ARCATA, CALIFORNIA, April 23, 2013— In a show of dedication to the world’s most exciting paddle-powered endeavors, Kokatat is proud to announce a new partnership with expeditionary kayakers Russell and Graham Henry as they attempt to paddle 6,500 kilometers north from the mouth of the Amazon River to Florida.

The Henry expedition started as a classroom daydream that would soon materialize into a reality. “Sometime near Easter, we asked each other the same question,” Russell recalls. “’How serious are we about this thing?’” The answer, simply, was “very”.

The team’s proposed route will meander 2,500 kilometers up the coastline from Belem, Brazil to Trinidad and Tobago, before eventually navigating past 18 island nations throughout the Caribbean. The team will depart in June and hopes to make landfall on Juno Beach, Florida by next January.

The trip will mark the longest ever by paddlers under the age of 25, and will trace a route that has only been partially completed in the past.  In 1978, legendary expedition kayaker John Dowd spent seven months paddling the segment the Henry’s are planning through the Caribbean. The brothers aim to complete the entire trip in seven months.

Raised in Victoria, B.C., Russell (21), and Graham (22), have been passionate about the outdoors since a young age. When the brothers aren’t kayaking, they spend their time sharing a unique passion for wilderness tripping with youth organizations. The two hope that their trip will inspire kids to live more environmentally conscious and active lives.

As the team traces a line north across the equator, conditions are bound to change. Subject to volatile seas and isolated stretches of shoreline, the Henry brothers can anticipate weather playing heavily into their plans.

To endure the most brutal coastal conditions, the brothers have chosen Kokatat’s Gore-Tex Anorak and Maximus Prime PFD to keep them dry and safe.  In order to stay hydrated while paddling, the team will use Kokatat’s Tributary Hydration System, a 1.5 liter reversible reservoir that attaches to the back of the Kokatat PFD.

For more information on the Henry brothers and their upcoming landmark voyage, visit www.henrykayak.com, and be sure to visit Outdoorplay’s Kokatat Apparel and Gear line for details on the team’s entire kit of Kokatat paddling products.

Imagine a peaceful toboggan ride with your friends on a sunny afternoon. Now imagine instead of a sunny, snow filled slope to toboggan down, you have a 275 foot ramp of death and destruction, and none of your friends want to have anything to do with said death ramp. Now you have Sunset Falls in Washington state.

Sunset Falls is the largest and the final stage of the three major waterfalls on the South Fork of the Skykomish River. The cascading drop falls about a 100 vertical feet over a 275 foot long, sloping granite chute of raw power.

Al Fausett ran Sunset Falls back in 1926 in a 30 foot canoe. They don’t grow balls this big these days. Apparently Al used to charge admission to watch him do stunts like this as a means of passive income, charging a crowd of around 3000 who gathered to watch the show.

Sunset Falls was run by Rob McKibbin back in October of 2008 (while on a lunch break from work). After cracking a couple ribs, he lost a paddle midway down the final chute and was forcibly ejected from his boat. Rob tried to pull himself back into his boat, but was unable to do so.

Then in April of 2010, Tyler Bradt stepped up to the plate. Despite running the slide on his head and breaking his paddle, Tyler made the first successful kayak descent of Sunset Falls.

Then, in comes Sam Grafton. Sam scouted and thought he saw his line. Then destroyed it. Sam has an ability to stay out of holes and hydraulics that is not natural. I have no idea what kind of a deal Sam made with the Devil, or Poseidon, but it goes contrary to the same deal that Rob made. While Rob is blessed with the ability to fight out of holes no one should be allowed to exit, Sam never even touches them.

I wasn’t able to be there on the day that Sam ran the waterfall, but I was able to get my hands on the footage for a little bit of editing. So sit back and get ready to squeeze out your adrenal glands.

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