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Show i . ' " ' ; ' " I - . . : "" '.' . . 1 AN ESKIMO ROLL is what Jean Mitschke is trying try-ing to achieve as she turns her kayak upside down. Once the kayak is upside down the pad-dler pad-dler completes the Eskimo Roll by turning the kayak rightside up. A kayak class has been taught in the Vernal Community Pool for four Saturdays. al tflhie dsfeocin) G"Di Eskimos do it. River runners do it. Let's learn to paddle a kayak has been the theme at the Vernal Community Pool for the past four Saturdays. Day DeLaHunt and Heather Campbell have been teaching the art of paddling a kayak to students in a Community Schools program. "We have been spending two hours for four Saturdays conducting a kayak class. We will have two days of river running this week. We will paddle in our kayaks about 12 miles from Split Mountain on the Green River to Jensen, Saturday and then we travel down the Green River from Little Hole near the Flaming Gorge Dam, Sunday." remarked DeLaHunt. The kayak students were taught going forward and backwards during the first day of the class. "We taught them bracing and had them turn upside down and turn themselves right side up. It's call the Eskimo roll. Safety procedures were taught and how to rescue themselves and others. When we get on moving water we will teach them how to read the water and what the boat will do in the water," said DeLaHunt. DeLaHunt has been paddling a kayak for eight years and he taught his first kayak class in 1974. "I have done all the major rivers, such as Desolation, Gray Canyon, Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Snake River, Yampa River, Lodore Canyon, Grand Canyon and y.y i PADDLER, CURT SINCLEAR, trains for a trip down the Green River in the Vernal Community Swimming Pool. nin.uniy Til. ... : . r T, . ::'"". - i kv - I r ,k . - 5 f r - , ; .K "1 r . 1 ' ' . THE KAYAK IS PADDLED backwards by Tim Cooper during a kayak class in the Vernal Pool, Cataract Canyon," said DeLaHunt. "The rough stuff is a four mile stretch in Cross Mountain Canyon in Yampa River. It is a real rough piece of water." The Eskimos built the first kayak and this invention contributed almost as much to the Arctic civilization as did the southern inventor who developed the wheel. It would be almost impossible im-possible to estimate the value of the kayak to the Eskimo trained in its use, but certainly no boat could have higher utility in that cold wasteland. The modem kayak is available in two forms: one with a frame that can be disassembled in a few minutes for convenient transportation and the other with a permanent frame. The original skin covering has given way to a shaped rubberized fabric, which is durable, tough and shock resistant despite its light weight. The kayak can be maneuvered through fast, rock infested water that is impassable for other crafts. Some Kayaks come with a cover, which resembles a hooded parka with a tight neck and tight wristbands and forms a watertight seal. .. 4 Saturday. The paddlcrs will encountor tho Green River, Saturday, April 18. |