The Life and Times of Kim Russell

Monday, August 31, 2009

Redsides

For years, river levels on the Mckenzie River have stayed medium-high throughout summer and various features haven't come in to their full potential. This year, however, water is dropping fast and some new play features are in.

Dave Porter and Todd Baker (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Home of the notorious "Redsides Rodeo" from years ago, Redsides is back!

It's a medium sized, wave - hole located on the McKenzie River in Oregon. Fast and dynamic, you can do both wave and hole moves.

A couple weeks ago a group of us from Eugene, Oregon made the half hour drive to one of the best summer playspots in Oregon. Check out the photos.

The crew in the eddy (Photo by: Todd Baker)

Kim cartwheeling at Redsides in her Project 45 (Photo by: Todd Baker)

Quinn Connell looping the Fuse 48 (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Todd Baker playin' around (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Althea Sullivan and I chillin in the eddy (Photo by: Todd Baker)

This weekend from August 28-30, 2009 is the Redsides Rodeo. Registration begins at 10:00 am on Saturday, with the competition beginning at 11:00 am. The event is being coordinated by Dave Villalobos of the University of Oregon Outdoor Program in conjunction with Worldkayak and the City of Eugene.

Below is a summary of the event from their site:

"Gone missing for many years, we are bringing back the Redsides Rodeo. Located at the Redsides Hole on the McKenzie River (2 miles east of the town of Blue River) the Redsides Rodeo will be an open and friendly kayaking competition. Camping will be available Friday evening through Sunday afternoon (at Bittersweet Campground) $20/car.

Registration will begin at 10:00 am Saturday (The competition begins by 11:00 am)

Afterward there will be a spaghetti dinner with a prize give away (everyone who participates...judges, timekeepers as well as participants could win!!)

For more information, contact Dave Villalobos (dvillalo@uoregon.edu) "

Website: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=132688688400&ref=mf

Hope to see you out there this weekend! Let's bring back the Redsides Rodeo!

Kim Russell

How To: The Blunt

The Blunt:

It's a simple move, but one that requires some good knowledge of your edges.

Here's how its done:

1. Find yourself a steep wave (the steeper the better), preferably one with a little bit of a pile on it to keep it sticky.

2. Surf out onto the wave and give yourself some time to get comfortable on the wave.

3. Once your comfortable, surf your way to the top of the pile (spinning to the top works well), and you're ready to begin the move.

4. To throw a right blunt you will want to take a nice vertical stroke on your left side while taking one big bounce on your left edge (think about kicking your feet down on the left edge) with your boat facing about 10 o' clock (if 12 is straight upstream).

5. Mid bounce, switch edges and throw in a back stroke on your right side while maintaining head position upstream. The faster you switch your edges, the bigger your blunt will be.

6. Once your stern lifts from the water, and comes around, you will end up facing downstream (with head position maintained upstream).

Put in a backstroke on the left side of your boat to set the boat down and stay on the wave.

It's that simple! The harder you kick your feet and the faster your switch your edges, the bigger you will go!

Hope to see you on the river!

Kim Russell

(All photos Copyright Seth Swallen)

Need a Mental Boost?

Whitewater kayaking is a mind sport. As a paddler you must be confident in your abilities and able to focus your mind, letting everything else fade away but the drop.

Here's a few tips for those who need a little mental boost:

1. When your on the river, know your abilities. No matter how gnarly a rapid looks, if it is in your ability range and the line is good to go, remind yourself that. Remind yourself you CAN run this rapid, it just looks gnarly. Don't let your head get the best of you.

2. Any kind of negative self-talk, anxiety and emotions hurt your focus. If you have low confidence, you can't help but focus on all of the negative things rather than on things that will enable you to paddle well. Taking a 180, Positive talk gets you relaxed and energized before a drop or rapid. Don't say "There is no way I am going to run this rapid today." Say, "I'm going to try my hardest today and paddle the best I know how." If you run the drop, Sweet. If not, you didn't beat yourself up for portaging. Sometimes the better part of valor is taking the dry line (just make sure to keep a positive outlook).

3. When scouting a rapid, once you see the line, visualize yourself in the rapid. Visualize where you are, the strokes you will be taking, and finally, you greasing the line. Visualize both the process as well as the the outcome. Try not to worry about things you have no control over, and stick to those you do. The more different rapids you experience, the more you realize how similar they are. Use past experience to predict what will happen in a rapid.

4. Remember: You shouldn't focus on the past because its out of your control and you can't do anything to change it. Sometimes a bad experience is one that is hard to come back from. Just remember the past is the past and anything and everything can change.

5. Finally, while kayaking is a mental sport there are some days where you may just say "Screw it" and give it a try. Follow the above steps, make sure you have safety set and give er'!

