ChuckBrabec » Treasurer
WVWA Member Since: 2000 ((
Treasurer Since: 2014))
Location: Canvas, WV
Paddling Experience: Whitewater kayaking since the late 80's
Other Hobbies: Hiking, Gardening, Woodworking, dabbled in biking and cross-country skiing
Mini Bio: I got into whitewater boating while I was a Scoutmaster and my sons were in the BSA. The troop went to summer camp near Asheville, NC one year and they had a kayak program. My younger son fell in love with kayaking and he was too young to drive, so my wife and I bought a 17' Mad River Explorer and we went to the rivers with him. By that time, was I in my mid-40s. Nancy and I paddled our tandem canoe for almost a year before moving into kayaks - where we were in control of our own destinies.
We joined the Carolina Canoe Club and became ACA-certified whitwater kayak instructors. I served as Treasurer and Webmaster for CCC for many years and taught basic rescue and novice/intermediate kayak clinicsfor the club. I also paddled many different rivers and creeks in NC, TN, VA, WV and CO - mostly class II-IV with an occasional class V. Over the years I developed a fondness for smaller rivers and creeks.
Nancy and I retired and moved to WV in 1997 to be closer to the rivers and creeks that we love. We joined the WVWA a couple years later. I served as the WVWA webmaster from 2000 through 2012, organized and taught several "Aspiring Intermediate Kayak Clinics", assisted in several Swiftwater Rescue Clinics, and assisted with the WVWA/NYSC Science Camper program for several years.
The most difficult rivers that I have paddled are the Lower New, Upper and Lower Gauley, Chattooga (Sections 3 and 4) and Brown's Canyon of the Arkansas. I have gauged down to class III and some class IV over the past few years.
My favorite river is now the Cherry, with the Dry Fork of the Cheat and Lower Yough coming in a close second and third.
