Clackamas River Festival

by Christina Russell

May 24, 2008 – Last weekend, Peak UK hit the Clackamas River Festival in Estacada , Oregon. It was the 25th anniversary of the event and it sure didn’t disappoint!

We headed up to the fest right after Microbiology class on Friday and found a sweet campsite up along Fish Creek. Did you know about the sweet pull-outs up there? May I recommend those for a couple nights of camping?

They’re SWEET! Anyways, enough said about camping…. we made some spaghetti and crashed early (we were going to be busy on Saturday).

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Pretty Tough Girls huck the Gnar in Washington!

by Kim Russell
May 19, 2008 – Mid-May, my sister Christina Russell, and I took a trip up to Washington to check out the 2008 Canyon Creek Race, a downriver extreme whitewater kayaking race. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to race after one of our friends had a near-death experience on our warm up lap. We were fairly shaken up, and decided to take the day off from the river.

Despite missing the race, we kept our chins up and got back on the river the next day. Christina and I as well as four or five friends jumped on nearby Copper Creek, a class V creek in Southern Washington.

Check out the photos! 
  
Kim dropping the Big Falls on Canyon Creek, Washington
Photo by: Keel Brightman

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Spring Break in Vancouver, Island

by Christina Russell
April 10, 2008 – This spring break, I headed North to Canada for a week of creek boating on Vancouver Island. I had never been paddling in Canada before but I had heard great things about it. Early Sunday morning, we began out twelve hour drive from Bend to the port at Twassen. We camped out at the loading dock prepared to board the next morning as an oversize load (we had five boats on the roof of the truck). The crew consisted of friends from Bend, Eugene, and Hood River- all eager for some classic paddling.

Photo by: Christina Russell

Austin Rathman, used his good karma to secure two cabins near the Gordon River system near Port Renfrew. All of us were used to camping out in the cold, rainy, snowy weather but this was a welcome change. We had a HOT TUB! WOO HOOO!

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Kim Russell – Kayak

Sport: Kayaking
Home: Eugene, Oregon
Age: 18
Years Paddling: 6 years
Favorite River: Little White Salmon, Washington for the most epic creeking out there. Beautiful clear blue water, gorgeous canyon and bad ass falls.
Competing since: 2007

Competition Highlights:
4/12/2007 Collegiate Nationals USACK – Pro 3rd overall Freestyle
4/12/2007 Collegiate Nationals USACK – Pro 3rd Overall Boatercross
9/1/2007 Ottawa River Rodeo USACK – Pro 6th place
8/14/2007 Outdoor Retailer Roll Contest USACK – Pro 2nd place
5/4/2007 Oregon Cup USACK – Pro Canyon Creek Race

Favorite Athletes: Todd Baker, Tanya Shuman, Brian
Kirk, Kelsey Thompson!
Favorite Workout Music: A little bit of everything.
Army of the Pharoahs, Jedi Mind Tricks, Sandpeople,
Timbaland
Favorite Place to Shop: Buffalo Exchange, Mountain
Supply.
Superstition: Black cat crosses your path…
Best Moment: Throwing my first air blunt and landing
it perfectly and running Sweet Creek over and over.
Favorite Books/TV Shows: Family Guy, Reba, Crocodile
Hunter, Xfiles
Pet Peeves: I am a super organized person, so when I
don’t have a schedule or don’t have something laid out
to do during the day I go nuts!

Why I Kayak: I love everything about kayaking. I love the challenges it presents me with on a daily basis. I love being able to push myself mentally and physically. The lifestyle is amazing too: There are so many awesome places you get to see that you would
never see if you weren’t kayaking. Not to mention the people you are with. Super-cool, people right there. I love everything about kayaking. Nothing beats the rush you get when dropping a big waterfall, or throwing a big trick.

Sponsors: Wavesport, Kokatat, AT Paddles, Snapdragon, VOZ
Sports, Pretty Tough
Other Sports/Accomplishments: DH Skiing, rock climbing, mountain biking, frisbee golf and rallying cars.