The river guiding and river running world are sometimes perceived as idyllic and welcoming. When is it something different? Our guest today is an openly gay man, and he share’s his story of working as a river guide and guide company manager for the past decade and how some of that is idyllic, and other parts are full of discrimination. SPONSORS Denver Area Nissan Dealers @nissanusa www.nissanusa.com AED ONE STOP SHOP Volume and Outfitter Discounts THE RIVER RADIUS Website Runoff signup (episode ...
Feb 06, 2024•51 min•Ep. 85
The Mountain Hydrology Lab at West Virginia University has defined the density of whitewater river runs in the United States and cross referenced this data with how climate change will alter those flows, and how changes in river flows, to include low flows and floods, will impact the people living along those rivers. This episode talks at length with the Director of the Mountain Hydrology Lab, who is also a stout river kayaker, Associate Professor Nicolas Zegre about this work his students are d...
Jan 23, 2024•57 min•Ep. 84
In the first episode of 2024, a commercial river guide tells his story of having a massive heart attack while guiding a trip in May of 2023 on the South Fork of the American River in California. This episode is recorded with an audience of river guides and outfitters. Beyond the story is the question of the role of AEDs in commercial river guiding. SPONSORS AED One-Stop Shop Bulk Order Discount Covered With Carrie website CONFERENCE American Outdoors Association Instagram THE RIVER RADIUS Websit...
Jan 09, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 83
There are numerous authors and media professionals doing work to explore river topics. To close out the 2023 river and podcast year, this episode hosts two of the best. Heather Hansman is an author writing books and magazine articles. Teal Lehto, a.k.a., “Western Water Girl” is a social media content creator. We talk through their respective crafts, leadership in river conservation and trending topics. SPONSORS Covered with Carrie Denver Area Nissan Dealers Instagram GUESTS Heather Hansman Websi...
Dec 13, 2023•56 min•Ep. 82
The Klamath River 2nd episode. In the Spring of 2025, a group of teenagers from several Tribal Nations of the Klamath River Basin and greater region will descend the newly undammed Klamath River from source to sea. These teens began learning how to kayak in 2022 and 2023, began learning about river policy and fish science, and are bringing their family stories to the river with them. In the summer of 2023 The River Radius spent a week with these young paddlers on the water and on the microphone ...
Dec 05, 2023•47 min•Ep. 81
After 100 years of dams stagnating the flows of the Klamath River and killing the Salmon runs, a group of teenagers from the tribal nations of the Klamath Basin will paddle the Klamath from source to sea to usher in the post-dam Klamath. In this 1st of 2 episodes on the topic, the founders of Rios to Rivers & Paddle Tribal Waters explain how their own paddle experiences and time travel, brought the inception of this powerful passage. SPONSORS NRS @nrsweb Mighty Arrow Foundation Virga Foundat...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 80
Payson Kennedy at 39 was a career academic, and with his wife Aurelia had four kids, a house, and two cars in Atlanta. After working on the stunt team for the film Deliverance in 1971 and a summer running a raft company, he and his wife decided to leave it all behind and with a good friend, started the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Today, 50 years later, the Nantahala Outdoor Center is one of the most important and successful river guide operations and instruction schools in the river world. SPONSOR...
Nov 08, 2023•56 min•Ep. 79
Our 3rd Annual episode of "What is a River" comes to you from a plane flying above the flooded Yampa River Valley in northwest Colorado. In May 2023, River Radius host Sam Carter joined two geomorphologists and a hometown river guide to fly above the Yampa River when it peaked at 20,000 cfs. This flight and episode learns about the deep value of an un-dammed, free flowing river spreading its waters across the flood plains and pounding down deep sandstone canyons. EPISODE IMAGE Kent Vertrees @pow...
Oct 25, 2023•53 min•Ep. 78
The Native Teen Guide in Training Program held its 12th year of training teenagers from various tribal nations how to work as river guides. This year was the first year that the guide staff for this program was all Indigenous. The River Radius joined the NTGIT program at the boat ramp, campground and river warehouse to hear this story. SPONSORS NRS Website LEAD Program PFDs NRS Duct Tape Diaries Instagram Denver Area Nissan Dealers Instagram Nissan USA Instagram Nissan Worldwide GUESTS Native Te...
Oct 11, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 77
SPONSORS Denver Area Nissan Dealers Instagram Over It Raft Covers Instagram Promo Code (free shipping): riverradius GUESTS Scott Armstrong with All Outdoors Scott Underwood with Mother Lode River Center Jann Dorman Ron Stork Keiko Mertz Stan Dodson Amy Stroud Colton Johnson Tim Lasko Friends of the River EPISODE CONTENT RESOURCES The Last River Lost Episode Restoring the Stanislaus River Cadillac Desert THE RIVER RADIUS Website Runoff signup (episode newsletter) Instagram Facebook Apple Podcast ...
