Nearly 60, extremely skilled whitewater kayakers showed up to race the Little White Salmon in Washington last weekend right across the Columbia from Hood River. Gerd Serrasolses, a Spanish paddler who seems to be winning every race in the world nowadays won the event. The race traverses a mile or so of some stiff Class V rapids, as the Little White is one of the most famous waterfall runs in the world. After the race, the athletes threw down during the Spirit Falls Downriver Freestyle portion of the event. It went off too, with varying degrees of success. This is what happens when professional paddlers push the creative envelope running waterfalls.
This is Pat Keller:
And Galen Volckhausen:
Alec Vorhees, when things don’t go as planned:
And Rush Sturges, with a stylie race line:
