Reno River Festival, 2011

This weekend I competed in The Reno River Festival where I had a great time and I was happy to see all of my friends. I competed in freestyle on Friday and I was 2nd behind Hannah Kertesz, and Emery Tillman was 3rd. It was held in hole 3 on the North Channel but the water was very high so it was flushy. We each had 3 rides and the best ride counted. Even though it was flushy I still was able to get my loop, round house, and spin. For Men’s Freestyle Stephen Wright, Eric Jackson, and Dustin Urban were the top 3. For Women’s Freestyle Ruth Gordan Ebens, Emily Jackson, and Erin Clancy were the top 3.

Saturday was the slalom race and I was 3rd in Women’s open and E.J. was 1st in men’s open. The weather was perfect and the river was even higher making it a challenging course. Thanks for the great course Charlie!
Sunday was boater cross and I made it into the 2nd round where I took a paddle to my face so I finished 4th. As always, I enjoyed meeting people and talking to kids about kayaking throughout the weekend, and the festival was also a great fundraiser for my friend Jason Craig who was injured in a kayaking accident and my friend Daniel and I picked the raffle tickets for great prizes. Here is a link if you would like to donate to his recovery fund.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jason-Craig-Recovery-Fund/202672366427897?ref=ts

Thank you for putting on a great event!

Brush Creek Extreme Slalom Race and Gold Medal Camp, Kernville, CA.

For the 2nd year in a row, My family and I traveled to Kernville, Ca. to compete in the 47th Kern River Festival and 7th (?) annual Brush Creek Extreme Race. We arrived about 2 weeks early so I could attend the Gold Medal Camp put on by former Olympic Gold Medalist Joe Jacobi, former Olympic coach Bob Campbell, US National Jr. Development coach Tom Long, and former National Team members Chad, Kenneth and Anne Long. The weather wasn’t the greatest, (it even snowed!) but the coaching was! I highly recommend this camp to improve your slalom or overall river running skills. Then it was time to put my new skills to work and train for Brush Creek and the Kern River slalom course. Brush Creek was about 3 which is a great flow for the race, and I was the only Jr. girl among the 3 jr. boys that included my friend Daniel who was competing for the first time. Several other Jackson Kayak paddlers were there, including Colin Kemp and Darin McQuid, and fellow Reno paddler Noah Frasier made the journey down as well. I was able to boof over my problem area from last year (Fuzzy Bunny) so I felt very good about my race. Then it was onto the slalom race in downtown Kernville where they just received the permits to build a whitewater park. The water was very high and fast so the course was challenging. I think everyone had a great time! Hopefully next year they also have freestyle in their new whitewater park!

Awesome New Boat Color!

I just received my new Rasta (red, yellow, and green) Shooting Star kid’s playboat and I love it! Jackson Kayak also has Goth available (green, white, and black) as a standard color for boats now. The first thing I did was head down to the Reno Whitewater Park to try it out on a nice, high flow of about 900 cfs. It was super easy to loop and cartwheel. I was also able to try my new orange Lightning Freeride Junior paddle available through Jackson kayak, and it’s awesome! It is very light and easy to get used too.

With a very high snowpack this year, all of California and Nevada’s rivers are running high and will be for sometime, so I am spending lots of time in my Jackson Sidekick too. It is a very stable river runner and creek boat that I have been using since I was 7 and ran most of the rapids on the Grand Canyon in. Mom always said I looked like a weeble that wobbled but wouldn’t fall down! It boofs like a dream, punches holes easily, and pops up from drops like a cork. If you have a child who wants to get into kayaking, this is the perfect boat to start them in!

Right now, I am packing my van to head down to Kernville, Ca. for the Kernriver Festival where I hope to compete in the Brush Creek Race (if it’s not too high!) and slalom race. I will also be doing some fundraising for my friend and teammate Jason Craig, so if you like earrings, look for me!  Then it’s home to prepare for the Reno River Festival! Hope to see you there!

Career Day, Billinghurst Middle School, Reno, NV

Last week I was invited back for a second year to speak to kids about different river careers at Billinghurst Middle School in Reno, NV.  I open my presentation with a kayaking video, then put on an informational slideshow, and  close it with another video of kayaking.  I also like to ask trivia questions to make sure the kids are paying attention, and give out Jackson Kayak Promotional DVD’s for correct answers. It’s amazing how many kids remember how much a topped out Grand Canyon guide can make on a 16 day trip!  After I pass out JK stickers, I invite everyone up to check out the boats and gear. I put on the same presentation 5 times to different groups of kids everytime, so I spoke to over 100 kids!  I know I had fun and I hope all the kids did too.

Sage

My First Personal Descent of the Year!

I learned to loop!

Just click the link below to watch my video!

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My 2010 year end review!

