Who is Femme 45?

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!

Rarely do extreme adventure competitions save lives.  The Eddyflower Total Vertical Challenge aims to change this standard.

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.

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.”