S T A N D I N G W A V E S
SURVEILLANCE DETAIL: The Stakeout crew waits
for a monster. PHOTO: PATRICK CAMBLIN
HUNTING MONSTERS, CONTINUED »
melting snow floods
the banks. Hot on the trail, our group—an international
crew including Ben Marr, Rush Sturges, Steve Fisher, Joel Kowalski and B.C. Boys Logan Gray- ling, Micah Lyall and brothers Max and Dylan Da- vidson—piles into sagging RVs and questionable motels along the backroads of Quebec. The province has rewarded us with some of the
world’s best river waves and ample opportunity to progress freestyle kayaking. Giants like Black Mass, Detonator, Sirens, Half Mast, Ginormica, Biggie and Gladiator have been discovered on Stakeout, making the long drives, excessive flat- water, unavoidable bendering and general may- hem that comes with a group this size entirely worthwhile. While the search continues in Quebec, others
have taken the cause to more distant lands. In February, a team led by freestyle icon Antho-
ny Yap headed deep into Western Australia’s iso- lated Kimberly region during cyclone season on a month-long, self-supported expedition in hopes of finding monsoon-swollen river waves. While the skies stayed clear and the river low during the ex- pedition, the crew remains undaunted. “The Kimberley has amazing potential,” says
Yap. “Huge monsoonal downpours, rapidly fluctu- ating river levels and some amazing rapid forma- tions have left me convinced that there are epic waves out there—we’ll continue the search until we find them.” Much of what drives Stakeout and other wave-
finding missions is the fact that there are so few known big-river waves suitable for freestyle. Their formation takes a certain unique set of circum- stances. High volume rivers are the best bet for giant waves but adequate gradient and the right riverbed topography are necessary as well. A de- cade of experience has shown the best waves— those with good shoulders and larger surfable windows—to form off slanted shelves. Fast, un-
16 Rapid summer/fall 2010
aerated water and some slower water behind the wave to back it up combine at the best spots. Given all the critical elements in play, there are perhaps only 15 world-class big waves around the globe and most run for only a few short periods throughout the year. So where will the quest for these elusive giants take big wave explorers in the years to come? China and Russia show prom- ise—both have vast areas with high volume rivers
R E S C U E 4 1 1 SOLO CANOE SELF-RESCUE
ON REMOTE EXPEDITIONS, your canoe is your number one survival tool. Losing it is not an option. When travel- ling solo on whitewater expeditions, the only self-rescue gear I have is 100 feet of rope (one 70-foot throw bag plus the painter rope) attached to the canoe and to me. If I flip, this set-up frees my hands to swim hard and reach shore quickly with enough slack to hold my canoe in a dynamic way (see Rescue 411, “Quick Canoe Res- cue,” Early Summer 2010,
www.rapidmag.com/rapid- mag_earlysummer10). I clip into the rope via a quick-release belt on my PFD.
Of course, it’s potentially very dangerous to swim at- tached to 100 feet of rope—it can snag on rocks and other obstructions, pinning you in the current—but in continuous, high volume rapids with no recovery pools, this method may be the only option to retrieve your boat. I only use this technique when the risk posed by losing my boat outweighs the risk of swimming with the rope. Using this technique has saved my life. Travelling
solo on the Nahanni in a September snowfall, I flipped in Wrigley Whirlpool, a nasty rapid that took me by sur- prise five kilometres upstream of its indicated location on my map. I had just enough rope to swim to shore be- fore the line shuddered with the load of the canoe. With the strong current, swimming my fully loaded canoe to shore would have taken far more time than I had in the icy water. —Eric Leclair
as yet untapped for freestyle. And the Stakeout crew has a top-secret list of drainages that should keep the dépanneur Red Bull and diesel flowing for many cold Mays to come. —Patrick Camblin
Watch Stakeout: The Movie online at
www.stakeoutmovie. com, plus see an exclusive interview with Patrick Camblin in an upcoming Rapid Media TV segment at www.rapidmag. com/videos.
PHOTO ERIC LECLAIR
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