Kelley Cox
Primary Outdoor Sports: Kayaking, Packrafting, and Telemark Skiing
Favorite Beverage: Sunshine LaCroix
Sunrise or Sunset: Sunset
Go-to River Snack: Cured Meats
Favorite Season: Spring
Guilty Pleasure: Ice Cream
Book Recommendation: Let the Water do the Work by Peter Fox
Three Words to Describe You: Chatty, Thoughtful, and Upbeat
“Outdoor sports were something that my grandpa and my aunts and uncles and my mom and everybody did. So I was cross country skiing early, skiing early, and going hiking, backpacking, and camping, but we didn’t do a ton of it when I was a kid.
Once I graduated, I got a car, was out on my own, and just started venturing into things without much experience.
Climbing was pretty rough going when I was in my early twenties. We were just climbing with hexes and passive protection and had no idea what we were doing, but we were young and it was fun and we were able to pull it off.
The adventure of that has grown into other things.”
“I remember being young, I don’t remember how old I was, and seeing a whitewater canoe in Class III in a magazine and thinking, ‘I want to do that.’”
“Getting a packraft got me into the whitewater community. I was just posting on Facebook, ‘I want to go boating’ and two awesome people responded and they were just letting me bump down in Class III with them and inviting me to go do trips.
It was just this experience I’ve not had in climbing or ski touring people. It was just so welcoming and it was just off to the races and going and doing a lot of cool stuff right away.”
“You’re constantly scanning every bit of the environment. It is so engaging. I think that's what I love about whitewater and kayaking, is you’re just fully in the zone, in the flow state, fully locked in, in tune with your environment. You’re watching all the rapids and you’re seeing a little American dipper on the side, and you’re also edging your boat, and getting where you want to go. It’s just one of the most physically and mentally engaging things I’ve done in that way where you’re so locked in. It’s really fun in that way.”
“It’s such an amazing way to connect with nature and do it on the regular and I just feel like it’s so good for you and your health and your mental health, just getting out.
Being in the moment is huge. Right? Just totally being present. Whether you’re in the flatwater hearing the bird that you’re trying to find, whatever bunting it is. You’re like, ‘I’m gonna find it. I’m gonna get my binos on it and then hopefully have them back in my bag before the next rapid.”
“I want to do stuff that’s hike-in, that’s Class III-IV in the wilderness. It excites me the most. It feels pretty wild. It’s dangerous, but it’s manageable and it’s not the hardest water in the world. Something that requires a pretty big buy-in, gets away from people, is the stuff that interests me the most.”
“I feel comfortable on Class III. I just want to get so freaking dialed on III that maybe I’ll just glide into Class IV.
I’m gonna turn 40 this year, but there’s still plenty of time. I see so many people out there that are just performing at such a light level at any age. It’s super inspiring. And, I think whitewater is one of the few things that you can continue to do that in. I’m stoked for that.”
“I think on the spectrum of less inclusive, you have road bikers on the far end of the spectrum where they can go do it by themselves and don’t wanna wait for people, they don’t necessarily want a big group. Climbers, you want two of you, sometimes a third is a hassle. Whereas whitewater, you want a strong crew all the time.
You want good people to hang with. There’s definitely a sweet spot for sizing if you’re doing an expedition or something a little more rowdy, or you want to go light and fast, but the safety in numbers thing is so real.
I think it’s just the inclusivity of wanting people. And, there’s a lot of just chatting and gabbing. I feel like on the flatwater or in the rapids too, it just feels good to have a social outing. So it just leads to inviting everybody which is pretty fun.
I owe a lot of the community I have to whitewater. I wouldn’t have so many people in my life that I really care about that have added so much to my life without the boating aspect.”
“When I’m at the end of my life, these are the moments I’m sure I’ll be thinking about.
But when you’re 40, you’re like, ‘Should I be hustling, grinding, saving for retirement? Should I be playing at this point in my life?’ Even though I’m in a pretty good spot.
I’ve had years where I’m paddling 110 or 120 days a year, and you look back on that and you’re just like, ‘Is this adulting?’ I guess it is. It feels great.”
