Kayak Combat Roll Success!

We all remember our first.

I found success with my combat roll on Slippery Rock Creek in Pennsylvania on The Mile. I took the wrong line on Nemesis rapid at a paltry 0.5 feet depth on the river gauge, and I flipped. It just happened to be my personal first descent. I paddled it again a few months later at about 1 feet, hit the right line and paddled away upright and smiling.

Post by Matt Jackson.

The next time we ran it the river had dropped again to about 0.7 feet. A low-stress paddle, I thought. Lightning struck twice. Not thinking, I ran the wrong line again, missed the boof and went straight into the hole and got flipped upside down. The video above is proof that even the meekest of paddlers can find success with their river roll.

Like anything else, practice makes perfect. I probably put in 10 hours of flat water roll practice to get that one roll right when it counted. So if you're struggling with your roll, keep at it. You will find success.

The Swim

This unnamed hole got the better of me on a cold March day.

Eventually, everyone swims.

The fortunate, or maybe the good, roll.

My last real swim came before my first-ever combat roll. The water was cold -- 39 degrees Fahrenheit -- and the air was only slightly warmer. I was in a play boat I wasn't ready for and on the high end of the recommended max weight. But I had just run the same, tame stretch of river a week before at a depth of only 1 foot lower.

The shock of the cold stunned me, and I didn't even try to set up. I just pulled my skirt, kicked free and swam for an eddy. Grumbling at my own foolhardiness, I ran down the bank chasing my upside-down boat.

Fortunately, I wasn't paddling alone and had a good buddy who helped chase down my boat, which had become pinned against a concrete bridge abutment in the middle of an icy Cuyahoga River running strong at over 1,500 cfs. After about two hours, we managed to wrangle my boat free. I had only lost my $150 whitewater paddle and a pair of water shoes, sucked off and swept down river by the current.

Everyone swims. The point is, get back in your boat and paddle again. Learn your lessons and improve upon your weaknesses. Since then, I've practically mastered my roll, hit my first two combat rolls and upgraded to a boat more my size and capabilities.

We all make mistakes. The best of us learn from them.