7 'Carts $4.95 Newsstand Dvi~e First he... Nantahala, Upper YougP - -- -'Watauga perception" ONE WlTH WATER [ we started ~erception"back in the '70s. ] SO 'IOU'LL UlvOEHSTANO IF THE EXACT OATE IS A LITTLE FUZZ'J. WE WERE'DOING A LOT OF THINGS BACK IN THE '70s, BUT WHAT WE WERE DOING MOST WAS PADDLING. WHICH IS HOW PERCEPTION GOT STARTED. WlTH A BUNCH OF PADDLERS WHO WERE WAY INTO KAYAKING AND WANTED TO PADDLE THE BEST BOATS IMAGINABLE. 23 YEARS LATER, WE'VE GROWN INTO THE WORLD'S LEADING MANUFACTURER OF MODERN KAYAKS. WE'VE PADDLED MORE WATER, CREATED MORE INNOVATIONS AND INTRODUCED MORE PEOPLE TO THE SPORT OF KAYAKING THAN ANY OTHER BOAT MAKER. YOU MIGHT SAY WE'VE COME A LONG WAY SINCE THE '70s. MAYBE. BUT THEN AGAIN, MAYBE NOT. FOR A COPY OF OUR NEW 1999 CATALOG, GIVE US A CALL AT 1-800-59-KAYAK. 01999 Perception, Inc. www.kayaker.com Departments Forum ......................................4 Features r Before You Leap by Bob Gedekoh Thirty years of the Tuolumne Director's Cut ....................................7 1 by Jerry Meral by Rich Bowers Letters ..................................... .8 Conservation .................................. 19 r All Dams Fail r Remove Dams, Restore Salmon r Power Supports American Whitewater Restoration "The Palguine" I 1 by John Moran 43 Access .................................. 26 r Chatooga Section 0,00, and 1 A Near Disaster in E uador r Legislative Update on NC Boater Tax by Poll~Green r California Senate Approve Yuba Wild and I ----id Scenic Bill r Fees on Upper Yough First Time r AW intern researching Grand Canyon Wilderness Management Plan When you are a beginner. .. r National River Inventory I Gary Mitchell 52 1 Events .................................. 30 First Time on the Upper Yough r Rodeo Results 1 by Paul Lange 64 1 r 1999 Schedule of River Events River Voices ................................... 62 First Time on the Watau~a I by Julie Keller 60 1 r Silent Thunder - Video Review r The Last Drop r Over theEdge - Video Review Cover Photo: The cover photo is Steve Barnard (the stranger Davison Collins r Two Kayahers Creep Toward Canada Met after the incident, see Blackness on Bald Rock, page 04 in the March/ April 1999 magazine. Photo by Davison Collins. r The Most Beautiful Angel Left inset from the Palguine. Photo by John Moran r Kid's Korner - Kayaking Through the World's Right inset photo Dick Bertran at Hydro on the Watauga by Julie KellerO Grandesl Schoolhouse Briefs .................................... 75 A National Paddling Film Fest issue Ilate: JulyiAugust 1999 A Amendments to American Whitewater Constitution Statement of Frequency: Puhlished bimonthly Author~zedOrganization's Name and Address: American [Vhitewater P.O. Box 636 Printed on Recycled Paper Margretville, NY 12455 American Whitewater v July/ August 1999 Dunbar Hardy's fateful plunge in Equador. Photo by Polly Greeno ficult Class V water; but only if I was con- vinced that the youngsters in question had the requisite ability and experience to safely paddle water that challenging. And I would only print the material if the photo or article emphasized that skill and experience. Of course, we treat adults differently. They can (or should be able to) make up their own A 30t foot falls in Mexico. minds about the risks they arewilling to take. Photo by Joe hatcher In fact, we subsequently published a photo of 1 an adult running the very falls mentioned above. But lately the "competition" to run the highest falls seems to be heating up and I find it a little disturbing. I suspect that the Before You Leap widespread availability of video cameras has When I got my first lookat the contents of didn't happen-so why worry about it? And to a lot to with this; many boaters apparently the envelope, my mouth fell open. The photo have put the photo on the cover. But the want to "star" in the latest extremewhitewater in my hand was magnificent: a sheer falls, at more I thought about, the more hesitant I production. I suspect the "herd mentality" least sixty feet high, perfectly framed by dense became. I could rememberwhat it was like to has a little to do with it too; if three or four vegetation and jagged rock; with a cobalt sky be 15 and ten feet tall and bulletproof. When boaters have dropped over a falls and popped aboveandafrothy whitepool below.Abrightly accepting a dare and outdoing up with my up smiling, it must be safe, right? clad kayaker, his paddle triumphantly posi- buddies seemed like the most important thing I'll be the first to admit that running tioned overhead, plummeted about a