Susan Hollingsworth dropping the first waterfall on the Lower Wind River

Discovery Channel Canada wondered the same thing.

Femme 45 is a group of ladies in the Pacific Northwest with kayaking always on the brain. Sharing waterfalls, big rapids and whitewater joy with other girls is the goal and having fun every time is the outcome.

Discovery Channel Canada Documenting the Femme 45 Ladies

On Sunday, a group of Femmes (Christie Glissmeyer, Kate Wagner, Melissa DeCarlo, Monica Gokey and TeamSOG member Susan Hollingsworth) took a camera crew to the waterfalls of the Lower Wind River, as well as the infamous Big Brother on the Green Truss. The idea was to explain how we can have so much fun doing something that seems so dangerous.

The answer, well that’s tricky…

Susan hanging out while cameras get some interviews

Partly its the rush of facing a challenge. Every drop, every rapid is like a problem that must be solved using personal judgement and confidence in skills.

Partly its the act of carrying out a specific plan. We see a line, and we go for it.

Partly its the feeling off a horizon line. Free-fall…whoa.

Mostly, its our connection to the river’s power and the people we are with that keep us asking for more. Working with such a powerful force of nature along with an incredible group of friends makes for some incredible experiences.

Monica on the second waterfall on the Lower Wind River

To demonstrate this, we decided to hike into the Lower Wind River and run the 4 waterfalls a couple of times. Afterwards, Christie, Melissa and I took the film crew into the Green Truss where we ran a more difficult drop called Big Brother. The drop was a first for me and due to the support of my friends and the confidence in my ability, it went perfectly.

With all the fun, I can’t help but think what we might do next.

Check out Susan’s Blog for more of her adventures.

Steep, Technical and Fast: Miracle Mile near Eugene, Oregon

With only one week left in the Eddyflower Total Vertical Challenge, Susan continues to push to keep her top 10 position. In addition to reaching more than 20,000 vertical feet of challengeing Class III-V whitewater throughout the Pacific Northwest, this TeamSOG member has also managed to raise over $700 for First Descents.

Check out the Standings throughout the next few days to see how she finishes out!  Don’t forget to show your support and make a tax-deductible contribution to her team as well!

6th Lap on the Miracle Mile outside Eugene, OR

For 32 days kayakers all over the country will try to descend as many vertical feet of whitewater as possible.  The steeper and harder, the better.  Competitors can only run a stretch of river 5 times, making logistics and strategic planning essential to a good showing.

It means lapping class V rivers in one day only to get as much sleep, drive, and do the same thing on another river the next.

It means putting on river gear at the end of a long day at work to squeeze in a few hundred feet.

It means finding people to drive you back to the top before the sun sets so that you can run the river a second time.

However…thats not really why we are out there.

The competition also raises money to support First Descents, an organization that sponsors cancer survivors in a week long kayak/climbing/biking camp.  Overcoming one of the toughest times by experiencing one of the most exhilarating.  Competitors are sponsored by friends and family, raising money to sponsor more participants.

Now paddling has a purpose.

TeamSOG member Susan Hollingsworth is holding strong with her all-female team, Femme 45.  Currently at over 15,000 feet and 7th place overall (out of 176 people) mid-way through the competition.  Check out the standings.

Help her raise more funds for this amazing cause as she continues to paddle for a purpose.

Of course, you can’t expect a group of athletes to come together to just talk about things like adventure racing, kayaking, climbing, running and playing outdoors. One of the greatest parts of being a member of such a diverse team is enjoying multiple sports throughout the day.

Team members rolled into town on Friday to find chilly weather around the Youghiogheny River in Ohiopyle.  No matter though.  TeamSOG finds ways to enjoy any type of weather.  Julie and Jennie ventured into the woods with Doug’s American Adventure Sports mountain biking clinic.  No doubt the girls were able to provide helpful insights into biking techniques for the clients, as well as serve as an obvious inspiration for the future adventure racers.  Susan grabbed her kayak and hit the loop section of the Yough with some old friends, enjoying familiar waves, eddies and rock slides

We woke to beautiful blue skies and a warm sun rising on Saturday, a true sign of a day packed with adventure.

Saturday morning the ladies headed out for a morning run before Team Media festivities began.  Julie, Jenny, Susan, Alisa and Ellen traversed the Great Gorge and Beech Trails through the Ohiopyle State Park.  Susan led the girls on these two trails, some of her personal favorites from days of living and guiding in this small river town.

