June 30, 2008

About 15 Pretty Tough women showed up to compete in the weekend’s events, a head-to-head race, an eight ball competition, as well as a men’s freestyle. 

Check out updates of the weekend’s events on my website!

http://web.mac.com/karussell/iWeb/Site/Updates/5C328D01-E352-4AAE-ADEE-EB1FBF720FED.html 

Cheers!

Kim Russell

We headed up to the fest right after Microbiology class on Friday and found a sweet campsite up along Fish Creek. Did you know about the sweet pull-outs up there? May I recommend those for a couple nights of camping?

They’re SWEET! Anyways, enough said about camping…. we made some spaghetti and crashed early (we were going to be busy on Saturday).

(more…)

Despite missing the race, we kept our chins up and got back on the river the next day. Christina and I as well as four or five friends jumped on nearby Copper Creek, a class V creek in Southern Washington.

Check out the photos! 
  
Kim dropping the Big Falls on Canyon Creek, Washington
Photo by: Keel Brightman

(more…)

Photo by: Christina Russell

Austin Rathman, used his good karma to secure two cabins near the Gordon River system near Port Renfrew. All of us were used to camping out in the cold, rainy, snowy weather but this was a welcome change. We had a HOT TUB! WOO HOOO!

(more…)

Sport: Whitewater Kayaking
Home: Oregon
Nickname: C, Chris
Birthdate: 09/17/1986
School: Central Oregon Community College
Fave Band/Singer: Jurassic 5
Fave Food: Thai, Japanese, Indian
Fave Movies: Kill Bill, Signs, Galaxy Quest, Wehyakin, Seven Rivers Expedition
Who Would Play Me in a Movie: Sandra Bullock
Other Interests: Climbing, skiing, backpacking, mountain biking, painting.
Fave Quote: “It was very dark. Yes it was.” -Signs
Motto: I came to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and it looks like I’m
all out of bubblegum
Competitive Goal: To make the US Freestyle Kayaking Team and place at
Kayaking Worlds

March 11, 2008 - Hola everyone! It’s been a while since I have posted but I’m back with lots of pics. About two weeks ago, a solid crew and myself headed up to Hood River for some creeking. Spring is finally here and the rivers/creeks are goin’ off! Josh and myself drove up on Thursday evening and ended up camping in the back of his truck in the parking lot of The Shed kayak store. ha ha good times. The next morning we woke up to sunny skies and 60 degrees…wow! perfect day for a Truss run….

Friday:
We put on the Green Truss around 3:00 pm with about eight or nine people. Super fun…

The Truss is a solid class five run with a couple very consequential drops. One of these is known as Big Brother- a 30 foot waterfall with an undercut cave at the base. If you land wrong, you might be going for a cave visit. Luckily, only one of us ended up in the cave and he was just fine.

Photo by: Jesse Becker
Paddler: Christina Russell

(more…)

Sport:

Competition Highlights:
4/12/2007 Collegiate Nationals USACK - Pro 3rd overall Freestyle
4/12/2007 Collegiate Nationals USACK - Pro 3rd Overall Boatercross
9/1/2007 Ottawa River Rodeo USACK - Pro 6th place
8/14/2007 Outdoor Retailer Roll Contest USACK - Pro 2nd place
5/4/2007 Oregon Cup USACK - Pro Canyon Creek Race

Favorite Athletes: Todd Baker, Tanya Shuman, Brian
Kirk, Kelsey Thompson!
Favorite Workout Music: A little bit of everything.
Army of the Pharoahs, Jedi Mind Tricks, Sandpeople,
Timbaland
Favorite Place to Shop: Buffalo Exchange, Mountain
Supply.
Superstition: Black cat crosses your path…
Best Moment: Throwing my first air blunt and landing
it perfectly and running Sweet Creek over and over.
Favorite Books/TV Shows: Family Guy, Reba, Crocodile
Hunter, Xfiles
Pet Peeves: I am a super organized person, so when I
don’t have a schedule or don’t have something laid out
to do during the day I go nuts!

Why I Kayak: I love everything about kayaking. I love
the challenges it presents me with on a daily basis. I
love being able to push myself mentally and
physically. The lifestyle is amazing too: There are so
many awesome places you get to see that you would
never see if you weren’t kayaking. Not to mention the
people you are with. Super-cool, people right there. I
love everything about kayaking. Nothing beats the rush
you get when dropping a big waterfall, or throwing a
big trick.

Sponsors: Wavesport, Kokatat, AT Paddles, Snapdragon, VOZ
Sports, Pretty Tough
Other Sports/Accomplishments: DH Skiing, rock
climbing, mountain biking, frisbee golf and rallying
cars.

The first trip in the lottery is December 11, 2007. The remaining December 2007 dates are the 16th, 25th, and 26th.

The 2008 lottery dates are all for standard size groups (1 to 16 people) and are in the late fall, winter and early spring:

• January 2008: 1st, 2nd, 14th, 15th, 17th, 21st, and 24th
• February 2008: 2nd, 9th, 23rd, 29th
• March 2008: 8th, 26th
• November 2008: 6th
• December 2008: 12th, 14th, 17th, 22nd, and 26th

In order to participate in this lottery, the Park requires you to set up a user profile at https://npspermits.us. (more…)

Welcome to the world of Canoe Polo. Popular in Europe and Down Under, this sport is catching on worldwide.

What: Canoe Polo/Kayak Polo

Status: Two teams with minimum of five players per team. Kinda like water polo but in boats!

Where: Any river, lake or swimming pool, that is at least 35 inches deep. You must be able to suspend two goals six feet (2m) above the water line and the playing area is a rectangle shape usually 115 x 66 ft. (35×20m).

Rules and Regulations: Seven minute quarters. No hacking with your paddle within an arm length of other players limbs. You can’t paddle and hold the ball, or touch the goalie’s boat.

(more…)