It would be next to impossible to explain to someone who has never whitewater kayaked just what it is that brings us back again and again. What is it that drives the spirit of the paddler - an otherwise normal, contributing member of our society - to dedicate their lives to play the game of cat and mouse with the awesome power of a river in rage, a veritable torrent?

I believe it would be like trying to describe color to a blind person - a futile attempt to convey all the sensations one feels in the midst of a rapid. And as with colors, each person’s experience is so inexplicably different than that of the next person, and each day’s experience is written on the palimpsest of emotions from the days before. How does one describe the mix of anxiety, fear and elation, all rolled into one? How can one describe the rush of pleasure when your kayak launches into the air with 10 tons of water crash-ing all around you, and you land skipping across its surface like a beautifully-rounded stone ricocheting across an angry sea? The simple fact is that you can’t. Or perhaps, I should clarify; I have been unable to accurately describe what kayaking is like. And that is where this book comes in. Very few people have the eye that Jock Bradley has. Over the years, no one has collected such a vast array of unrepeatable moments as he has. These images speak to the most fundamental root of the human condition - raw emotion. Torrent is an icon that honors those who have dedicated their lives to this sport – a sport where the average participant is a complete unknown, and the most notorious and accomplished re-main just as unknown. It is a salute to those pursuing a sport where there is virtually no money to be made and no fame to be had. This book is a window, alive and pulsating in grand splendid colour, into this otherwise obscure passion and way of life. Torrent is as close to the apex of whitewater kayaking as you can get, without actually risking your life.

forward

Corran AddisonRevolutionary Kayak Designer, River Guru

It was born high atop the mountain peak. One droplet combinedwith another.

At first, it crept beside the small pebbles without an utterance. As it grew in strength, so too did its character and voice.

With each additional droplet, it increased its presence and its song became gurgling merriment.

Gravity fueled its descent and accelerated its voyage. The once friendly trickle was now that of a babbling stream.

There was a feeling of underlying

power within the waters. It coursed over and around the rocks. The smaller ones were pushed aside to deepen the channel. Growing stronger with

each descending foot its attitude changed. Now no longer friendly and playful, its childhood was

rapidly left behind.

Adolescence and unyielding determination were its personality now. Its sheer force pushed through and opened new

fractures within the hard rock. It polished and honed their edges.

It tore at the hillsides weakening them like no other instrument of creation.

Its voice became that of a loud drum.

Each beat shouted out its existence in a deafening thunder, reverberating throughout the canyon for all to hear.

Every pulse announced that it had become a

torrent.

Published by THE HELICONIA PRESS1576 Beachburg Road

Beachburg, OntarioCanadaK0J 1C0

www.helipress.com

Copyright © 2005 by THE HELICONIA PRESSPhotos Copyright © Jock Bradley 2005

All rights reserved: No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other

means, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First Edition 2005Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Bradley, Jock, 1961-

Torrent : exposures / by Jock Bradley.

ISBN 1-896980-16-3

1. White-water canoeing--Pictorial works. 2. Kayaking--Pictorial works. I. Title.

GV788.B727 2005 797.122’022’2 C2004-906848-2

Publisher – Ken WhitingArt Director – Chris Vick

Photo Editors – Jock Bradley, Chris VickProject Editor – Steve Metcalf