trying to paddle a boat for the first time stuffed with gear. It took me about a half hour to figure out how to paddle it. Once I got it sorted out it was easy to paddle. The Diesel 70 handled so well I was really impressed with the boat after the trip. I was toying with the idea to paddle my Habitat but I made the right choice with the Diesel 70 it worked great!

The run itself was 24 miles long. We paddled about 8 miles on day one with one portage that had some wood in it at the entrance. We camped upstream of Ishi Falls on a rocky beach. We tried to sleep in a field above the beach but we were swarmed by mosquito's so went back down to the beach were the bugs weren't as bad. We ate some food, drank some whisk, had a fire, talked, and went to bed under the stars. The next morning we got up and got back on the river around 9am. We had a long day ahead of us trying to bang out about 16 miles.

The scenery was nothing I had ever seen before. The rock was all lave rock which was pretty insane and you'd be paddling in these canyons that were so amazing with the coolest rock formations I had ever seen. We were surrounded by huge mountains, grassy fields, canyons and birds. The only other wildlife I saw was a turtle, a snake eating a fish, mosquito's, and mountain lion prints.

This was probably one of the funnest creeks I have ever done with really fun drops. It should go on your list if you are ever in CA to go boating. The plan for next year an overnighter on Mill Creek.

Here are some photos form the trip.

Photos by: Lance Petrack-Zunich

I'm in Grand Junction, CO going to pick up fellow Team Wave Sport member Taylor Cote and we are off to Buena Vista, CO for Paddle Fest next weekend.

Till next time,

Elaine Campbell

Last Friday was my 30^th b-day so we had the annual In and Out Burger at our friend's house Di and Ty's. We behaved that night since I had to compete the next day. My parent's flew in on Thursday to surprize me which was really great!

Saturday morning the competition began and I was in the second heat of women. I paddled pretty well and was in fourth going into semi-finals. I didn't hit all my big tricks which can be frustrating but I paddled well enough to land in 4^th place even though I wanted to be at least in 3rd. I stuck to my plan which was entry move, orbit, mcnasty, clean cartwheel, godzilla, phonix and if I had time split wheel to left cartwheel. I should of thrown the felix!

The top three men were Nick Troutman, Jayson Craig, and EJ. Team Wave Sport manager Bryan Kirk came in 5^th. Top three women were Emily Jackson, Ruth Gordon, and Devon Barker. All the women paddled really well!

Saturday night was my 30^th party. A bunch of paddlers showed up to the Grand Sierra Resort for some shenanigans. It started off with like 24 of us playing lazer tag. The rules were no running, jumping on things, swearing, crawling, hitting, teams, and going through the fire escape (Judd). We broke all the rules within 10 seconds. The cops even showed up because the fire alarm was going off and we just kept on playing. I'm pretty sure Macy took first place.

After lazer tag a bunch of us went bowling and Jeremy crushed it with like 3 stikes in a row. Then we went to the Extreme Bar which lead to ridiculous dancing until like 2am then I needed to get the heck out of there. Such a fun night lots of great stories!

Now just hanging in the RV paddling in CA. Paddled Pauley Creek on Monday in a snow storm! I also have paddled Chamberlin on the North Fork of the American, the Summit Run on the Yuba and did an overnighter on Deer Creek (I'll have a post about it soon).

Here is a video of my comp rides in prelims and semi's and Bryan Kirk's from prelims. I forgot to bring my camera for men's semi's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At72J_c1wG4

Oh and no add ons to the damage report!

Photo by:Emery Tillman

Till next time,

Elaine Campbell

Saturday was the comp and I had no plan but just to go out there and have fun. My expectations were low because of my practice on Friday. I made it into finals on Sunday with some moves (not sure what but I did). I decided since I didn't have much to do or much time to figure out the feature I decided to just go for Mcnasties every time after every flush and I did. I flushed on all of them (oh well) but had a great time and got 4^th. Haley Mills came in 1^st, Adriene Levknecht took 2^nd, and Maria Noakes took 3^rd. Bryan Kirk came in first for the men.

I also competed in the attainment race. It was a mass start on foot and you had to jump in your boat and start paddling upstream. It was a ton of fun even though I was taken out by a raft!

After the comp we left and went to Georgia to visit Jeff's uncle and aunt and got some southern hospitality which was so sweet. I may have gained 5 pounds while we were there. We left GA and then drove 30 hours (with a nights sleep in-between) to AZ to visit my uncle and aunt it was great seeing them. Now Jeff's working at his companies office in Mesa, AZ and we'll leave late afternoon and slowly trek over to Reno.

