SeaGnar - 2014 FilmFest

This year was the second coming of Sickness in the greater Seattle area.

I'm glad everyone had a great time. I apologize for the hiccups at the end. But then again, we had JP, so it all worked out!

Once again Silver City Brewing and New Belgium Brewery both kicked down to keep the masses hydrated.

Sara tests out the Dagger Nomad's legendary beer capacity.

Tom O'Keefe auctioned off a brand new Wave Sport Recon to help raise funds for American Whitewater. The silent auction brought in $650 towards this awesome cause.

This year we had 15 entries. Videos from all over the Seattle drainages and a couple from our Southern brothers and sisters in the Hood. 15 videos meant almost two hours of carnage, shit-talking, beatering, dubstep and awesome.

Steve, Kesley, Christina, Emily and Dan from Cascade Paddlesports went way out of their way to create a pretty awesome setup for us. Thanks again!

Voting was tough, but in the end it came down to 3 videos:

Brett Barton's - Mexico Part 2


Mexico part 2 from Creek Sides on Vimeo.

Pricilla Macy's - 2 Girl 1 Boat

2Girls1Boat Filmfest Entry from PMacy on Vimeo.

& Mike Hagadorn's - The Grand.

Our Kokatat Maximus Prime life jacket and case of delicious beer went to Mike Hagadorn and his video - The Grand.

The Grand from Cloud Level Media on Vimeo.

Mike takes home the win and the glory.

Thank you to everyone that came out to watch our videos.

Thank you to everyone that submitted a video, helped with the set-up & break-down and brought ice!   

I think I can speak for everyone that came, when I say that the space we were given was incredible. The Cascade PaddleSports layout was perfect and their staff bent over backwards to create a comfy movie watching experience.

Thank you Dan and Steve! The projector was awesome and the burgers were great.

Thank you to our sponsors: Kokatat, Silver City Brewery & New Belgium Brewery. I don't think anyone went thirsty on Friday night and we have these awesome companies to thank for it.

Until next year!




Updated 12.10.14

All 15 video contest entries in order of appearance.

Paul Carrico gives us a video showcasing the mayhem and awesome that is the Upper Wind Festival from 2014.



Upper Wind Whitewater Festival 2014 - Pacific Northwest Whitewater Kayaking and Rafting Competition from PNW Kayakers on Vimeo.



Colby Bishop takes us on a tour of his first season here in the PNW.



Northwest Part 1 from Colby Bishop on Vimeo.



Brett Barton takes us south of the border and into the land of tacos, cheap beer and warm whitewater.



Mexico part 2 from Creek Sides on Vimeo.



Reigning Champ; Megan Kelly puts together an awesome edit of a self support mission down Hells Canyon.



Hells Canyon 2014 By MPK from Megan Kelly on Vimeo.



Wes Heustess show us some good lines and some not so good lines.





My entry for the evening; Bromancing the Salmon is the story of 11 men from Seattle on the South Fork of the Salmon.



Bromancing the Salmon from daniel patrinellis on Vimeo.


Jon Ehlinger teams up with Jeremy Bisson to take us down Tumwater Canyon this past spring. The water is high, cold and super sick.





Priscilla Macy comes out swinging with the ultra sick and super classy: 2 Girls, 1 Boat.



2Girls1Boat Filmfest Entry from PMacy on Vimeo.


Open a beer and get to know the Characters that lurk in Washington's dark regions. Nick Hinds takes us down all the classics, with all the right people.





Emile Elliot comes out the gate swinging with an awesome video. There is carnage, canoes, playboating and some great editing.





Scott Waidelich brings reports on local conditions here in the PNW. Top Tye, Robe and Ernie's Gorge shows why Seattle is the place to live!





Andy Lockey is just plain sick. Check out what you can accomplish with a video camera, awesome friends and tons of Der Towne.



Full Face Chronicles - September from Full Face Andy on Vimeo.


Mike Hagadorn took everyone to task this year and brought home first place with his amazing video of a trip down the Grand Canyon.


The Grand from Cloud Level Media on Vimeo.


Ellie Wheat, another Champion from 2013's video contest, shows us why she and the crew all spend most of their hard earned money and all of their free time freezing their hands off kayaking here in the PNW.





