In this episode of Following Waters, host Brett Mayer sits down with Buffy Burge — a pioneering whitewater kayaker, five-time Gore Canyon Champion, and the 2003 Green Race winner — whose story is equal parts adventure and reflection.

From her early days discovering rivers at summer camp, to the bold expeditions that defined her twenties — including the Middle Kings, the Waitaha Gorge, and remote runs in Bhutan — Buffy helped open doors for women in the whitewater world.

Then, life shifted. Motherhood, family, and time away from the sport gave her a new relationship to risk and identity. Twenty years later, she returned — not to reclaim old glory, but to share the experience with her teenage son as they became the first mother-son duo to race the Green Narrows together.

1. How Buffy first found whitewater and what drew her into Class V terrain
2. Lessons from pioneering all-female expeditions in the early 2000s
3. Why stepping away from the river changed her perspective on performance
4. What the river teaches about flow, identity, and belonging

Buffy Burge is a whitewater kayaker, extreme racer, and mother of three living in Fletcher, NC. A five-time Gore Canyon champion and 2003 Green Race winner, she’s paddled in over ten countries and helped lead early all-female expeditions in New Zealand and Bhutan. After two decades away from competition, she returned in 2023 to race the Green River Narrows alongside her teenage son — reminding us all that courage and curiosity don’t have an age limit.

1. Green River Access Fund
2. Anna Levesque podcast interview with Buffy Burge
3. Green Race - Official Site
4. American Canoe Association