Whitewater Legend Lars Holbek

March 26, 2009.

Whitewater legend Lars Holbek passed away on March 13th 2009, after a fairly short battle with cancer.

Just hearing of his death… and am stunned and deeply saddened. We didn’t know each other well; in fact, barely at all. But, c’mon, he was a legend and river god! And gone from us far too soon.

I essentially memorized Lars’ book, “A Guide to the Best Whitewater in the State of California,” and I had the opportunity to meet him in the mid-1990s.

Johanna Thomas, then the Executive Director of the Tuolumne River Preservation Trust in San Francisco, and I were pulling all stops to save the Clavey River from what we believed to be an unnecessary dam. I was a whitewater rafting fanatic (hence the nickname BRC – Bitchin’ River Chic) and river defender, living and working in the SF Bay Area. Johanna and I schemed to convince Lars to help us fight the good fight. He hadn’t a clue who we were, and we hadn’t a clue what to do if he agreed to help us. Sure enough though, he lent his support without hesitation. He was sweet, smart, full of wonderful ideas, laid-back and supremely handsome. With his help, and with the help of many others, the Clavey River was spared.

My sincere and heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. Rest in peace Lars.

Here is a link to a wonderful article about Lars in Kayak Session magazine.

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