Gore Season, yeah baby...

Well its that time of year again, Gore season is upon us and while it looks like the official Gorefest will not be happening this year I'm still amped to get some more days in on this Colorado classic. Some people have disputed the difficulty of Gore but for aspiring class V boaters its a must do and for the seasoned veterans I head this peace of advice, when you starting disrespecting this gem hold on tight cause your about to get handed and I speak from experience on that one.

Some might say the 45 minute paddle in is tedious and takes away from the run but I actually enjoy it. Its a good time to just sit back, enjoy the scenery, visit with old friends, meet new ones, and just reflect on the last few months filled with crazy adventures and good times.

The classic slide put-in

After reaching the mouth of the canyon, gearing up, and paddling a few entrance/warm-up rapids one finds them self at Gore rapid. There are four primary lines through Gore those being; the sneak, the meat, the professor, and left left. All those lines are primarily related to how you enter this classic and after entering there are many ways to finish but your primary goal is to avoid a particularly sticky hydraulic named Ginger and generally just try to stay upright through the bottom (an ice cream debt can be costly during Gore season). The strength and trashiness of Ginger should not be underestimated. I personally have surfed it twice resulting in my paddle breaking on my face, a rough swim, and seven stitches below my cheekbone and the second time my skirt imploded which luckily pushed me out of the hole and I was able to ride things out to an eddy below.

Here's Glenn styling left left

Ginger is the hole imediately to Glenn's right

Class in session - Joe Keck showing us the professor

After a handful of more great rapids Tunnel comes up right below a RR tunnel into the mountain. There are a handful of lines on Tunnel but things are much simpler than at Gore. The meat line is by far the most common but there is a playboat sneak around the left and a creeky slot on the right. My preferred line at tunnel is the meat line as if you line up correctly and place a well timed boof stroke you'll be rewarded with some sweet airtime hopefully within full view of you paddling bros.


Joe Keck - getting it done

Well there it is and while I'm leaving out some great rapids you get the jist and heck the rookies can't get all the beta. If you show up to the unofficial Gorefest this year please be respectful of the BLM, the RR company and other boaters but don't forget to have a great time.