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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