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Never Turn Back : The Life of Whitewater Pioneers
On August 25, 1971, Walter Lloyd Blackadar paddled his kayak into the unknown waters of Turnback Canyon on the Alsek River. He was 49 years old and all alone in the vast, glaciated St. Elias wilderness of Canada and Alaska.
That night while trying to repair his damaged kayak, he "In the gorge and stranded. This has been a day! I want any kayaker to read my words well. The Alsek gorge is unpaddleable!" He described the rapids in the canyon as "a frothy mess that was far worse than anything I have ever seen. I am sure it was 20 degrees down with the most gigantic waves and foam and holes on all sides of me. Very narrow — like trying to run down a coiled rattler's back, the rattler striking me from all sides."
Blackadar survived his frightening run through Turnback Canyon, and in doing so, he became whitewater sport's most famous figure. His extraordinary journey down the Alsek is only one part of the story. He was a doctor. Trained at Dartmouth and Columbia, he moved west to a small town in Idaho to be near good fishing and hunting. But in time, the wilderness around him shrank in size and the once great salmon runs dwindled. Alarmed, he began to speak out for the protection of rivers and wild lands and took increasingly unpopular stands in a community whose economy was tied closely to resource extraction.
He was also a man with faults and failings. Never Turn Back is not a one-sided story. It is a carefully researched and objective look at all of Blackadar's life. Casting aside the subject-as-hero approach, Never Turn Back is a refreshing departure from most outdoor literature, telling Blackadar's story the way it happened. It is this honest portrayal that makes the book such a captivating one. From the first page through the unforgettable last chapter, it is a fascinating and candid account of a remarkable individual.
That night while trying to repair his damaged kayak, he "In the gorge and stranded. This has been a day! I want any kayaker to read my words well. The Alsek gorge is unpaddleable!" He described the rapids in the canyon as "a frothy mess that was far worse than anything I have ever seen. I am sure it was 20 degrees down with the most gigantic waves and foam and holes on all sides of me. Very narrow — like trying to run down a coiled rattler's back, the rattler striking me from all sides."
Blackadar survived his frightening run through Turnback Canyon, and in doing so, he became whitewater sport's most famous figure. His extraordinary journey down the Alsek is only one part of the story. He was a doctor. Trained at Dartmouth and Columbia, he moved west to a small town in Idaho to be near good fishing and hunting. But in time, the wilderness around him shrank in size and the once great salmon runs dwindled. Alarmed, he began to speak out for the protection of rivers and wild lands and took increasingly unpopular stands in a community whose economy was tied closely to resource extraction.
He was also a man with faults and failings. Never Turn Back is not a one-sided story. It is a carefully researched and objective look at all of Blackadar's life. Casting aside the subject-as-hero approach, Never Turn Back is a refreshing departure from most outdoor literature, telling Blackadar's story the way it happened. It is this honest portrayal that makes the book such a captivating one. From the first page through the unforgettable last chapter, it is a fascinating and candid account of a remarkable individual.
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