Did you miss it? You can watch this online discussion, and many others, on the club’s youtube channel HERE.
Finding Your Flow: Becoming an Asset on and off the Water w Priscilla Macy
Tuesday, March 30th at 6:30 pm PST
Exercising good judgement is critical in every day paddling and when stepping it up to increasingly more difficult runs. Join us for a discussion on whitewater judgement with Priscilla Macy.
Priscilla Macy on a local favorite run.
Finding Your Flow: Becoming an Asset on and off the Water
There are many judgment calls in whitewater paddling. Each day that you decide to go on the water, it matters. Each decision determines an important outcome. You know how judgment is developed in real life—through experience. Most of us don’t get to paddle every day, and it takes time to build up significant river experience. It’s tempting to hurry it up, to step it up before your skills are really ready. But that approach can have dire consequences. The road to mastery requires patience.
At the early stages of paddling, one of the ways you can be discerning is by choosing who to listen to. You get to choose your mentors and paddling partners. You can build your ability to make good decisions by seeking out information and training, listening to experienced paddlers who are willing to share their wisdom, developing a practice, and by learning your own strengths and weaknesses. You can become an asset to any group whether you want to paddle on easy water or progress to more adventurous paddling.
That you are here, reading this, is a sign that you are actively studying how to run rivers safely. Congratulations on your willingness to learn.
Priscilla Macy has wisdom born of experience, both successes and failures. She will speak to lessons learned from a career in guiding, learning to paddle in multiple craft, and eventually exploring more remote creeks and rivers. If you would like to progress in paddling, whether it be to excel on your local creek or with the hope to see more wild rivers and amazing places, this talk is for you. Priscilla will share insights about her path, lessons learned, and skills that we can develop to keep ourselves safer and enjoy our time on the river to the fullest extent.
About Priscilla Macy
As a paddler and lifelong outdoor recreation enthusiast, Priscilla has spent most of her life outside — primarily on the water. Growing up in Southern Oregon, close to the Rogue, Umpquas and Illinois rivers, she was introduced to life in the outdoors at an early age. Spending her early years as a commercial guide and non-profit program leader, she began whitewater kayaking in college. Kayaking was the perfect activity to enable her to explore and spend more time on rivers and in extraordinary places.
When closures and threats emerged in places she enjoyed recreating, she developed an interest in protecting landscapes and waterways. In 2016 she founded ReCreate Consulting — a business focused on bolstering the advocacy efforts of organizations like American Whitewater, The Mazamas, and Outdoor Alliance, as well as working on projects with management agencies and interest groups. In 2019 she helped to write and enact Oregon’s first proactive waterway access legislation, and she continues to work to ensure Oregon’s waterways are protected and accessible so that future generations of outdoor recreation enthusiasts will be able to enjoy them. In January 2021 Priscilla became the Executive Director of the Oregon Outfitters and Guides Association.
Priscilla currently lives in Salem, Oregon with her husband and partner in adventure, Jacob Cruser.
About the River Safety Series
Guides and instructors are routinely trained on safety, but regular recreational paddlers can get years into their paddling life without any training. These talks are for you: regular paddlers.
The River Safety Series is organized and hosted by Teresa Gryder, the LCCC’s Safety Chair, who has made it her mission to help paddlers manage the risks of being on the water. Guides, instructors and subject matter experts will share their vast knowledge and experience gained over decades on the river. Instead of learning the hard way, join us to hear their insights and stories, and let useful tips sink in so that you might lower your risks and prevent injuries and fatalities on the river.
FREE and open to the public, you do not need to be an LCCC member to participate in the online River Safety series. Join us via Zoom on alternating Tuesday nights, starting Tuesday, February 16 at 6:30 pm PST and running through April 13.