No offseason for these Colorado Springs kayakers: Winter key for skills, camaraderie
It was a strange sight on what was a record cold day in Colorado Springs: close to 20 people unloading kayaks from their Suburus and trucks.
“We wanna get in the water!” remarked Kurt Schroeder.
No, the water was not out in the frigid cold. Nonetheless, here in the dead of winter, Schroeder and fellow members of Pikes Peak Whitewater Club were, indeed, dreaming of rivers — dreaming of the warm, sunny days when all of that snow dumping across Colorado’s Rockies would melt to send water rushing.
As for now, they’d settle for the pool inside Cheyenne Mountain High School.
On Sundays throughout winter, this is where a niche, kayaking-crazed bunch meets to paddle in the only nearby water available to them and work on the crucial skill of rolling.
A kayak enthusiast practices a move at the Cheyenne Mountain High School pool on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. The pool offers training opportunities for the Pikes Peak Whitewater Club in the winter.
When the season turns and Pikes Peak Whitewater Club members return to their beloved rivers, a time may come when a rapid or rock capsizes their boats. That’s when they’ll be glad they spent the winter practicing how to turn themselves upright out of the water, with or without a paddle.
It’s a skill requiring more finesse than strength, said Rick Dukes — and lots of practice. He would know as one of Pikes Peak Whitewater Club’s first members, going back to the 1970s.
“You know how good golfers can lose their swing and they fight to bring it back?” Dukes said. “Rolling is the same kind of thing. It’s physical, but it’s also mental. It’s sensitive to bad habits.”
And, obviously, “it’s really critical,” Schroeder said. “If you’re down in the river, that’s gonna save you.”
He’s here at the pool to paddle with friends and help others learn. A familiar name for his long leadership in Colorado Springs’ parks department, Schroeder is spending retirement helping the club that helped him fall in love with kayaking back in the 1990s. It’s done that for countless others over the decades.
Training and first-timer education are as central to Pikes Peak Whitewater Club’s mission as the thrill and camaraderie that comes from group trips through the warm months. Reads the club’s website: “We want to foster an enthusiastic group of paddlers and be the place to meet others who enjoy kayaking.”
In a city lacking whitewater or any running water fit for paddling — “the ‘hometown’ run is the Royal Gorge,” one observes — that mission has a kind of urgency.
Dan Chabot teaches a class of novice kayakers before they enter the water at the Cheyenne Mountain High School pool on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)
It’s no wonder why Pikes Peak Whitewater Club in recent years has tuned into talks about reimagining Monument and Fountain creeks for potential recreation. The more exposure to kayaking, the more interest will grow, members here say.
And the more chances for adventures afield, said Aimee Saint Andre, a past president of the club.
“Kayaking is a team sport, and you do rely on having a crew to go out with,” she said. “When you can have a bigger community to go, there’s more opportunity to get out there.”
It’s a common refrain among the club: kayaking as a team sport, however individualistic it may appear.
“It’s what I always tell beginners,” Schroeder said. “You’re there to help somebody if they need help, and they’re there to help you if you need help.”
People practice lending a hand in the pool. People cheer at impressive rolls and maneuvers. The scene goes to show the benefits of joining and being involved, said member and instructor Dan Chabot.
One might buy a kayak and practice alone on a lake before trying a river. Chabot has known people to get scared off that way. “If it’s not a positive experience, they’re not gonna stick with it,” he said.
A kayak enthusiast practices at the Cheyenne Mountain High School pool on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)
Or one might hire a private instructor. That’s fine, Chabot said. “But the problem with that is you’re not meeting other boaters.”
That’s been the purpose of Pikes Peak Whitewater Club since the beginning. It started in the mid-’70s with a “charismatic leader,” Dukes recalled.
That was a local schoolteacher, Doug Wheat, who wrote “Floater’s Guide to Colorado,” among other books on the state’s beauty. Dukes remembered Wheat outfitting curious kayakers out of a green bus. During pool sessions, Dukes said, “he would come in his cowboy boots and cowboy hat and talk about some exotic river trip he had just been on.”
The small group would listen up. The 1972 Olympics had introduced slalom racing in a boat, and Dukes was among those inspired. “Everybody was really enthusiastic about learning a sport that they knew nothing about,” he said.
While Dukes has watched kayaking hit the mainstream abroad, the growth in interest around Colorado Springs seems to him “steady,” judging from Pikes Peak Whitewater Club numbers. The club has counted annual membership between 60 and 80.
The sport’s cost is a barrier to entry, Saint Andre said, also noting that lack of local exposure and a necessary will. “The willingness to throw yourself upside down in a boat,” she said.
To kayak is to roll. Winter’s pool sessions are far from the most exciting and scenic dates on the club’s calendar, but they are among the most important, Dukes said.
Commitment is important, he said. “Summer seems so far away. But by the time the weather changes and the rivers come up, it’s almost too late to get that practice you need to get comfortable in the boat.”
Comfortable for the gentle flows and waves that are next for beginners out of the pool. Schroeder has often led trips to a Salida stretch that comes with a surprise feature.
“It’s a blind drop,” he said. “To see the beginners go down through their first blind drop … it’s that grin ear to ear.”
Pikes Peak Whitewater Club kayaks in Cheyenne Mountain High School’s pool on Sundays through winter before spring and summer outings. For more information, go to pikespeakwhitewaterclub.com.
Jack Gubler helps instruct new kayak enthusiast Luke McFerrin on how to roll his kayak at the Cheyenne Mountain High School pool last month.
Kristin McFerrin and Shawn Dieckman get ready to enter the water for the first time of kayaking at the Cheyenne Mountain High School pool on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)
A kayak enthusiast practices a move at the Cheyenne Mountain High School pool on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)
Kristin McFerrin practices releasing herself from her kayaking while rolling at the Cheyenne Mountain High School pool on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)