24 Hour Paddling Guinness Record by Andy Corra on the Yukon River
A report and pictures by Jeremy Rodgers, Boulder, CO.
Only days after returning to Boulder from World Championships in Sort, Spain, I found myself sitting at Denver International airport yet again waiting for my flight to the Yukon Territory Canada busily checking flow gauges and gathering last minute information on the wilderness that waits.
Just when one thinks you have been dealt an average hand, all variables go in your favor and the impossible happens as the human spirit triumphs against all odds. Not 24 hours after I sent an email out to family and friends on my blog acknowledging the lack of adequate flows for a world record attempt on the 24 distance record, American wildwater paddler Andy Corra, from Durango, Colorado, overtook the current world record of 261 miles by paddling 273.5 miles (awaiting certification by Guinness World Records) in 24 hours.
The current official record is held by Aussie American adventure racing legend Ian Adamson. While flows were average at best compared to previous record attempts by others, Andy’s paddling and river reading skills, as well as tolerance of sitting in a kayak for 24 hours, were matched with eerily calm skies and the sheer hunger for what was one man’s first chance to attempt this life long goal.
Andy’s attempt was supported by myself in a second surf ski and 2 local guides in a flat skiff motor boat.
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