Sam Grafton is a local charger who not only ran the Stikine this year. He ran it 3 times... and ran a little rapid called Site Zed to boot. Watch as the prodigy shows us down some of the biggest whitewater in the world.






Thanks again to everyone that came to our event. Thank you to all the awesome people who spent hours behind a computer screen, putting together something that we could all sit back and enjoy.

Chelan - 2014

Oh September... I love you for your sunsets, your comfortable temperatures and your sweet-sweet Chelan creek.

September means a few things for us here in the PNW. It means pumpkin-spice lattes and Uggs will be returning to our lives. It means sweating is almost done for the year. Disgusting. It means that we get to get back in our drysuits soon!

September also means Chelan.

This year the action was off the water for me.

Seven weeks post shoulder surgery had me sitting on the sidelines and watching the action from the canyon rim. But I had good company and cold beer, so life was good.

Right out the gate, I knew the weekend was going to be different. Sara and I pulled up to a line of cars a couple miles outside of Index, at almost 9pm. 

A semi-truck rolled over on the two lane road that is the most direct route to Leavenworth. We had cold beer and a happy dog so the wait was bearable. After a bit the lawn chairs came out and the camera got set up for some long exposure shots.

The stars were out in full effect. Not a lot of light pollution in Index.

Following the kayakers from river right; the topography of the landscape surprises me. I'm so used to seeing this canyon from river level. It's gorgeous! 

The flat water stretch that boaters have to get through before Entrance Exam looks so out of place in Washington. 

The water that courses down towards the Columbia is almost a neon blue color. It's the visual equivalent to that first sip of cold beer after a long day in the sun.

Entrance Exam sneaks up on you. One minute it's canyon sightseeing and the next its falling into this deep crack in the Earth.

The entrance ledge.

The first ledge.

The middle ledge.

Entrance Exam is the make or break for me. I love this drop but I hate that last hole!

One of the hardest things I had to deal with while shooting was the intense winds that are racing up the gorge, towards Chelan lake.

With the camera on a tripod and two human bodies as a windscreen, I was still getting too much camera wobble at anything over 200mm to get a quality shot.

Jeremy Bisson lays down some treats with a super clean Entrance Exam line.

Ryan Young drops in to say hello.

Fred Norquist

Chelan Slide is a beast of a drop. Sam explains the pros and cons...

It just wasn't the same without Brett Barton to show us all how it's done.

Most op for the safe left line.

The entrance to the main drop has a terribly sticky hole.

Sometimes people step up to the plate. Alex Podolak with a super sick line.
Photos by Sara Yoshimura.

Immediately below is 6 feet of glory: Super Boof.

Like always; the intense Eastern Washington sun destroyed my hopes of having the correct exposure.

The wind also wreaked havoc while taking off and landing the dji phantom.

Jeremy Bisson.

One of these years I will convince a team to wait until noon to put on so that we can get the canyon while it's completely lit up with sunshine.

Super Boof looks intense from 400 feet above.

Throne is immediately below Super Boof. Sara Yoshimura grabbed some photos of the boys running it while I filmed with the dji.

Jeremy Bisson.

Issac takes a shot at the Throne.

My first two trips down the Chelan Gorge, Pinnacle was a mandatory portage. People stopped to look at it but that was it. 

That all changed when Rob ran it and showed the masses that it went better than it looked.

Due to the lay of the land, I was not able to get a good shot of Pinnacle while the boys were firing it off. I could essentially only see the entrance, first move and the exit from the drop.

Watching was a nail biting experience; waiting for your boys to get to the bottom after they commit.

Next up is Extra Credit:

Sam stands guard over the nasty sieve that makes Fat Lady such a white knuckler. Everyone had great lines through this big girl, and made the last drop look like a breeze.

Fat Lady

All in all. another amazing Chelan experience in the books. The folks over at Chelan PUD are some of the coolest, most stoked non-boaters I've met. 

Their warm welcome, hospitality and understanding of kayaker customs is out of this world.

The takeout is nothing but smiles and exaggerated boofs.

This amazing weekend is only possible because of the hard working folks at AW. Pay your dues, donate your time, do what you can to support a cause like American Whitewater.

Until next year!

Chelan 2014 Teaser from daniel patrinellis on Vimeo.