I wrote and directed a number of instructional videos that challenged the paradigm of how we learn and teach in the whitewater world. We have challenged students every time they visit us to step up and lead themselves instead of following the stern of a boat downstream. We have pushed future instructors to break out…
Show Notes! Sam and Jenna fell in love with the outdoors and each other in the Nantahala Gorge in Western NC nearly a half decade ago. Before they married they decided to take on the challenge of living together on the road, while working, as “traveling trainers” for the Leave No Trace organization. Already advocates…
Show Notes! Heather Ekstrom has been exploring edges since she was a little girl. Growing up in a household full of activity, Heather was encouraged to find ‘fun’ and chase after it; the kicker being that she got to be the one to slap the definition on ‘fun’ herself. From triathlons to ultrarunning, Heather’s relationship…
I have spent a good majority of my time sitting with my face in a sketchbook or behind a computer screen in my lifetime. At a pretty young age my mother had me paint my first acrylic painting. I remember how I would get lost in time and totally sucked into the moment of creative…
Show Notes! Although this wasn’t our intended episode 4, we eventually were going to get to a review episode of some of our past episodes. We’re happy to get to this sooner rather than later as we are still early in the life of UnderCurrents and will help us define the direction we take creatively….
Show Notes! Chris Baer is enigmatic to say the least. He shirks the common lifestyle almost seemingly to just laugh in the face of it, because he can. That said, he’s not a jerk about it either, quite the contrary. He has managed to learn everything it takes to get along in any foreign place…
Show Notes! Kaysee Armstrong is magnetic… and intense. We often think about the draw, the pull of magnetism, but it also has the opposite effect, too: pushing away. Kaysee’s intensity in life and in her professional pursuit of mountain biking can change the polarity of that magnetism. She’s learning to cope with that and in…
Show Notes! Robbie has been an influential character in whitewater kayaking, especially in the last few years. He has a deeply introspective approach to his paddling, river snorkeling, and all around way around water… but not without controversy either. In the Fall of 2019, Robbie and friend Mac McGee swam portions of the fabled Upper…
Our biggest area of growth we experienced in 2019 was undoubtedly our Youth Program. We are going all in again on this program. Every one of our instructors has some impact on this program this past year. We have expanded these course offerings, again refined where inefficient, and expanded where appropriate. One of the most…
OK, so you don’t even have to be an athlete, but if you want to add some longevity, efficiency, and some enjoyment to your paddling this collection of exercises has been killer for us and our students. If you have worked with us before you have heard us hammer on pelvic rotation driving your legs…
Every H2o Dreams instructor is a certified American Canoe Association instructor and has received wilderness medical, and swift water rescue training as a starting point. Instructors go through continual professional development within H2o Dreams and receive scholarships to seek out professional training to further develop their portfolio of expertise.
