Taters Avoid Getting Mashed at Flea Flicker

Team Tater below the New River Gorge Bridge






Nick Simpson working on his sweep.
















Sierra recieving excellent instruction from Matt Fithian.




On the Lower New River everyone practiced their rolls and hipsnaps on the beach.Then the Taters put in at Fayette Station and paddled upstream to Thread the Needle. The taters learned how to "seal launch" off rocks, mystery move in eddy lines, and stopped for lunch at Fayette Station.




Matt spotting Alicia at Fayette Station











Caitlin looking over her shoulder, finding the surface.



After lunch, the taters continued to roll downstream to Flea Flicker and by Old Nasty, Alicia flipped but was completely comfortable. Caitlyn mastered her roll at the take out. Finally, Sierra and Leah got their first rolls and the Taters celebrated with a well deserved icecream break.

Day 3: Kayaking Students learn to roll & climb on Summersville Lake

Nick Simpson Jumps into Summersville Lake



The morning started bright & early but quickly warmed up to the normal WV July humid heat. The heat was motivation enough for Matt & Scott to hurry the Taters to the beautiful waters of the Gauley River. With lunch packed, boats on top, and taters loaded, the team was off with a mission to roll, and a chilled out atmosphere in the shade as their classroom. The waist deep clear water was just perfect for some instructor assisted roll practice. After lunch Mackenzie had her roll and Caitlin was coming close too. Nick was only swimming 1 of every 10 tries. Alicia was practicing her hip snaps. Sierra was rolling with very little assistance. Leah was upside down more than she had ever been. Matt took some great video and photo of the kayak strokes clinic taught by Scott.

Sierra Climbing at Summersville Lake.

After the basic stroke clinic, the group went for a short half mile flatwater paddle to a beautiful cove just upstream of their rolling classroom. This cove provided for some real WV entertainment. The group practiced bouldering and did some really fun cliff jumping, right around 20 feet.

Day 2: Wootten's 'Taters' Discover the Art of Whitewater Safety at Hawks Nest State Park

Nick & Scott identify whitewater features.

After exhausting the creative young minds with Kayak Culture artwork, Scott decided that safety comes first when learning whitewater skills. Matt & David suggested a great class V river section of Mill Creek, for identification of major whitewater features. After hiking to the river, the team of young paddlers had to use aggressive whitewater swimming techniques, rappelling & climbing, whitewater wading teamwork, the buddy system, shared team leadership, and critical thinking skills, while Matt and Scott were safety supervisors.
Big Tater Scott Wootten demos Aussie Rappeling.

Mackenzie Swims through currents on Mill Creek.

Taters on Mill Creek during a whitewater self defense clinic.

When the safety instruction was over, everyone was famished. Matt set up his famous deli style picnic and Scott showed off his fresh popeyed curried green slop. After lunch, the students eagerly geared up, and flocked around the expert instructors. Nick paid careful attention to his rolling mentors & figured out the roll during the structured ‘eskimo rescue’ lesson. Sierra was scared of Scott and would only swim for Matt. Caitlin came close to rolling, but had no hard time flipping over. Mackenzie tried the ‘tater wheels’ (buoyant foam training wheels) and decided she liked her regular paddle better. Leah was Sierra’s number one spotter as they rolled in the tail waters of the Lower New River. Alicia established that she liked being upside down more than she liked being right side up.

WV Beginner Kayak Instruction

Wootten's Taters Learn How to Blog About Their Kayaking



Note: We could not figure out how to place photo descriptions with photos. Thus, the numbered description goes with the number of the photo.
1. Caitlin Collins thinks twice before jumping.


2. Wootten's Taters learn how to paint Kayak Culture shirts and make foamy boaters.

3. Leah Staley paints her nose instead of her shirt.

4. McKenzie hatcher says, "talk to the hand because the face aint listening."

5. Alicia Hawley shows off her smile while being artful.



Huge Experiences beginners are learning how to make blogs this morning. Alicia, Caitlin, Nick, Leah, McKenzie, and Sierra spent the morning listening to Scott Wootten as he taught blog basics.
Topics covered were: how to professionally prepare literature, editing, preparation of photos, how to make photo descriptions, how to setup a blog, how to post each of the above after professional preparation.
Note- this is basic on the fly blog post. We will post a well prepared post later this week.