Sep 19, 2023•51 min•Ep. 76
SPONSORS Denver Area Nissan Dealers Instagram Over It Raft Covers Instagram Promo Code (free shipping): riverradius GUESTS David Brown Book for sale Book on Facebook: The Whitewater Wars American Whitewater 40th Gauley Fest Instagram Facebook Animal Upper Gauley Race Ace Adventure Resort Dylan Pennick River Company Outfitters Instagram Tik Tok River Company Outfitter's: My Favorite River Podcast with David Brown Paddle West Virginia Shirt OTHER INFO Gauley River Gauley River National Recreation ...
Sep 12, 2023•59 min•Ep. 75
EPISODE SPONSORS Over It Raft Covers Promo Code: riverradius Wholesum Promo Code: riverradius GUESTS Mark Dubois Kevin Wolf RESOURCES The Stanislaus River Archive Restoring the Stanislaus River Tim Palmer Tim Palmer’s book: Stanislaus: the Struggle for a River Friends of the River Episode Cover Photo by Tim Palmer from the Stanislaus River Archive PICTURES OF ITEMS MENTIONED IN EPISODE Shark's Mouth Proposition 17 Chainings THE RIVER RADIUS Website Runoff signup (episode newsletter) Instagram Fa...
Aug 22, 2023•53 min•Ep. 74
The South Platte River runs right through downtown Denver and as you might imagine, this river catches a lot of trash. There are hordes of people who clean this river several times a year and have been doing so for 17 years. Today this clean up is led by Protect Our Rivers, and the South Platte is lined up for a $350 million dollar upgrade. This is a story of urban river people and the river they love. SPONSORS Denver Area Nissan Dealers Wholesum Promo Code: riverradius GUESTS Protect Our Rivers...
Aug 09, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 73
Have been using a groover this summer? Have you cleaned one....or need to clean one? This episode is a Re-issue of our "History of the Groover" episode from 2021. For many overnight river trips, the groover has become as common a tool as the PFD. Where did this groover come from, and why is a portable river toilet called a groover. This episode finds the people who were there 50 years ago when the need for the groover emerged, and when the groover itself was created. EPISODE SPONSORS Selway Fabr...
Jul 18, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 72
While many river runners see Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam as the leading threat to the Colorado River overall and to the Grand Canyon, there is a voice that wants to keep Lake Powell in place and full of water. To understand this viewpoint and reasoning, this episode explores this topic with the BlueRibbon Coalition and Powellheadz. This episode is the companion to our recent publication of “Glen Canyon is Again Being Submerged Under Lake Powell.” EPISODE SPONSORS Denver Area Nissan Dealers W...
Jul 11, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 71
Is there a relationship between forest fire scars, floods and debris flows? This episode will explore landscapes denuded by fire and these massive storms creating floods in the fire scar zone. Is this a normal pattern? A new pattern? Coincidence? And how does understanding this correlation further our relationship with these changing landscapes? This episode explores these questions and more through the tools of western science, personal narrative, and traditional ecological knowledge. SPONSORS ...
Jun 27, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 70
Glen Canyon was home to the flowing Colorado River until 1963 when Glen Canyon Dam closed its gates creating Lake Powell. Over the past few years, water in Powell has dropped to levels not seen since the 1960s. The River Radius went onto Lake Powell and up into the canyons to see what has returned in these canyons as they restore to their pre Powell eco-systems and to ask the questions of what is next for Powell and Glen Canyon. Guests are the Glen Canyon Institute and Eric Balken. SPONSORS Denv...
Jun 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 69
An exploration of unions in river guiding. Why aren’t they common? Why do some guides want them? A guide forms a union. One outfitter assesses the viability of unions on multi-day rivers. A guide turned outfitter on the Ocoee River provides healthcare to her guides. A boater turned insurance agent teaches provides healthcare insurance to river guides. EPISODE SPONSORS: Nissan Denver Area @nissanusa Dolores Area Businesses High Desert Life Outdoors @highdesert.life Dolores Outfitters @doloresoutf...
May 30, 2023•51 min•Ep. 68
As spring melt begins to fill rivers in the Western United States, the anticipation is high for big water runoff this season because of the long snowy winter. The River Forecast Centers of the National Weather Service provide forecasting for river flows across the country. This episode talks with the 3 of the Western Forecast Centers to learn about the snowpack and the coming river flows for spring of 2023. EPISODE CONTENT LINKS 13 River Forecast Centers Colorado River Basin Forecast Center Cali...
May 11, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 67
Every year since 1984, American Rivers has released a report called America's Most Endangered Rivers. To be highlighted by this report, rivers must have significance to human and natural communities, face consequential threat, and have an upcoming major decision that the public can help influence. This episode is an interview with Sinjin Eberle and Amy Souers Kober on what makes this report an effective river conservation tool, the most endangered rivers of 2023, and tangible actions that we as ...
