There is a big difference between just getting down a rapid and styling it. After one week he clearly couldn't read current. He started the class 4 run by paddling straight towards a rock. It takes a lot of experience to learn how to read current properly. Plus, it seems like they forgot to teach him how to brace. With good bracing you don't have to roll as much. Many of his flips happened because he tripped on his paddle by paddling in the back of his boat. This is a common beginner mistake. More experienced paddlers keep their strokes in the front of their boat. Still, a good video. It brought back memories of my beginner days.
I have been kayaking since 1979, so, I would say I am pretty experienced. I must say, I admire this guy. He has done something pretty cool, something he never did before. Yes, he had a big support from experienced kayakers and the whole crew, but still, I think he is brave, so lets not hate, lets support and respect.
I'm not going to hate, but at the same time I am going to urge caution. Very few people could do that in a week, and even he was probably at the boundary of whether he should have done it or not. He got very lucky at one point near the beginning of the last rapid where he flipped and almost got dragged into a suck hole. He also tiring out and wasn't keeping his momentum up even in class III. As far as they showed, they didn't teach him any bracing, and being able to do high and low braces is essential in water like that. He also wasn't eddying out properly, always leaning the opposite direction of what he should have been doing (it's very counterintuitive, so I know why he was doing it), and that caused a lot of his flips. His roll in still water was good, but when he got in moving water, he lost it all and couldn't get up. That caused a lot of swims, and that will wear you out faster than anything, though white water kayaking is much more of an athletic work out than most people realize. If you aren't absolutely fit and ripped, you need to get that way before trying it. He did exceptionally well for someone who had only been at it a few days, but he wasn't doing good enough, and I had to wonder how much the production crew was pushing to get it done. This could just as easily turned into a tragedy. Bottom line for anyone thinking of trying the sport: start slowly and with the easy stuff. Take lessons and find a coach. Never get in over your head, have fun, get stoked, and always be safe!
Can't believe it's 10 years and this is the first time I've seen this video. I'm going to use it as a training video for new students. It has everything in it. The do's and don'ts. The mental aspect. And the over confidence issues. Good on ya Mate. Hope in the last 10 years You've overcome and accomplished white water at it's finest.
I'm 18 and I've been kayaking for about 7 years now, i regularly kayak CL 3-4 and am starting to be asked to go on CL5 and this really reminded me that what we do is not safe, and it takes allot of practice. he has allot of guts doing this, i would have never thought anyone would ever achieve something like this. even CL3 in a week is amazing
Good on you for going as far as you've gone, no matter how long you've been at it. Keep it up, stay stoked, but don't try that class V until you're absolutely confident that you can do it safely, even if people are pressuring you. You know better than anyone what your limits are, and when you're ready to do class V, you'll find a good team to go with, and on you'll go! Keep stoked!
I am a solid Class 4 whitewater kayaker from North Idaho that routinely finds myself in Class 5 situations . When I was starting kayaking the best advise I got was, keep your bow pointed downstream and paddle like hell". I ran the Lochsa River at spring levels with three months experience on the water. One week to run solid Class 4 whitewater seems pretty optimistic, but I admire his efforts.
Glad ya' had all that safety support but damn man that's a good size wave train to ride through AND 2 rolls! Great job, now go practice on class 3 and get really good and progress from there!
Best advice I've heard. I'm sure he'll get there if he doesn't overdo it. If your still in your early days, you can get just as stoked on class III as you can on anything, and even when you get really good, it helps to go back to class III and perfect your moves. If you've got a really nice place to do class III, you can take time to take in all the beautiful nature around you, as well as get a fine-tuned feel for the boat. It's also a good class to learn to surf, stern stall, and do other tricks. You'll never run out of stuff to do on any class of water.
Mad props to Joby for conquering his fear. I would imagine the wing suit he puts on in another video is way more dangerous. But water has a special place with fear. Its a prolonged beat down amounting to torture before the end. The boil line he rolled in wasn't an easy place to roll. Great job and great video.
He came perilously close to doing major beatering in that suck hole in the last rapid, on the first of the two rolls. If he had have bailed at that point, he would have gone to see his dead relatives. Even in the boat he was pretty lucky. He was just a hair's width from getting sucked in. Then they'd have to change the name of the show to "Beatering is Us!"
My first experience with a solid class IV run was the Cheoah river I would never take someone new down the whole thing. Even the class III at the top would not be manageable for someone new just because it is so continuous and swimmers can get washed into everything below it.. But I would take someone new down yard sale which is a class IV. Not a particularly long rapid and if you swim you just wash into the lake. Also it would be pretty entertaining to watch a newbie get worked in one of those massive holes.