It has been an incredible year for me! I accomplished most of my goals for 2010 including completing my loop and competing in the Junior Olympics where I won 5 gold medals and I became the Cub Cadet National Slalom Champion. I also run more class 4 rivers and worked hard to support American Whitewater and Outdoor Nation as a good ambassador.

2010 Whitewater Accomplishments

Kern River Festival,  1st.  in Jr. Women’s Slalom,  2nd. in Women’s Extreme Creek Race,  2nd.  in Women’s Extreme Slalom Race, 1st. in Women’s Triple Crown

Cache Creek, 1st in Jr. Slalom

Reno River Festival.  2nd. in Jr. Freestyle

Truckee River Race, 1st. in Jr. Slalom

Auburn River Festival, 1st. Jr. Freestyle, 1st. Jr. Slalom

Yampa River Festival, 1st in Jr. open Freestyle, 2nd. in Jr Freestyle,  2nd. in  Jr.  Women’s Slalom

Teva Mountain Games, 12th in Women’s Freestyle, only cadet competitor

Lyons River Festival, 2nd in Cadet Slalom, 2nd in Cadet Freestyle

FibArk River Festival,  1st Cadet.  Freestyle, 1st. Cadet. Slalom

American River Festival, 1st Cadet Freestyle, 1st Cadet Slalom

Mokelumne River Festival, 1st Cadet Down River Race, 1st Cadet Slalom

Age Group National Slalom Championship., 1st Cub-Cadet

Junior Olympics, 5 Gold Medals and 2 first places (non-sanctioned event) in Women’s Cub Cadet Category, 1st. Slalom, 1st. Sprint Slalom, 1st.  Boatercross, 1st. Down River Sprint, 1st. Down River Race, 1st. C2 Slalom, 1st. Freestyle.

I was able to travel all over the nation this year and ran several new class 4 rivers including The Tellico,  Youghiogheny, Cheat, New River, and the Ocoee, as well as the Nantahala and the Potomac rivers in the east, and Pauley Creek, Brush Creek, the Kaweaha, and the  NF of the American, as well as my first over night self support kayak trip on class 4 Deer Creek. in the west.

Off River I spoke to 150 middle school students about river careers on Career Day in Reno, Nv. and to 100 4th and 5th graders in Sacramento, Ca. about getting outside and enjoying the outdoors, but especially kayaking!

Goals for 2011

I hope to continue competing and defend my Jr. Olympic and National titles and learn more freestyle tricks including Cartwheels, Backloops and Spacegodzillas.  I also hope to run as many rivers as possible and be a good ambassador for AW and Outdoor Nation.

Brush Creek Video!

This year I was able to head down to Kernville, Ca and run Brush Creek, a class 4 creek that drops into the Kern River. It has lots of drops and slides, the biggest being a 20 foot waterfall! I had a blast! This is now my new favorite river. I also entered the Brush Creek Triple Crown series where I was the youngest contestant and placed 36th out of 39 on the down river race, 17th in the extreme slalom race and then I was 1st in the standard slalom race and ended up being top female overall! I also was able to qualify for Jr. Olympics at NOC this year and am very excited. Please check out this vidoe of mainly Triple Drop where the extreme slalom race was held. Sage Donnelly – Brush Creek, 2010

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!

Class 4 Chamberlin Falls and Texas slalom training!

Even though it is winter, I haven’t stopped boating. Northerrn Nevada ’s rivers are frozen over, but California rivers are only a few hours away and that’s where I have been going. Chamberlin Falls, a class 4 section of the North Fork of the American River, only runs a few months a year and I have been lucky enough to catch it about 4 times now. My favorite drop is Chamberlin Falls itself (http://www.awetstate.com/NAmericanC.html), Staircase and Bogus Thunder. It is only 5 miles long so we usually run it a few times.  I also took a trip to Texas to the  Olympic Outdoor Center (http://wwwkayakinstruction.org) located on the San Marcos River which is 72 degrees year round. Ben (1996 Olympian) and Michelle Kvanli (2009 women’s national slalom champ) coached me in slalom racing where I was able to win in my first slalom race of the year. I have a few more, but Junior Olympics here I come! If you want to learn to kayak, they have an excellent begginers to advanced program for both whitewater and slalom.  I had even more fun because my friend Henry Hyde, another 9 y/o kayaker, was there, and I met Chelsea Bornemann, a 13 y/o slalom racer, so it was cool to be around other kids. A large group of kids from Colorado were also there for racing and training, and we did the Tube Chutes, a fun water slide next to a dam, and I ran Graduation Falls with Henry and Chelsea, a 15 ft water fall that was lots of fun. I can’t wait to paddle with Ben, Michelle, Henry and Chelsea again because they are such fun and good friends! After we got back from Texas, I was able to paddle with my friend Ria on the Coloma to Greenwood section of the South Fork of the American River. She is only 7 and becoming a great kayaker-she even did her first combat roll when we were on the river! It has been a great 2010 so far and I look forward to more-Peace, Sage

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