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.

In this episode:

• How Buffy first found whitewater and what drew her into Class V terrain
• Lessons from pioneering all-female expeditions in the early 2000s
• Why stepping away from the river changed her perspective on performance
• 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.

Links & Resources

• Green River Access Fund
• Anna Levesque podcast interview with Buffy Burge
• Green Race – Official Site
• American Canoe Association