Here's the damage report so far on the RV: right side trailer light caught on fire due to faulty rewiring, one cracked drivers side mirror due to Jeff hitting some tall reflector on a jersey barrier and a ding from me taking out one of those plastic barrels during construction. Hopefully that's it for the damage report.

That's it for now and Brook and Laya are enjoying life on the road again.

Photos by: Jeff Campbell

Take Care,

Elaine Campbell

The next event was the slalom race. This was the second slalom course I've done (last year at the Trip Crown was the first). I have a slalom boat (thanks Scott Barnes) and was ready to go! I nailed the top section on my first go and missed the upstream gate 17. I bailed at the last second so I wouldn't miss 18,19, and 20. My second one wasn't that good. Sunday I did well in both slalom times but just missed gate 17. I caught the back of the eddy and was trying to pull myself up on the rocks and then got pushed downstream by the current. I was so frustrated because I was so close but I didn't give up. Emily took first I took second and Marcella McClatchey took third.

The final event on both days was the freestyle. The level at T-Ville was a little high so head judge Jimmy Blakeny decided to make it a downstream freestyle event. We could do downriver moves and catch the 4 features in the rapid. The same rules applied as a regular freestyle event he just added wave wheels, machos, kick flips, etc. I entered with wave wheels and a macho move (didn't get it around properly). Then dropped into the first feature called Babylon and then dropped into Pencil Sharpener which is a beefy hole. I was able to get some control for a cartwheel and then got worked would get into control again and then got worked. Finally I flushed out and was like lets do it again so I did. I put on a show for the crowd and they seemed to of liked it. A few people swam out of the hole both days. Sunday I stayed out of Pencil Sharpener the level dropped and it got shallow. I didn't need to get dragged on the bottom like my brother Mark did. Emily crushed it again and took first I took second and Merrie took third.

The overall Triple Crown winners for women Emily Jackson, second Elaine Campbell and third Marcella McClatchey.

Men: Eric Jackson, Dane Jackson, and Nick Troutman.

C1: Jordan Poffenberger, Dane Jackson, and Devin McEwan.

Big ups to all the organizers especially to Andy Kuhlberg he did an amazing job. Also to all the women competitors especially junior Emery Tillman she was great! What a great time competing with a bunch of my friends and brother had such and awesome time! Oh yeah and to Jeff thanks for being the best shuttle bunny and volunteer (hugs and kisses).

We are off to the NOC Shootout and the road trip begins!

Photos by: Scott Barnes

www.ARTandWATER.com

Take Care,

Elaine Campbell

I've been paddling in VT, MA and NH. My Wave Sport Project 45 has been getting a lot of use this March and I just put my/Scott's slalom boat back in the game (thanks Scott) getting ready for the New England Triple Crown in CT on April 10^th and 11th. Anyway here's a video I put together of some playboating.

Enjoy the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDafzPHKrq8

-Elaine Campbell

I left home March 4^th to get some boating in. I decided to start the season off with Scudders on the Delaware River in NJ. I've heard many great things about this spot so I figured I would give it a go. My sister-in -law lives about 45 minutes away so I've been commuting back and forth.

Scudders is an awesome hole. It's great for every hole move especially window shades! The water temp isn't that cold and it's been sunny and in the 50's which has been so nice. I've gotten to meet a bunch of the local paddlers who are pretty funny guys and drink good beer. I met up with my buddy Craig and Jeremy who I haven't seen in awhile and we got to boat together.

The start of my 2010 season has started off real good so far and I'm looking forward to all the great paddling I'm going to do and all the new people I'm going to meet this season. I'm going to stick around here for a few more days and then I may head to WV or back home to VT if the rivers aren't still frozen over.

Here's a head cam video that Adam from Zoar made of us paddling on the WB of the Deerfiled River in VT at 6ft in December.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GML4oX0UAAw

I'll have a video done in a week or so from Scudders.