Apr 18, 2023•56 min•Ep. 66
American Rivers celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year. Founded in 1973, American Rivers is a national level river conservation organization. To understand how they see the future of rivers, we interviewed their Executive Director to hear his story and what American Rivers is focusing on in the next few decades. ADVERTISING SPONSORS NISSAN DENVER AREA DEALERS DOWN RIVER EQUIPMENT RAFTOPIA AT DOWNRIVER EQUIPMENT GUESTS TOM KIERNAN AMERICAN RIVERS AMERICAN RIVERS MEMBERSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT INSTA...
Mar 28, 2023•43 min•Ep. 65
River corridors are the conduits of water and beauty. And so many of us treasure our time there. How do we best leave it untrammeled? Two experts on River Leave No Trace (LNT) join me to talk through the LNT philosophy. ADVERTISING SPONSORS American Whitewater Instagram Down River Equipment Instagram Raftopia at Down River Equipment GUESTS Colter Pence Wilderness, Wild & Scenic Rivers, and Trails Program Manager Flathead National Forest Hungry Horse - Glacier View Ranger District MacKenzie H...
Mar 21, 2023•48 min•Ep. 64
Is it true that lightning can’t strike in the Grand Canyon? How far can lightning travel through water? If it does strike, where is the safest place to be? This episode explores lightning from scientific and risk management perspectives. Grounding theory through personal narratives and best practices, this episode is a tool for any river runner’s stormy trips. ADVERTISING SPONSORS American Whitewater Down River Equipment Raftopia at Down River Equipment GUESTS LAURA HARRIS JOHN BELZ, UNIVERSITY ...
Mar 14, 2023•58 min•Ep. 63
Running waterfalls in rafts is not overly common, but some rafters do it. Tony Glassman and his river crew built a film about running waterfalls that eventually lead to people following their lead, but not following their path of gaining experience and skills. Tony explains the layers of training and safety and experience and communication that he and his river crew have worked through to become competent waterfall running rafters. ADVERTISING SPONSORS Down River Equipment Company Instagram Amer...
Mar 07, 2023•56 min•Ep. 62
River Guides have a great life working on rivers, guiding people down fun and beautiful rivers. But what makes that life hard? How do River Guides deal with stress? Responder Alliance is building tools for River Guides and OARS, an outfitter, is putting the tools to work with their River Guides. GUESTS Brooke Edwards Responder Alliance Instagram Courses Promo Code for courses: riverradius OARS Instagram Bruce Lavoie ENDLESS SUMMER EPISODES ADVERTISING SPONSOR Jack's Plastic Welding Instagram THE...
Mar 02, 2023•49 min•Ep. 61
Hayley Stuart learned to kayak while attending an international traveling high school. Today she works with indigenous river communities in South America to prevent dams from changing their rivers into reservoirs. She is teaching these river communities to kayak, building films about this work, attends the United Nations COP meetings as a linguistics translator working to UnDam the UN, and recently earned a Masters from Oxford University in water science, policy and management. ADVERTS Jack's Pl...
Jan 31, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 60
American Whitewater is one of the oldest whitewater clubs in the United States, has become the club of clubs and is a modern leader in access to whitewater rivers and river conservation. Recently the leadership at American Whitewater shifted as Mark Singleton stepped down after 18 years, and Clinton Begley became the Executive Director. We talk with both Mark and Clinton to learn about AW, their history and their future. ADVERTISING SPONSOR Jack's Plastic Welding Website and link to "Discounted"...
Jan 10, 2023•50 min•Ep. 59
In September of 2020 at Kanawha Falls in West Virginia, a river rescue at midnight occurred and was given an award and labeled the “Midnight Miracle.” A group of 13 kayakers and rafters responded late that night to a facebook post about a lone kayak floating at the falls. At the 2 year anniversary of the rescue, we went with the rescued kayaker when he ran the falls again for the first time since his rescue. He and the rescue crew tell the story. ADVERTISING SPONSORS Jack's Plastic Welding Denve...
Dec 27, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 58
Source to Sea expeditions come with a myriad of missions. This episode explores how to leverage source to sea river expeditions for conservation. Source to Sea expert Danielle Katz breaks down the types of impacts that source to sea expeditions can have, how long expeditions take to plan, and what this kind of undertaking demands from a team. ADVERTISING SPONSORS Jacks Plastic Welding discounted boats Nissan and the Denver Area Nissan Dealers GUEST Rivers For Change Danielle Katz Grand Salmon So...
Dec 06, 2022•50 min•Ep. 57
For the past 27 years in November, class 5 kayakers have assembled at the Green River in North Carolina for the Green Race. And a couple thousand hardy spectators hike the miles down to cheer on these rowdy kayakers. In these two episodes we tell the story of the race and we meet two of the women racing. One has won the race 12 times. The other is a first time racer, and an Olympic kayaker. Come mad bomb the Green River with us. ADVERTISING SPONSORS Native Teen Guide in Training Program CFI webs...
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 55
