I recently just got back from what I think is my most spectacular adventure yet! CHINA. China as everyone has heard about it is this factory crazed overpopulated country and this is true. But the China that I got to see was middle of nowhere gorgeous canyons with perfect 15-foot tall surfing waves with eddy service and some pretty incredible culture.
    I was traveling with the New River Academy. This high school for kayakers always seems to pull together these absolutely mind blowing trips. I love it. Anyway, our first river was the Mekong River. This river is on the border of Tibet and China so the drive to it was a few days long, snowy, hilly, and full of mini adventures. The put in to this river is a super steep bank that you scoot down and then use teamwork to get down the rest of it. We paddled the Mekong for about five days with raft support. The first day was the most memorable. We were in a huge canyon with vertical walls and some gigantic rapids. Basically heaven in river form.
    The second river we hit up was the Salween River. This river is all roadside so anything you see you can just pull over and fire it up. The highlight of this river was some huge, HUGE, surf waves. Every surf wave we found was super glassy, consistent and had eddy service. We had Cael Jones there from Vital Films taking video for his upcoming movie Shades Of Green, and he got what he was looking for. Everyone stepped up throwing huge Panams, Airscrews, and just huge everything.
    The third river was the Yangtze River. This is the largest river in China and also is home to the most impressive rapids I’ve ever seen. The Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the most impressive places for a whitewater kayaker to lay their eyes on. It holds within its gorge rapids that dwarf most of the other whitewater on the planet. Below this gorge is an opening and then another gorge which has a little less treacherous than the higher Tiger Leaping Gorge. We had the parents of the students with us so this was a plus. It was a blast to have some new good natures people traveling with us for a little while. After 6 amazing days we took off and headed back on our long way home.
    Now after a relaxed vacation the school is heading off to a great looking trip in Chile. Chile is my favorite place to be in the world and I can’t wait to share it with the kids who haven’t had a chance to experience it yet!
    That is a super fast overview of what is going on with me. Reason I haven’t updated for each river is because its all going to be in the upcoming video Shades of Green by Cael Jones and Vital Films, Staring Me, Alex Mohn, Jake Greenbaum and some of the top up and coming paddlers in the world and their adventures. So check it out!

Paddle Hard,
Tino Specht

Photos by: Sam Fulbright
          Brian Boyle
          Michelle Yates
          Matt West
Here are some Videos from the recent trip produced by the NRA video class as well as some pictures from all over China.
Tiger Leaping Gorge