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The setup: After getting my pool roll fairly solid, one of the people who had helped me get it that way, Samantha Ruppelt, posted on Facebook that she was doing a beginning creeking clinic. She didn’t specify which river. I contacted her and told her I was interested in joining, if she thought I was ready. We talked a bit about my previous experience, and she said … no. I …
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Here’s a fun video I put together of my efforts to run a couple of different lines on Alien Boof on the upper Ocoee. (Obviously, I haven’t mastered the drop yet.) It’s a great run, but if you haven’t done it before, it’s a good idea to go with someone experienced who knows this rapid. There are some dangerous sieve spots in the flat water at the top.

“It’s the rule.” That’s what she said. Samantha Ruppelt, Class V kayaker pro for Jackson Kayak, twenty-seven – confidence and competence, personified. “Dude. It’s January. It’s, like, 30 degrees out there.” “It’s the rule.” “What if I miss it? My confidence will be blown for the entire run. I don’t need that in my head.” “It’s the rule.” S …
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