The entire group then came together for an intense Yoga class with Katie.  Moving through sun salutations, balance and strengthening poses, the group gave some much needed oxygen to their muscles while sweating out toxins (most of which were received at the pub the night before).  Katie provided a challenging class while also reminding us about the key element of mental awareness we need for our races.  Thanks Katie!

Then the cameras arrived!

We all suited up in our awesome TeamSOG apparel, gathered our gear and had a great photo shoot by the truck and trailer.  Sitting in the back of that truck and smiling at the camera, I couldn’t help think about how amazing it was to be around such an amazing group of athletes.  Our diverse backgrounds all seem to overlap somehow, providing supportive connections for the participation in every sport.

The afternoon was spent maneuvering through the currents of the Youghiogheny River.  Susan, Julie and Doug provided key safety information for the AAS participants, as well as valuable information about paddling techniques.  The river gave us plenty of opportunities to practice paddling, as well as bask under the warm sunlight, breathe fresh air and smile with gratitude for the opportunity to be a member of TeamSOG.

With still several hours of daylight remaining, Brian and Maggie grabbed their bikes and headed out to the trails.  No reason to waste such precious sunlight!

That night our sponsors, SOG Knives & Specialty Tools, topped off the evening with food and drinks at the local Pub…a proper celebration for such an awesome day.  Busy times at the pub even forced Susan to relive her days as a server and serve the whole group as well as some other diners.  She was an excellent Waitress!

Sunday the group headed back out into the woods for work with ropes.  Doug again gave the Academy group some necessary instruction on safety and general rules around ropes and climbing while the team setup two rappels and a climb.  JD, Doug, and Brian led the rappels getting some academy participants over their fears and allowing others to build up valuable experience.

Next the group split between ascending and climbing.  Our expert climber Maggie led the climbing instruction teaching essential climbing knots as well as belaying and climbing techniques.  This also allowed for some climbing practice on the crag.  Back on the rappel lines Doug was teaching the very unique skill of ascending.  This is not typically a skill that most people learn but these lucky adventure racers got to learn from some of the best as Doug spent years in the military as a paratrooper and teaching rope work.

While out in the beautiful weather and scenery the team was also able to shoot some more video footage to help express what TeamSOG is all about, our Mission Statement.

After another successful day Doug wrapped the weekend up, we took some pictures, and everyone said there goodbyes and grabbed one last bite to eat in the park before heading out in our seperate ways.

These are some of the best weekends and we are lucky to have a sponsor that supports us and Doug who is able to bring us all together to share some great experiences in one of the greatest outdoor adventure areas in the region.  We are all looking forward to a great competition season, already underway.  Thanks again to our awesome sponsor, SOG Knives; our team manager Doug and everyone else who came out to make the weekend such a success.

Keep an eye out for TeamSOG this season!

Awesome Race!

For me, this event really began back in December. Looking for a reason to be somewhere for the winter, I used the excuse of Team Trials being held on the Nantahala to move to Asheville for 3 months. It also helped that my dad and sister lived in the area and I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be surrogate mother to Hudson, Andria and Leland Davis’ dog. (By the way, their new North America Guidebook is one of the coolest books any paddler can own)
The thought that the southeast might we warmer (and therefore more conducive to training on the water during the winter) also enticed me. After weeks and weeks of freezing temperatures and a ridiculous amount of snow, I have learned to never expect anything out of the weather anymore.

Yet, somehow I bucked up enough to gain a semblance of control over this craft, enough to stay in it and keep it relatively straight. I actually found using a wing blade to help a lot with this, in addition to the flatwater workouts I put myself through.
The race weekend turned out to be a blast. Something about competition is just really exciting for me, every time, no matter how much physical torture I know I am going to endure. I couldn’t help but talk to all the other racers I hadn’t met yet, just oozing with enthusiasm.

Sprints were first, 2 trials on a 80-90 second course through one rapid.

I really just tried to paddle as hard as I could for the sprint. Considering that my boat control is still fairly non-existent I thought I might as well just rely on my strength for this one. Blasting through the top hole (as opposed to slicing to the right of it) slowed me down, but made for a great photo.

I placed 3rd out of the ladies in the sprint, only 1.67% off of Tierney-the numba-one lady. For those of you who don’t get this comparison, that is REALLY close. Haley, second-place-jr-racer, was only 1.13% off Tierney.

