If there was a single Canadian creek to save from the onslaught of hydro developers, this would be it—the Callaghan. It’s the crown jewel of creek runs for kayakers in southwestern British Columbia and draws paddlers from both sides of the border. Known for its clean waterfalls, reliable running season and four kilometers of quality whitewater, the run can best be described as ultra classic.

However, that doesn’t keep the big dogs from sniffing around. Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. may be looking to develop a run-of-the-river hydroelectric project that would result in significantly slower water speeds and, potentially, the loss of the run altogether.

In early May, Innergex flew a helicopter over the creek and sent a handful of hired consultants to take water samples and examine fish species. Less than two days after the helicopter flew over the site, paddlers had created a “Save the Callaghan” Facebook page and had more than 150 people signed up in support.

It’s a familiar scene to the paddlers of Whistler. Rutherford Creek was one of the first classic runs to fall victim to development in 2001 and is now effectively dewatered. Then in 2006, Innergex began development of a project on nearby Ashlu Creek. They were able to mitigate most of the effects on the local paddling community by ensuring paddlers have at least 30 flow days a year on the river. But the Callaghan is too small for a similar mitigation process, according to Bas Brusche, Innergex’s director of public affairs. “It’s build or don’t build.”

This article originally appeared in Rapid, Summer/Fall 2013. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read the rest here.

Some paddling pros are turning heads by switching things up on their favorite runs, literally. Riding switch—or paddling backwards—got some attention at the 2012 Green Race when Dane Jackson and Pat Keller did the full short boat race looking over their shoulders.

For Jackson, paddling backwards is just another way to get more thrills out of the sport, which is why he’s been hooked since he first tried it in 2011. “Switch can turn your home river into an intense run,” he says, “and it makes every river a new river because you’re seeing it in a way you never have before.”

“Switch has become a hot new trend,” says 2009 World Freestyle Kayak Champion, Nick Troutman. “Paddlers are running extremely hard whitewater switch,” he says, but people were paddling backwards long before its recent spike in publicity. When he was first learning freestyle, Troutman spent a whole summer paddling backwards after hearing that it could improve his moves. He and Jackson did a switch run of the Alseseca after a race last winter and Troutman blogged that it was a “whole new challenge after mastering the lines forwards.”

But riding switch isn’t just for people who have mastered class V for- wards or are trying to win the Worlds. According to Troutman, changing the direction of paddle strokes can help strengthen shoulder muscles and it’s a great way to increase overall awareness and boat control—a skill that can build towards freestyle tricks with enough practice…

This article originally appeared in Rapid, Summer/Fall 2013. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read the rest here.

Erik Weihenmayer isn’t your average kayaker. The 44-year-old recently made official his quest to become the first blind person to paddle the Grand Canyon in 2014.

Weihenmayer is not new to firsts. The adventurer and motivational speaker was the first blind person to climb Mount Everest in 2001 and conquered the Seven Summits in 2008. He’s also an accomplished alpine skier, rock climber and marathon runner. All of those achievements have helped prepare him for his hardest challenge yet.

“Kayaking is way more intense than anything I’ve ever done. So much is happening in such a short amount of time,” he says. “Learning to ski was hard, but the ground doesn’t move below you.”

The whitewater learning curve over the past six years has been steep and left Weihenmayer uncertain and scared at times. “There’s moments where I’m swimming through a rapid and I wonder, what am I doing here—there’s a reason there are no other blind kayakers in the world,” says Weihenmayer.

He kayaks with a spotter who either yells instructions or communicates via waterproof radio. There’s usually at least one other paddler for backup and occasionally a kayaker out front, picking lines. He has only praise for his growing team of boaters who “have to line me up and anticipate what the river will do and where the river will take me.” He prefers paddling big water, as opposed to small creeks and technical runs that require precise lines.

“I still have that sense of going into something crazy before a rapid,” he says. “It’s pretty daunting. I’d like to see if that changes with more experience, if I will eventually feel like I can handle anything.”

In April, Weihenmayer completed a successful 12-day reconnaissance trip to the Grand Canyon before he committed himself to going back on a 225-mile, 20-day trip in September 2014. “The very first day, the very first rapid was bigger than anything I’d ever done. I did pretty well—I survived, I got sucked into whirlpools but managed to roll up, and that gave me confidence.”

Weihenmayer says his biggest challenge will be endurance. “Kayaking is such a mental game for me so I get fatigued. I can get flipped on easy, no-name rapids just because I wasn’t expecting it.”

“Rivers are very complicated from a blind person’s perspective.  The way currents and rapids form, they create a very wild, fast, uncertain and powerful environment,” he adds.

Even after next year’s Grand Canyon run, Weihenmayer expects to be hooked on kayaking for life—it’s something his whole family, including his two children, can enjoy, even from a raft. “We can all challenge ourselves in different ways, that’s the cool part about rivers.”

Follow Erik Weihenmayer’s journey at www.touchthetop.com

This article originally appeared in Rapid, Summer/Fall 2013. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read the rest here.