Winning major competitions and running big waterfalls are often thought of as the pinnacle of whitewater kayaking, but pushing the next generation of the sport might just be the true peak.
When people normally think of summer camps most picture kids roasting s’mores around a campfire and singing songs in the woods. But Falling Creek Camp is not your typical summer camp. They take high adventure to a new level with expeditions all over North America such as mountain biking in Colorado, rock climbing in New Hampshire, backpacking in Wyoming, and paddling in Costa Rica.
I’ve led trips at Falling Creek Camp for eight years, and this summer we took a group of the camp’s best whitewater paddlers and headed to Northern Quebec’s Magpie River. We had decided it was time to safely push our kids to new paddling destinations, and the Magpie checked all the right boxes: Adventure, quality whitewater and total remoteness—the kind of expedition most paddlers only dream about.
It took three floatplane shuttles to get our expedition into the Canadian wilderness, landing on a pristine lake where the trip truly began.
The expedition included kids aged 14-17, all campers who had learned to paddle at Falling Creek Camp. Rafa Ortiz, a professional Red Bull-sponsored kayaker, was invited as a guest on the trip—the whitewater equivalent of surfing with Kelly Slater.
We called the expedition “Huck Magpie,” and ran amazing class III-IV whitewater during our five days out. Some rapids required lining the raft down big class V holes and required a huge amount of teamwork and skill.
Wildlife was everywhere. While scouting one rapid, someone noticed a bear looking at the group. After a moment of the campers looking at the bear and the bear looking at the campers, everyone ran as fast as they could away and back to their boats. “I don’t have to run fast, just faster than the kids,” joked Ortiz.
“This is by far the best trip I have ever done,” reflected Henry, a fifteen-year-old participant on the trip. “Being in the wilderness totally makes me realize how important nature is. And I won’t ever forget how small we are out there.”
I’ve won three world cup freestyle championships, but hearing these kinds of reflections and looking around at the kids as we paddled through canyons and past cliff faces on the Magpie’s whitewater, will forever be a highlight of my paddling career.
Jez is a three-time World Cup freestyle kayaking champion and a Jackson Kayak athlete.
