Adventure Beat

On Sunday, June 11, the men's U.S National Rafting Team set off to log a new mark for the Guinness Book of World Records. The goal? To travel the most river miles ever in an inflatable craft in a 24-hour period, strictly on human power. Ken Hoeve tells the story, and narrates our accompanying Video of the Week.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Ten miles east of here, at Grizzly Creek, Colo., the race against the clock began at 11:30 a.m. The group of paddlers was made up of U.S. Rafting Team members Chris Reeder, Todd Toledo, Brent Redden, and Mike Reid, as well as adventure racer Billy Mattison, all fresh from their participation in the Teva Mountain Games. Mark Joffe, a representative of the Guinness Book of World Records, was along for the trip to check his clock and make sure there was an official time.

While most rafters face forward and paddle, this team would do it a bit differently: They elected to go it backwards. With a custom-made oar frame, the paddlers had their backs downstream, rowing "Viking style." Their boat was an inflatable "cataraft" designed for river travel and based on the twin-pontoon style of catamarans.

To prepare for the attempt, the crew was in the gym training for weeks ahead.  "We try to train at least five days a week," said Redden before the race. "When we are not paddling, we get to the gym, run and hike. We'll see how it pays off today."

Near Cameo, Colo., the raft and crew had to get out of the river for about 100 yards in order to bypass a dam. "That raft is heavy with all our gear," Mattison said. "It took us about 25 minutes to run our gear and cataraft downstream."  Once they got back on water, the five paddlers kicked it into high gear heading into Grand Junction while the sun melted into the horizon ahead of them.

"I thought I was losing it for a while there. All of a sudden all the stars seemed to be right in my face and it was nearly impossible to see where the river was heading," joked a tired Redden. "The moon did not help us out till nearly 2 a.m., so figuring out the right channels to take or where we were was extremely difficult."

The group remained diligent and focused as they passed through Palisade, Colo., and sometime in the night they entered the state of Utah. They had originally expected to reach the high rock walls marking the entrance of Westwater Canyon at about 3 o'clock Monday morning. However, westerly head winds delayed the group's arrival at Westwater until about 5 a.m.

Reeder said it was a bit scary inside the 53-mile canyon, with its class III-IV rapids.  "It got squirrelly in there. This raft is fast, but being a bit narrow and heavy some of the rapids pushed us around.  I'm glad we had a little light on the subject," he joked.

With their sights now set on finishing off strong, they passed the Guinness officials at the canyon's western edge at 7:30 a.m.  With just four hours left in their mission, the paddlers turned their tired bodies into overdrive and pulled hard for the finish, wherever it might be.  

As the judges called out the final seconds of the 24-hour day, the crew collapsed with relief. Toledo found his way to the banks of the river, but he took a moment to get his balance. "I got to get rid of my sea legs," he said. "I'm going to fall over!"

With just under 200 miles covered in the official time of 24 hours, the group rejoiced in the accomplishment. "It was better than I imagined, it was incredible." Reeder said. "Some of the most beautiful and breathtaking river miles I have ever seen. We set a goal and went out and surpassed it. This is a day I will never forget."

Two days later, team captain Chris Reeder was contacted by the Guinness Book of World Records, who stated that the paperwork was all in order, and the U.S. National Rafting Team are the new record holders for a new category, "Longest distance paddled in a 24-hour period in an inflatable, man-powered craft — at a distance of 194.21 river miles in 24 hours." See the video of their record-setting day.

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