Creeking 101: Notes from Last Fall's Creeking Clinic

Last September, I took Dave Kessman's Creeking Clinic. The two-day, two-student course was held on the Lower Yough in Western Pennsylvania and was very worthwhile. Before the clinic, I had almost no experience in a creek boat and was unfamiliar with both the lingo and the technique that is specific to running creeks. I jotted down some notes of what drills to practice, which I've listed below:

- Rotation Strokes

- Power Stroke: both hands on one side of the boat; head follow all the way through the wind-up

- Cruising Stroke: wind up, unwind; hand goes straight across face and doesn't stop

- Draw Strokes: open and closed face (bow, hip, stern); sweep and draw combo

- Boof Stroke: same as power stroke; practice planting paddle and crunching forward

- Spins

- Back-ferry: switching angles on eddy line

- Front-ferry: use draws instead of prys to adjust angle

- Smears: lateral angle; smear rock; power stroke on non-rock side; switch edges mid-air

- Boofs: crunch forward after power stroke; practice boofing holes

- Wording: boof vs. smear, edge vs. lean