{"id":26252,"date":"2022-01-05T17:00:31","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T01:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=26252"},"modified":"2022-01-18T12:08:49","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T20:08:49","slug":"home-waters-beth-morgan-and-the-sjoa-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2022\/01\/05\/home-waters-beth-morgan-and-the-sjoa-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Waters: Beth Morgan and the Sjoa River"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chasing perfect water levels and seeking work on the river means that for many whitewater kayakers, \u2018home river\u2019 can be a fluid term. But no matter what country a kayaker calls home, the soundtrack is always the same: the rumble of whitewater. \u201cI can constantly hear the faint roar of the rapids while I am falling asleep, cooking or just chilling out,\u201d says British kayaker Beth Morgan.<\/p>\n

She feels at home living beside the Sjoa River in south-central Norway and can look upstream to watch the river pour out of a small gorge into the crystal-clear pool in front of the Sjoa Kayak Camp, which she currently calls home. Downstream spray from the slalom rapids marks the midway point of the \u00c5mot section.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Jakub Sedivy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hoping to escape the regulated rivers and recent restrictions in the UK, Beth landed a job with Heidal Rafting last summer and has been \u2018stuck\u2019 there since. However, her first time paddling the Sjoa was in 2013 during the Sjoa River Festival. Beth came for the week-long festival and stayed for a month. Following the festival, she returned many times to kayak, and once, in 2019, she even coached a group of British kayakers on the Sjoa.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so rewarding to show other people down a river that is special to you,\u201d she says, referring to her coaching experience but also the media she captures photographing rafting trips. \u201cI love taking photos of the rafts surfing and the screaming, happy faces on the boat. I also really like taking photos in Chocolate Canyon,\u201d which is one of the most beautiful spots on the popular rafting section of the river. The raft companies call that section\u2018Sjoa Normal.\u2019 Kayakers simply call it the \u2018playrun\u2019.<\/p>\n