As you can probably tell from the video, Great Falls is a serious class 5 run with some very high consequences if you screw up and miss your line. The most common line on river left, shown in the video, is usually run at a lower level than shown here. The boaters at the end of the video really give you a sense of how big this water is.
The chutes are a very popular play spot on the Potomac River that sees a lot of kayak traffic, especially in the summer months. It is common to have 15-20 people hanging out here waiting for their turn to surf the wave on any summer Saturday.
After we had our fill of the chutes, Steve, Lex, Jacob and myself loaded up and set shuttle to run from "S-Turn" back down to the chutes for a few hours of playtime on some fairly pushy water with some nice waves around Rocky Island.
I was demoing a Jackson Superstar this past week on the Potomac. After a few tweaks to get it dialed in to fit I have to say I was very impressed with it. I am not much a play boater by anyones measure, but this boat is awesome!
I was paddling an '06 Jackson 4Fun which I could never seem to get a taste for for various reasons. The Superstar is a bit bigger, but much more nimble and requires a lot more attention to keep you from catching an edge in bigger, pushy, fast moving water. Being the relative newb that I am, I had a few concerns about heading into the confluence of the Potomac and fish ladder and then into S-Turn. (Give me a break, it was my first time paddling an all out play boat somewhere besides the chutes!)
Long story short, after we got back to the truck I took the demo back to the Valley Mill boat shop and went home with my very own Superstar! Thanks Jim :)
It's the Maryland Chutes Super C1 paddling team.
Half the Boat, Twice the Sexy!
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