Report from the Slave river. Three Frenchies (Aymeric, Cédric and Nicolas) traveled all the way to the North West Territories last summer to discover BIG water, surf Pelican Falls and work on 'helixes'. This report contains pictures and video clips. Read on to find out more ...

Les francophones peuvent lire la version originale du reportage en français.

French speaking people can read the original text in French.

After traveling a whole day and night along the straight roads of Alberta we eventually reached the entrance of the NorthWest Territories. From here, 1500 km north of Calgary, in a mosquito infested area, we had a break to contemplate Alexandra Falls, a 30m (100 foot) waterfall, definite portage and that will stay a portage for a long time considering the amount of water going down it ... We felt really small when looking at the vast forests all around us. Despite the fantastic scenery, we had to leave and travel an extra 200 km to Fort Smith and most of the way was on dirty roads... The dusty track seemed endless and we only saw a couple of 4x4's and trucks going in the other direction. The track crosses the 'Wood Buffalo National Park' and it is with no surprise whatsoever that we saw this buffalo after a sharp turn in the road. We eventually reached Fort Smith, exhausted by such a long journey. Fort Smith is a little town in the middle of the Canadian taiga where the life seems rather peaceful. We set up the camp in the campsite and got a good night sleep before launching on the mighty Slave river...

The Slave river flows in the middle of the forest, between the Athabasca lake and the 'Grand Lac des Esclaves'. The section we were interested in is located between Fort Fitzgerald and Fort Smith. Along the 25 km that separate the two towns, the Slave flows almost quietly between 4 massive falls that create the rapids, Cassete Rapid, Pelican Rapid, Mountain Rapid and Rapid of the Drowned.

The rivers widens for Casset Rapid and it is advisable to go down this section with a local because you might miss out on the many playspots ... or fall into some massive hole that was best avoided. You will find:

Warm-Up: a nice little stopper in the middle of the river. Any vertical move can be done in it and don't worry about hitting the bottom. There are no eddies though, so you'll have to catch it on the fly and make the best of your run.

Outrageous: two surfwaves for endless surfs. There is one boily eddy that allows you to go back for more.

Rocum Sucum: depends on water level but when we were there, there was a massive stopper towards the end of the rapid with a great big shoulder. All aerial moves are possible here. Incredible !

Rollercoaster: the last wave of this section, but what a wave! Something like a 2 meter green wave in places. The water is so fast and hard that bouncing is really easy. Even got a Helix (MPEG movie, 190kb) here I think.

We spent a whole afternoon playing on Cassette Rapid, but don't forget to save some energy for the 45 minute ferry back to the get-out, the trek back to the get-in and a crazy battle with mosquitoes when getting changed. Do not forget your mosquito net and spray either !!!

Pelican Rapid is the biggest rapid on the river. On all the other rapids, the rivers splits around islands but at Pelican, all channels merge into one. You can imagine the power of the water ... and if not, look at this movie (MPEG movie, 826kb). Swimming here would be extremely dangerous and the rapid has apparently never been done from the top. Pelican Rapids consists of a series of three main drops and ends at the famous Pelican Falls. Behind Pelican Falls, stay focused as the waves that follow are still mountains of water. There are big boils everywhere and swimming is exhausting. Nicolas knows that well as he had to swim for a good fifteen minutes after his deck popped in Pelican Falls. The river is so wide that safety is only possible from the water. Throwlines are pointless. Honestly, to run this rapid, it is wise to have a group of a minimum of 5 people to be able to have some safety from the water. It is quite a good idea to get a local to show you the lines first, especially it you start towards the top of the rapid. There are holes you definitely want to avoid. The rapid is accessible from a dirty track but a 4x4 is advisable as the track gets very steep at times.

Mountain Rapid contains most playspots. The river is still very wide but there are many channels, some of those are so hard that they have never been paddled. Yes, there are still first descents to do on the Slave! But not for the faint hearted.

Ferry: a channel wide stopper feeding into a massive hole, nasty and sticky. Honestly, if you play in the first stopper, don't get too close to the big hole. Swimming here would be a complete nightmare, maybe worse than at Pelican because there are many sticky holes later on. The succession of channels also creates some nasty whirlpools that you might not find very fun...

Molly's Nipple: this is another channel parallel to Ferry, but much more on the right hand side. There is one big channel separating Ferry and Molly's Nipple. It is so big that apparently no one has ever paddled it. The rapid consists of a tricky 4-meter drop, quite wide with a small stopper on the right hand side and a big hole on the left. It is possible to go through on a tongue that breaks out from time to time. The runs are sometimes comical with either long mystery moves or people taking off on the tongue.

Little Sister: it is a one-shot stopper where the water is very fast. It flows between islands where pelicans are nesting. This is the only place in Canada where there are pelicans left so do not get out and disturb them.

The Edge: it has to be the most impressive stopper on the Slave. It blocks a whole channel of the Mountain Rapid and is more than two meters high. The Edge is very sticky in the middle of the river and you could get the beating of your life. It is possible, however, to surf its shoulder where the water pushes you towards the hole. The water is very fast again and is very bouncy. When surfing, look right and have a look inside the "monster". Out of our group of eight paddlers, only three surfed the Edge. Swimming here would not be too dangerous as the water gets quiet quickly, but the river is still very wide and fast flowing. Beware!

Playground: the last spot is this section; actually the only park and play spot on the Slave. It is deep; all vertical moves are possible; there is a shoulder to blunt and good eddy service. The spot will look really small if you tried the Edge on the way down though ...

The Rapids of the Drowned are the last rapids on the Slave. It is very close to Fort Smith and it is possible to go and scout it by foot directly from town. As usual, the river is very wide but on this section there are no islands in the middle allowing break outs. Apparently, there are some great waves but they would have to be taken on the fly. We did not paddle it. The river is so wide that it is easy to get disorientated and there are some holes that look very sticky ...

We hope that this trip report will make you want to paddle the Slave. It is a must-paddle river for all freestylers. There are some seriously big holes to be aware of but the place is also packed with smaller surfwaves and stoppers that are great to practice and improve. For safety reasons, it is seriously advised to go there as a group and for some rapids to paddle with the locals because some lines are not obvious when paddling down. Depending on the water levels, it is even possible to creek the Slave as one of the channels consists of a succession of waterfalls; all paddleable in a creek boat.

To get there, we flew to Edmonton and then hired a car for the 1000 km left to Fort Smith. It is possible to fly directly to Yellowknife ... but the inland flights are very expensive !

Article by Aymeric Chagnaud and Cédric Proeschel for PLAYAK.COM November 2002.

Discuss this article in the forums
Please login first.