French Broad, West Fork

When we first ran WFFB in 1981 we called the first slide Jacob's Ladder, the second Twister, and the third Plaid.

We had just run the NF and stopped at a convenience store to ask about the WF. The woman told us she had fished it but that it had a bunch of waterfalls on it. We told her that is what we were looking for and asked how to get to the putin. She said 'if that's what your looking for, you'll be happy'. We caught a ride up with a farmer that lives at the takeout. We had to sit in his living room and wait for him to finish his lunch with his wife telling him to 'hurry and eat these boys have things to do'.

Dwight Nalbone running the 1st slide of the West Fork of the French Broad on the left line. Level was 1 ft.

For the WFFB uninitiated reading this page, you definitely want to boof the ledge at the bottom of the first slide. There is a pothole in there, and I have watched it piton and pitchpole a very good boater who mis-timed his last stroke. At 3', it really doesn't want to let you get to the right wall to skim around the ledge with that small tongue. Middle, it seems, is where the pothole is. Most successful seemed to be entering middle at top and heading left, then throwing a righty boof off the lip. That drop is so much fun when you hit it correctly, but please don't take it lightly due to the pothole.

Left line at the first slide.
Left line at the first slide.
You gonna eat that?
Good line on the second slide.
Rusty on the second slide.
James has a good line on the second slide.
Tyler has a good line on the third slide.
Rusty gets some good air on the third slide.
Zach running the third slide.

On March 5 I and a guy named Dan from Boatertalk spent the afternoon cutting strainers out of the West Fork. We spent several hours on the logjam in one of the middle

Could the person who posted the Class V tubing video please repost it as an AVI file? I can't open it as is and I really want to see the carnage. Thanks

Nice line the second time ;)

Dont do this!!!! He knocked a hell of a hole in his elbow through some cheap elbow pads.

I watched a bud pin in the pothole in the first drop. He was paddling a Cruise Control set up as a C-1. He was ejected out of his boat hard enough to rip out the thigh straps. After that, I ran right.

There is a bad pothole in the bottom center of the vertical drop. Drive up on the river right wall and slide around the hole.
Third big slide. There is now new wood coming off the right bank near where the paddler is. It is passible, but dangerous and painful.

James with a great line on the third slide.
No walking around this one. Just shoot straight down the middle.
Nathan running the third slide.