Photo by:Chris DiPrimeo

Photo by:Chris DiPrimeo

Take Care,

Elaine Campbell

I also have been doing a lot of flat water training in my slalom boat. I figure instead of running to stay in shape I'll paddle flat water to stay in shape. It's working out pretty well. I haven't been playing much but spent a couple days at 293 Wave in Manchester, NH on the Merrimack River. It's a really fun wave that's steep, fast, and has a nice pile. It's called 293 wave because the wave is just below the 293 highway bridge. The craziest thing happened to me one day while I was paddling there. I'm surfing the wave and hear all kinds of sirens. I look over to the river right shore and see fire trucks, ambulances, and cops. I peel off the wave ferry over and one of the rescue guys are like “are you OK”, I'm like “yeah I'm fine”. He told me someone called 911 and said someone was stuck in the river. It was pretty funny and a little embarrassing.

My new website is up www.elainecampbellkayaking.com It's got a lot of great info on rivers and play spots in New England plus a lot more.

This first video is about the Thousand Islands International Tourism Council and the Black River in NY. I have a clip in it from Rt.3 Wave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olchQ8htimQ

Here's a video of some boating and some 293 Wave photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmvmPlrbSJ4

Photos:Jeff Campbell

Happy Holidays,

Elaine Campbell

The Moose River has three sections to choose from: The Middle (class II/III), the Lower (class III/IV), and the Bottom (class IV/V). There's a section for every paddling ability! If you missed it this year you gotta come next year. The “Fest” is usually the third weekend in October so put it on your calendar NOW! There are plenty of hotels, motels, and B&B's to choose from as well as myriad camping, but beware: it can get pretty cold in Old Forge in mid-October! Saturday night is the actual “Fest”. This year it was at Slicker's. They closed off the side parking lot and had vendor booths set up. Jeff and I didn't last long Saturday night. We hit it hard Friday night (especially Jeff) and I had an extremely long day on the river. We were in bed by 10pm.

I had a great weekend paddling the Bottom Moose with my brother Mark and a great crew of boaters all from the Boston area (except Craig. he's from Pennsyltucky). Almost everyone in our group had great lines and there was almost no carnage! We did witness lot's of carnage, especially the sneak line at Knife's Edge. People think it's a sneak line and then realize “Yikes! This is an actual rapid with a hole at the entrance, rocks and a small drop at the end!”. Mark styled every drop and I styled the waaaaaaaaaaaaaay river right line of Crystal. I wasn't in the mood to possibly screw up my line and go over the falls backwards or upside down, do I'm saving Crystal for next year. I did run Magilla on the right side which is soooooooooo sweet! You just fly off the falls (though you want to stay right so you don't get pushed into the cave).

For paddlers in the Northeast, the Moose “Fest” is a great end to a great season of kayaking. Winter is coming and all we can hope for is few more rain storms before the snow hits. I hope you'll join us next year at the Moose “Fest”!

Thanks for taking the video Mark!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_G9YW8MSIE

Photo: Lee Eudy

Take Care,

Elaine Campbell

Thanks to all!

Now, for a quick recap:

Prelims were Thursday. I was in the second heat. Four 45 second rides, best two combined count. The wave was decent, though I believe it improved through the day. My strategy was to play small-ball until I had 10 seconds remaining on the clock, then go for a Helix. I had stuck a decent Helix that morning in practice so I felt pretty good about it. I think nearly I hit them on both rides but failed to stick on the wave on either, so no points. My small-point moves were enough to get me through to quarter-finals, barely.

In QF on Friday, we (Jeff and I) decided to small-ball until 15 seconds remained, in order to leave more time to setup the Helix, since I felt I could have stuck them with a little more setup time. We also decided to go for bigger amplitude on the smaller moves, potentially increasing their point value (and risk of flushing). Unfortunately, I had a case of the flushies through the whole round. I completely missed the wave for one ride (QF’s is three rides, best two combined count) and flushed while setting up for a Helix on both my other rides. So instead of 135 seconds, I was probably on the wave a total of around 60 seconds or less. Still, I was able to improve my standing from 20^th where I entered QF’s to 15^th overall. So I feel like I was paddling very competitively, I just got some bad breaks and didn't paddle my best. I did manage to beat a former world champ and some other very formidable paddlers who have been competing at the Worlds for many years. So although I certainly would have liked to have hit those Helix’s and moved on to Semi’s, I am mostly happy with how I performed, outside of occasional moments where I want to break my paddle over Jeff’s head and feed my boat through a shredder.

