Jim is a multi-faceted paddler who loves kayak camping and Thrillseeking but is also a pioneer in steep creeking (for instance bagging
first descents on 686 fpm Quarry Run in 1977, 500 fpm Elzey Run in 1988, and 370 fpm Red Run in 1988), squirt boating (having the dominant prize winning designs in the sport for 2 decades and discovering most
of the presently used expert maneuvers, including the Mystery Move), and cruising, being a lead designer in the large bow/small stern genre of cruising kayaks. Jim was also the first person to do cartwheels
in a kayak -- fetching over a dozen flatwater ends in January of 1983.He has been paddling since 1965 and received the "Legends of Whitewater" award from the ACA in 1999 and was selected as one
of the "Top 100 Paddlers of the Century" by Paddler magazine in January of 2000. He created a patented inflatable sealing system for spray skirts and was instrumental in developing prototypes for
the popular "Linbergasket" sealing systems for sprayskirts. He was also on the leading edge of the popularization of 45 degree feather paddles, having used them since 1980. Jim is as much a wizard with words as he is with paddling and designing. He is the author of The Squirt Book
, the classic manual of squirt kayaking technique. Long out of print, a second
edition which is out now and available here: PS Composites. It has
the bulk of the original manuscript -- with minor modifications -- and 15,000 new words and new illustrations by William the Man Nealy.
The PS Composites, Inc
. site provides links to a number of Jim's shorter works: SquirTips provides insight about squirtboating. The Mystery Trance
explains the lure of sinking. On Screwing Around and the Test tells us about more fun things to do in a squirt boat. Mystery Archives
features hot mystery spots on the Cheat River (WV)
, the
Lower Gauley River (WV), the
Upper Gauley River (WV) and the New River (WV)
. Pete's Whitewater Page
includes a wide selection of interesting writings, including Jim's:
The Time I Was Burned by Lava describes an epic ride in the
Grand Canyon of the Colorado River (AZ). |
