Career Day 2010!

I was asked to speak at Career Day at Billinghurst Middle School in Reno, NV, by my friend and fellow paddler School Counselor Val Licon. My job was to talk about different jobs you can have on the river. My friends Colin Kemp, Hilde Schweitzer and Darin McQuoid all helped me by giving me information on different kinds of river jobs including raft guides, kayak instructors, store owner/managers and photographers/cinematographers. I spoke to over 150 kids between 6th and 8th grade. I made a slide show/video show to show the kids as well as brought in a few kayaks for the kids to sit in and then passed out Jackson Kayak stickers at the end. I think it went very well and I hope all the kids enjoyed the presentation!

Climbing Snake Dike in Yosemite

snake dike

Click on the link to see the climb!

In October I made the decision to climb a 5.7 route up Half Dome called Snake Dike. It is an 8 pitch climb with a final hike up to the top of Half Dome and it is estimated to take about 4 hours to hike up to, 4 to climb, and another 4 to hike out.  We started out by waking up at 2:30 am and leaving by 3:30 to start hiking up, My Dad, our friend Brett and my Mom all started the hike, but my Mom turned around after a few hours so she could take care of the dogs in our van. She carried extra food and water and my pack to Nevada Falls and then my dad carried my pack. We got a little lost on our hike and didn’t get to the base of the climb until 10 am, and there were 8 people getting ready to climb it ahead of us! We managed to finally get on the rock at 12 and started climbing. It took a long time because we kept catching up to the climbers ahead of us and having to wait until they cleared the route, but the views were incredible!  We didn’t get to the top of Half Dome until about 7″30 pm and took a break to take our harnesses off and eat a little food. Dad called Mom and she started hiking up again with extra water and sleeping bags just in case we bonked on the way down. I have to admit I was pretty tired and Dad actually carried me for about an hour on the hike down. We met up with Mom at about 11:30 pm and still had to hike down Vernal Falls. We didn’t get back to camp until 1 am and Mom made some lentil soup and then we all crashed!  We woke up the next morning at about 8 and were refreshed and happy, but we had to pack up camp and leave. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to go back! While in Yosemite, I also saw a bear, a bobcat and a California King Snake. I also got to meet one of the worlds greatest climbers- Ron Kauk! I watched a movie he was in and bought his book and he signed it for me and told me to email him so we could climb. It was super cool!

Filming action TV and Lobin Run on the Feather

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbing in Clark’s Canyon by Mammoth

 

I spent the last few days in one of my favorite sport climbing area, Clark’s Canyon by Mammoth, Ca.  We met our friends Cullen and Melissa Jones and their 3 week old baby boy Cavery for a great day of climbing.  My favorite climb was “No More Mr. Nice Guys.” It was a 5.8 70 meter climb that I could be lowered off, but my Dad had to rappel to a second set of bolts to lower himself all the way down.  It was a lot of fun hanging out in the shady rocks and climbing the mostly short routes. It was also super cool our friends brought their little baby out to enjoy the air while they took turns climbing.  I can’t wait to go again!

Perfect weekend, kayaking the American and Climbing at Phantom Spires

I had a perfect weekend!  I spent Saturday kayaking Chili Bar on the American and had a blast surfing Maya, then on Sunday I spent the day climbing at Phantom Spires by Kyburz, Ca.  I love this area because the hike in is short and the climbing is great.  I climbed my favorite lie back and Mom and Dad played a lot on a 5.10b crack.  We also had a lot of inter-action with a rattle snake that was sunning itself along our route.  I named him fatty because he was the fattest snake I’ve ever seen!

Truckee River Foundation Kids Safety Fair

Truckee River Safety Fair, 2009

We just wrapped up another successful safety fair sponsored by the Truckee River Foundation and I was lucky enough to help! We had about 120 kids from the ages of 4 to 14 show up to get a free helmet, pfd and water shoes and learn how to safely float through the rapids on a river. The most important thing I learned was to never dive head first into a river because you can not see the bottom, and always make sure someone has an eye on you. All the kids separated into age groups and I helped out with the little kids, which was mostly teaching the parents about water safety, and that most drownings happen in the presents of an adult. After each class, the kids received a free t-shirt and ice cream and then decorated their helmets at a station set up by the girl scouts. Some of the designs were super neat. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped!

Peace,

Sage Donnelly

 

I just got back from my whirlwind 7 week tour of whitewater competitions in Colorado and I had a blast! 

 

 This month has been very busy for me.  It started out with the Truckee River Races in Reno, Nevada where I ran the Downriver Race on Saturday and the Slalom Races on Sunday.  I placed first in both of the races and qualified to compete in the Junior Olympics as a Cub Cadet this summer in Canada!  It was also the first time I paddled my new fiberglass slalom boat.  It is super fast and fun to race in- and it’s orange!