Just be aware that by letting that newbie get worked in a hole he may never want to see another kayak or river in his life. I grew up rafting some big rivers and took my wife on a trip down the upper new in ducky (for her) and the rest of us in kayaks. She had a blast. The next day we did 6 man rafts with Ace whitewater down the gorge section of the new (III-IV). Our raft guide put two pre-teens in the front of the boat and was clearly bored at having to run the new. Thanks to the children up front who refused to paddle and hid in the center at every rapid he ended up dumping half the boat at upper railroad and the complete lack of safety had 2 of the swimmers swimming the entire rapid and nearly swimming lower railroad. My wife (one of the swimmers) ended up with a busted ankle and a jammed thumb and had to be carried out of the gorge at the bottom of the very first rapid. Needless to say she hasn't gone rafting again in the past 6-8 years since that event. Whitewater is an amazing sport, regardless your choice of boat, but it also seems to be a sport that's very easy to spoil for a newbie with a bad spill or retentive hydraulic early on.
Hey guys, I don't think you should be giving this dude a hard time. We all started somewhere, I think it took some serious balls to run that with his skill set. Ok, so it's for tv, it'll be made to look more knarly, but I was willing this guy to succeed all the way! Fair play to him.
very impressive! I was amazed that Joby stayed in his kayak when he flipped on a pillow (45:57 - 46:16) and got caught upside down on a turbulent eddy fence - he persisted and rolled up exhibiting skill way beyond his experience level. I think I'll refer new paddlers to this film so they can experience what is possible.
Personally I wouldn't recommend going into class IV rapids without a solid roll, but I guess its okay since he had a few experts around to clean up. Also not as if there's any keeper holes in that section, just big wave trains. I just hope people don't watch this video and think they can go run class IV's without a roll...
Or even more importantly, without an excellent group of rescue trained boaters. Duplicating this with any sort of sanity would require a big group of bored class 5 boaters or money to pay a big group of class5 boaters to setup safety and keep you from drowning. Lol
Spent a year doing CL2, the following year I ran CL3 and marginal 4. That was 2005. Up until I got to Florida last year, I really have not done CL5. A much faster learning curve would have been had if I had a good play wave/hole within a half hour reach. If you have a good play feature on a CL2-3 without hazards, it will really speed up your skill for rivers, even creeking. If you can get to a sticky hole, one that skill is needed to get out but pushes you out if you wet exit, even better.
With Spelius by your side you can do it :-). Futaleufu is the best whitewater river I´ve ever go kayaking, it has whatever level you want or can, Class 1 to 5, beautiful landscapes, blue water, chilean are very nice people......"Un paisaje pintado por Dios" :-)
Yes, and if you're doing it for God, you're doing it for people who just might need that skill, because they might need something like life-saving medicine. If you're just doing it for yourself, that's a whole different ball game. Too many people try to copy what he did without the training and get themselves killed. If you're smart, you'll get a lot more training.
It looks to me like it was largely a matter of whether it was just big waves that he was squared up with or if he was at an angle to things. He stayed upright though a lot of stuff that lifted him up or turned his boat, because that sort of stuff doesn't always impart much rolling force. The flips happened when he got sideways and his inexperience let the current flow under the boat or catch an edge. It was a good example of the difference between paddling class 4 and being a class 4 paddler.
He trained a week. LOL! You need a lot more than that to kayak class IV. Thing is, by going for the hard stuff straight off, you're losing all the fun, and getting so frustrated you'll probably never do it again. Do kayak, but never kayak above your level, and never kayak white water alone. Anyone can kayak any river... as long as you portage most of it. Otherwise, know what you can and can't do. Rolling isn't hard, but it's easy to get disoriented when you're upside down. There is other stuff that is difficult. Also, most people don't know it, but kayaking is a full body workout. If you're doing it right, you'll be using your legs and feet more than you think you will. You're not just sitting in the boat. In white water you are constantly moving your centre of gravity, and trying to pull the bow of your bow up or pushing it down. There is just so much that you can't learn to do in a swimming pool. Be careful out there. The water is dangerous. Respect the river, and don't get in over your head.
LOL at people calling this guy a sissy. In 1999 he was the youngest American ever to summit Everest. Base jumper, world class wingsuit flyer and here he just ran a class 3+ rapid in a glacier river in Patagonia in his first week ever in a kayak. Joby-you da man!
Yeah, Good on him for giving it a go. Have to say though it takes more than a week to learn to kayak. A lot longer. I don't like that this gives the impression you can kayak class 4 after a weeks paddling. It's fools talk that could lead to dangerous overconfidence.
