Trip Jennings

Biographical: Weight? 200lbs Height? 6'2" How old are you? 22 Where did you grow up? Richmond, VA Personal Taste: Do you prefer more or less rocker for a creeker? Why? More Rocker because if I happen to mess up and land flat off of a big one, the more rocker, the softer. What rescue equip. do you carry? Breakdown, pulley, rope, float bags, first aid, prussic? I try to always go overboard on safety gear. It's crucial to me. I always cary in my group, a breakdown, handpaddles, a first aid kit, at pin kit with pulleys prussics and four carabiners, a rappel device and in addition to everyone's throw rope, a longer stronger rescue rope for rappelling/extraction. Instead of float bags I usually put some gear like my first aid kit in a pretty big dry bag that I inflate and put in the back of my boat. Would you consider wearing a fullface helmet? (Cage or FNA style) Why or why not? I had one, and I want one again. Mine got stollen cause it looked so cool. It was FNA style. Personal Preference: Bent Shaft or Straight, any reason why? Bent shafts have a ferrel in the middle connecting the two sides of the paddle. This is there the offset comes from. I generally prefer a straight shaft for creeking because I don't trust ferrels except for in the AT 4 which seems to be the best creek paddle I've used. Bent shaft comfort and power plus straight shaft strength. Do you spend a lot of time outfitting a new boat or just make it fit. Can you describe some things that you take into consideration when outfitting a creeker? I hate outfitting. I throw the factory outfitting in and call it good except for the bulkhead which I take out completely and replace with foam. I then drill two holes though the foam so that in a big impact like a piton the foam will absorb most of the impact. What’s you favorite local hometown run? I haven't really had a home town for a while, but; now that I've moved to Eugene for at least a year, the Little White is 2.5 hours away, runs all the time and is SUPER fun. What are five cities in the U.S. that you would live in strictly for creeking purposes? Hood River/Portland, OR Auburn/Sacromento area Fayetteville, WV Chattanooga, TN Asheville, NC Do you feel play boats have a place on creeks? Example: “Backyard” type creeks. Sometimes I like to paddle a Method Air style boat on creeks cause I really like to freewheel off drops, but; in general, if I'm creekin' I like to use a creek boat. This is in part due to my big feet(size 12). If I hit a rock, my feet hurt! Creeking vs. Do you prefer boating with boaters you know best or have boated with predominantly? There's nothing better than getting on a creek with a small group of good friends and moving fast. You already know eachother's skill level, fears, weaknesses, and strengths. You also use the same river signals. Do you take bigger risks with these boaters? Yes. When I know my boys got my back, that's when I like to push my comfort zone. Besides keeping their boat pointing downstream, what are the main differences between creekboaters and other genres? Creekers wake up earlier and party harder. Is creekboating in its “Golden Age” or do you feel there will be lots more pioneered, greater levels, and lots more athletes to take this to the next level. The greatest thing about kayaking is that one can always go bigger and I think we will. The envelope is being pushed every year. I don't think it will stop soon. Compared to the other forms of kayaking would you say that creeking is more team oriented? Yes. My goal when I put on a creek is to get the entire team down the river safely. Everything else comes second to that. Plus, seldom do I have an epic on a play run, and difficult situations deffinitely bring people together. How would you describe differences between East Coast and West Coast creeking (word or paragraph) Which would you rather live in? The west I think is more vertical. I find more larger drops in the west than in the east. The east tends to be tighter and more technical. I like the west a little more because I like exploration and there are very few new creeks and rivers to run on the east coast. I also think that snow melt is more predictable than rain, and I can never seem to plan my schedule around the rain in the east as well as the snow melt in the west. Epic: East Coast rapid that makes you really nervous, what’s the first one that pops in your head? Gorrilla. I've run many more dangerous and harder drops, but; for some reason folklore gets in my head! West Coast rapid that makes you really nervous, what’sthe first one that pops in your head? Spirit. Same reason as above. What can I say, I'm a wuss. What are some of the closest calls that you’ve had in your paddling career? I just swam on a super remote first D in Costa Rica. I was last, and my boys had just paddled around the bend when I got stuck in a hole that I misjudged when scouting. It had it's way with me, I