Greenland Kayaking – Crystal Pool

January 23, 2010
Terry’s Greenland kayak was home to quite a few spiders and other insects until yesterday when that boat came to life in our course on Greenland paddling through Ocean River Sports. Working with Mike, we taught 3 students how to static brace, do low and high brace sculls and the elegant butterfly role amongst others. The course is new and we’re working on building a strong community of Greenland paddlers. Mike loves Greenland style paddling and has developed his skills and knowledge over the years – which I have had the benefit of learning from through our training and planning sessions together.

Jordan River Surf

January 22, 2010
Drove out to Jordan River with Gary for a late afternoon surf with a stop for a V0S 1N0 (aka a double Americano) at the Stick Coffee Shop in Sooke – it was about 10 Celsius, no wind, clear blue light, and the tide was high. Just two surfers out at the point break and one standing boarder who was getting really long rides.

Gary stuck to the near shore breaks next to the bridge footing. It was easy for him to catch short rides on steep waves and then hop the river current around to the start of the break again – like an escalator. He was paddling a new retro boat called the Remix – it looks like a creek boat but less volume and is meant to draw on old school features found in early 90’s style white water kayaks – with longer and rounder hulls.

I sampled everything the surf offered – the point break, the outer breaks and the near shore. The point break was firing off with some 6 footers and at one point I remember being inside a big curler, looking out through what appeared to be chaotic and confused but clear water towards the point where on-lookers stared out into the beauty and expansiveness of Juan de Fuca Strait – what feeling, being able to breath inside a wave – a great place to find wisdom, kindness and a sense of bewilderment.

Along the outer breaks I met up with Brandon who said he had been surfing at Jordan River for the past three years on a standing paddle board – the board is wide and long and the surfer uses an extended paddle for propulsion, steering and bracing. We talked while waiting for sets to arrive. Brandon talked about the changes he’d noticed in the area – the changing land use and logging in the area, tighter restrictions on access, relationships between different groups who surf in the area and so on.

Looking out long the length of Juan de Fuca Strait from the entrance to the Pacific Ocean back along the Olympics and down past Port Angels towards the East Juan de Fuca I felt at home. The snow line was clearly visible below snow-covered peaks.

Brandon said he wanted to be the first to paddle across Juan de Fuca Strait on his board and it made me reflect back on the crossing I did with Beth-Anne in 2002.

Crag X Climbing Gym

January 2, 2010
It has been ten years of climbing! What a sweet way to relate to the world between solid rock and empty space – so many experiences with friends in nature: the sights of raptors hovering about the crag where it meets the sky as clouds move past in a parade of meaninglessness, meeting up with beautiful rattlesnakes and big horn sheep in Skaha Bluffs, swimming naked in the lake next to Cress Creek after a day of sport climbing, the big rappel into the air off the Monkey Face in Smith Rocks, making hand puppets using the fire light flickering off of the boulders at camp in Joshua Tree while hearing the sounds of Coyotes in the distance.

I met up Deane and Kerri at Crag X today – both have embraced climbing in one form or another for a large part of their lives and there seems to be no end in sight for either of them; they’re both strong climbers even when they’re not training – both are have confidently climbed in the 5.12 and 5.13 range which for many climbers is a dream for another lifetime. There is so much beauty and energy in the many ways they encounter the activity and this can be seen in their unique and bold moves and problem solving.

Their climbing style and even their personalities seem to balance the sense that nothing is really solid with the view that everything is fixed. This way of being recognizes and accepts that everything is changing – our bodies, the holds, our relationship, our identity, the gear. They’re naturally light hearted because they are for the most part letting go into the moment when they're climbing and this translates into joyful lives even when they're not climbing.