I entered the squirt competition because there was a senior woman that couldn’t make it to the competition and the field would have been too short for the results to be official. This would have been devastating to the women that had been training for so long for this competition. I had sat in a squirt boat before but had never paddled one. Picture a fiberglass kayak that gets shrunk-wrapped around your legs, literally. They are designed to allow paddlers to “squirt” the ends underwater and also to get “downtime”, where you enter the current in such a way that you and the entire boat go completely under water for as long as possible, what’s known as a “Mystery Move”, because it’s a mystery why anyone would want to spend an undetermined amount of time underwater with a large sheet of fiberglass shrunk-wrapped to their legs. I borrowed Jeremy’s squirt boat, and I had to smear butter all over my legs just to squeeze them in (Jeremy has little chicken legs). Although I was technically new to squirting, I am a fairly skilled flatwater paddler and already knew how to do some of the moves (cartwheels/splitwheels/bow stalls/stern stalls/back rolls/etc) so it was not completely foreign to me, though I was accustomed to being able to feel below my waist when doing these tricks in my plastic boat. This is not allowed in a squirt competition, you must be numb from the bottom of your rib-cage down. In fact, when you finished your ride and got out of your boat, a Swiss woman named Edith would strike you on the toe with a ball-peen hammer to insure you were completely numb. If you flinched, you were disqualified. I ended up 6^th out of 10, just below the cut for finals. My prelim score would have been good for 5^th in the finals so I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing, from the waist up at least. I stuck to the squirt moves and didn’t really go for a mystery move since there was an extremely large swan in the water that seemed to get annoyed by them. Someone made the mistake of trying to scare the swan away from the entry stairs by smacking his boat on the water. Instead of scaring that swan away, two more rushed over from the opposite side of the river to see what was up, and the three swans proceeded to hiss and lick the butter off of the paddlers legs.

A few notes on Thun, Switzerland:

1. They don’t put cheese on their sandwiches here. This is not mentioned in any of the guide books, which is stupid. I asked for a Ham and Cheese sandwich, they brought me a Ham sandwich and a Cheese Sandwich. I managed.

2. AusFahrt means “exit”

3. The only way to get the check after eating in a restaurant is to get up and start walking out. Or running out.

4. Cancer does not exist here, and everyone over the age of six is legally obligated to smoke cigarettes in the face of an American (Canadians are also acceptable, though not French-Canadians, since they also smoke).

5. Swiss-German people eat very slowly, then make up the lost time while driving.

Otherwise, I would have to say that this must be one of the most beautiful places on Earth, no exaggeration. The Alps and the Lakes together make for breathtaking scenery. We’ve been staying at a condo in Lauterbrunnen, which is about 30 minutes from Thun by car. If you come to Switzerland, make sure you come to Lauterbrunnen, it’s amazing. The town sits on a glacier surrounded by impossibly huge granite walls from which spotlit waterfalls cascade continuously. The town is literally in the shadow of the Jungfrau, Switzerland's highest peak and what’s known as the “Top of Europe”. Every day hundreds of tourists come up by car bus and train just to see what sits outside our bedroom window. Incredible!

The Swiss people have been embarrassingly hospitable, almost all seem to speak near-perfect English which is good because the only German word I’ve learned Is “Exit”. The City of Thun is clean, well maintained and feels very safe, at least the sections I’ve frequented. The public transportation is a model for the world and the City of Thun is a great place to walk in or to sit and have coffee with incredible views all around.

Again, great thanks to all, and wish me luck in next worlds, which will be in Germany in 2011. I’ll have to tryout for the team again, only the winner of the Worlds gets a bye onto the next team.

View from our rental apt. in Lauternbrunen

Photos by: Jeff Campbell

Take Care,

Elaine Campbell

After a couple of days of hanging around the first practice started. Every country has a scheduled practice each day. The US Team gets an hour slot a day usually in the morning and we split up into two groups. Each group gets a half hour and you have a one minute timed ride. You are lucky to get six rides in that half hour. Practice has been going OK for me. I have woken up once at 3:30am with Corey Volt to get on the wave by 4:30am and the next day Bryan Kirk, Tanya Faux, Johnny Meyers, Adriene Levkenecht, and I woke up at 2:30am to be on the wave by 3:30am. That was insane! I have never been so tired before in my life and then we had scheduled practice at 8:00am. This was a bad day of boating for me. My reflex and reaction time were so off and I felt like I was in a hazy daze. The line was also insane that early morning about 25 boaters in the water, pretty crazy but when you have 30 countries trying to practice that's what your going to get. It's all good though. I'll get sorted out and be paddling like myself again.