third of in the world. And I thought about all the waterfalls can be a lot of fun. Especially if the the way down the face of the cascade. My first other 14,15and 16year -oldswho readAmeri- falls in question is a few feet higher than falls thought was this would make a great Ameri- can Whitewater. And I wondered how many you have tackled before. Just this January I can Whitewater cover. of them might decide that they would like to sailed off a 30 plus foot cascade on the Verde But you have never seen this picture, at see their picture on the cover of American River in Mexico. I feel juvenile admitting it; least in this magazine. That is because when Whitewater, too. If that meant running a but itwas a real kick and one of the highlights I reviewed the information submitted with falls a few feet higher than the one on the of my trip... even though I was more than a the picture, I discovered that the kayakerwas cover of the last issue, so be it. And I asked little scared and landed like a sack of s.... only 15 years old. That gave me pause. I knew myself, how longwill it be before one of these But one of the low points of that same that the youngster had made a perfect land- kidswinds up floating in apool with a crushed Mexican vacation involved another falls, this ing and paddled away unscathed. No doubt spine? one nearly a 100 feet high. Two of my best grinning from ear to ear. So after some soul-searching and some friends, both fearless experts in their mid But I was left with a nagging thought. discussion with other AW board members, I 20s, came very close to attempting it. In fact, What if he hadn't been so lucky? What if he decided I would no longer publish photos of I'm sure they would have if I hadn't thrown a had landed poorly-rotated a bit to the left or minors attempting inherently dangerous fit. I don't usually do that. I believe that the right, or perhaps a bit too flat? What if he whitewater stunts. Especially when those adults should make up their own minds about had crushed his vertebrae, severed his spinal stunts required more bravado than skill... such things. But, looking at that falls on that cord and destined himself to life in a wheel- like running incredibly high waterfalls. I day, I had a strong premonition that some- chair? decided that we would continue to run ar- thing terrible was about to occur. I just It would have been easy to say; well, that ticles and photos of youngsters running dif- couldn't let it happen without stating my American Whitewater v July / August 1999 2 out of 3 medalists at the 1997 Rodeo objections. "We are in a third-world country in the World Championships middle of nowhere," I argued. "We don't even speak the language. If you break your backs it won't just spoil your vacation, it could ruin were wearing the rest of your life. Who is going to call home and tell your family?" My buddies listened to me and reluctantly acquiesced to my wishes. Mountain Surf 1 Afterwards, I felt like a jerk. These guys are really hot boaters. They know what they are Sprayskirts. , doing. Had I let my own limitations and fear stand in their way? I was still asking myself that same ques- tion six months later, when I received the Why? article by Polly Green that is included in this issue. In that article Ms. Green, an accom- plished boater who has paddled around the world, recounts an equally accomplished friend's ill-fated run of a towering waterfall in Ecuador. In that incident Dunbar Hardy suffered a serious spinal injury which neces- sitated an epic and miserable evacuation and .. because they work! major surgery in Quito. Fortunately, Dunbar is back in the States and is expected to regain full function. There is no doubt that as bad as his ordeal was, it could have been worse. But it is hard to think of Dunbar as lucky. (301) 746-5389 In her article, Polly Green mentions cer- tain premonitions that she had before the accident. That brought to mind the feelings Made with pride in Friendsville, MD that I had that dav in Mexico. As I read her report for the fir& time I thought, "That could have been us. I could have been writing an article just like this." Of course we'll never really know. Dunbar Hardy is not the first expert Whitew-r Dancer I1 kayaker to suffer a waterfall-related injury. I know of many others. There were several This video has it all! Underwater xq serious waterfall accidents in Mexico this rolls, the 89 Worlds, Rodeos, Hot winter alone. There is no doubt that paddling wave and hole surfing, Class V wipe- \'\, over waterfalls poses very real risks.