The first time I had personal contact with Jeff West, he emailed me, asking about the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. At first I didn’t realize whom the letter was from, because it had the tone of a 12-year-old boy bubbling with enthusiasm about his dreams. There was an exclamation point at the end of every sentence. “Dear Mr. Ammons, I’ve always wanted to run the Stikine! I’ve
dreamed about it! I have kayaked for more than 15 years! I’m on the river all the time because I love it, and it’s also my job! Can you believe it? People pay me to teach them to kayak! That’s the greatest job in the world! I’m so lucky!” The letter was vintage Jeff. You’d get the same thing if you met him for
the first or the thousandth time, shook hands with this big handsome guy, saw his open smile and heard the breathless passion for paddling pour out without a hint of ego.
His bubbling enthusiasm was coupled with the intelligence, focus and
power of a mature man. His can-do boyishness was charming, his sense of humor a hoot and somehow he was an innocent—loved every instant on the river, every instant off it and every person he ever met. In the late 90s, as a top-level freestyler and creeker, he was invited by
Scott Lindgren to join a team of all-stars, doing badass runs for classic hardcore paddling films like Burning Time. He was tempted, but said, “I realized that I loved teaching people to kayak. Paddling hard whitewater across the world is a dream, but I loved teaching on the Ocoee and staying in the southeast more.” Maybe it was a bad career move in some ways, but he was glad he made that decision. “It’s where I belong. It’s what I love doing.” It was also where his mother Barbara lived. Listening to him talk about his mother was a treat by itself. There was love and gratitude in every word. “I owe everything to her. She gave up her marriage and own comfort to lead me into the outdoors when I was young, and supported me in everything no matter what. All the things I love about kayaking and nature come from what she did.” Jeff did more vertical miles in a day than anybody ever has. He took
this difficult and obscure feat in paddling and made it into an aesthetic goal. Green Truss of the White Salmon, Green River in North Carolina, West Prong and others scattered around the states. Last August, we met on the North Fork of the Payette, warmed up on several sections, then he did a vertical mile. Up through August he had eight of them, with another six planned for the coming year. We talked a lot before our trip to the Stikine last fall, in between his 70-hour weeks of teaching. We continued the talks on the long drive up north. In the months before we left, he lost two brothers to cancer, then a close friend in a kayaking accident. A week before he flew to meet me in Missoula, his father died of cancer. Jeff himself had a serious health condition despite being in extraordinary physical condition. Even in the face of the huge emotional upheaval from all this, he was focused and coherent, earnest and funny. Perhaps he was trying to fill his loss with a deep drive to find
inspiration to live. He was facing a major change in his life due to his health problems and seemed to be squeezing everything he could out of every moment. Or maybe he was just being Jeff. It seemed he was determined to replace his sadness with his passion for
kayaking and the beautiful intensity of hard whitewater. The Stikine was top on that list. All his incredibly hard work, all the skills he had, all the fire and passion within him led him to that river. How do you say goodbye to a friend you admire so much? The smile and the laugh, the innocence and enthusiasm. The strength and skill. How do you say goodbye to Superman? By remembering what he was like in life.—Doug Ammons
September 2012
ST I K I NE R IVE R BR I T ISH COLUMBIA
On September 8, 42-year-old Jeff West joined Stikine pioneer Doug Ammons for a run of the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. Ammons was heli-evaced after taking a nasty swim at Pass/Fail rapid. After ensuring Ammons’ safe- ty, West completed the remaining 70 percent of the canyon on his own. This was West’s second trip to the unrivaled 52-mile section of high-volume, class V+ Sti- kine, following his 2010 expedition with Todd Wells and Erik Boomer. That trip saw the trio complete a single-day descent by kayak. Am- mons was the first to complete a solo run over three days in 1992. September 10, two days after his descent
with Ammons, West set out alone to attempt the first solo one-day run of the Stikine. His last words to Ammons were, “Just think of all that amazing whitewater in there. I can’t believe I’m about to have the privilege to run it.” Then he paddled off into the rain. Three hours after he started, another ex-
pedition spotted him portaging Site Zed, the crux rapid of the Stikine and a third of the way through the canyon. West failed to make the takeout by nightfall. The following day, the Dease Lake Royal
Canadian Mounted Police detachment re- ceived a report that West’s body had been found floating in an eddy about a mile above Wolftrack Rapid, entering the final third of the canyon. Fellow paddlers supported his decision to
undertake the solo single-day run, trusting West’s judgment and strength as a kayaker. Unusual features due to the water level were also reported. Because West was alone, it re- mains unclear exactly what happened on the river that day.
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