Jeff shows up tomorrow and that will help me out so much with my paddling. It's hard being so far away from him. He'll be here tomorrow and I'll be feeling much better.

Photos:Brian Jennings

Auf wiedersehen,

Elaine Campbell

Rt. 3 Wave is great for all levels of ability. My friend Nicole was working on her spins and Jeff is a newbie and worked on catching the wave and establishing a front surf which he did a few times. I was working on my left clean blunt and left flip turn which both moves are getting better. I had a couple of clean roundhouses so I'm getting close.

It rained a bunch so Rt. 3 washed out so I've been paddling at Hole Brothers which has been a wave. The levels are dropping so Rt.3 should be back in soon. As of now I'll keep paddling at Hole Brothers and it's the Black River Fest this weekend so I'm getting ready for the big party tomorrow night at Hudson River Rafting. If you are in the area or have nothing to do you should come to the Black Fest. The river run is awesome class III/IV with a waterfall called Glen Park Falls and upstream of the run is a park and huck that's pretty stout.

Photos by: Jeff Marchand

Take Care,

Elaine Campbell

Next up on the tour was the Teva Mountain Games. Teva is one of the funnest events on the tour. The paddling is great (even though the water is crazy cold and high elevation), you meet lots of new boaters, and the party on Saturday night is ridiculously fun. My parent flew in from New Bedford, MA to watch the competition and do some sight seeing. It was really great for them to come and get a taste of what I'm doing. I paddled a couple of days before the competition and worked on my mcnasty. Prelims went well I had my first mcnasty in a competition so I was pretty excited about that. Semi-finals didn't go as well as I hoped. It was a great event even thought I didn't place in top 5 I was still pleased with my performance.

We left Teva with a stow-away named Taylor Cote. Her dad had to fly back home so she came with us to finish the tour. We stopped to paddle at the Lawson hole and I was feeling a bit tired and thought I had a little too much fun the night before but was sick most of the week with a cold. That night we stayed with my brother-in-law Allyn and his wife Minty and their two girls, Abbey and Kylie, and their two dogs, Bear and Stinzy, outside of Boulder. Next day Taylor and I headed to Lyon's and Jeff flew home for work. It was just the four girls in Lyons: Brook, Laya, Taylor, and myself . Plenty of estrogen to go around. We paddled at the play-hole and then went to Six Flags with a crew and had an awesome time. Kelsey Thompson went on his first roller coaster ride which was pretty funny. The competition went fairly well for me, I came in third with a 310 point ride and had a Phonix Monkey and some other moves. I won two cases of beer from Oskar Blues which was so sweet! Taylor also came in third in Lyon's in the Womens “Not so Pro” class, a glimpse of things to come for the petite teen. Then, off to Salida.

We picked Jeff up at the airport and almost took the top of the RV off because of low clearance, my bad. We made it to Salida and the crew was back together (Team Indecision). FiBark Fest is a good time and is where the tour ends for a lot of people. It's a little sad because everyone you have been hanging with and paddling with is about to part and go home. I'll have to admit I was looking forward to going home. Seven weeks is a long time to be on the road. It didn't go well in the competition for me but I had a lot of fun. Taylor took first in the Jr. women competition which was awesome. Clearly a result of my expert tutilidge!

All around, an amazing trip: driving from VT to Reno and then all over CO. Who'd a thunk that me, a city girl from New Bedford, MA would one day be traveling across the country to compete in freestyle kayaking competitions and would make the US Freestyle Kayaking Team!

I'm finally back home on the couch in VT. I got to paddle the Dryway on the Deerfield River and soon I'll be in NY training for the World's and sailing.

Teva Games

Laya Taking in the scenery in Lyons

Tracking a coyote

Fibark Fest

That's all for now!

-Elaine Campbell

Lets start with the numbers:

5 paddlers

11 boats

8 different paddles used

8 hour drive became 12 hours

no sunscreen

Potomac fest was an awesome event despite pushing the physical limits of driving through the night and waking up in the morning with barely enough time to get to the event and register. We had a solid Team Z crew for this event which added to our enthusiasm to push each other to our potential. Tino had solid prelim race and easily made finals for the falls event. Jim won the rodeo with a ridiculous points total and Tino attained second. Hillary achieved second in the womens class rodeo event, her first competitive event for rodeo and a boater-cross race. Mike Porter made the finals of the boater-cross and had a strong finish. Dennis stepped up to some big lines, and was a feisty competitor in each event.

