Ahem. It occurs to me that the play on words in the title for this post may be lost on those not from the Pacific Northwest – BC, Washington State, Oregon (think Cascadia) and so on.

Not everyone living in the region will be familiar with the term but, for many of us who grew up here, you’ll know that if someone says something is skookum, that is a positive connotation.

Now that we have this colloquialism sorted out, I can tell you what a treat it was to watch  a couple of skilled daredevils tempt fate, and the Skookumchuck Rapids, on BC’s Sunshine Coast. The sense that this athlete is almost cradled in the waves surrounding him defies the real risks undertaken.

I could tell you I took this shot from an adjacent kayak,  but that would be a lie. I was safely on the rocky outcropping just adjacent to the rapids, telephoto lens at the ready, and ooh-ing and aah-ing with the best of them.