Forthcoming books:
The Stikine
By Doug Ammons
This winter Water Nymph Press
will publish its second book, on the legendary Grand Canyon
of the Stikine
River in northern Canada. For at least three generations of river
runners, the descent of this 60 mile stretch has been a major objective and the
whitewater equivalent of climbing one of the major Himalayan peaks. It has been
described by long time expedition kayaker Phil DeReimer as “the ultimate test piece,” and by Rob Lesser,
who did the first descent and is probably the greatest expedition paddler in the history of the sport, as “the purest of
river expeditions.”
The first section of the book
recounts the history of the early attempts to run the Canyon’s whitewater. A set of excellent, high quality photos shows
the kayakers who took part in the various attempts to
open up this run, and most of all, the beauty of the deep, threatening gorge
and its impressive whitewater. The
middle section is the story of my solo descent of the canyon in 1992. I’ve avoided talking in public about this
for the last 13 years, because the experience was so intensely private, and
there are some things that just take time to understand. To the best of my ability, I tried to do the hardest
thing I could conceive of, in the purest style possible. In the epilogue of the book I talk about the
commonalities between those who seek the ultimate challenges in any sport and
the possibilities that every one of us hold inside.
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Whitewater Philosophy
By Doug Ammons
This is a book containing over 30 articles, essays, and columns about rivers and whitewater kayaking. Any river runner or water person will find these thought-provoking and enlightening, no matter what his or her level, and no matter what kind of kayaking, rafting, or canoeing they do.
The topics run the full range and types of paddling – from “Begininer’s Mind” or “A little lesson in the gray zone” to the extreme outer limits of the sport. There are great stories about the balanced calm necessary to paddle frenetic class VI+ as well as gentle encounters with river otters. The essays take up different themes – the joys and subtleties of flowing water, to injuries, deaths, parallels between serious kayaking and the martial arts, solo paddling, and much more - all with Doug’s signature fluid ideas. About half of the pieces have been published, but the others have only been seen in draft form by a small group of his friends. Doug has been called “The philosopher” and “Yoda” by his partners. He has done dozens of first descents, and been at the forefront of expedition kayaking for two decades. He also has done numerous mind-bending solo descents; among them are solos of the Grand Canyon of the Stikine and Devil’s Canyon of the Susitna, which are known as some of the hardest and most committing runs ever done in the history of the sport. A trip down any river with him will change forever the way you look at flowing water. The next best thing is reading this book.