+Daniel Ford I'm rather disappointed with the people that produced this episode. Their mad rush for good ratings and reviews took this guy on a river he really wasn't ready for. Even if they'd just given him 2 weeks, that probably would've been enough and still impressive.
Well, actually the last rapid was a class IV. I really question his coach's decision to let him run that with an injured shoulder. I have to wonder if the production team was pushing it. There was a lot which could have gone wrong there, with destroying his rotator cuff being one of them. That would have been career ending for him, and I think it would have been better to play it safe and take a day off with some light exercise so that he didn't lose what he had gained, then filmed it a little later. In the end, he got through a class IV, but there is a difference between surviving a class IV, and totally rocking a class IV. I'm glad he got through, but most people who have been kayaking for a few years and/or have done any coaching, know that he wasn't ready, and would have had him learning a lot more before turning him loose on class IV.
Still watching this but wow you did make great progress in just a few days but you hit the nail on the head when you said "I think it just takes experience..." You're absolutely right but wow you got what it takes because we are a special kind of crazy when you think about it! Who else wants to strap themselves into a plastic container that can be tough to get out of and then throw themselves into a river that has the ability to kill you and at the end we're smiling and saying I wanna do it again!!! hahahahahahah hey on a serious note though welcome to the family, you definitely got baptized by big water! DON'T GIVE UP, You're doing everything right as far as assessing yourself very well after getting trashed or swimming, this is very important! I can't stress how important it is to listen to your gut in WW kayaking, if you don't feel like you can run it then walk it, there's no shame, we've all done it at some point or will. Good luck and I hope you're still paddling to this day!
lol Ive been white water rafting since I was just a small kid (Im 18 now) and kayaking for three years. I took my friend who had never even been in a kayak before and he made it down a class four. But the class four rapids where I live are closer to a class three size, but still.
I have a paddling friend you paddled class 4 on his 2nd day on the river. Some people learn fast and having Class 5+ boaters with him helped a lot. (not me) Although, he already had a solid roll before getting on the river.
a class IV on the Ocoee is much easier than a class IV on the chattooga, or the gauley. and theres no way to have a solid roll after only 2 days and no whitewater experience. rolling in a pool is very different than rolling in a class V. My class V friends were smart enough to not take me til they thought i was ready. you have to work your way up, not foolishly attempt rivers you have no business being on, like this guy in the video. I'd be braver too with a paid staff of spe and a team of safety boaters, knowing i am the only one they need to rescue
he's swimming on the beginner stuff, theres no way he could make it on the real run. even with expert help, he had no business being on that river without any experience at all.
To be fair, his team only took down one big wave train with flat water at the end. Not a lot could go wrong there, of course he didn't have a Class IV experience either. Kayaking down a single rapid that is questionably called Class IV isn't the same as doing a Class IV run.
I started in a canoe on class 1-2 and stayed in a canoe I just got a canoe designed for Whitewater class 2-4+...A canoe is much more comfortable and more challenging :D
I tip my hat to Joby...and for all those nay sayers...just stop...read this dudes Bio and it is like reading a comic or fiction. Thank you Joby for an honest look into a very challenging sport and being Man Enough to express your true emotion and taking on the big water...well done :)
class 2 maybe class 3 is possible after a week of training if you go to norway and get both main requiered courses in sjoa but class 4 no chance im still at class 3 after 2 years of training and i train upto 8 hours a day in the kayak season thats from mid april until the ice settles in october november
If the instructor was such a knowledgeable kayaker he would of rejected the idea of getting a beginner on class 4 in one week! disappointed! although.... he did surprisingly well
I couldn't agree more. I think this guy is on it for himself, and he'll pay someone anything he can to accomplish whatever he wants, because that's what selfish people do. It's really sad, because others most likely will try to do the same from watching this, and they'll most likely lose their lives or come close to it. That's why I disliked the two comments above yours. It's just not worth it, unless your life depends on it, or you're doing something for others who may have to depend on it. I know if someone needed to do it to deliver life-saving medication to another person, I'd want the best training. I would certainly appreciate it, too.
Not all Class 4 rapids are equal. What they took him down was big and scary to a beginner, but pretty low on the risk factor. He was also surrounded by several quality kayakers there to rescue him if something went wrong. And that instructor is a rather legendary figure in whitewater.
the person you are talking about is chris spelius, the first person to ever go down the futaleufu. also he did the first decent of the niagara rapids, so show a little of respect. on the other hand himalayas is a class +3 rapid not a class 4. it has not big consequences. and as JUlian Tisato said, a grate paddler from Argentina, the only real consequence is to have some under water time.
