A Swim on the Stikine (Entry #23 Beaters For All 2023)

Watch paddler Felix Lalonde get into a spot of trouble on Wasson on the Stikine. Thankfully with quick thinking, a solid crew and safety, all ended well.

« The boils on top of Wasson pushed me to the centre so I had to charge left and that didn’t set me up for success, I rolled just in time to see I was doomed and got my ass kicked. When I lost my paddle I knew I had to swim.. Small mistakes on the Stikine can decisive. Luckily I had a solid crew for safety, once I was on shore I tried to climb over the next Eddy to regroup. I’m a terrible climber. So I had to swim back to my boat. I’m a terrible swimmer as well. Lucky to not have exit in a chopper!
When I swam my buddy Yann helped me to shore, while Russel went for the boat. Yann gave me my paddle before going to help Russell get the boat. They rescued it in the next rapid river right. I tried to climb on river left, but it was too dangerous so I swam back to them. »

By: Felix Lalonde

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Disclaimer: Originally, we created the Beater For All Video Contest with fun beaters in mind (kayakers getting worked and swimming out of it (or not…) with a smile. However, we have been receiving more and more videos showing scary & sketchy situations, some being real close calls. This created a debate among us, enriched by comments from viewers: should we or should we not show those videos? By encouraging and magnifying carnage and beatering, do we promote it? Do viewers forget the dangers of kayaking? We think otherwise. We came to the conclusion that those videos can be educative and show how dangerous the sport of whitewater kayaking can be, and how nasty and quickly can a situation turn from funny to bad. By showing those videos, we firmly believe that these can create discussions and a space for exchange about what could/should have been done to avoid such situations, which will ultimately lead to increases in safety and river knowledge. Note, we never show videos in which people would get hurt badly, or even worse, showing fatal accidents. Last but least, the videos are submitted by their authors, most time the « victims » themselves. NB, We do not poach videos.

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