This month, we are delighted to share, new member, Aubry Sapp's fascinating and delightful story and her migration from sea to mountains and her draw toward kayaking. Written by Pool Clinic Head Coach, Eliot Taft.
As kayakers, we relish the forces of gravity. We love how water begins as an accumulation of winter on a mountainside, and how it descends in variable ways to allow us to play in its constrictions and gradients. From peak to sea, water tumbles. For this month’s Roaring Fork Kayak Club spotlight, we’ve chosen a new face to the club: someone whose journey to the sport runs counter to the rivers on which she paddles.
Aubry Sapp has “always been a water person.” Growing up with grandparents nearby who worked in the scuba industry, Aubry spent her childhood exploring the rivers and springs of Florida. For years, Aubry would hold her breath and dive into the clear, still waters – scratching a deep-seated itch to learn more about the ecological issues surrounding her local haunts. When Florida began to feel small, Aubry looked uphill; she attended Colorado State University in Ecosystem Science and Conservation biology. Although Aubry stayed mostly in the mountains after that, she did spend a year offshore just after college working in marine mammal mitigation for NOAA.
Aubry eventually made her way to the valley via a job at Snowmass Ski Patrol: “the best job on earth!” Although she had descended a few rivers as a kid, her first memorable whitewater experience was on a Westwater trip with her Snowmass coworkers. Aubry “had no idea how fun whitewater was, and took up a job raft guiding for Patrick Drake (another Snowmass patroller) for the summer shortly thereafter.” After this trip on the Colorado River, Aubry became a full convert to a life of water NOT at sea level.
After her Westwater experience, Aubry jumped at any opportunity she could to spend time on the river. If you ever see her at the put in, make sure to ask her about her Cataract trip at the end of last summer. Her trip mates - senior monastics visiting from a Zen Mountain Monastery - calmed the group with a pre-rapid chant. What ensued, according to Aubry, “was one of the craziest lines I’ve ever witnessed that didn’t result in a flip. And I swear, it was because we chanted after scouting.”
As Aubry began to unfold the map of Colorado whitewater, one thing kept nagging at her. She “really enjoys rafting, but couldn’t help but be slightly envious of the way kayakers look like they are driving Ferraris downriver.” Aubry looked into buying a boat, but the cost was too prohibitive. Thanks to the amazing whitewater community in the valley, one of her patrol buddies gave her his old play boat, with the stipulation being that once she was done learning with it, she’d hand it down to someone else who wanted to try kayaking. With an insatiable hunger for putting the proverbial Ferrari’s pedal to the metal, Aubry outfitted her new yellow playboat and started running the Colorado near Glenwood.
Over the summer, Aubry learned about the Roaring Fork Kayak Club by seeing the trailer at the Two Rivers takeout in Glenwood. She then found the website and signed up for as many pool sessions as she could. Aubry enjoys the RFKC pool sessions because “It is an incredibly welcoming environment! I always have nerves going into new social settings but immediately felt how supportive and encouraging the group is.” Over the course of two months, Aubry has perfected her roll, figured out how to play around with her stern, and has brought a smile to everyone’s face as she has developed new skill after skill along the way. She loves “The stoke and encouragement! The RFKC volunteers have been just as excited for me as I’ve been when a new skill has clicked. This attitude is contagious.”
Aubry also noted how the Roaring Fork Kayak Club has provided opportunities for beginners to learn in a way that doesn’t feel prohibitive. When asked what she thinks the club brings to the community, she writes:
“Accessibility. I wouldn’t have gotten into this sport without the RFV community and others being willing to use their own time and resources to help. Clinics can be incredibly expensive and attending these sessions is such a good way to build a foundation in paddling, as well as to build community. It can be super intimidating trying to get through the whitewater learning curve and the club helps lessen these barriers significantly.”
When Aubry isn’t kayaking or rafting, you can find her dreaming about paddling the Zambezi, skiing Rock Island in Snowmass, or eating the steak po’boy served at Rock Island Oyster Bar and Grill nearby. She also likes baking, reading, and spending time with friends.
We are so grateful that Aubry has found her way uphill from Florida to Colorado. Although much of her life has run counter to the flow of America’s watersheds, she certainly has discovered a way to find a union with these bodies of water as well. We’re so psyched that Aubry has joined the club, and skyrocketed in her paddling career. We hope she continues to come to as many pool sessions as possible, and we can’t wait to see her at the put-in in just a few short months!
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