At the end of April, some of us scheduled a race on the New River Gorge.  We fell short of getting enough boarders out to have a race, but three of us, myself, Jay, and Bryce had a blast going down the gorge.  After the run we had dinner at Pies and Pints, and I can say that I have yet to have a bad pint or pizza there.  The following day, me and Bryce  decided to check out Sandstone Falls further upstream on another section of the New river.  On the way, first we checked out Brooks Falls, an easy class III with a choice of a rooster tail or a ledge.  It has easy access to get in and out near the bank and a cool wooden viewing area overlooking the rapid.  We ran it a few times, me hitting the rooster tail each time and Bryce hitting the ledge for his last time. 

Brooks Falls

 Then we got to Sandstone to find it running about 3. 75 at the local gauge.  Sandstone Falls is about a half mile or more wide with tons of falls and slides all the way across.  Had the water been a little higher, we could have run some vertical waterfall lines, ranging from 12-25 feet, but we needed more water.  It wasn't a wasted trip though as we found a very steep slide into some ledges and holes over on the far river right.  

 entrance to Sandstone Falls slide

After deciding the falls didn't have enough water and seeing the slide on river right in the distance, we went to the vehicles to grab gear and get a bite to eat.  We also did paper, rock, scissors for who would go first after scouting.  We ferried across the main channel and began scouting.  This was a rapid that wasn't too bad to run, but initially looked scary while scouting.  It's really cool to scout with multiple experienced people though.  They can reassure you if you are a little shaky or talk you out of doing something stupid if you happen to have a little bit too much chutzpah and not enough brains on a certain day.  Two or more people can also play devil's advocate to each other and that's how this one went.  "Well, what do you think about this line?  Not bad, but did you consider this downstream?  That looks good, but is this better?  What if you miss that line, can you still get through okay"  And so forth.  There were two possible entrances, the far right tongue requiring you to dodge a very bad sieve, so we opted for the next entrance.  I stood on the cliffs and directed Bryce in since the entrance is blind.  He hit his intended line down the slide, then came off of his board afer the first hole.  He still looked okay and was still moving through the rapid well, so I wasn't concerned, but he told me he banged his butt pretty good.  Then it was my turn to hike up and run it.  

 You can barely see my helmet hidden by the first little wave at the entrance. 

This one really is blind.  You can see the horizon line, but can't see any of the rapid till you're right on top of it, which is why it's good to have a spotter on the cliffs to direct you in.  I hit my line at the top well and blasted down the slide into the chaos.  Then at the first ledge, I went deep, gently kissed the bottom of the river bed with my board, and got swept to the right, but I was still moving so I was fine.  I resurfaced and realized that I was way off from where I planned to be, but the line I was on looked just as good, so it was gravy after that.  I caught the edge of the second ledge and hole instead of the meat, and me and Bryce were done with our possible first D of Sandstone Falls.

 completely buried under there somewhere, but you get a good view of the rapid and the sieve that's in play if you enter from the far tongue.  

 running the second ledge

 in the runnout

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