200% GREEN RIVER HIGH TIMES ON A SOUTHEAST STAPLE

The Green River Narrows has long been a staple in the whitewater world. This three-mile run in the heart of North Carolina's Blue Mountains is a training ground for many of the world's best and a proving ground for those looking to step up to grade V. A recent change in ownership and management on the nearby Lake Summit Dam means new flows are ushering in a new era on the Green, bringing this long-time classic back in the spotlight and providing a whole new challenge.

Words: Michael Welch

"THE GREEN AND THE DAM HAVE CREATED A COMMUNITY HERE" I'm sitting above Gorilla, on Western North Carolina's Green River, and although I've run this rapid a few hundred times, my heart is racing at the prospect of peeling out. Both generators on the Lake Summit Dam are running full bore for what feels like the first time in ages, and it's 19" on the stick gauge, or a little more than double the normal flow. At 200%, Gorilla is known as the Silverback, and it's a beast. Instead of five distinct moves with eddies between them, it turns into a single, stacked sequence—a rushing highway of whitewater where every feature flows straight into the next and mistakes anywhere will cost you. I haven't run the Silverback in seven years, and my…

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Kayak Session (Digital) - 1 Issue, Summer 2021

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