3 Women 300 Miles, River Boarding the Grand Canyon

3 Women 300 Miles, River Boarding the Grand Canyon

From The River Radius Podcast by Sam Carter

February 10, 2026 · 1h 13m · Episode 128

About this episode

This episode features a reunion of three women who embarked on a unique 300-mile river boarding adventure in the Grand Canyon.

Do you ever get those wild ideas about running a river in a unique way, but they just stay ideas, and you kinda always wish you had followed through? This episode is about an idea that became a reality. In November of 2001, 3 people zipped up their drysuits, pulled on their swim fins, strapped their dry bags to river boards, and slid into the Colorado River beginning a 300 mile trip where river boards were their only water craft. Kelley Kalafatich, Julie Munger and Rebecca Rusch floated, swam, kicked and paddled their way in and down the Colorado River, successfully and joyfully, and they have a film documenting this story. The film has just published and they joined The River Radius to have a reunion of sorts and tell their river boarding story 25 years later.

People in this episode

Host: Sam Carter

Guests: Kelley Kalafatich, Julie Munger, Rebecca Rusch

Topics covered

  • river boarding
  • adventure
  • Grand Canyon
  • Colorado River
  • women's stories
  • outdoor sports

Keywords

  • river boarding
  • Grand Canyon
  • Colorado River
  • adventure
  • women's stories
  • outdoor sports
  • Kelley Kalafatich
  • Julie Munger
  • Rebecca Rusch

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Grand Canyon, Colorado River

More episodes of The River Radius Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The River Radius Podcast podcast page.