RIVERSIGNALS
RS MY TWO MOST VALUABLE
CONTRIBUTIONS TO WHITEWATER. PHOTO: SCOTT MACGREGOR
CHICKS AND BABIES REVISITED
Ben Aylsworth used to write a column for Rapid. He called it Reactionary. If you know Ben or remember his column, you’d get the double entendre. In a 13-issue streak, Ben pissed off just about everybody in whitewater. Canoeists. Rafters. Dogs. Rodeo stars. Slalom racers. Women. Babies were too young to read and write, so mothers wrote angry letters on their behalf. These were fun times here in the Rapid editorial office. Ben was saddened—poor Ben—that his paddling buddies were be- ing sucked from their boats for romantic walks and Lamaze classes. He wrote: “It’s not waterfalls or boulder-choked creeks, it’s chicks and new- born babies that are the most dangerous things that can happen to pad- dling guys. It’s lonely on the couch and they will soon resent your pad- dling trips and your friends. Babies are no different, except you can see them coming. Tick, tick, tick…you have nine months.” You get the idea. Let’s face it, good whitewater—play parks not withstanding—is a whole day affair. I don’t know if I’ve ever said I’d be home for dinner and actually was. Adventure always seems to get in the way. Ben’s secret, which was not really that much of a secret, was to take small truths and then blow the roof off. But he was only half right about chicks and babies. Chicks and babies don’t kill paddlers; they make them! As I see it now, paddlers having kids is the future of whitewater. And, the future is bright. In a recent study, the Outdoor Industry Association found 76 percent of kids participating in outdoor adventure activities are doing so to be
10 RAPID EARLY SUMMER 2013
with friends and family. Most were introduced to the outdoors by their parents. Who do you think buys all those Jackson Fun 1s? River dads like me, that’s who.
If every mom and dad who owned an RPM had two children, and if
half of them return to the river with their new families, there is soon going to be a shitload of butts in boats, albeit little ones. These little butts will grow quickly and surely kick our asses. Think Dane Jackson, Willa Ma- son, Katrina Van Wijk. If you don’t know their parents, don’t worry; they won’t matter in a few years anyway. It turns out, what Ben pegged as the death of whitewater is the nec-
essary evil to saving our dwindling sport. We’re now living in the winter before the spring. In the drought before the flood. It’s not all that bad, really. Making babies, I mean. I have two of the little suckers myself, pictured above. Men, for the sake of our sport, we must tolerate long romantic walks,
endure Hugh Grant flicks and push through (horrible pun intended) the Lamaze classes. And in doing so, know that our time away from the river is only temporary and is not wasted. We are seeding the next generation of river runners, raft guides and freestyle athletes. And if we teach our children well, and feed them on our dreams, we are creating the best paddling buddies of all time. Scott MacGregor is the founder and publisher of Rapid. Ben Aylsworth has a four-year-old daughter and a Jackson Dynamic Duo.
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