Jordan River

Class: IV/V

Quality: 4

Location: Revelstoke, West Kootenays, BC

Trip Time: 1-2 Hours

Level: Visual at take-out. If it looks manky its pretty low if there are no boulders showing then its quite high.

Put-In: 51.045134, -118.275757

Take-Out: 51.023843, -118.244084

The Jordan is the classic Revelstoke run. The run consists of 6 main rapids with a few bits of fun boogie in between. Many of the rapids are technical and hard to style consistently but offer little consequence compared with other rapids of this caliber. The pool drop nature also makes scouting and/or portaging feasible for most of the drops. I’ve also heard that its possible to put in below #3 for a “Jordan Lite” run but I haven’t done this so you’ll have to look for local beta on the access if that appeals to you.

The run starts off with a kilometer or so of meandering class I-II whitewater. You’ll know you’re done with the paddle in when you see a very obviously steeper rapid. Run this class IV boogie rapid starting on the right and moving left. There’s a great pillow to boof against the wall on river left. Catch an eddy quickly after this one because your right at the top of #1. #1 is a crap shoot at best but with little consequence. It’s a tricky double boof totally about 10′. The goal is to start center right and boof onto the pillow with lots of left angle then keep your bow up on the second drop to skip out into the eddy. In actuality you’ll probably flip over and get pushed up against the right wall but just hang on because its easy to get back up and into the eddy.

Just around the corner is #2 (cover photo). This is the biggest drop of the run and many people portage it. Scout/portage on river right. This rapid starts off with a narrow shoot right before the river opens up and makes a 90 degree turn then plummets off a 15′ tall slide. The right wall at the bottom is a bad undercut and there is a pot hole in the middle of the slide that I’ve heard rumors you can get vertical pinned in if you don’t boof. The precision needed to hit the line along with the consequences make this a step up from all the other rapids on the run.

After #2 you’ll make your way through several boogie rapids before you get to #3. Eddy out on the left when you get to a rapid that is clearly bigger. This rapid starts on the left with a double boof moving right. Once you land you’ll want to charge all the way right to boof the final 5′ ledge. Make sure you don’t miss your boof because this one will kick your ass. Just down stream is #4, the classic Jordan slide rapid. Scout on river left so that you know where to line up as the lip is quite blind. Run the 20′ tall slide down the center and if you do right you’ll come skipping out slightly faster than you want to. Get yourself in control and line up for the next ledge just down stream. This can be boofed on the left or bump down the right but watch out for a huge boulder in the center.

Watch out for holes during the last long section of boogie rapids before you get to #5 and #6. You’ll know you’re at the last big rapids when the river makes a dramatic bend while dropping into a bigger boogie rapid. Catch an eddy below this rapid quickly because there’s a small pool before #5. Scout/portage easily on river right. This rapid is run down the right side avoiding the rock jumble/sieve on the left. Just downstream is #6, the last and maybe most glorious rapid of the run. This one’s as simple as it gets just go down the center and let all the huge curlers crash on you! A few small boogie rapids and bends in the river bring you down to the take-out bridge.