| Traveling all the way to Chile to learn how to roll?
Although
at the time I signed up for the trip that wasn't
my main goal in the end a reliable roll was one
of the most important skills I got. Until I spent
some time under Chris Spelius' tutelage I was
a very roll resistant individual; I had had professional
instruction prior to my trip and I understood
the theoretical mechanics of the roll but it just
was not clicking. Given two or three attempts
in a swimming pool I could generally come up but
I was muscling my way up and if I really needed
to roll in a whitewater situation I wasn't confidant
in my ability to right the boat.
Having
voiced my concerns to Chris he recommended spending
some time troubleshooting my roll in the hot springs
. We started with the basics and little by little
created muscle memory for the perfect roll both
for my on side and my offside. Like all things
in life it took time to develop but, in the end,
when I left the hot springs, I not only had learned
the skills I needed but I also understood the
process well enough to be able to trouble-shoot
my own roll if ever need be. Chris changed my
focus from being able to right the boat at any
cost to being able to right the boat with ease
and economy of energy. As he likes to say if you
do everything right the kayak has no choice but
to right itself; I now believe that!
Besides
Chris Spelius' excellent teaching and coaching
style there is the environment in which you learn;
I have practiced rolling in swimming pools, river
eddies, lakes and even made a couple attempts
in frigid rocky mountain snowmelt and NOTHING
comes close to the hot springs . The water is
comfortably warm so you actually look forward
to rolling over to practice, there is no chlorine
so you don't end the day with burning eyes and
sinuses and, anytime you start getting tired,
you can just hop out of your kayak and enjoy a
relaxing soak. You will be amazed how many practice
rolls you can do.
Over
the past three years since I first started paddling
I have had access to what I thought were good
learning environments but they all pale in comparison
to the Volcan Michimahuida Springs; they are a
top-notch place to learn in a beautiful setting.
The
true quality of Chris' teaching methods did not
become apparent until after we had returned to
the United States . A little over a month after
our stay in Futaleufú my wife and I were
paddling with an instructor for our first run
down a new river. When we did a few warm up rolls
at the put-in our instructor surprisingly stated
that our rolls showed better form than his own.
Now
five months later, after not having been in a
kayak in two and half months I went out on a river
and my very first roll was solid and in over a
dozen practice attempts I did not miss a single
one. Paddling the Futaleufú valley was
memorable, staying at the Expediciones Chile Lodge
was enjoyable and convivial but having learned
a dependable roll has changed my approach to kayaking.
If you aren't 100% sure your roll will work every
time I highly recommend spending a day or two
working on it with Expediciones Chile it will
change your outlook on river running.
Thank
you Chris and all the instructors at Expediciones
Chile,
Daniel
Jerdan
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