Crying or not crying that's is the question ! L'important c'est de remonter dans son kayak et de s'accrocher. C'est bien d'apprendre à eskimauter avant de savoir naviguer, mais...
Next level Sky-Diving without any instruction before! Sirous! The Video is great and you and your coach are amazing people. But I doupt that 1. doing it and 2. show it to the world is a good Idea. Even for you self because you now beliefe you are capable of WW5 and achieved in one week what others need years for. This can fire back fi you are not aware of the reality.
honestly you have no idea, my channel has no bearing on the level of kayaking that i do, if i had a go pro i would show you some of the rivers i paddle on a regular basis, i have been kayaking for 22 years and believe me i have done some major white water, the water in this clip is nothing short of a trickle in comparison
they do exaggerate quite a lot. i had 3 hours kayak time a decent right side roll before my first class 4. i did fine. btw, in a roll your head should come up last
That’s a great video ogwyn7! Those rapids look super intense and your editing of the video is awesome! We want you to share it on Campfire so you can have a chance to win a kayak, cooler, and some free publicity in our video of the month contest! Upload it here! campfire.outsidetv.com/home
He's good for a beginner. Quick progression won't teach you as well though. Either way, congratulations on giving the sport a try. It get's pretty scary when you start hitting class V+.
yeah, it's a shame really that he never really got a decent roll. A bit more time spent on that, with a better teacher, would have made a lot of difference - he kept coming out of his boat, exhausting himself, and eventually tearing up his shoulder, all for lack of a move that was easily within his grasp.
Heureusement qu'il ne s'agit là que d'un seul passage "IV" et non pas toute la rivière. Le pauvre monsieur doit esquimauter au bout de 2m car il n'a même pas les bases pour diriger son bateau et choisir sa ligne. C'est tout simplement idiot et irresponsable de faire croire que la pratique du kayak à ce niveau là est abordable en une semaine ! Le kayak d'eau vive reste un sport extreme !
Wow i'm a beginner And I have done Class Two. I'm kinda young so i cant roll. When i get older ill be able to do it. I want to really Try Class 5 one day. That moment when i do my first class five ill be crying. Just like him expect way more overreacting
There is a big difference between just getting down a rapid and styling it. After one week he clearly couldn't read current. He started the class 4 run by paddling straight towards a rock. It takes a lot of experience to learn how to read current properly. Plus, it seems like they forgot to teach him how to brace. With good bracing you don't have to roll as much. Many of his flips happened because he tripped on his paddle by paddling in the back of his boat. This is a common beginner mistake. More experienced paddlers keep their strokes in the front of their boat. Still, a good video. It brought back memories of my beginner days.
I have been kayaking since 1979, so, I would say I am pretty experienced. I must say, I admire this guy. He has done something pretty cool, something he never did before. Yes, he had a big support from experienced kayakers and the whole crew, but still, I think he is brave, so lets not hate, lets support and respect.
only saw it now, but boring doesn't make television ;-)
Foolhearty is more like it. He got lucky !
Unless kayaking is Second Nature to you. You really shouldn't be do a river like this....Just Sayin '
I'm not going to hate, but at the same time I am going to urge caution. Very few people could do that in a week, and even he was probably at the boundary of whether he should have done it or not. He got very lucky at one point near the beginning of the last rapid where he flipped and almost got dragged into a suck hole. He also tiring out and wasn't keeping his momentum up even in class III. As far as they showed, they didn't teach him any bracing, and being able to do high and low braces is essential in water like that. He also wasn't eddying out properly, always leaning the opposite direction of what he should have been doing (it's very counterintuitive, so I know why he was doing it), and that caused a lot of his flips. His roll in still water was good, but when he got in moving water, he lost it all and couldn't get up. That caused a lot of swims, and that will wear you out faster than anything, though white water kayaking is much more of an athletic work out than most people realize. If you aren't absolutely fit and ripped, you need to get that way before trying it.
He did exceptionally well for someone who had only been at it a few days, but he wasn't doing good enough, and I had to wonder how much the production crew was pushing to get it done. This could just as easily turned into a tragedy. Bottom line for anyone thinking of trying the sport: start slowly and with the easy stuff. Take lessons and find a coach. Never get in over your head, have fun, get stoked, and always be safe!
Can't believe it's 10 years and this is the first time I've seen this video. I'm going to use it as a training video for new students. It has everything in it. The do's and don'ts. The mental aspect. And the over confidence issues. Good on ya Mate. Hope in the last 10 years You've overcome and accomplished white water at it's finest.
