Gauley Fest Upper Gauley Trip Report and Video

It's that time of year when all of us teamfli members that riverboard get a chance to at least make a dent in our backlog of footage and put together a few more videos while there isn't a lot of riverboarding to be had.


I started the morning off a little groggy from a late night of running the booth at Gauley Fest and from all the noise that happens well into the morning. However, I was excited because Jamie, Jusbyn, and Rochelle were all getting their first runs on the Upper Gauley, and was also getting to spend the day on the river with Bryce, Adam, and Tyler. While the Upper Gauley is no longer on the cutting edge in my opinion, it's always a fun run; and I do have a healthy respect for where the few treacherous spots are.

We got to the put in and started the long process of sorting gear and setting shuttle. The parking lot was so full that Bryce, Jusbyn, and myself had to settle for being dropped at the top and doing a jog down to the bottom (Park Service wouldn't let us ride on the back bumper). That was a good warm up and had me ready to jump into some chilly water, though I'm sure Rochelle would call it warm since she goes out in snow melt in Washington. When we got to the put in, there was famed big water rider and native Kiwi, Gary Pera. I was glad to finally meet him and see him in action, though I secretly told a few people to be cautious before following any of his lines (he likes to take the most dangerous lines on the river).

I had planned to lead the trip since I had a lot of close friends on the river that day, but when I asked the other experienced riders who would like to volunteer to run sweep / safety at the back of the group, no one was too excited for that job (it really is a thankless, but necessary role), so I decided that I would hang back and assist.

We started off well and finally got to Insignificant, which everyone did great at. A little later, I got surfed below a ledge until Jamie came over and knocked me out of the hole, getting surfed for a while. He was finally able to let go and flush out, and his board quickly came out after him while Gary and I were padding up into the eddy to help him.

Then we got to Pillow Rock. The line I like to ride is left of center. I think it's a lot easier to avoid the hole in the center called Inertia by starting on the left instead of doing the right to left move. However, I usually like to not go so far left to do the splat move at Pillow Rock just to make sure I don't get too far left, too early and end up in the room of doom, an almost terminal eddy that also has a crack that drains through the rocks. From the back, I watched as Tyler and Adam ran the splat line; a great line for those who are ready for it, but not so great a line for people's first run down, especially when dropping it on the fly. If I would have known they were going to go for the splat (they indicated they were running the line I normally do) I would have pulled a few people over to allow them to scout. It doesn't look as bad on the video, but in my eyes, it looked like everyone was running up and banking off the wall like stock cars going into the third turn at Talladega. I watched helpless from the back and just ran my line, ready to clean up if needed at the bottom. All I saw was a cluster of boards and helmets. I popped up and saw a board floating without anyone, but was relieved to see Jamie further downstream. He swam to his board and then I ferried him over to the other shore where everyone was to let him regain his nerve while a few of us walked up for a repeat run. I went for the boof over Volkswagen rock on this run, and while there was enough water to boof it, there wasn't quite enough to make the dramatic flying move over it as I had done last year. Jamie had let go of his board and taken a deep ride down and out of the toilet bowl. Despite the beat down he had just experienced, he was ready to go by the time the rest of us had made our repeat run.

While I figured that Gary would probably still surprise me with a dangerous line, he was surfing everything like a champ. Gary, Rochelle, and I got a three person surf at Hungry Mother.

We all rocked Lost Paddle, the longest, biggest, and most dangerous rapid on the river. The highlight is Hawaii Five-O wave in the second drop. It's a big wave perched just above a slide, so it's over the wave, down the backside and slide combined and into another wave or hole the bottom. Jamie got his confidence back up by doing well through this one and also proclaimed it his favorite rapid. I also got to watch Gary drop into the mailbox slot (at the bottom of Tumblehome, the forth drop) blind. Thankfully there was no wood or debris lodged in there.

Everyone did great at one of the other big class IV's, Iron Ring. I ran my cleanest line there so far. I think Gary and Rochelle might have found the hole on the left, but having hit the right hole and gotten kicked into the left hole last year during the Animal Race, I know they (both holes) flush pretty quickly.

A few of us ran a bad line over a ledge at an unnamed rapid (better line further to the center left) and while most of us made it though the hole, Rochelle didn't quite boof out far enough and got a major beat down. Beat downs are bad enough when you are on your board. When you are off your board and holding on, it's hard to get back on to regain control before you can fight out. Sometimes it even feels like you could swim out if not for your board still keeping you in the hole like an anchor. Me and Gary started going for an eddy to hit the shore and run upstream, and it was about that time that Rochelle got out. I give her major props for hanging in there and not letting go. To be honest, I probably would have swam out, grabbed an eddy, then swam in to retrieve my board when I had caught my breath.

All that was left to do was plunge down the slide part of Sweet's Falls, then hike up the hill. What a great, memorable Gauley Fest weekend.