Off the Beaten Path

Freeriders Exchange the Salt for Whitewater Rapids

Text by Ross Champion

Photography by Ludo Mouveau

For quite a while, I've been hearing rumors of a great, secluded lake located somewhere south of the breathtaking Yosemite National Forest, home to some of California's best whitewater rapids. Having just made it home from competing in Europe as the last of the winter's snow was melting in the mountains, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get some good friends together for a little freshwater riding, camping and hanging out. Plus, as far as I am concerned, the next best thing to riding a SuperJet on an ocean wave is riding one on a freshwater wave!

I called up a good friend of mine, Central California local E.J. Bezley to see if we could figure out where exactly this mystical place was. He had also heard of the lake, but had no idea where it was. After talking to a few more people about it, it turned out that West Coast freeride legend Jerry Brandon and his brother-in-law Tyler knew exactly where the place was and were stoked to be a part of another trip up there.

Jerry Brandon is one of the greatest surf riders and personalities in the history of our sport. He surfs a SuperJet the way most pro riders only wish they could. Professional rider and Pismo's local big-air guy, "King" Cuong Son made the trip over along with Christian and Sean Enzo. E.J. and Pamela Bezely of BrapStrap provided us with a 1993 Kawasaki TS650 for shooting photos on the water. Some of the notables on hand included pro rider and Hollywood stuntman Mike Serlin, touring IFWA pro Eddie Bettencourt, and the newest member of our crew, Jake Womack.

Freeride is a kind of nebulous term that gets tossed around like all kinds of "action sports" these days. Whether you ride a snowboard, a dirt bike, mountain bike or a PWC, you can be a freerider. In our sport, the term conjures images of the surf, and the greatest surf rider of all time, Joe Kenney. The IFWA (International Freeride Watercraft Association) is a series of contests around the world that take place in the surf, and the term freeride is used to indicate that the events are in the surf.

But for me, the definition of freeriding on a PWC has changed. I think PWC freeriders and surfers have more in common than just their love for the ocean. We are equally always looking for that incredible, indescribable experience with nature that feeds our souls, and to me that is the true definition of "freeride."

The Central Californians were already setting up camp by the time we made it up north. The great thing about traveling to a place like this is the absolute solitude and remoteness it offers - but that comes at the price of a lack of cellular-phone service. Oh, and since this place is off the map, GPS doesn't offer much help either. Only 15 miles south of the majestic Yosemite National Forest, hunting down the lake proved more difficult than expected. We spent a good hour lost as Jake and Ludo tried to decipher the directions that Jerry had given to me. It was only by sheer luck that we stumbled upon the campsite in the middle of the night.

The moon was close to full when we arrived, and the reflection off the lake was amazing. The guys had gotten in earlier that day and had already unloaded and ridden, so skis were in the water when we got there. Maybe I speak for myself here, but after an eight-hour drive, it's always nice to get in the water. I hopped on our photo-craft (with a flood light in hand) and went for a trip around the lake. The water was so clear and the moon so bright that I could see the sandy bottom near the shoreline, even at night

This little lake is bookended by a hydroelectric power station and a dam. The dam at the bottom of the lake controls the level of the lake, and the station at the top (where the rapids are) is used to generate electricity for the valley. When the demand for power is high, the power station generates electricity by piping in water from the Yosemite Forest. Once the water is used by the power plant, the water is then dumped into a narrow little river. And when the flow is high enough, that narrow little river has been known to kick up some pretty fun rapids. Since the past few days had been fairly hot - causing lots of local residents to run their air conditioners - chances were good for some healthy rapids.

That night back at the camp, we all caught up a little around the fire and made our plans for the next day. Since peak flow at the power plant was usually midday, we had the morning to mess around near camp and go see the rest of the lake. The plan was to put Ludo on the shaky old TS in the morning and see if he - with $50,000 worth of his unprotected camera equipment - could use it to shoot from. Then, if all went well and there were no cameras at the bottom of the lake, we would blast around the lower portion of the lake and head up to the power plant about noon.

There's nothing quite like a beautiful, crisp early summer morning in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Pam, our resident freeride mother, was already up making coffee and cooking some venison sausage on the fire by the time we stumbled out of our tents. Tyler had been up to the top of the river at sunrise, and he confirmed that we were not missing out on much up there. So we decided to ride by the camp while we finished up breakfast and then go explore the lake.

It is a given that, with this group, shenanigans of some sort will always ensue. Not 30 seconds into the first ride, Eddie was rail sliding his FX1 (with a questionable amount of success) across the bank. The rest of the guys were jumping whatever obstacle they could find on the edge of the lake, while I was trying to remove a tree from my pump after a slight run-in with one of nature's more resolute objects. After a tow back to camp to get the rest of the tree out of my pump, we were off to see the dam

The trip down to the dam was nothing short of amazing. The mountains, lakes and rivers in and around the Yosemite Valley are truly some of the most beautiful places in the world. As we twisted our way down the lake toward the dam, the crystal clear water reflected the sheer granite walls that rose out of them. The water was still cool (mid 60s), but the warming sun made it quite comfortable.

Once back from the dam, it was time for a little fuel for us and the skis, then we were off to see if we could find any rapids. As we traveled further up to the top of the lake, the water began to quicken. It's kind of a trip to ride in fast moving water. Obviously, you have to give it more throttle to get anywhere, but the flow of the water is different all over the river. The shallow rocks and eddies constantly change the speed and direction of the flow of water. Losing a ski in these kinds of conditions would have been disastrous, because there would be no way to keep it out of the rocks.

As we approached the top of the lake where the hydro-electric plant dumps its water into the river, the sheer volume and speed of the flow downstream was amazing. The river was really narrow there, especially when shared with 10 other skis in the water. The massive amount of water flowing out of the plant and down the river to the lake remained in stark contrast to the sleepy little creek that still ran up past the plant. Although the water flowing down the river was probably approaching 20 miles per hour, there was just not quite enough of it to make all that much in the way of rapids. Even so, it was a really fun place to ride. We wound up burning just about a full tank before heading up past the plant to relax a little in the calm of the creek.

For me, this was one of the greatest trips I have ever been on. I think it truly embodied the essence of freeride: good friends, a great place and lots of fun. After the pressure and months of grueling training for competitions, this was just what I needed to relax and regroup.