Spend enough time on the river and, sooner or later, you may collect a story that still gives you the chills. We asked pro boaters to share the scariest moments they’ve experienced. Here’s what some of of them had to say.
Pro paddlers on the scariest thing that ever happened to them
“Oh boy, this is a potentially long and scary list. Chased by crocodiles on the Zambezi, drowning on the Verdun in France, pinned under a steel beam in Italy, rescuing a guy on the Seven Teacups in California, breaking my back in North Carolina.”
—Corran Addison
“Driving through a field in Brazil, when Pedro Olivia stopped and spotlighted an owl. The local who was guiding us to a remote take-out started mumbling something I couldn’t understand before slipping out of the truck. Next thing I know, he is pointing a rifle at the vehicle, saying something about evil spirits and witchcraft. I jumped out into the tall grass and crawled away, but he trained the rifle on the spotlight and Pedro begged him not to shoot. I crawled back toward the standoff in time to see the man back away enough to jump back in and hit the gas. We were lost on the overgrown path to the River of the Dead (Rio das Mortes) for hours, worried the man would reappear.”
—Ben Stookesberry
“Seeing my dad let go of the rope I was holding and go through a sieve.”
—Nouria Newman
“The scariest thing that’s ever happened to me was when I was around nine years old paddling the Ottawa River. I flipped at the very top of a rapid and waited for my dad to roll me up. He slipped trying to roll me up and I ended up getting worked in a hole with no paddle. Once I was out of breath, I went to get my skirt off and couldn’t. I was under a long time. Since then, I am a huge advocate for bungee skirts for kids, no rand, and testing and trying them out in every which way—and not waiting for someone to roll you up.”
—Emily Jackson
“Giving birth. Twice!”
—Mariann Saether
“Benny Marr and I almost getting eaten by a crocodile on the White Nile is right up there.”
—Adriene Levknecht
“Needing to surf across a big wave in front of massive stone ruins in Ottawa that had massive whirlpool siphons that I would definitely not survive if I went into, simply because I put in too low for the ferry. Not my best move.”
—Dane Jackson
“The scariest thing that ever happened to me was not something I think we should glorify as a paddling community. I find myself telling my most exciting stories about dangerous times too often, and I’m trying to shift to happier stories about caution and preparation.”
—Leif Anderson
This article was published in Issue 75 of Paddling Magazine. I will survive. | Feature photo: Daniel Stewart