Pushing to the finish line on the Classic race course

Sunday’s Classic race, a 12-15 minute race, was a bit more of my speed. Give me the longer endurance race and I’m a happy ‘yaker. Of course, the tornado that threw me into the shore as I pulled away from the start, picking up water from the river to spit in my face, made for an interesting beginning to my first Classic event.

Every time I felt myself backing off, I made myself go faster. Every time I came out of a rapid, I made myself go faster. And every time I thought of Tierney a few spots behind me, I made myself go faster. Although I was barely breathing across the finish line, I think I could have gone faster.

I pulled it up a bit for the class, allowing me to jump to 2nd place for the final rankings. Amazingly enough I was still just 1.65% off of Tierney. What is with that number?

It feels pretty good to make the Team, even if I can’t make it to World’s in Spain this year. I’m looking forward to working out the kinks over the next 2 years and hitting an international event in 2012!

Thanks to Adam Elliott for the great photos!  For more shots from the event click here.

Race Start Photo: Adam Elliott

I’ve always liked biking and running, but when combined with winding, technical trails and a kayak race I found that I LOVED biking and running.

Finishing the Mountain Bike Leg and Crossing the Finish Line Photo: Adam Elliott

Keeping up with the Boys Photo: Adam Elliott

Last Sunday was my first race that involved more than just kayaking.  Clemson’s Off-Road Endurance Triathlon was made up of a 5 mile trail run, a 4 mile kayak and a 10+ mile mountain bike ride.  Starting off on the run, full of adrenaline, I immediately pulled ahead.  I knew that if I could keep up with the top runners and pull ahead in the kayak, I might be able to hold my place through the bike leg.

The end of the 5 mile run is where things started to get really fun.  The course fed us through Clemson’s downhill biking course, giving us hills and a rad luge course that had me shouting and wahoo-ing my way toward the kayak leg.

Catching up to JP, a fellow Wildwater Kayak racer of mine, I knew that I was nearing the top of the Endurance crew.

This might have been the only moment I wasn't smiling. So serious! Photo: Adam Elliott

Well, pretty obvious to say that if you throw me in a kayak, my spirits and enthusiasm will skyrocket.  No difference here.

Flying past the other racers in their slow, plastic kayaks, I set my sights on the other boys in fiberglass boats and pushed ahead.  The four of us pulled into the transition station one after another, making us the top 4 in the Endurance class.

As we geared up for the mountain bike leg, I knew that I needed to maintain high speeds whenever I could.  The biking course was by far the MOST TECHNICAL and LONGEST mountain bike ride I’ve ever done.  I knew this going into the race, having had to borrow a friend’s bike and only riding it once before the race.  I was, sadly, passed by some of the guys, but held my position as the first female.  At least I know what I need to work on.

Despite being difficult, the bike was super fun.  Flying through the woods, making sharp turns and avoiding steep embankments into the lake kept me on my toes.

The Wildwater Racers taking on a Triathlon...and Winning. Photo: Adam Elliott

Crossing the finish line was great and celebrating our wins was even better.  JP won the Endurance class overall and I took home the Women’s Division 1st place medal.  I even took second for my age group in the Sprint division, despite having doing the longer endurance course.  Ben and Steven, the other races pictured above, each won for their respective age classes.

Looking forward to more multi-sport races in the future!  (After I work on my Mnt. biking skills a bit of course!)

Way too much fun. Photo: Adam Elliott

Thanks to Adam Elliott and his amazing camera skills, driving me to the race and helping with transitions.  Couldn’t ask for a better crew on my side!

TeamSOG training in the southeast on the Nantahala River

How often do you get to genuinely feel like a true beginner again, after practicing a sport for nearly a decade? Almost never.

You can fake it, like letting a 6 year old catch you in a game of tag, or…

You can fudge it, like using only one arm to shoot hoops.

But rarely do you get to feel the excitement and anticipation of square one again.

If you have been kayaking for as long as I have try sitting in a wildwater boat and you’ll know exactly what I mean.  Throw everything you know about the forward stroke, torso rotation and edge control out with the trash.  Get the slate as blank as possible, you’re going to need it.

Perhaps this doesn’t sound like a very good idea?  You spend years developing skills and techniques and reach a fairly advanced level within a sport.  Why would you want to throw it all out the window.

To get better.

It also makes class III really REALLY exciting again.

