User:Colby.adamek/sandbox

Born and raised in Stevensville, Montana (1), Tyler Bradt was first introduced to kayaking at only six years of age by his father, Bill Bradt. Tyler’s skills seemed to be above average as he kayaked class five rapids only six years later at the age of twelve. By age fifteen, he was a kayaking prodigy, receiving national recognition for his abilities. In July of 2001, Tyler was invited to kayak rapids in Norway, Europe (2). While on this trip, Tyler had a near death experience when he was flipped and pinned up against a rock under the force of the water. To this day he still calls it, “the closest call he’s ever had” (2, 3). Tyler has appeared in several films, holds sponsors from NRS, KAVU, Smith, Dagger, At Paddle, Tribe, and Voke Tab (1). He has gone on kayaking expeditions and holds the record for the highest waterfall kayaked at 186 ft.

World Record at Palouse
On April 21, 2009 Tyler Bradt successfully kayaked Palouse Falls in Washington state. At an estimated 186 ft., this made Tyler’s descent a world record, breaking the previous record set by a Brazilian kayaker named Pedro Oliva who ran the 127-foot Salto Belo of the Rio Sacre just a month before. In turn, Oliva’s descent of Salto Belo broke Tyler’s previous record of 107 ft. from 2007 over Alexandra Falls on the Hay River in the Northwest Territories (16). Tyler’s plunge got big media attention sense the Palouse Falls are 17 ft. taller than Niagara. His media agent sold both pictures and video of Tyler’s descent to Sports Illustrated. On May 18, 2009, the first published photos appeared in the magazine along with video footage on Si’s website (16). Tyler and Kayaker/film maker/friend Rush Sturges used footage of Tyler’s plunge in their 2010 collaborative film, Dream Result (16).

Injury at Abiqua
In March 2011 Tyler was on his Huck Fest Tour, which is an annual tour that he and his friends go on looking for big waterfalls. On this trip, they found Abiqua Falls, a 95 ft. waterfall located in Oregon in which Tyler made a mistake and went into the water too flat causing him to break the L1 vertebrae in his back. It took Tyler’s friends including, Aaron Rettig who was with him that day, four-hours to carry him out of the canyon to a nearby hospital. Once there, Tyler underwent a four-hour surgery by Dr. Joseph Sherrill, getting four screws and a bone graph to replace crushed bone. Tyler wasn’t cleared to kayak by doctors for three months following the injury (2).

Expeditions
During the winter of 2011 Tyler and two of his friends: Erik Boomer and Jon Turk worked on planning a 100 day, 1,400 mile expedition to circumnavigate Ellesmere Island, Nunavut Canada, 500 miles from the North Pole (4,5,6). Along with sponsorships from Eddie Bauer-First Accent, Wilderness Systems, and AT Paddles (7) they received one of the four Polartec Challenge Grants for 2011, a grant that’s been around sense 1991 funding what the grants website says as, “frugal, low impact teams who respect the local culture and environment and serve as role models to outdoor enthusiasts worldwide” (5). Unfortunately, Tyler’s injury at Abiqua falls (broken back) prevented him from attending. Both Jon and Erik took on the task anyway, loading up their 13.5 foot Wilderness System Tsunamis kayaks in May of 2011 and completing the journey in 104 days. As a result, they earned the title of kayaking adventurers of the year 2012 from National Geographic (13). After a year of recovery, Tyler was healed and ready to try for another expedition, this time in the Sea of Cortez in Baja California, Mexico accompanied by Sarah McNair-Landry and again his friend Erik Boomer. Sponsors for the trip were KAVO, TRIAK, NRS, Adventure Technology, La Paz, and VOKE (15). The plan was for the trip to be a 450-mile journey over a span of 30 to 45 days, but yet again problems arouse. The group set off as scheduled from Kino Nuevo on January 21, 2012, but a couple of days into the trip nasty weather held them up on shore for seven days. They were forced to cut the trip short because Sarah had to catch a plane and fly north for an arctic expedition training camp she had to teach. The group decided their new destination would be Loreto, Mexico, 258 miles from their starting point. On February 14, 2012, 24 days after they started and two days before Sarah’s flight took off, they made it (15).

Movies Appearances

 * “Dream Result”
 * “Congo – the Grand Inga Project”
 * “Legend of The Falls”
 * “Oil + Water Project”
 * “Kayaking Uganda 2004: The White Nile”
 * “Tyler Bradt in Norway”
 * “Frontier”

Awards

 * Outside Adventurer of the Year 2012
 * Rider of the Year 2009
 * Drop of the Year 2009
 * 5th Best line of the Year 2009

Tyler Today
Tyler Bradt is a kayaker known for his world record waterfall descents, desire for adventure, and outgoing personality. He has sponsorships from NRS, KAVU, Smith, Dagger, At Paddle, Tribe, and Voke Tab. He’s appeared in countless films and has been recognized as Rider of the Year (2009), having the Drop of the Year (2009), and Outside Adventurer of the Year (2012). Tyler Bradt is the face of kayaking.