If anyone has any other tips or hints to break through the mental block that sometimes occurs in kayaking, feel free to post back! It's always great to hear new ideas!

See you on the river!

Kim Russell

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Learning to Kayak...

I remember what it was like when I was learning to kayak.

Both my sister and I had just moved to Oregon from Texas and were psyched to see a river in our backyard (rather than millions of tons of concrete). We weighed 90 pounds and started off in matching Wave Sport Evo's, (which proved faithful to us for the next few years, as we successfully avoided getting majorly worked). After a summer or two at Otter Bar, we were on the river by ourselves practicing our ferrying and eddy turns. Little did I know my life would revolve around kayaking seven years later. Thanks Christina for being the most awesome kayaker buddy I know! You're the best sister anyone could ask for!

Back to the story... When there's no rain in Eugene, Todd and I find ourselves making lazy trips down the Mckenzie River, every once and a while taking a friend down with us. Not too long ago, we took Todd's friend, Ross, who managed to flip once twice the entire time (and it was his first time in a kayak)!!

Anywhoo... Check out the pictures. It's always fun remembering what it was like learning to kayak:

Getting the boat's outfitted (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Ross (L) and Todd (R) taking a break from eddy turns (Photo by: Kim Russell)

The eddy at Neil's Wave (Photo by: Todd Baker)

Kim blunting at Neil's (Photo by: Todd Baker)

After a long day on the river, Ross was psyched! Here's to getting more people involved in this awesome sport!
Remember that friend who always wanted to go kayaking? Take them out and post your own experience!

The crew (Ross, Todd, Kim and Alex)

Cheers!

Kim Russell

2009 Clackamas River Festival

(Photo by: Kim Russell)

Earlier this month, Todd and I made it out to the Clackamas River Festival near Portland, Oregon for some fun and games. It was a two day festival put on by Next Adventure, packed full of both rafting and kayaking events.

The coolest event of the weekend was the big air ramp where people hucked themselves off a huge ramp, flailing arms and all.

Ansy Maser cracking a beer (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Andy Maser pulled off an airscrew while cracking a beer while going down the ramp, and Willi almost did a front-flip.

Willi working on the front flip (Photo by: Kim Russell)

At the end of the day, first place went to Todd Baker with a double-air screw. YEA! Bloody knuckles and all!

Todd on his way to a double airscrew (Photos: by Kim Russell)

(Photo by: Kim Russell)

See you on the water!

Kim Russell

2009 Miracle Mile Race

Racers coming down to the start (Photo by: Kim Russell)

A couple weeks ago, we held a boatercross down the NFMF of the Willamette near Oakridge, Oregon, a mile-long class IV boulder garden. We had about 7 racers in total in what was a double-elimination tournament. Round one saw two people race each other, the winner moving on to the winner's bracket, and the loser moving onto the loser's bracket. The losers then raced each other, of which the winner would be included in the winner's bracket. In the final round, all those of the winner's bracket would race.

Round 1:
Conor Ross
Seth Swallen

Alex Dalgleish
Ryan Scott

Glenn Dalgleish
Kim Russell
Todd Baker

After Round 1, Conor Ross, Ryan Scott and Todd Baker moved onto the winner's bracket, while Seth Swallen, Alex Dalgleish, Glenn Dalgleish and Kim Russell moved on to the loser's bracket.

At the start (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Rounding the corner below that start (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Alex Dalgleish on his way to the finish (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Round 2:

Alex Dalgleish
Seth Swallen
Kim Russell

After Round 2, Kim Russell moved onto the winner's bracket.

Final Round:

Ryan Scott
Todd Baker
Kim Russell
Conor Ross

Ryan Scott on his winning run (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Spectators at the finish line (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Shuttle back to the top (Photo by: Kim Russell)

The final round was pretty heated, with Ryan Scott and Todd Baker neck and neck for the entire mile. Kim Russell and Conor Ross weren't too far behind. Ryan Scott ended up pulling ahead at the very end for a strong finish, followed by Todd Baker, Kim Russell and Conor Ross.

Results:

1. Ryan Scott
2. Todd Baker
3. Kim Russell
4. Conor Ross

We're hoping to make this race a monthly event next year, in addition to a Eugene series of races featuring a boaterx down Sweet Creek, a freestyle at Fern Ridge Reservoir and a downriver race at the NFMF.

Stay Tuned!

www.nfmfboaterx.toddbake.com

Kim Russell

Sweet Creek!

Kim dropping the bottom drop (Photo by: Seth Swallen)

Over the course of the past week, Oregon has seen pouring rain everyday. River levels spiked and we rallied after classes to huck ze gnar in the new Diesel 80. Check out the photos! Todd is in the Habitat 80, and I am in the Diesel 80.