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WATERSKI MagazineTerry Clark is a dentist. His patients near Portland, Oregon, know him as Dr. Clark, the man who has a nice parking spot and wears a clean T-shirt every day. Last summer, however, this particular dentist drew a thick line through one squeaky-clean work week on the calendar and then tried to convince a group of his skiing pals to do the same. He talked of roaming the
untamed lands of the Northwest. The Columbia River, he told them, was lined with bald eagles, snow-capped mountains and Native Americans catching salmon. Then he mentioned plate-glass water that runs through some of the most scenic territory in North America.
Gordon Clark (Terry's brother), Ron Bennett and Ben Rodriguez were hooked. So too was photographer Todd Patrick,
who jumped at the assignment. The five men blocked off nine days, enough time to comfortably ski and see 1,400 miles of the river – though “comfort” hardly entered the pictureand only three of the skiers made it from start to finish.
The ski ride from Lake Columbia in southeast British Columbia to the
Pacific Ocean would not be a straight shot. The guys would meander through raw turf that hasn't changed in centuries. Few people had traversed the length of that rugged wilderness, and better yet, nobody on record had done it on a slalom ski.
That was the plan for the aptly named Clark (sorry, no Lewis on this trip) and his friends. Modern addenda like two Yamaha WaveVentures, an MB Sports Boss 210 and detailed maps bridged the gap between early explorers and this audacious group. Passing off the handle along the way, they saw the promised mountain goats, mirror-like water and native fishermen. But it wouldn't have been a true expedition if the path were so consistently kind. So, log jams and Class III rapids were naturally laid out like “unwelcome” mats, just as they were for previous trailblazers. Of course, those old-timers didn't have to deal with broken props and blown-out ski bindings.