pulled my skirt for the first time in 5 or 6 years, and then had it's way with my gear for a few more minutes. I cleaned everything up with out a problem, hopped back in my boat and reallized that 20 yards downstream there was an unscoutable, unportagable 70 foot horizon line pouring into a walled out canyon. It turned out quite well, but; I'm really glad I didn't have to swim over it! We ended up hiking out in the thickest jungle that can possibly grow on 80 degree dirt slopes for a day. Have you lost a close paddling partner to a whitewater accident? How would you say that it changed your scope on whitewater activities in general, creeking, development? I've come really close. It changed everything for me. I didn't want to paddle class V for months, now; I know that mistakes happen the instant you let your gaurd down, and safety is my number one priority. Considerations: Do you ever creek solo? No, it's a risk I'm unwilling to take. At what height(waterfall) do you feel the freefall gets a little nutty and maybe less controlled? 150, 200 feet? 6 years ago, few people have ever run 80+ footers, I now feel confident controling my angle and fall on drops in that range. Development: Approx what year did you start creeking? 2000 maybe? What was the first kayak you ever owned? A dancer. Proline baby! How did you get into kayaking? My mom's friend started a day camp when I was 11 or 12. I was like a crack baby but for boating. I've been back to the camp every summer since either learning or teaching. Did you have any heroes growing up that you looked up to for their creeking/riverrunning abilities? After I saw We Come To Play, I wanted to be exactly like Dan Gravier. Also Casey Cockerham taught me all the basics. He was on Perception's proteam at the time, and was pretty much god to me. I still look up to him in almost every way on and off the water. Who are some of your heroes in the creeking arena today? Scott Lindgren is the man. Hands down, I now want to be like him. He's run more shit and styled it than I think I'll have time to do in a lifetime. Daniel Delavergn is also the man. What are some things that may have drawn you towards creeking when you were in your developmental stages? I always wanted to creek more than playboat. For me it seemed to be more of a challenge. In creeking you get to go way off the beaten path, explore, and test your own abilities. One of the most fun things for me is the risk envolved, it keeps you on your toes, makes you focus, and when you style a line makes the reward even greater for me. Would you classify your development as attending the school of hard knocks or did you develop with patience waiting till you felt totally prepared mentally to run class V? I was very young when I started to creek boat. It's hard to go creeking when you're younger that 16 and don't have a drivers licence. When I finally got to go creeking, my boat skills were great and luckily I had really good boaters to teach me the safety skills I needed. The mental game of creeking confidence came really naturally and seemed to just flow. What advice do you have for next generation’s boaters who want to explore the arenas you currently dwell in? Don't let todays conventions and limits hold back your own progression, but; at the same time, be super safety concious! What has helped you to progress safely to more difficult water? Never letting down my guard, even when rapids or creeks seem easy. Do you currently have any sponsors? Liquid Logic, NRS, Snapdragon, J3, Smith, AT I love them all. In what ways has being sponsored helped/hindered your continuous development as a creeker? I have never let being sponsored affect my creek boating in any other way than to help me get to the river, which it has helped in a Huge way. How do you address doubts and fears while on difficult whitewater? Generally once I decide to run something challenging to me, I have already evaluated the risks, rewards, and my skill level so I can forget about all of that and focus 100% of my energy on running the rapid or drop successfully. What do you do while not boating to condition yourself to be able to perform at a high level: (strength training, stretching, yoga, etc.) I think that weight lifting helps a lot, also biking, running, or something arobic. It's way easier to hit your line if you're not out of breath the whole time. What keeps you excited about creeking or kayaking in general? Exploring new rivers! Also I really like 20foot boofs that land in super aerated pools and are really soft. Would you please provide a useful tip for creekboaters? Never let your focus up until you are actually in the eddy. It's easy to think you're OK and then get sucked back into a hole or undercut or any other hazard. Any taboos you would like to mention to other creekboat hopefuls? Don't get cocky, cocky people are dangerous and not much fun to paddle with. -thanks a million for your time Trip ....