Braving more than rapids
RADIUM, Colo. — Justin Hill didn't see the turkey vultures circling low over the Colorado River, or hear the chugging of a train laboring up the river's embankment.
He wasn't focused on anything beyond the roar of the Class Two rapids he was navigating in his kayak.
Hill cut sharply left to avoid a protruding boulder, swiveled right to avoid a drop-off and emerged on the other side of the froth. He raised his paddle over his head and pumped it three times in triumph.
For the moment, the 27-year-old wasn't thinking about the cancer that had spread to his throat — nearly choking him to death before it was discovered — or the chemotherapy that awaited him back home in Fraser.
"I feel invigorated," Hill said. "Like nothing can stop me — not even cancer."
And that's the premise of First Descents — to give cancer patients a sense of empowerment over their disease. The program, designed for those 18 or older, is a weeklong camp that offers participants a chance to share what they're going through and then tackle another scary obstacle — running rapids in a kayak.
"We get them on the water and let them find themselves again," said Allan Goldberg, executive director of First Descents and a cancer survivor. "We show them they're not as fragile as they think they are. Cancer may be a part of their lives, but it doesn't define them."
Hill and 13 other cancer patients took part in a recent kayaking camp that culminated with a five-mile jaunt down the Colorado River, its medium-sized rapids capable of dumping anyone at any moment.
"It's not a Disney ride," Goldberg said. "You've got to find the strength in yourself. When they do, they feel like a million bucks."
First Descents was founded in 2001 by professional kayaker Brad Ludden. He saw what his aunt, Lori Pederson, went through with breast cancer — she's now in remission — and he wanted to set up a program to restore cancer patients' confidence.
"It's about making these people recognize that cancer doesn't make them weaker," Ludden said. "They can do anything because of what they've been through."
Campers stay in a lodge just outside Vail and enjoy other outdoor activities, including rock climbing, fishing and hiking. They swap stories on the bus rides to the river and at night when they hang out together.
"I got a little down when I found out I had this disease," said Art Ballew, a 29-year-old from of Avon who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in October. "But then I was able to meet other people going through the same thing I am. I'm learning how they survived and how they go on with their lives and how they're making the best of it. It gives me confidence."
Ballew glanced around at his fellow kayakers slipping on their spray skirts and helmets, preparing to launch down the river.
"I've found a new family through this," he said. "They've taught me I'm able to do about anything I want when I set my mind to it."
The group's expedition down a portion of the Colorado River near Radium — a small town about 120 miles northwest of Denver — was the 19th installment of First Descents, and the first without Ludden running the show. With the program on the rise, he's taking himself out of the equation.
This year, First Descents held four weeklong camps — two in Kalispell, Mont., and two more in Vail Valley.
Next summer, the plan is for nine camps.