Step 1: Point It Downstream and Go Fast!!

Step 2: Point It Downstream and Go Fast!!

Step 3: Okay, you get the picture

For years this has worked well for me, but here are a few specific things to try for improving your speed while racing down river.

In the River:

· Get comfortable reading currents, look at where you can save distance yet remain in fast water

· Remember fast currents hug the outside of river bends, but these are often longer routes

· Avoid having waves hit you in the chest, this kills speed

· Paddle on the backside of waves to achieve more momentum

· Use the top of waves to turn, more of the boat will be out of the water

· In real long boats edge to the outside of your turn

· Skirt rocks to use eddy lines for increased speed boosts

· Use more torso power and get an instructor to help improve paddling technique

· Use a quicker stroke rotation, but still get good purchase on the water

· Try to keep the boat quite underneath you

· Train with someone fast

· Watch out for dark rocks and keep your head up

On Land:

· Warm-up

· Stretch

· Eat good food, not fast food

· Drink water

· Cross train / weight lift

· Learn and visualize your run

· Get a good nights rest

James Sullivan words of wisdom “Race your own race, don’t be intimidated by others, just do the best you can do”

Mike Porter words of wisdom “If you get spun around go backwards until you end up spinning again”

Hillary Friedman aka “guns” words of wisdom “Just try harder, just pull harder”… Okay, I told her that

And remember, above all else… “Point it Downstream and Go Fast”

The Reno River Fest was an outstanding event. I got a chance to see some friends I met last year and met some great new people as well. The event started with the Open Competition on Friday, the Pro Competition followed on Saturday. I was extremely pleased to see how many women entered the open, which was won by Erin Clancy from Idaho. Both Erin and Diane earned a spot in the Pro event.

Though I got the ride that I wanted, I didn't get scored on my McNasty or Phonix Monkey(both of which still need fine-tuning) and ended up 6^th overall. Respectable, but definitely would have liked better. The competition was extremely stiff and included Ruth Gordon (current senior womens world champ), Emily Jackson (current junior womens world champ), Tanya Faux (Australia's top female paddler and Australia's Female Expeditionist of the Year) and Nikki Kelly (one of New Zealand's top female paddlers). Also beating me was Erin Clancy, winner of the Open event. I'll get you next time, Erin, great job!

Sunday we sat on the beach at Lake Tahoe, beautiful! Monday I dropped Jeff at the airport and headed to the Ogden Wave in Ogden Utah with my buddy Craig (Kleckner). The level was at the low end so it wasn't overly dynamic but still wicked fun. While there I ran into our friend Colleen form the Dryway and her family. It was great to see them.

After two days, we left Ogden and drove to Glenwood Springs, CO to get some practice in on the wave before the event in Buena Vista. Had some nice days paddling on the wave at a great level.

We spent four days in Glenwood, then I headed to Buena Vista and Craig headed to Denver to spend some time with some friends. A few days later Craig picked up Jeff at the airport in Denver and brought him to Buena Vista. It was great to have the family back together again. The whitewater park in Buena Vista is an incredible place, with four or five play holes along the Arkansas, some great biking and running trails, restrooms, showers, pavilions and some camping areas, though camping is usually not allowed, apparently. We paddled in the top hole for a few days, then the competition was moved to the bottom hole due to the high river level. I lacked focus at this event, having my sights set on team trials, and had the honor of coming in last. Rough, but I got over it quickly.

Did some laundry and headed back to Glenwood for the big event.

Got the RV stuck in some BLM land in South Canyon. My good friend Billy-Bob and Craig worked quickly to get it out while Jeff walked around mumbling to himself about AAA not covering any off-road incidents. Spent the first few nights in the No Name rest stop with some local Rest-stop inhabitants who seemed friendly enough, conjuring images of the late Chris Farley and his “You'll be living in a van, down by the river!” SNL skit. Come to think of it, he could have been referring to any number of competitors on the circuit.... EJ told us we could stay at the Community Center, though no one had told the community center. A quick call to the local police got everything settled and we were able to stay there the next few nights and use their showers ($4.00).

During the week leading up to trials, we would wake up at 5am, drive over to the wave and I’d get in the water by around 5:45 am. I don’t think I was the first one in the water any of the days. I was beaten by Dane a few days and local David Gorski most others.

