f l u s h e D
Bill Mason eddied into the international
Whitewater hall of fame.
photo: paul mason
accidentally
I
t took fIve years, but last fall the International He also devotes a whole section to the “aggressive, faster-
Whitewater Hall of fame made good on its claims of being than-the-current technique” employed by “hot doggers” and
truly international by inducting six influential whitewater explains manoeuvres like powering through haystacks, crashing
famous?
paddlers and advocates from around the globe. among them through rollers, doing enders and something he calls “trashing
was Canada’s first inductee, Bill Mason. in the surf.”
Mason is most easily imagined clad in his trademark plaid There are paddlers now pushing middle age who took to the
By Ian MerrInGer shirt and denim cut-offs, crouching beside a campfire above water after Mason published his seminal first book, Path of the
a rapid—the kind of rapid canoeists who came before Mason Paddle. They are of a generation that has become used to seeing
would be fearful of, and the same kind that canoeists began to videos in which talented filmmakers make daring paddlers look
search out for fun shortly after Mason produced his two classic superhuman. By comparison, the cover photo of Mason with
books and many films. his white beard, collared lifejacket, floppy wide-brimmed hat
But was this just an accident of timing? Is the man really and cedar canoe might seem a little—what’s the word—lame.
Hall of fame material? Mason died in 1988, and probably would have swallowed
Mason himself was humble about his whitewater skills. It’s his floppy hat if he had seen footage of tyler Bradt’s 186-foot
hard to imagine any of today’s pro paddlers asking searching waterfall drop last year.
questions on their blogs, as Mason did in his guide to canoe finding the line between Mason’s cautious approach and
tripping, Song of the Paddle: “When you swim as much as I do, Bradt’s freefall would take a lot of scouting, a lot of time
you have to ask, ‘Why?’” looking at whitewater. It’s not an obvious line—but rather one
The reason had nothing to do with being overly aggressive. that might involve a few slow-motion back ferries and maybe
In a section titled Descending a river with a Current, Mason some unnecessary eddying out.
sums up a lesson on “rounding a Bend with a Back ferry” Bradt spent almost no time “trashing in the surf ” at the
with this reminder: “take note that I haven’t said anything bottom of his drop. That may be because he thinks that trick
about paddling downstream; we’ve been drifting. only a few is lame. He might be right. But the difference between Bradt
strokes forward or back are necessary to correct our position in and Mason’s paddling styles is that Mason learned about rapids
the current and maintain complete control.” from reading books about the voyageurs. Paddlers of Bradt’s
Get the throw rope ready. generation grew up reading books by Bill Mason.
That’s not to say that Mason thought whitewater had to be Mason wasn’t flashy, but he was good at getting to where he
a joyless experience. “extreme back ferries and reverse entries wanted to be—where he belonged. That goes for tight eddies
into eddies can be a lot of fun,” he affirms later. halfway down rollaway rapid, and his spot in the Hall of fame.
6 Rapid spring 2010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48