Slide Rapid 64,000 CFS 2011 video

[tony1982]

I love watching videos and seeing pics of other boaters/outdoor enthusiasts getting to be a part of something amazing! That being said I thought I'd share my experience of getting to go down the Lower Salmon last year with Jon Barker and an awesome group of people at high water in a "Big" boat and take on "The Slide"! This rapid at high water is the one that gets all the credit, but I have to say that some of the rapids we ran getting there were NOT small!! Props to my buddy Dillon Yates for putting this together, hope we get to go again this year...Hope you all enjoy, CHEERS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=102jJQYDBGE

[Jess1218]

Wow that wAs some big water! Looks like it was fun on that beast of a boat! Any injuries or mishaps?

[upshitscreek]

you motorboatin' son of a bitch....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBtN1i3O4fY

[tony1982]

Was an amazing/cleanly run trip. We went from Hammer Creek to Heller Bar (usually a 5-6 day trip, about 74 miles) in 8 hours, with a few stops and about an hour long scout/hike/hang out at Slide.
Only things that went unplanned were... my buddy wearing the GoPro went out the front of the boat when it hit the main hole (he held on to a strap and got pulled back in, never completely swam the rapid) and the other was a blown main tube. There are two frames on the boat allowing for flex in the middle of the boat and when it went into the hole, the frames came together pinching one of the main baffels and blowing it! Nothing spare PFD's and duct tape couldn't fix for the run out which only seemed to take 15 min.
I already respected water, but this trip just re-enforced that! Amazing experience!

[jeffsssmith]

Yeah that was big but it wasn't class VI.

[dirtbagkayaker]

Originally Posted by jeffsssmith

Yeah that was big but it wasn't class VI.

who said the slide was class VI ??

[mdignan]

The video starts with a big "Class VI" subtitle.

Great video and editing! I was looking for a video of someone running that rapid at high water a few months back and couldn't find anything so I was pretty psyched to get to see if from a first person perspective.

[dirtbagkayaker]

Originally Posted by mdignan

The video starts with a big "Class VI" subtitle.

I have heard alot of crazy ass sh!t from Jon Barker. He once told me I would die running the Narrows on the grande rounde? I have been on at 60+ and the video really doesn't do justice to the drop. That jrig is huge! But I would disagree with the VI rating as well. I think that the issue with the slide is: that from the entrance all the way to the snake is nasty. Big swirlies, boils, canyon walls, and super tough swimming. If you go down, the river will derig your boat and put your gear in every eddy for miles. I had to get rescued from an eddy a few years ago at 24k. Just could not break the eddy fence 1/2 mile below the slide.

[cuzin]

Class VI? No.

That's just fart water, cuz it ain't shit.

[tony1982]

Any piece of water that can swallow a 33 ft. J-rig is impressive all opinions on rapid classifications aside (we'll call it a draw and go with 5+ hahaha). The Slide is by far the biggest and most powerful rapid I have been in the presence of (coincidentally also one of the smallest as well). The most amazing thing to me was to get to see how dramatic the change is when the river heads over 20,000 and keeps going up. I guide down there occasionally and floating through it around 6,000-7,000 a lot, you could imagine what the water does when it flows over and deflects off the boulders and cliff walls. Getting to stand there and actually see/feel it first hand was both jaw dropping and humbling.

The video doesn't really do it justice, I agree! Just thought it would just be a fun video to share