I'm 18 and I've been kayaking for about 7 years now, i regularly kayak CL 3-4 and am starting to be asked to go on CL5 and this really reminded me that what we do is not safe, and it takes allot of practice. he has allot of guts doing this, i would have never thought anyone would ever achieve something like this. even CL3 in a week is amazing
Good on you for going as far as you've gone, no matter how long you've been at it. Keep it up, stay stoked, but don't try that class V until you're absolutely confident that you can do it safely, even if people are pressuring you. You know better than anyone what your limits are, and when you're ready to do class V, you'll find a good team to go with, and on you'll go! Keep stoked!
When you rush the sport like this you miss all of the amazing aspects of it.
I am a solid Class 4 whitewater kayaker from North Idaho that routinely finds myself in Class 5 situations . When I was starting kayaking the best advise I got was, keep your bow pointed downstream and paddle like hell". I ran the Lochsa River at spring levels with three months experience on the water. One week to run solid Class 4 whitewater seems pretty optimistic, but I admire his efforts.
Well done mate! Your rescue team were fantastic too, couldn't have done it without them! !
Glad ya' had all that safety support but damn man that's a good size wave train to ride through AND 2 rolls! Great job, now go practice on class 3 and get really good and progress from there!
Best advice I've heard. I'm sure he'll get there if he doesn't overdo it. If your still in your early days, you can get just as stoked on class III as you can on anything, and even when you get really good, it helps to go back to class III and perfect your moves. If you've got a really nice place to do class III, you can take time to take in all the beautiful nature around you, as well as get a fine-tuned feel for the boat. It's also a good class to learn to surf, stern stall, and do other tricks. You'll never run out of stuff to do on any class of water.
Awesome dedication....you did it!
I miss this place. Nice work Joby!
Mad props to Joby for conquering his fear. I would imagine the wing suit he puts on in another video is way more dangerous. But water has a special place with fear. Its a prolonged beat down amounting to torture before the end. The boil line he rolled in wasn't an easy place to roll. Great job and great video.
He came perilously close to doing major beatering in that suck hole in the last rapid, on the first of the two rolls. If he had have bailed at that point, he would have gone to see his dead relatives. Even in the boat he was pretty lucky. He was just a hair's width from getting sucked in. Then they'd have to change the name of the show to "Beatering is Us!"
Watched it all, crazy stuff there. I certainly wouldnt have thought somebody could get through class IV rapids in just a week.
I can so relate: Bobbling, rolling, rollilng and crying! That is some sick fast water! That is one hell of an accomplishment!
My first experience with a solid class IV run was the Cheoah river I would never take someone new down the whole thing. Even the class III at the top would not be manageable for someone new just because it is so continuous and swimmers can get washed into everything below it.. But I would take someone new down yard sale which is a class IV. Not a particularly long rapid and if you swim you just wash into the lake. Also it would be pretty entertaining to watch a newbie get worked in one of those massive holes.
Just be aware that by letting that newbie get worked in a hole he may never want to see another kayak or river in his life. I grew up rafting some big rivers and took my wife on a trip down the upper new in ducky (for her) and the rest of us in kayaks. She had a blast. The next day we did 6 man rafts with Ace whitewater down the gorge section of the new (III-IV). Our raft guide put two pre-teens in the front of the boat and was clearly bored at having to run the new. Thanks to the children up front who refused to paddle and hid in the center at every rapid he ended up dumping half the boat at upper railroad and the complete lack of safety had 2 of the swimmers swimming the entire rapid and nearly swimming lower railroad. My wife (one of the swimmers) ended up with a busted ankle and a jammed thumb and had to be carried out of the gorge at the bottom of the very first rapid. Needless to say she hasn't gone rafting again in the past 6-8 years since that event.
Whitewater is an amazing sport, regardless your choice of boat, but it also seems to be a sport that's very easy to spoil for a newbie with a bad spill or retentive hydraulic early on.
Bootie beers for beaters for sure!
Love his solid roll so fast!
Hey guys, I don't think you should be giving this dude a hard time. We all started somewhere, I think it took some serious balls to run that with his skill set. Ok, so it's for tv, it'll be made to look more knarly, but I was willing this guy to succeed all the way! Fair play to him.
onaraggatip961 no mate water like this is as knarly as they make out
very impressive! I was amazed that Joby stayed in his kayak when he flipped on a pillow (45:57 - 46:16) and got caught upside down on a turbulent eddy fence - he persisted and rolled up exhibiting skill way beyond his experience level. I think I'll refer new paddlers to this film so they can experience what is possible.
