Kayak Session Magazine — Fall 2017

There is something about opening a magazine for the first time and hearing the spine
crack as you caress the glossy pages to glimpse the images and stories it contains.

Not that long ago, what happened in the global whitewater world was rumor - we
had to wait until after the fact to get the gossip, the news, and catch up on what
happened. Even video edits took weeks, months, sometimes a full year.

The Internet and later, Facebook, changed the way we share and interact with each
other. With the advent of social media and introduction of smartphones, we suddenly
had the world at our fingertips, instantly accessible nearly all the time. By bringing
communication to a virtual sphere, technology has connected a global community,
but also created a culture of instant gratification.

It has become almost too easy to instantly share what is happening, even in the most
remote of locations. This year, Facebook Live, Instagram Story, and other technologies
allowed for the live streaming of events, bringing an even higher level of immediacy
to event results and updates.

For years we have been covering events “live” so to speak, with our “inside an event”
series. With our recent coverage of the GoPro Mountain Games and ExtremSportVeko,
in addition to daily reports, videos and results, we went real-time, and man, is it cool!
We are still amazed at what is possible today, let alone what tomorrow may bring.

So why bother with print?

Even as we crave the immediacy of results, updates and the rest, we get bogged

down and overwhelmed with the amount of posts. Our brains can’t possibly take

it all in. We are inundated with media to the point where we click “like” mindlessly,

almost as a reflex. At Kayak Session, we believe in the power of print. Print takes time,

thought, and reflection. With print, it becomes a question of quality, not quantity. We

pick the best of what we see, and attempt to follow it up, follow it through, and bring

you more of the story.

We work with all mediums at Kayak Session, to tell stories through print, web and

social media. They are all equally important, and we try to give each equal attention.

For some, new technology rings the end of print media. We think otherwise. It is by

no means one or the other, but both can, and more so must, live side by side. While

it is quick, easy and gratifying to skim the continual feed of instant updates, and

to partake in the moment of live stream, there is something to be said for taking

the time to reflect, look back, and acknowledge what we have accomplished and

gained.

So, grab a beverage, grab a mag, and enjoy what lies between these pages. We

hope it was worth the wait.

The Team at Kayak Session

Worth The Wait

© Jeremy Bernard