This Week in Small Craft: October 9th, 2026
posted by
A slightly old American Rivers action link now lands on some genuinely good news from the Grand Canyon. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren signed legislation in September designating land around Tooh Ahidiilíní, the Confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers, as a sacred site. The Navajo Nation Council had previously approved the measure 18-0. After years of fighting proposed development around one of the most remarkable places in the Colorado River system.
Paddling Magazine digs into what the paddlesports industry looks like without PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals” long used to make drysuits and other technical gear shed water. Level Six, Kokatat, and other manufacturers are moving to PFAS-free materials, but there is a catch. The new stuff does not always match the durability and water repellency paddlers got used to from older treatments. It also needs more washing, drying, and general care. Cleaner chemistry. Slightly more laundry. Seems fair.
Aspen Snowmass tried something this summer that sounds like an elaborate prank. They piled up winter snow and covered it with giant insulated blankets. It worked. Roughly 85 percent of the snow at Snowmass and 84 percent at Buttermilk survived nearly five months, including a brutally hot and dry Colorado summer. Aspen Snowmass estimates the preserved snow represents about 3.5 million gallons of water that will not have to be turned into snow later. Skiing old snow in October is fun. Using less water and energy to get the mountain open is the more interesting part.
Chesapeake Light Craft is offering private boatbuilding classes at its Annapolis shop. The typical class runs 5.5 days and accommodates up to four people building similar boats, although larger and more complicated projects can stretch to two weeks. Want to build kayaks with your family? Fine. Want to disappear into a shop for two weeks and emerge with a Jimmy Skiff? Also fine. CLC says the classes can be tailored around the boat and the people building it.
American Whitewater has updated its biannual accident summaries, with the latest covering January through June 2026. This is not exactly light reading, but it may be some of the most useful information the organization publishes. The summaries pull together fatalities, close calls, rescues, entrapments, strainers, dam incidents, missing PFDs, and the decisions that put people in bad situations. Read enough of these and patterns start becoming painfully obvious. Rivers are complicated. A surprising number of accidents are not.
American Whitewater also scored an important court win involving Tunnel Dam on Missouri’s Niangua River. The hydropower operator wants to surrender its federal license and leave the old dam in place. AW wants the dam removed and the river restored. After FERC refused to let American Whitewater participate in the proceeding, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that decision and sent it back to the agency for another look. It does not mean the dam is coming out tomorrow. It does mean FERC cannot simply shut the door on the river advocates asking why an obsolete hydropower dam should remain forever.
Coming up October 16 in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, SLED Sessions is hosting the Rally for Rivers Film Festival at Down River Equipment. The lineup includes Gauley Guide, A Guide to Fighting for Wild Rivers, and What the River Knows, the excellent short documentary about Glen Canyon emerging as Lake Powell retreats. Proceeds support Protect Our Rivers and the Glen Canyon Institute. Food and drinks will be available. Bring your own camp chair.
Finally, this one already happened, but it deserves a mention. The River Runners Hall of Fame Festival took place October 2 and 3 at the John Wesley Powell River History Museum in Green River, Utah. The 2026 class included Mildred “Millie” Davis, Linda “Big Linda” Wittkopf, Kenton Grua, Walter Kirschbaum, Roger Paris, and Ulrich “Uli” Martins. Grua’s legendary dory Emerald Mile even made the trip to Green River, with author Kevin Fedarko giving the keynote. If you missed it, put this one on the radar for the next go-around.