After the races we packed our van and drove to Colorado for several weeks of kayaking on rivers and competing in rodeos, clinics and races all over the state.  We started out at Glenwood Springs where the river was running about 15,0000 cfs, way bigger than I’m used to seeing rivers flow, and surfers on surfboards were riding it like they do in the ocean.  It took a lot of tries but I finally caught the wave!  Team Trials were held here and I was the only female cadet who competed.  I was able to catch the wave and front surf it but it was super flushy and I had a hard time staying on it After team trials , we drove to Buena Vista on the Arkansas River where I helped teach a kids clinic with Dane Jackson and Lauren Buress.  It was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time playing Red Rover and chase around the pond.  After the clinic My family and I ran Browns Canyon and the Fractions on the Arkansas River. It was a blast! We then hit the Golden Community Rodeo where, as usual, I was the only girl in the cadets and I placed 4th over all.

 

After Golden we hit the Buena Vista whitewater park and ran the Numbers section of the Arkansas River.  It is a solid class 4 section and I ran it with my Mom and Dad, fellow Team Jackson members Devon Barker and Alec Vorhees and Devon’s friends Kat and her husband David.  The Numbers was super fun and it was the first class 4 I ran in my Shooting Star.  To top it off, I only had 2 braces the whole run!

 

 

Our next stop was the Lyons Outdoor Games where they have a large cadet competition on the South St. Vrain creek.  It attracted a lot of participants, including fellow Reno paddler Trevor LeMay!  There were 14 kids total in the cadet rodeo and, as usual, I was the only girl and there was only one other 8 year old, my friend Henry Hyde from Texas.  It was a tough competition and I was second, with fellow Jackson team mate Alec Voorhees taking first.  After the rodeo, I ran the slalom race and placed second in Jr. girls behind fellow Jackson paddler Lauren Buress.  I had a blast!

 

 

After Lyons it was off to Fibark for another rodeo with a large junior class.  There were 4 of us under 10 so they broke the results down and made a cadet class where I placed second again, and then I raced in the Slalom races where I once again placed second to my friend Lauren Buress.

 

Our final destination was the Gunnison River Festival in Gunnison, Colorado.  The wave there was huge  and I managed a few practice runs, but was super happy to find out the cadet rodeo was on a much smaller wave.  I met Evan and Anna Schehrer and we had a great time competing.  I was able to stay on the wave the entire 45 seconds and did spins and shuvits on each side-I had a ball!  I managed to get my 1st first and also competed against my first girl ever!  Hopefully other girls decide to compete and we can get our own cadet girls class!

 

 

Back in Carson City now where the only rivers running are American Whitewater scheduled releases.  Lots of fun still to be had and lots of rivers/races/rodeos still to be run!  

 

Peace,

Sage

American with the Girls

This week  I got to kayak the Chili Bar section of the South Fork of the American river with some of the greatest kayakers in the world!  My coach, world champ and Canadian champ Ruth Gordon, Australian champ Tonya Faux, my mom and dad, mom’s cousin Jessica, our friends Shelby and Brett and Ruth’s boyfriend Toby who was trying his shoulder out after surgery.  It was incredible watching Ruth and Tonya play at Maya and First Threat but the highlight was acing Trouble Maker with everyone watching me-Tonya even told me it was awesome!  One of the best parts too was the fact that we had more women paddling then men in our group.  That doesn’t happen very often.  See you on the river

Climbing in Yosemite

This weekend I went rock climbing with my family in Yosemite Valley.  There were a lot of people in our group, but only a few climbers.  I climbed my favorite route, Munginella, a 5.6, and Sunnyside Bench, both multi-pitch climbs, as well as several Swan Slab routes including Claude’s Delight, a 5.7.  This is now one of my favorite route. While we were climbing on Sunnyside Bench, we heard a rockslide and could see the dust by Curry Village.  It was really loud.  We found out no one was hurt, but the next morning while we were still in bed, we heard another rockslide and my Dad got up and rode his bike over to Curry Village to see if our friends were ok, they had mentioned they were going to take a shower early in the morning.  They were in the showers when the slide happened, and when rocks and broken trees hit the showers, they all ran out.  A few people were hit by small rocks and injured, including one kid with blood all over his head, but it was just a cut.  Several tents and cabins were destroyed by the rockslide.  The next day it was very cold and even snowed on the valley floor.  We had to leave the next day, and drive the long way because Tioga Pass was closed.  It was really icy by Kirkwood and there was one car accident there, but we got home safe so we could go to the diabetes walk on Sunday.

Jackson Kayak Profile and Local News Video

• Jackson Kayaks Regional Team Profile
• “7-year-old Girl A Kayaking Phenom”