High lights of WV beginner camp this week:
Nick- hits his roll first day.
McKenzie- She has hit some rolls and becoming more consistent.
Alicia- Has become more comfortable underwater, and gaining confidence.
Caitlin- She really liked jumping off of the cliffs.
Leah- Is getting better after a sick morning yesterday. Had fun learning how to rappel on the Mill Creek safety hike.
Sierra- Is now completely comfortable in her boat.
Scott Wootten- Painting shirts with the Taters.
Matt- I liked teaching Taters to roll on Summersville Lake, that was fun.

What is a Tater?
Nick Simpson, "We still do not know?"
Caitlin, "I think this morning we are mashed taters."
Leah, "Yesterday, we were fried taters." Referring to the intense heat.
Sierra, "They never told us what a Tater was, they just keep calling us Taters."
Leah, "Isn't it a potato?"
Scott, "It's a spud boater."
McKenzie, "I don't know what they are?" As she lies on the couch being a "couch tater."
David, "In life there are all kinds of taters."
Nick, "It doesn't matter if your hair gets messed up, you are going to be wet all day."
Leah, "I can't do anything with my hair when it is dry, I have to fix it when it wet. It is a mess this morning."

Alex Mohn reporting from the field with Teen Kayaker notes in CO...

07/06/06

It’s all coming to an end here in Colorado. Right now we’re all chillin’ in Zach Mitchell’s basement, waiting to clean the van and trailer and pack our stuff for the fly or drive home tomorrow. The last week of our adventure started out awesome – as we all enjoyed Lunch Counter, the amazing wave on the Snake River in Wyoming. But, all good things must come to an end – some faster than others. Due to unforeseen circumstances our time on the Snake river was cut short.
Here are Eli Spiegel and Bo Banducci working one of the massive seams on the Snake.


Out of our sadness, it was decided that we would spend the rest of our time, about 5 days, in Salida at the playpark in town. The last week was made possible by the generosity of Buffalo Joe’s Rafting. With all the time in the local hole, everyone’s skill levels skyrocketed at the end of the trip.
Kevin Mooney is shown here before one of his rides. Kevin had an incredible progression during this tour, going from almost no tricks to doing consistent cartwheels and an occasional loop. He ripped it up.

From cartwheels to Lunar Orbit – Mcnasty combos, new tricks were being learned and thrown by all every day.
Here is a Lunar Oribt-Mcnasty combo by the author.


The Fourth of July was made enjoyable by the local bands and firework show shot from the top of mountain. During our last day at the hole, a storm upstream of the playspot caused flash flooding which raised the water level by a foot and a half in about 5 minutes.
Here you can see the initial raft of fir needles that swamped the entire river.

We all started playing frogger in the hole – dodging the enormous logs and debri that flowed through during our rides.
Brynne Weeks plugs it deep, going for a loop.

As the water began to drop, it took on the color of chocolate milk – so much so that the foam pile of the hole was no longer white, but brown. It was a sight to behold.
Here is Zach Mitchell looping in the nastiness.

After the dirty session, we all loaded up and drove back to Zach Mitchell’s house, where we stayed last night an will stay tonight so that we are close to the airport. It’s sad to see my new friends leave, but I’m also glad for a short break from a straight month of kayaking.
On the way home we spotted this incredible rainbow. We just knew that there were unicorns and leprechauns rolling around in piles of gold at the end of it.


Signing off,

Alex Mohn
Huge Experiences

Teen Kayakers in Colorado - BAG of TRICKS at Salida

Hello Sports Enthusiasts,

The Huge Experiences Colorado tour has stopped back in Salida where we have been playing for the past three days perfecting all our playhole magic. Please take a moment to view the video.

CLICK HERE to see the Salida, CO video!

Everyone is working on new moves and perfecting the ones they already know. The hole is at a lower level than when we were here for the FiBARK event but it is still incredible.