Personally I wouldn't recommend going into class IV rapids without a solid roll, but I guess its okay since he had a few experts around to clean up. Also not as if there's any keeper holes in that section, just big wave trains. I just hope people don't watch this video and think they can go run class IV's without a roll...
Or even more importantly, without an excellent group of rescue trained boaters.
Duplicating this with any sort of sanity would require a big group of bored class 5 boaters or money to pay a big group of class5 boaters to setup safety and keep you from drowning. Lol
I agree - I think he did amazingly well. Really impressive.
I liked this film a lot. Want to get a coach learning this river and try myself.
Spent a year doing CL2, the following year I ran CL3 and marginal 4. That was 2005. Up until I got to Florida last year, I really have not done CL5. A much faster learning curve would have been had if I had a good play wave/hole within a half hour reach. If you have a good play feature on a CL2-3 without hazards, it will really speed up your skill for rivers, even creeking. If you can get to a sticky hole, one that skill is needed to get out but pushes you out if you wet exit, even better.
mad props! Although insanely optimistic, I admire your hunger. Big water is terrifying at first.
With Spelius by your side you can do it :-). Futaleufu is the best whitewater river I´ve ever go kayaking, it has whatever level you want or can, Class 1 to 5, beautiful landscapes, blue water, chilean are very nice people......"Un paisaje pintado por Dios" :-)
Yes, and if you're doing it for God, you're doing it for people who just might need that skill, because they might need something like life-saving medicine. If you're just doing it for yourself, that's a whole different ball game. Too many people try to copy what he did without the training and get themselves killed. If you're smart, you'll get a lot more training.
Good on you man ...you did it👍🇮🇪
It looks to me like it was largely a matter of whether it was just big waves that he was squared up with or if he was at an angle to things. He stayed upright though a lot of stuff that lifted him up or turned his boat, because that sort of stuff doesn't always impart much rolling force. The flips happened when he got sideways and his inexperience let the current flow under the boat or catch an edge. It was a good example of the difference between paddling class 4 and being a class 4 paddler.
He trained a week. LOL! You need a lot more than that to kayak class IV. Thing is, by going for the hard stuff straight off, you're losing all the fun, and getting so frustrated you'll probably never do it again. Do kayak, but never kayak above your level, and never kayak white water alone. Anyone can kayak any river... as long as you portage most of it. Otherwise, know what you can and can't do. Rolling isn't hard, but it's easy to get disoriented when you're upside down. There is other stuff that is difficult. Also, most people don't know it, but kayaking is a full body workout. If you're doing it right, you'll be using your legs and feet more than you think you will. You're not just sitting in the boat. In white water you are constantly moving your centre of gravity, and trying to pull the bow of your bow up or pushing it down. There is just so much that you can't learn to do in a swimming pool.
Be careful out there. The water is dangerous. Respect the river, and don't get in over your head.
That was awesome bro 🛶🌊💦😎
LOL at people calling this guy a sissy. In 1999 he was the youngest American ever to summit Everest. Base jumper, world class wingsuit flyer and here he just ran a class 3+ rapid in a glacier river in Patagonia in his first week ever in a kayak. Joby-you da man!
Yeah, Good on him for giving it a go. Have to say though it takes more than a week to learn to kayak. A lot longer. I don't like that this gives the impression you can kayak class 4 after a weeks paddling. It's fools talk that could lead to dangerous overconfidence.
+Daniel Ford I'm rather disappointed with the people that produced this episode. Their mad rush for good ratings and reviews took this guy on a river he really wasn't ready for. Even if they'd just given him 2 weeks, that probably would've been enough and still impressive.
Well, actually the last rapid was a class IV. I really question his coach's decision to let him run that with an injured shoulder. I have to wonder if the production team was pushing it. There was a lot which could have gone wrong there, with destroying his rotator cuff being one of them. That would have been career ending for him, and I think it would have been better to play it safe and take a day off with some light exercise so that he didn't lose what he had gained, then filmed it a little later. In the end, he got through a class IV, but there is a difference between surviving a class IV, and totally rocking a class IV. I'm glad he got through, but most people who have been kayaking for a few years and/or have done any coaching, know that he wasn't ready, and would have had him learning a lot more before turning him loose on class IV.
Amazing and exciting. Loved this~ a kayaker.
Ditto
way to go Joby!!!
