UKRRS Doug Ammons Talk 2009
Royal National Pavilion, Llangollen
March 14th 2009, 19:30
Included in the symposium price or £7.50 online or on the door (£3.75 for students upon presentation of a valid photo ID - available only at the door)
The multimedia show I will do for the symposium will focus on the beauty and intensity of whitewater kayaking, traveling through a number of astonishing river landscapes around the world. In particular, we’ll head into the Grand Canyon of the Stikine River. The Stikine is one of the most difficult rivers ever done, hidden away in a deep canyon in the wilderness of northern Canada. The river casts an ominous shadow over anybody who decides to take it on. The instant you enter the canyon the rawness of the place shakes your core, shouting violence and danger. In an era where there are many professional, full time kayakers looking to make their mark, where skills and gear are astronomically advanced, this river stills kicks people’s asses. In 2006, of the four attempts by top teams, only one group made the descent.
The show talks about the unique lessons from rivers, and of the Grand Canyon of the Stikine as an exemplar of the edge. At the end of the show, I will talk a bit about one descent that means a great deal to me. In 1992, without telling anybody where what I was doing, I drove the 1700 miles north into Canada and soloed the Stikine. It has taken 16 years for me to decide to talk about my experience on that run, and I’ve never said anything publicly. It’s always dubious to compare across sports, but expedition paddler Charlie Munsey calls it, “one of the greatest feats in the history of kayaking”. I am not interested in the feat, but in where the journey takes us. Feats are in the past, but our real journey is always unfolding.
Rivers create some of the most beautiful and improbable landscapes on earth. Like many other people, I’ve been inspired by them for my entire life, and kayaking was just another vehicle for exploring them more intimately. I love the challenge, difficulty, and intensity of hard whitewater, but I also love the quiet serenity and flow of rivers.
I’ve been supporting a school and a number of individual children in the poorest part of Nepal for the last 15 years and ALL PROCEEDS from the book sales on this tour will go to this cause.