Most remarkable is Eli Spiegel. He has gone from getting an occasional loop or cartwheel to an occasional mcnasty or phonics monkey. For those of you who don't understand the terminology this would be like skipping learning how to dribble a basketball and going straight to dunking the ball. He still has to polish up on these moves, but with six hours of paddling every day at this play hole he is progressing very rapidly. He's like a Labrador that won't quit fetching the stick. As long as you let him he'll just keep on trying the moves. Apparently it's paying off though. Here's Eli winding up for a McNasty.


Brynne and Kevin are still dialing in their cartwheels. Here is Brynne wheeling it up.

And Kevin doing the same...


Alex has reached new heights today, hitting every hard move in the book, including back loop-mcnasty combos, huge lunar orbits, and phonics monkeys. Here is Alex skying on the later part of a lunar orbit.


I finally started hitting phonics monkeys after a day of figuring it out. It's a really fun move that is almost identical to a mcnasty. This was in the last part of a phonics monkey.


Bo has made remarkable progress today as well, partly due to using a shorter boat. He has gone from flat spins to attempting and almost nailing loops. Jason is now hitting McNastys both ways. Photos and video of those two boys on the next post. None were available at this time... Chris has left the trip this afternoon with his father. We will miss him dearly. He didn't paddle the last two days due to an injured wrist.

CLICK HERE to see the Salida, CO video!

Adios,

Spencer Cooke, Huge Experiences Colorado trip co-leader

Teen Kayakers Colorado/Wyoming video!

Greetings fans! Happy July!

We have finally compiled another video installment for our trip. This includes footage from the FIBARK competition, Montrose wave, Green River rodeo in Wyoming and some of our paddling and antics on and around the Snake River in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE to see the video! It is a ten minute edited segment at 11.5mb. You'll have to endure the small frame size because I didn't have until Christmas to compress and upload a large video file. I may make a DVD of the whole trip when we get home so everyone can view it full screen.

We're back in Salida now and plan to spend the next four or five days here working on playboating moves.
Yesterday Jason and I worked with Eli, Brynne and Kevin on cartwheels in the hole and they were all catching on quickly. We worked on back deck (rodeo) rolls and flat water wing overs with Bo, with which he is progressing smoothly. Chris, Jason and I were working on our McNasty's in the bottom hole here at Salida. Finally, Alex was honing quite a few of his already explosive moves in the top hole. We'll be shooting more video of this week's paddling.

Later,

Spencer Cooke, Huge Experiences Colorado trip co-leader

Huge Experiences Colorado Tour has "Dance-off" in Wyoming

After arriving at our backcountry campsite the other night, Team Huge didn't know what to do when they found themselves with some down time. After some small dance moves from the van seats it was determined that the only way to spend the afternoon was having a dance off. A special thanks to Alex Mohn's ipod for having lots of "booty music," so we could dance the night away.


Alex and Brynne having a dance off


Here's Eli and Bo demonstrating their swing moves


David Spiegel showing off his mad break-dancing skills


Zack Webb dancing it up and some gymnastics too

Article and Photos by: Jason Aytes

Alex Mohn's Colorado/Wyoming Journal entry #2

Alex Enjoys a breakfast of oatmeal and fruit.

