R I V E R A L C H E M Y
HAVE INSTRUCTORS LOST THEIR
PADDLING’S HIERARCHY OF HEROES HAS CHANGED. WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE THE OLD TOP DOGS?
THERE WAS A TIME, not so long ago, when kayak instructors were incredibly cool. Back in the day when the five-day kayak course was the norm, kayak instructors were pioneers of the river lifestyle, living out of the back of their vans, and oozing mojo. Instructors held the secrets to the river, and if you were lucky some of their cool rubbed off on you. Clients adored them. Every paddler wanted to become them. They were the top of the paddling food chain. Now the mojo has worn off. Instructors are younger
MOJO? 20
and less experienced, there is more turnover year to year, certification courses have fallen off the radar and kayak schools have trouble finding in- structors. Instructing just isn’t cool anymore. There are some rea-
prenticeships under the all-knowing instructor. Even more subtly, the psychology of danger has changed in kayaking. Instructors were once key to survival, cautiously meting out challenges only when the student proved worthy. Now, rivers once viewed as a series of dan-
gerous cataracts are seen as play spots. In the right boat, a newbie can be bouncing in holes that schools used to walk around. A beginner can now learn in one day what used to take three weeks. The secrets of the river are not so
Instructors were once key to survival, cautiously meting out challenges only when the student proved worthy
sons why the five-day kayak vacation has gone the way of long boats. The interaction between student and instruc-
tor is just not the same in the new shorter time span. Two days is just not long enough for stu- dents to realize how cool the instructor is. Add to this changing demographics. At one
time, kayak students were young, athletic free spirits, and were ga-ga over their slightly older, athletic, tanned, free-spirited instructor. Instruc- tors basked in the limelight that allowed their mojo to blossom. Now the typical student is in his or her mid-
40s. They don’t quite hit it off with the 19-year- old instructor bow stalling in front of them. At 40, bow stalling is not conducive to mojification. What’s more, modern boats are just plain eas-
ier to paddle. Gone are the days of the nervous eddy turn, heroic bow rescues, and long ap-
secret anymore. So who’s cool now? Ego-boaters. They paddle for themselves with hedonistic pleasure. They do anything—park and play, jibbing, dropping big ones—as long as it’s big and looks good on film. Websites and video bi- ographies of pro boaters self-proclaim celebrity status. The pittance that boaters used to earn through instruction has been replaced with the pittance earned from highly caffeinated energy drink sponsorship. The all-knowing, omnipotent instructor has passed the torch to the brash, brand-conscious paddling porn star. For kayak instruction, this means a paradigm
shift. For a young paddler, the instructor role is merely a stepping stone toward full-time ego- boating. It is no longer the top rung of the lad- der, only a way station where they prostitute themselves on the way to a big break and a
RAPID
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