Walter Lloyd Blackadar Jr. (August 13, 1922 – May 13, 1978) was an American
whitewater pioneer, best known for his solo first descent of Turnback Canyon on the
Alsek River
The Alsek River (; Tlingit ''Aalseix̱' '') is a wilderness river flowing from Yukon into Northern British Columbia and into Alaska. It enters the Gulf of Alaska at Dry Bay.
Most of the Alsek River's basin is within protected wilderness areas an ...
.
Life
Blackadar was a surgeon by profession. Raised in
New Jersey and educated at
Dartmouth College and
Columbia University, he moved to
Salmon, Idaho, in 1949.
[Paddler Ezine]
Iconic paddlers: Dr Walt Blackadar
July 19, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2018. It wasn't until he reached the age of 43 that he started kayaking. He began running big rivers, typically of the Western United States and Canada, and soon he had several first descents to his credit.
He was the role model of a whole generation of paddlers. In America in the 1970s, he transformed the image of paddling from pure competition to outdoor recreation and exploration. One of his most spectacular achievements was the first descent of Turnback Canyon on the
Alsek River
The Alsek River (; Tlingit ''Aalseix̱' '') is a wilderness river flowing from Yukon into Northern British Columbia and into Alaska. It enters the Gulf of Alaska at Dry Bay.
Most of the Alsek River's basin is within protected wilderness areas an ...
, which he ran solo on August 25, 1971; and in 1972, he achieved the first descent of Devils Canyon on the
Susitna River
The Susitna River (; aht, Sasutna’; tfn, Susitnu) is a long river in the Southcentral Alaska. It is the 15th largest river in the United States, ranked by average discharge volume at its mouth. The river stretches from the Susitna Glacier to ...
in
Alaska.
In Turnback Canyon, after a chunk of ice in a large hydraulic damaged his kayak and he had barely reached the shore, he wrote in his diary:
One huge horrendous mile of hair, 30 feet wide, 50,000 cubic feet per second and a twenty degree downgrade going like hell. Incredible! I did not flip in that mile or I would not be writing ... I'll never go back, not for $50,000, not for all tea in China. Heed my words well and do not be a ass! It's unpaddleable!
Sports Illustrated compared his success at Turnback Canyon with the first ascent of
Mount Everest. Canada named a mountain in the Alsek Range in his honor; Turnback Canyon is located on the west flank of Mount Blackadar.
In 1972, with Roger Hazelwood and Kay Swanson, Blackadar attempted the first descent of Devil’s Canyon of the
Susitna River
The Susitna River (; aht, Sasutna’; tfn, Susitnu) is a long river in the Southcentral Alaska. It is the 15th largest river in the United States, ranked by average discharge volume at its mouth. The river stretches from the Susitna Glacier to ...
in Alaska. While they completed the descent alive, there were several swims and two lost boats. He ran Devil’s Canyon again in 1976 and 1977, the former filmed for the TV show
American Sportsman
''The American Sportsman'' is an American television series that aired from 1965 to 1986 on ABC which presented filmed highlights involving the program's hosts and celebrities participating in hunting and/or fishing trips along with outdoor recreat ...
; he was not able to complete the run without swimming.
Blackadar appeared in many other episodes of American Sportsman, running the Grand Canyon and other western “big water” rivers. He also appeared in a full-length feature documentary, ''The Edge'' (1976), running the
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
.
Blackadar's paddling career suffered a tragedy in 1974, when young Julie Wilson lost her life while running th
West Fork of the Bruneauwith him in Idaho. The rapid was later named Julie Wilson Falls in her honor. Blackadar was greatly saddened by the loss, and it affected his aggressive, devil-may-care approach to the sport.
[Greg M. Peters, Adventure Journal, ]
The Hard-Partying, Big Water-Running Walt Blackadar
', May 24, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
In 1974, Blackadar learned of
Evel Knievel's plan to jump the
Snake River Canyon on a rocket-powered motorcycle, and he resolved to be there to witness the event. Sneaking onto the river with four kayakers, he positioned himself in the rapids below the jump. When Knievel's parachute opened prematurely and his cycle floated down toward the river, crashing on the banks, Blackadar got to him. He checked Knievel out and accompanied the daredevil to the helicopter for evacuation.
On May 13, 1978, he had a fatal accident on the South Fork of the
Payette River, Idaho, when he became pinned under a downed tree at the water's surface. The rapid is named in his honor. A memorial, marked by a bronze plaque on a rough boulder, is located in Garden Valley Cemetery, overlooking the river where he passed away.
Blackadar's memorial
/ref>
Honors and awards
*Inducted into th
International Whitewater Hall of Fame
2007
Mount Blackadar
* American Canoe Associationbr>Legends Of Paddling Award
2011
Resources
*Ron Watters: ''Never Turn Back. The Life of Whitewater Pioneer Walt Blackadar''. Great Rift Press, 1995, , http://www.ronwatters.com/NTB.html.
*John Long: ''The Liquid Locomotive. Legendary Whitewater River Stories''. Globe Pequot Press, 1999, .
Devil's Canyon of the Susitna, 1976 American Sportsman video
Blackadar’s second descent, with Barney Griffith.
*Blackadar
Sports Illustrated, 'Caught up in A Hell of White Water'
August 13, 1972.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackadar, Walt
1922 births
1978 deaths
People from New Jersey
Dartmouth College alumni
Columbia University alumni
Deaths by drowning in the United States
Accidental deaths in Idaho