Chile is known for its world renowned whitewater. Being about 2,700 miles long, and on average 109 miles wide with the Andes Mountains forming the eastern border, the concentration of runnable rivers and waterfalls is unrivaled. This year Chile saw a huge influx of kayakers looking to enjoy what the country has to offer. Volcanoes are almost always looming over the rivers and towns as a constant reminder that the rapids are waiting. The Pilot Collective crew was fortunate enough to be in Chile for five weeks this winter. We hit such classic runs as the Rio Claro, in Northern Chile, to the numerous famous runs in the Pucon area, as well as some of the late season creeks further south.
Mud Season is arriving to New England early this year. Unusually warm weather has brought wet snow and rain to the area. Most of the mountain creeks are still under feet of ice, but my local backyard run, the Mascoma, is running. The Downtown Hair section is walking distance from my house and flows through downtown Lebanon. The 180 foot per mile stretch is only a third of a mile long, so I usually do 4 laps. Richard Sealey took these photos of me boofing through Leroy Browns, the second drop. They made it into the Valley News, our local daily paper.
Pucon was definitely a hot spot for kayakers this year. With countless class 5 runs and clean waterfalls within half an hour of downtown Pucon its easy to understand why. I was fortunate enough to be in chile for 5 weeks this year and spent about 3 or so of those weeks based out of Pucon. Here are some photos from the waterfall paradise of Pucon.
The Rio Claro in Northern Chile is just simply amazing. The run is close to Santiago making it the perfect first day run for our Chile trip. Most know it for the famed 7 teacups, but upstream are some of the most amazing gorges and still more insanely perfect waterfalls to be run. We got the Claro in early January so the water was starting to get low, but we were able to do all the sections, 22 Saltos, Entre Saltos, and the Siete Tazas. There isn’t else much to say about the Claro other than it is beautiful and clean. I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking.