Once the competition started we moved our Team Indecision Base-Camp to a parking lot a few hundred yards upstream of the wave, which was great. The Team included Matt, Stephanie and Sage along with their four dogs and their cat, Billy-Bob and his two dogs, Judd, Jeremy and occasionally Craig when he wasn’t surfing the floor of his parents hotel room. Also joining us were Mike, Alec, Hayden and Connor Vorhees from Idaho, all of whom we had spent time with and camped next to in Reno. Missing from Bas-Camp were Team Indecision members Jordan and Ned Puffenburger who were staying in a condo up in Vail.

During the week, we held some mock competitions between myself, Craig, Jordan(a young, extremely talented C1 paddler) and occasionally Billy-Bob when he decided to join in. We would tape everyones rides, then sit in the RV, watch the tapes and score the rides. This exercise proved invaluable for my final preparation.

On Friday, the day before the pre-lims, my plan was to take four competition rides with no warm up, as it would be on pre-lims day. These four rides did not go well at all for me. I started to panic a little bit about how I would fare in the pre-lims. I decided to stay in for a little while longer and work on Helixes and do some “soul-surfing”. By the time I got out I was feeling better and was again feeling good about my chances.

I took the rest of the day off and just relaxed.

US Team Trials Day 0

When they posted the heat sheets, I saw that I was to go first in the first heat. Nothing like jumping right in! I watched the Junior Womens pre-lims and a few heats of the Junior Mens pre-lims, then went to get my gear and my boat. I got down to the riverbank a few minutes before the end of the break between the junior mens and womens and got in my boat. I then realized (or was told) that I wasn’t wearing my competition bib, so Jeff had to run (in his flip-flops) back to the RV to get it and bring it back. He got it back to me just before they called my name for my first ride. The moment had come and I felt pretty good. I waited another 30-40 seconds after I got the thumbs up to start my ride, then I pushed off and peeled out. I hit the wave in about the spot I wanted to and established a front surf. Right away I started going through my routine: right clean spin, left clean spin, right roundhouse, left roundhouse. I think I tried for a back roundhouse/blunt but am not sure I got one. Almost immediately the 15 second horn blew, I couldn’t believe how fast my time was almost up. I knew I had time to throw another move and was feeling great based on the nickel and dime points I had already racked up. I blasted out to my right and climbed the pile on the right shoulder. Once there, I immediately felt some acceleration down the face of the wave towards my left. I put in a hard acceleration stroke, bounced on the green and threw my knees over my head for a Flipturn. As I felt it coming around, the stern grabbed green water and the bow came slamming down in front of me! Success! I couldn’t believe it! A huge roar went up from the massive crowd and the final horn blew a split-second later. Ride over, BOOM!

My next three rides where similar, though lacking the flip turn. I was confident enough that my first ride got me through to semi-finals so I just nickle-and-dime'd my other rides. In the pre-lims, I came in second overall behind Emily Jackson, who was already on the US Team on a by.

Semi-finals did not go as well: we only had two rides and the wave was pretty flushy. My nerves kicked in which didn't help but somehow in my first ride I pulled enough points to get me through to finals.

Finals happened later in the afternoon and I was really feeling the pressure. We had three rides, best one counts. I was first, Adrienne second, Devon, Lauren, and Jesse. Emily was last but she was not competing for a spot. On my first ride the wave turned green and I flushed right through for a whopping zero points. I told myself that I still had two more rides and it's all good. No one else had a good first ride (except maybe Emily) so I was quite relieved. My Second ride was not good either: a couple of small points then a flush. I was like “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! This is NOT going to happen! I've worked hard for two years to get to this point and I'm not going to screw this up.” I walked back up the eddy reminded myself that this is my last chance and to just get it done! My name was called for my final ride. Two years of work were coming down to 45 seconds! I pushed off the rocks and started to float downstream. Looking behind my right shoulder I kept saying over and over “Catch the Wave!”. I caught the wave (YES!) and started the routine that I've been practicing all week. Again, almost immediately, the 15 second warning horn blew. I couldn't set up for a helix or flip turn and time was running out. I decided to try a back Pan-Am but missed it. Ride over, unsure of points. When I got to shore, people were cheering and I got the two thumbs up from Jeff. I still had to wait for four more rides (YIKES!), any one of which could have knocked me off with anything better than a 75, my last ride total. Adrienne was next. I'm not sure what she got but she was already ahead of me with an 85, so she was on. I was sweating and shaking. I couldn't even watch the other three rides. Devon went, then Lauren and Jesse. Now we all just wait. I saw Christine Jackson with the results in her hand. She looked at Jeff and I and flashed two fingers: Second Place! Then the announcers told us that Emily came in first (again she was not competing for a spot). Out of the spot-earners, Adriene Levknecht was first, I was second, and Jesse Stone third. Jeff gave me a big hug while I may have shed a tear or two. It was crazy that I had just made the US Freestyle Kayak Team. All the hard work paid off and my dream came true.