Still watching this but wow you did make great progress in just a few days but you hit the nail on the head when you said "I think it just takes experience..." You're absolutely right but wow you got what it takes because we are a special kind of crazy when you think about it! Who else wants to strap themselves into a plastic container that can be tough to get out of and then throw themselves into a river that has the ability to kill you and at the end we're smiling and saying I wanna do it again!!! hahahahahahah hey on a serious note though welcome to the family, you definitely got baptized by big water!
DON'T GIVE UP, You're doing everything right as far as assessing yourself very well after getting trashed or swimming, this is very important! I can't stress how important it is to listen to your gut in WW kayaking, if you don't feel like you can run it then walk it, there's no shame, we've all done it at some point or will. Good luck and I hope you're still paddling to this day!
He needs to work on his brace a lot during those laterals, but I don't know how he even got into that boat with balls that big.
DEF NEEDED A 1980'S SPORTS MONTAGE
Holy cow! keep your head down, you can breath after you roll. Pretty impressive for 1 week though.
lol Ive been white water rafting since I was just a small kid (Im 18 now) and kayaking for three years. I took my friend who had never even been in a kayak before and he made it down a class four. But the class four rapids where I live are closer to a class three size, but still.
Amen, brother.
He did really well considering his roll was consistently 'head up', and he didn't get the hang of railing in those laterals.
YOU DONT KAYAK CALSS IV WATER WTH A WEEK OF PRACTICE!
carter dunlop if he kayaks every day that week, and gets his roll on the first day he’ll be fine
I have a paddling friend you paddled class 4 on his 2nd day on the river. Some people learn fast and having Class 5+ boaters with him helped a lot. (not me) Although, he already had a solid roll before getting on the river.
a class IV on the Ocoee is much easier than a class IV on the chattooga, or the gauley. and theres no way to have a solid roll after only 2 days and no whitewater experience. rolling in a pool is very different than rolling in a class V. My class V friends were smart enough to not take me til they thought i was ready. you have to work your way up, not foolishly attempt rivers you have no business being on, like this guy in the video. I'd be braver too with a paid staff of spe and a team of safety boaters, knowing i am the only one they need to rescue
he's swimming on the beginner stuff, theres no way he could make it on the real run. even with expert help, he had no business being on that river without any experience at all.
To be fair, his team only took down one big wave train with flat water at the end. Not a lot could go wrong there, of course he didn't have a Class IV experience either. Kayaking down a single rapid that is questionably called Class IV isn't the same as doing a Class IV run.
I think it's pretty awesome that he could learn to roll, and build his skills enough to paddle that in just a week!...good job!
I think I would be able to do it, on my first ever whitewater I went o Grade 3 for 2 days and didn't capsize once
I started in a canoe on class 1-2 and stayed in a canoe I just got a canoe designed for Whitewater class 2-4+...A canoe is much more comfortable and more challenging :D
in 2021 watching this video, wow bravo
I tip my hat to Joby...and for all those nay sayers...just stop...read this dudes Bio and it is like reading a comic or fiction. Thank you Joby for an honest look into a very challenging sport and being Man Enough to express your true emotion and taking on the big water...well done :)
dude! head comes up last!
class 6 is unrunable. once it becomes run it becomes a class
where is the class IV water? only saw clas 1, 2 and 3
Joby is a tad dramatic, it's not the end of the world if you can't make the class 4 rapids.
class 2 maybe class 3 is possible after a week of training if you go to norway and get both main requiered courses in sjoa but class 4 no chance im still at class 3 after 2 years of training and i train upto 8 hours a day in the kayak season thats from mid april until the ice settles in october november
If the instructor was such a knowledgeable kayaker he would of rejected the idea of getting a beginner on class 4 in one week! disappointed! although.... he did surprisingly well
I couldn't agree more. I think this guy is on it for himself, and he'll pay someone anything he can to accomplish whatever he wants, because that's what selfish people do. It's really sad, because others most likely will try to do the same from watching this, and they'll most likely lose their lives or come close to it. That's why I disliked the two comments above yours. It's just not worth it, unless your life depends on it, or you're doing something for others who may have to depend on it. I know if someone needed to do it to deliver life-saving medication to another person, I'd want the best training. I would certainly appreciate it, too.
thats chris spelius...
Not all Class 4 rapids are equal. What they took him down was big and scary to a beginner, but pretty low on the risk factor. He was also surrounded by several quality kayakers there to rescue him if something went wrong. And that instructor is a rather legendary figure in whitewater.
the person you are talking about is chris spelius, the first person to ever go down the futaleufu. also he did the first decent of the niagara rapids, so show a little of respect. on the other hand himalayas is a class +3 rapid not a class 4. it has not big consequences. and as JUlian Tisato said, a grate paddler from Argentina, the only real consequence is to have some under water time.