06/28/06
Its been close to two weeks and we’re over two thirds of the way into our trip. From the Mitchell’s house in Evergreen, Colorado we left to go to Salida, Colorado where FiBARK and the Freestyle National Championships were being held. Zach Mitchell, Chris Miller, David Spiegel, and myself competed in the Jr. Expert class. Zach Webb, Eli Spiegel, and Kevin Mooney competed in the Sport class while Brynne, stepping her game up, competed with the Expert Women. Jason Aytes competed with the Expert Men and Spencer Cooke competed in the Pro class. Everyone who participated had fun and gave a good showing for Huge Experiences. After a whole weekend of festivities at FiBARK, the trip leaders -Spencer Cooke and Jason Aytes – decided it would be a good idea to plan an overnighter on the Browns Canyon section of the Arkansas River. The best part about that adventure was hiking to the rim of the canyon, where we all took in the beautiful Rocky Mountain vista. After finishing up on the overnighter, we spent one day in Buena Vista, Colorado – 20 minutes from Salida – where Jason and Spencer could catch up on blog posts and video editing while we were free to roam the town and use the whitewater park. That evening, we left for Montrose, Colorado where the famous M-wave made its home in the local drainage ditch. After about three hours of searching and countless backtracking, by lunchtime we were able to make it the spot. Everyone was stoked upon the first glance of the giant rooster-tail like green monster. The one word of advice given was just don’t catch your edge – that results in car crash like whiplash. M-wave is so fast that surfing it feels like being towed behind a motorboat. After a day of M-wave punishment, the group was ready to make the eight hour drive to Green River, WY. Up there was the Flaming Gorge Day festival and freestyle kayak event. The first thing we did out of that car was gear up and start practicing in the rodeo hole. The feature was small, shallow, but really retentive for all the cartwheel tricks. Zach Mitchell, Bo Banducci, Chris Miller, Brynne Weeks, Spencer Cooke, Jason Aytes, and myself all participated in the event. After a brief weekend of competition, we made our way up north to Jackson Hole, WY where we’ve been enjoying the Snake river and the famous Lunch Counter wave – good for all the big wave airial tricks. We’ll be up this way until Sunday, when we’ll then be making our way back down to Colorado as we all prepare to head home.

Alex Mohn
Huge Experiences


Trip Leader, Jason Aytes loves oatmeal too. He knows it's good for the heart.

Huge Experiences in Jackson Hole Wyoming

After Colorado we headed up to the Green River Rodeo in Wyoming. Team Huge had a strong showing at the Green River Rodeo. Zach Mitchell edged out Alex Mohn in the finals for first place. Taking third place was Kyber Miller of Jackson Hole and fourth place was Huge Experience's Chris Miller. Bo Banducci entered his first rodeo and had a strong showing by throwing his paddle and doing a super clean spin. A super clean spin is spinning 360 degrees without using a paddle, a very stylish move!

After the Green River event Team Huge traveled north to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Here we have been paddling the Snake River, parking and playing at Lunch Counter and the Greys River. A couple of nights we have had dinner and slept over at Kevin's brother and sister's apartment. A big thank you to Mark and Lauren Mooney. The other nights we have been camping at some beautiful campsites. The photo that is in the upper left corner is Bo and Spencer leading the way for the rest of the Team Huge. Photo by: David Speigel

Stay tuned, same channel same time for more video footage in near future.

Alex going for a donkey flip. Photo by: Spencer Cooke


Coach Cooke showing off his tricks. Photo by: Alex Mohn


Here's a photo of Chris I just got from my buddy "DK." This photo was during the Fibark competition.

Article by: Jason Aytes

Teen Kayaking Coach Report: Green River Rodeo, Wyoming

As coaches, Jason Aytes and I were really happy with the kids' performance in our third and final competiton last week at the Green River in Wyoming. I'm happy to say that they all really stepped it up a notch when it came time to compete.

Alex Mohn, Chris Miller and Zach Mitchell have been throwing a move they call the "switch flip," which is a loop done within a sequence of cartwheels or after initiating a cartwheel. The hole at the Green Rodeo was kind of shallow and difficult to loop traditionally so the guys resorted to switch flips.

Chris Miller throws a Switch-flip here, placing 4th at the Green.


Alex Mohn finishes up a Tricky-wu in the prelim round, finally placing 2nd in the finals.


Zach Mitchell took the gold medal at the Green, barely edging out Alex Mohn by doing... you guessed it, a Switch-flip.


Brynne Weeks took third in Women's Expert, barely missing the cut to the final two. Here Brynne goes vertical.


Bo Banducci is shown here throwing a no-paddle flat spin. Being this was Bo's first competition, we were really proud of him for coming in 6th place, barely missing finals. His skills are improving every day.


This me throwing a McNasty in the Pro/Expert finals.

I was able to make my way into 2nd place behind local, Cory Volt. Cory had this hole wired like no other and was really difficult to beat. Behind me in third was our guest coach, Dave Fusilli "coach D"

This was a really fun hole and a great event. I think we all improved our skill and competition game.

See you next time.

Spencer Cooke, Huge Experiences Colorado trip co-leader