Hotel Charley Vol. 3 tour update and The Crash Course: The 1st episode

Hello from life in the fast Lane on the Hotel Charley Vol: 3 video tour. Jesse Coombs and I are running all over the Western United States with a 10 foot big screen projection and sound system in order to celebrate spring and the start of the 2008 summer kayaking season. And with an amazing snow pack caking the mountains over much of the Western United states there are many reasons for the big enthusiastic showings that we have had so far. Big thanks to

Alpenglow in Boise, ID; Silver Moon Kayak in Kalispel, MT; Montana Brewing in Billings, MT: the Bellingham paddle club in Bellingham, WA; Canoe and Kayak Magazine and the Redmond Outdoor Adventure Center in the Seattle Metro Area, WA; The Shed in Hood River, OR; Alder Creek in Bend, OR; Alder Creek Kayak in Portland, OR; Kokapelli Kayak and the Standing Stone Brewery in Ashland, OR; and Kokatat water wear, Matt Porter and the Six Rivers Brewery in Arcata, CA.

And this is just the beginning as we head through California to the Cal Salmon Fest, Mt. Shasta, Chico, Sacramento, ending the week with a big headline show in Reno on Friday night.

Also great crossing paths with Jackson Rec Brand manager Marty Cronin criss crossing the country to spread the word about the day trippers and the super cool new new fishing friendly design.

To promote my two favorite websites in the world Jacksonkayak.com and oregonkayaking.net we are letting all the folks at the tour events know about an Internet only release of 10 segments of the Crash Course on these two sites. These are the video episodes to accompany the April feature article of the same name in Men's Fitness Magazine where Jesse Coombs and I attempt to mold writer, adventurer, and class 4 boater Thayer walker into a competent class V paddler.

Big thanks to Jackson Kayak, KoKatat water wear, Werner Paddles, Snap Dragon Spray Skirts, FNA Helmets, Shred Ready Helments, The North Face, Smith Optics and Nuun Hydration for the gear we used during this three week epic.

cheers,

Ben Stookesberry
clearh2ofilms.com

Hotel Charley Vol. 3: The Lost World

The latest Teaser to the upcoming release of Hotel Charley Vol. 3: The Lost World is here. Please check out www.clearh2ofilms.com for a complete tour schedule.

Brazils Bounty

After one month and over 4000 miles of driving, the Central Brazilian huck mission has come to a resounding end at Salto Anaconda. Just days before the Crew of Ben Stookesberry, Jesse Coombs, Ryan McPherson, Chris Zawaki, and Pedro Oliva were slated to head home, the team stumbled across one of the runnable waterfalls on record Deep in Central Brazil.

We almost decided not to even bother scouting the falls after they saw that an easilly accesible falls upstream was far less than ideal, landing on rocks. However, the ever helpful owner of the property reported that a 21 foot Anaconda made the base of the second falls its home and that the group was bound to see it if they went down there. Well, we went down there and found an anaconda of a waterfall waiting with the maximum amount of aeration possible; although, the near flood stage level of the river made for massive currents and boils at the base that flushed into a overgrown class 4 flush that led into the real Anacondas home.

After a full day of scouting, contemplation, and working out the details of my would be line with Jesse Coombs, I decided to give the falls a go... For now I will leave the details of the descent to the upcoming video and articles to expose.

Big India: Tsangpo River turns into the Mighty Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh

Erick Conklin gets into position by at Ninguing rapid Photo: Ben Stookesberry