Crying or not crying that's is the question !
L'important c'est de remonter dans son kayak et de s'accrocher. C'est bien d'apprendre à eskimauter avant de savoir naviguer, mais...
The JacksonKayak method for teaching the roll only takes like 30 minutes. storngly reommend checking it out if you havn't.
The Adventurist - Looking for new ways to activate... Can guess where this guy is from!
OH SHIT REALLY MAN TEARS, COME ON. YOUR GETTIN PAID FOR THIS.
where are u, 720p??
dude got the hardest part down.... the roll in like 6 hours!. The rest take time on the river!
thank you
Holy Fuck
Respect for this
And this all in 7 days!!!
Really nice 😱
Wow very nice i want join
how much did this adventure cost?
Should have been green river in one week, that would have been interesting.
Fuck the haters. I guide on the Gauley and I must say for only a week this is amazing!!!!
Does anyone know the type/brand of paddle that Chris Spelius is using? The wooden shaft with carbon? blades?
really? just went to your channel. you have no room to complain.
Spectacular !
Yeah. I guess but its hard to do the harder stuff
He needed a montage.
Why no nose plug?
start watching at 46minutes to see the monster river
oh really? I heard your bow should enter the rapid first too.
He's lucky he had a head to bring up, considering he went in face first several times and never seemed to tuck.
Epic!!!
If whitewater rafting is scary for you, try out some other adventure activities they are all fun. Check my video to see where I had fun.
Next level Sky-Diving without any instruction before!
Sirous! The Video is great and you and your coach are amazing people. But I doupt that 1. doing it and 2. show it to the world is a good Idea.
Even for you self because you now beliefe you are capable of WW5 and achieved in one week what others need years for. This can fire back fi you are not aware of the reality.
Hope this is not understood as a hate post. That is absolut not my Intention. Peace!
Ralf Stofer it’s not understood as anything because no one knows what the fuck you just said
ingat lods team bisayana ilocana
Rolling has nothing to do with strenght as long as you do it right.
honestly you have no idea, my channel has no bearing on the level of kayaking that i do, if i had a go pro i would show you some of the rivers i paddle on a regular basis, i have been kayaking for 22 years and believe me i have done some major white water, the water in this clip is nothing short of a trickle in comparison
they do exaggerate quite a lot. i had 3 hours kayak time a decent right side roll before my first class 4. i did fine.
btw, in a roll your head should come up last
what do you mean?
Im surprised he can roll up with his head that far off his shoulders...
That’s a great video ogwyn7! Those rapids look super intense and your editing of the video is awesome! We want you to share it on Campfire so you can have a chance to win a kayak, cooler, and some free publicity in our video of the month contest! Upload it here! campfire.outsidetv.com/home
he said all of the classes but class 6
That is not kayaking, more likely siting in an object that’s floating. He is pretty brave though...
Class six is runnable with serious danger to life or limb.
He's good for a beginner. Quick progression won't teach you as well though. Either way, congratulations on giving the sport a try. It get's pretty scary when you start hitting class V+.
yeah, it's a shame really that he never really got a decent roll. A bit more time spent on that, with a better teacher, would have made a lot of difference - he kept coming out of his boat, exhausting himself, and eventually tearing up his shoulder, all for lack of a move that was easily within his grasp.
That's only class 4? I must be blind.
how did you apply for this? i want to do it !
Class 4 rapids aren’t that bad, but still impressive
true
Theres no crying in kayaking.
He forgot class VI
Who ever thought that iy only takes a week to get to class 4 is... well not right
Cannot believe this guy did know this roll, he has no business out there, must have more money than brains
Heureusement qu'il ne s'agit là que d'un seul passage "IV" et non pas toute la rivière.
Le pauvre monsieur doit esquimauter au bout de 2m car il n'a même pas les bases pour diriger son bateau et choisir sa ligne. C'est tout simplement idiot et irresponsable de faire croire que la pratique du kayak à ce niveau là est abordable en une semaine !
Le kayak d'eau vive reste un sport extreme !
His paddling is a joke never got better either...
You'd be changing your undies for the 3rd time by 40 seconds.
Wow i'm a beginner And I have done Class Two. I'm kinda young so i cant roll. When i get older ill be able to do it. I want to really Try Class 5 one day. That moment when i do my first class five ill be crying. Just like him expect way more overreacting
Repost this in 720p please. The video quality is horrible.
Lol welcome
for all you non kayakers. swimming in class 3 is fine, not life threatening. i know this is a reality show and all, but come on.
madmiguelh2o that ain't no grade 3 more like 4-5