The boat is going to teach me a lot about kayaking that I might have assumed I already knew. Just trying to get a proper forward stroke is sometimes too much for me to think about. I find myself returning to taking it in pieces, just like how I recommend my students approach learning to paddle.

I continue to struggle finding a sufficient level of comfort in the boat so that I’m not just using correctional strokes the whole way down. A little padding here, a new seat from the Czech Republic and many, many more days on the water should help out a lot. I can only imagine what this is going to feel like when I have my ducks in a row and can work on paddling as hard as I possibly can.

My sister did comment that the boat looked like a torpedo. I answered “that’s because it is.”

Taking a break amongst Sedona’s red rock formations

With Denver in the rearview mirror I headed south into the desert.  I’ve biked, hiked, kayaked and climbed through the wilderness in every region of the continental United States, except for the southwest.  Decision made and I’m on way way to Flagstaf, Arizona.  Naturally, all my toys are with me: 4 kayaks and a road bike on the roof, my snowboard and even a longboard.

I expected a bleak landscape.  I expected scorching hot sun rays.  I expected tumbleweed.

I didn’t expect to see the snowcapped San Fransisco peaks out my window as I ate breakfast.  I didn’t expect to be 45 minutes from the mountain biker’s heaven, Sedona.  And I didn’t expect that there would be more colors and life than many other ecosystems.

At an altitude of nearly 8,000 ft, Flagstaff Arizona is a hot destination for the training adventure athlete.  The Northern Arizona University even boasted a “high altitude training center” that attracted olympic athletes from all over the world.  In these economic times, they were forced to shut down the facility yet the athletes still seem to come.

For the outdoor adventure athlete, like the members of TeamSOG, it is one of the best places to get out and push your limits.  I found a mountain bike to borrow and headed down to Sedona for a couple days of amazing, technical riding.

Riding on Sedona’s technical single-track

I also found myself in Pheonix, looking desperately into the surrounding peaks.  I grabbed my road bike and headed toward South Mountain Park, the country’s largest urban park.  After averting an accident on the congested streets of the city, always a scary venture, I wound my way to the top of the park.  This 6 mile climb was filled with scenic vistas of the city and even more colorful desert wildlife.  An urban park for the rural folk.

A few days of snowboarding gave me some speed I had been craving.  Arching huge turns always brings smiles.  I also strapped on some snowshoes to explore a little more of the snowy backcountry with family.

A View of the Grand Canyon from the South Rim

A Full Moon to Light the Way

Yet, the most intense day was by far, the Grand Hike Day.  My boyfriend and I began descending into the canyon before the sun came up, using the moon and our headlamps to guide us and crampons to steady our feet.  We made it down to the river with enough time to hang out before the longer hike back out.  We pushed ourselves the whole day, completeing the 18 mile loop faster than expected.  Visit my blog for more of a description of the day and enjoy some of the photos!

-Susan

This is just day one , stay connected to catch more action from Chile!!

-Susan

While the last year of my life has been filled with paddling my kayak in beautiful, exotic locations, I have not been able to go fast.

Working for the World Class Kayak Academy allowed me to share my passion for the sport with some of the most talented junior kayakers in the nation.  On the water I would help them tweak their strokes, reminding them that efficiency in body movement produces stronger and smoother paddlers.  They, in turn, would remind me to push beyond my comfort zone, reminding me that challenging myself brings me more confidence in my own skills.  Every morning we began our day with dry-land training.  This provided strength and endurance training as well as a nice surge of energy for both the students and teachers before classes each day.   Although I was not able to train specifically for racing during this time, I was fortunate enough to play the reverse roll of coach.

Now, as I step away from my position as a teacher and coach, I grow with excitement about getting back into the pattern of training and raceing.  I only began this path a few months before taking this job, and can’t wait to pick it up again. I begin this journey in Flagstaff, AZ where an elevation of 7,000+ feet will help build a solid endurance foundation.  From there, I will head to Asheville, NC where I will live, and train, for three months, competing in USA Downriver Team Trials at the end of March.

One of the most exciting aspects of coming back to raceing is seeing my TeamSOG teammates absolutely rocking the adventure raceing scene!  I think how incredible it is that all of us can come together from our different sports, under a great sponsor, and support each other in the common goal of pushing our minds and body through raceing.

2010 is going to be a great year!  Be sure to check out updates on my blog, SusansEvolution…getting a re-vamp soon!

-Susan