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. 

The most recent webisode from Substantial Media House, “Hello Darkness,” features aerial whitewater footage like we’ve never seen before. The Substantial crew teamed up with Pacific Northwest-based media company, Shifted Cinema, LLC, to capture these images from high-end remote-controlled helicopters. We caught up with Ethan Fortney, CEO and camera operator at Shifted Cinema, to get his take on why aerials are changing the way we see the river:

“As with all industries, aerials can provide a dynamic perspective of the chosen subject. A classic car commercial goes from something everyone has seen a million times that is easily dismissed, to something—if executed correctly—that is so visually pleasing and stimulating that you want to continue watching. Therefore rather than having many short choppy cuts to attempt to hold the attention, longer, more impactful and captivating shots are possible without having to worry about losing the audience.

When we first met the Substantial Media House boys, we knew little to nothing about kayaking. But after one look at the locations they were paddling, we knew it was perfectly tuned for our operation to create powerful images. We love to operate in locations that provide some adventure both for the operators and the aircraft. The more complex the environment, the more tempted we are to fly it. We wanted to create something that no one had ever seen before.

In the kayak industry, creating great web edits of dynamic and extreme locations is the norm. The aerial aspect can capture the essence of the sport while adding a perspective that, until recently, had never been seen. That is a big reason we love working within the kayak industry: the environments these incredible athletes seek out are so powerful that when we get brought onto a project, it’s a canvas with limitless potential to create. It’s a sport and environment that deserves to be showcased accordingly. Cable-camera rigs are an awesome tool but they are such a process to get setup, and full size helicopters are limited to where they can fit. So, when we go out, we often try to blend the two, which creates that dynamic shot that is only achievable with a remote control platform.

Our platforms differ from the small GoPro rigs that a lot of the kayak industry has been picking up. We use much larger equipment that requires far more experience to operate and maintain. But, the great thing about the GoPro rigs is that they are much cheaper, smaller, easier to fly, and are designed to withstand a crash or two which makes them great for paddlers wanting to captures a better perspective of their environment with limited risk.

What it all boils down to is that we are driven to work within the kayak industry because of the community that is whitewater kayaking. The amount of passion and stoke in each and every individual is enough to make you want to sell your possessions and chase that gypsy kayak life, living every day like it’s your last. Instead, we just try to showcase it.”