Carl Jacks-- Advocate, Film Maker, Praying Mantis.

Kayaker Biography: Carl Jacks-- Advocate, Film Maker, Praying Mantis.

Maybe you paddled with Carl, are on his gigantic mailing list, worked with him, saw one of his films, read his Facebook post, overheard someone recall a sketchy adventure with him, attended a rally with him, maybe you even had him at your hospital bedside. Carl Jacks is everywhere!

Carl and I met years ago near the Slocan River in the beautiful West Kootenays. Andrea and I rolled into the Kootenays with a few playboats and a Eskimo Topolino creekboat strapped to the Astro Van aka, our non fixed address at the time. Carl had the same creek boat in the same colour, the mango Topo. He was working at the local paddling shop called Wildways where Carl not only sold stock from the store but quality used items out of the back of his truck. Right away we bonded like contact cement on mini cell foam, eager to get into double trouble with our matching creek weapons. I later managed that kayak shop, before turing it into Endless Adventure, making us work mates for a few seasons. Carl was the best person in the Kootenays at laying out adventures—Jacks had the beta and offered up many obscure adventures not mentioned in any guide book.

Carl, styling it

Did I mention Carl was also the Piton Master..

He took me on Apex creek near Whitewater ski resort for our first outing. So, Apex is a hard one to explain since it is barely a creek but offers some of the best unclassified stunt kayaking anywhere. We had a great time bashing down the run and learning to get our kayaks arial. The adventures continued from there, hiking up creeks, cosmic mountain biking, hot springs, and a lot of kayaking.

Very early on, Carl gained a reputation of being a bit reckless, maybe given the fact that he was challenging runs that many of the “older” generation kayakers stayed clear. of. The fact was that if you wanted to paddle something off piste, to steal a cool term from back country skiing, Carl was your guy. Carl had only been boating for two years when he was throwing himself down some pretty challenging runs. At that time it was normal to hear; “I don't paddle with Carl anymore, he is in over his head”. Well, I say you missed out, in my experience paddling with Carl was entertaining to say the least.

Mr. Jacks continues his reputation today, we only hope that being a new father will put safety into the forefront. There are stories of complete kayaking strangers contacting him ,for basically a non paid kayaking guide to the koots, and then badmouthing him after their version of a class 5 boater differed from that of Jacks ( it is called an INTERNATIONAL classification for a reason, look up class 5 please). Visiting paddlers were blaming Carl, just a paddler hosting people to his backyard, for not having skills to back their self assessment. In other examples, Carl would set up a date and place for a run just to have more than a safe number of kayakers show up with unknown backgrounds, a “shitshow” ensues on the river, and it suddenly is all his fault. Maybe Carl should have backed away from the river or even excluded people from putting on but that is not his style. Jacks would confirm and reconfirm by asking his crew if they were up for the run and people would follow blindly.

Carl and I playing "King of the Wave"

Carl's Bike Repair Business.

Howser Canyon 1st Descent!

So even today when you hear Carl being mentioned you get the mixed bag of reactions to; “I paddled with him one time, never again he is sketchy” to “That was the best time I ever had on a river” I guess it has to do with your expectations, self responsibility, and maybe you just don't like the guy.

If safety consciousness is your beef with ol' flappy, I am not sure I can agree in all instances. Carl Jacks saved my life on the river, straight up. If Carl had not pulled of an impossible feat to pull me out of a nasty I would probably not be here to write this. That outweighs any experience someone recounts where they put on a river Carl suggested and had an “epic” YOU put on anyway and YOU should take some responsibility. Well, enough of that I think you get my point—Sure Carl should not be kayaking with people that may not be up to the task but there is some self responsibility that is lacking when a paddler puts on with Carl when they are over their head. In a culture where we can spill hot coffee on ourselves and sue the coffee company for not have a “Hot Coffee” warning on the cup, there isn't much hope for self responsibility. I call this idea “Nurf World”, an accident happens, blame is tossed around, a lawsuit ensues and after the dust settles the lawyers, insurance companies, and so-called victim get rich meanwhile people of this society gets closer and closer to being totally carless and stupid. Not to worry, it is mostly a North American disease, a little travelling will tell you it doesn't have to be this way. Anyway, here I go again ranting—YES that reminds me of my good friend Carl the advocate.

        Carl Jacks has been one of the most active members of the Kootenay kayaking community for the last seven years, our club prez, unpaid, unrespected, unofficial guide to West Kootenay creeking. In that last few years Carl has focused some of his energy on protecting local creeks from falsely named green power; as if he did not have enough on his plate already graduating from nursing school. Carl and myself with some help from others started the Endangered Creeks Expedition,or ECE. The goal to raise awareness of the literal rape of our BC creeks in the name of mostly foreign capital and over consumption. Being a video boater in my rafting days on the Ottawa I brought my limited skill to the scene here producing some cheesy kayak videos. When my camera pooched out Carl took over the reigns with videos like No Purpose: No Design, End of Time, and Lucky 13. Recently Carl has been producing films in the name of the ECE to further raise awareness. Films like Symbiosis and Howser in Peril bring the beauty of what we are trying to protect to the big and small screen with a poignant message and winning festival awards in the process for creativity and stunning visuals. Recently, Carl unleashed Deep Runs The Canyon, a film that exposes awe-inspiring scenic visuals over a backdrop of corporate interest and grassroots environmentalism. In short, Carl not only hosts complete strangers to his home turf but also exports the beauty found in the Kootenays to the entire world.

I don't want to come off as the one man fan club for Carl, he has pissed me over the years and I certainly like to poke fun at his unorthodox paddling technique I call the Praying Mantis. Try to imagine if the strange insect were paddling a kayak. Head twitching side to side, arms springing in and out like a souvenir bobble head boxer, a posture that looks like his body may indefinitely flap against the stern of the kayak if any force is applied. Somehow this crazy kayak kung fu style works, perfect for squirming under log jams and throwing huge donkey flips. I have also seen his lengthy raptorial arms pull paddlers out of nasties and throw a dam good rope or two. Has Carl saved as many dudes as he has jeopardized?-- Probably, but to my point we are responsible for our own risk assessment.

Carl is Carl, we will never change that and who would want to? He has lead many successful fun-filled kayak missions and a number of disasters. His films fight for what he believes in which is more than I can say for most. His paddling style would flunk most of my kayak instructional exams but hey, it works somehow. In my perspective we have been on many adventures together that turned out to be some of the best times of my life. In every one of those journeys I had to be honest with my paddling ability and tell Carl when something he thought was runnable not to be so. He threw a rope to me that pulled me away from the black cave of death, this I will never forget. Sure, he has almost killed me a few times--ghost riding a kayak down a mountain side at me and other better not mentioned mishaps—but I live life with the notion that I should know the coffee contents are hot and I take the risk every time I take a sip.

Carl Face

Also takes a damn good photo!

See you on the River,

Chris Ryman