All the best paddlers know that winter boating is well worth the cold water, if only for one major reason – creeking season! Prepare to join the ranks and clean up your skills this weekend with ACA certified kayak and swift water safety instructor Dave Kessmann at his Creeking Clinic this Saturday, January 17, on the Maury River. 
Dave Kessmann is an American Canoe Association (ACA) certified instructor in both Kayaking and Swift Water Rescue. With more than ten years of paddlesports education, he now bases his work out of Lynchburg, Va., and offers courses all throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
This particular course will focus on the skills and safety measures involved in intermediate and advanced creekboating. The Goshen Pass piece of the Maury River is a classic run for local boaters, and features some of the best Class III and IV creeking in the region. Kessmann will lead boaters down the relatively short 5-mile section, stopping often to share his insights on the surrounding water features and to teach important creeking lessons – including boofing, paddle technique, eddy-catching, scouting, and refined boat control. However, the quality of kayaking on Goshen Pass depends entirely on the water level of the river from rainfall and snowmelt. If Kessmann determines the pass to be unrunnable, he will move the class to the Upper Meadow River in West Virginia, another Class III-IV creeking option.
Interested paddlers should contact Kessman via his Facebook page or email at [email protected] for more information and to register for the course. Everyone will need all of their own whitewater equipment and should prepare for cold temperatures with proper layers and drygear. This is not a beginner course, so be prepared for a fun but challenging event! A day on the river with Dave Kessmann will not only leave you exhausted and smiling, but also full to the brim with unmatched creeking experiences and skills for your whitewater future.
