Paddling Diaries: Touring Lake Chelan By Surfski

In this episode of the Paddling Diaries, I explore a novel way of touring by surfski in Washington State's Lake Chelan wilderness. Backstory: From my earliest days, I've been defined by my love of adventure. Mountain biking. Backcountry skiing. Mountain Climbing. Backpacking. Fishing in remote alpine lakes. I loved playing in the granite playground in the sky. And when I discovered surfskis in my early 30's, I could see the potential for these craft to cover great distances with grace, speed and power. Not to mention the potential of scoring a downwind in an exotic and wild location. The only problem of course was that they didn't yet exist. So when a brand new Epic V12 Ultra flew off of my truck one day after a downwind paddle with a friend, I used the opportunity to reimagine the boat as a touring ski. A very very fast one that I named the "ego smuggler". Bring everything together and you might just score a wilderness experience unlike any other.