Big ups to Emily, Adrienne and Jesse, my new teammates, and all the other women who came and tried out: Devon, Kat, Jamie, Lauren, Natalie, Nichole, Anna, Hannah, Megan and Kay. Huge thanks to all of the organizers and judges: Risa, Christine, Matt, Jimmy, Kelsy, Gary, Davis, and to my team manager, Bryan Kirk, who absolutely killed it in the competition, earned a spot on the US Mens team, came in first overall, then topped it off by winning a free airline ticket to Thun compliments of the Jacksons (and by the grace of Emily, whose name was drawn first but would not accept it).

Thanks to all my sponsors, family, and friends we are going to Thun, Switzerland in August!

Take Care,

Elaine Campbell

Reno

Buena Vista Eddy

Brook and Laya

The Triple Crown was an amazing event. The event coordinators put together a flawless event. The event was a downriver race, slalom race, and freestyle. To win the Triple Crown you had to do all three. There where twenty five men and five women. Competitors came from all over to compete. Team Z represented!

The downriver race was awesome on the first day you went head to head with another racer. I had the opportunity to go head to head in the downriver race against Katrina who is a pro slalom competitor. She was in a wildwater boat. She smoked me in the downriver and of course in the slalom. I paddled my brother Mark's Speeder and had the hardest time controlling the boat. It turns like a sea kayak and a wildwater boat which is the opposite of what we do in whitewater boats. I never stopped paddling in the race I may have thought about it when my body was like please stop and I can't believe I didn't vomit at the end of the race. The race on Sunday wasn't a head to head which was a relief. I paddled Mark's slalom boat instead and scored a better time in the slalom boat than the Speeder.

Slalom was insane! I paddled Mark's slalom boat and it felt like I was in a squirt boat because my legs where flat. The course was hard at least for us non-slalom boaters. You could so tell who competed in slalom and who doesn't. The first day was rough I missed at least five gates in both my turns. Which is fifty second penalties. I thought I had a strategy that would avoid missing five gates but I was so wrong. I had a great time in slalom and I'm actually thinking about starting to get into slalom. The runs I did on Sunday where much better.

Freestyle was last on both days and by that point just holding my paddle was tiring. I was so tired by the time freestyle started that I blew it. The hole was a little flushy both days so you had to be so snappy to stick anything. I flushed both days which just killed me. That was disappointing but what can you do.

I really had the most amazing time at this event. There where five women who competed. Two of them are Canadian pro slalom athletes Katrina and Sarah. Katrina came in first in the Triple Crown. Sarah who went to Beijing to compete in the Olympics came in second. Jessie Stone came in third, Hannah Farrar came in fourth, and I came in fifth. It was great to compete against these women who are all elite in the sport of kayaking. I'm looking forward to this competition for next year. I plan on getting some time in a slalom boat and getting into downriver racing which will improve my paddling and increase my endurance.

I'm packing right now for a seven week road trip to Reno and then to CO. We leave on Thursday in the RV with the cat and dog. It's going to be a great time.

Take Care,

Elaine Campbell

This weekend is my first competition of the season the Triple Crown on the Farmington River in CT. I'm very excited to be entered in my first ever down river race and slalom race. I wonder how many gates I will actually go through. I'm also really excited because this will be the first competition my brother Mark and I will both be in. If you find yourself in the area enter the event to compete or come and watch. After that a couple days at home in VT and then we leave for the big road trip starting with Reno and then CO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES2C7e2xFnA

Enjoy!

Elaine Campbell

I’m back home in VT and am going back to NY this weekend for more Inner City Wave. I’ll be there until my first competition of the season which is the Triple Crown on the Farmington River in CT. Enjoy the photos and I'm working on a video of the wave which I should finish in a week or so.

Brook enjoying the only day of sun.

Photos by: Jeff Campbell

Take Care,

Elaine Campbell