The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Clay Whiddon left Steamboat Springs to spend the second semester of his senior year in search of bigger rivers. What he found were broader horizons.

Whiddon, 18, enrolled in the World Class Kayak Academy in Missoula, Mont. He and his classmates didn't linger to experience a Montana winter -- they left for a January/February paddling expedition to Southern Chile. He improved his kayaking skills, learning to take big drops and negotiate massive recycling holes. But Whiddon also learned to open his mind to different cultures and political systems.

"Definitely, it was about improving as a kayaker -- throwing myself in bigger water and scaring myself and finding out what the sport is all about," Whiddon said. "But living in the Chilean culture for two months really opened my eyes. I was taking Spanish class and learning vocabulary. Sometimes our assignment was to take it to the streets and start conversations with three different people."

Just as Whiddon never will forget the sheer power of Moondaka Rapid on the Fu River, he'll never forget the ferryboat ride during which he discussed the politics of Chile's first female president, Michelle Bachelet, with a group of young Chilean travelers.

Whiddon returned to Steamboat with a concern for the growing movement in Chile to build hydroelectric dams on the country's great rivers. Yet, his alarm is tempered with awareness that some Chileans resent Americans because of a perception that the U.S. would just as soon keep Chile in the category of developing nations.

World Class Kayak Academy is not unlike a ski academy, except that the classes are portable -- very portable. Pre-calculus class is apt to take place in the shade of the instructor's tent, Whiddon said. But it would be wrong to assume the academics are lightweight.

"If you don't do your homework, you don't paddle," Whiddon said. "And if you don't get at least ‘C's, you don't paddle. So everyone gets ‘A's and ‘B's."

With a few exceptions, the academic teachers also are the kayak expedition leaders. Whiddon said it's an unusual experience to take advantage of a flat section of water to paddle up to your teacher and go over the current assignment in government class.

In addition to politics and mathematics, Whiddon said he learned his lessons about respecting a large river such as the Rio Futaleufu.

"The raw power of some of the holes and the water dropping into it was scary," he said.

Whiddon picked up considerable kayaking skills surfing the play waves on the Yampa River in downtown Steamboat Springs. But he says he lacked the depth of experience he now has.

"I only learned to roll (the kayak) two years ago," he said.

Paddling large rivers on consecutive days with expert instructors taught Whiddon how to plan and look out for the safety of his group. The students carried safety equipment such as "throw lines" (special safety lines coiled in bags that make them easy to throw) even when scouting the best line through a rapid.

"People have been known to fall in the river, even when they were just scouting," Whiddon said. "You have to be prepared for tons of stuff."

Whiddon was in town briefly last week for spring break, but now he's back to class -- the wandering classroom of the World Class Kayak Academy. Translation? Whiddon and his classmates are on their way to Northern California, where they'll explore new rivers while working their way up the Pacific Coast to Oregon.

Whiddon has been accepted to several Colorado colleges and is thinking about attending Mesa State College in Grand Junction.

Let's see -- the Colorado River runs through Grand Junction, but there are no rapids. That would mean the nearest white water is Cataract Canyon or the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

-- To reach Tom Ross, call 871-4205

or e-mail tross@steamboatpilot.com