MY PASSION
Charles Snider
Imagine sitting in a fiberglass kayak, paddling for 24 hours straight with 8-foot waves splashing over you. For Charles Snider, that’s a weekend kayaking trip.
In the past 35 years, Snider has traversed the streams and oceans of North and South America on more than 100 sea- and whitewater-kayaking expeditions.
Before becoming director of marketing for Estancia Alicura Inc., Ward Lay’s fly-fishing and big-game hunting lodge in Argentina, Snider was a professional kayak paddler. This could explain why, at 65, he’s in better shape than most 20-year-olds. Don’t believe it? He even completed a 500-mile route on northwest Alaska’s Noatak River, where he was often forced to paddle till the crack of dawn and sleep in the boat.
Snider’s favorite part of the sport is not only the challenge and endurance required, but the sights he sees. “Animals don’t fear you when you’re in a boat,” he says. “I have paddled up to grizzly bears, wolves, and deer.”
Even shoulder surgery, done in May of last year, can’t keep Snider off the water; he’s already making plans for his next trip. He calls it his “Big Paddle”—or aspiration—to complete one more challenge: a 1,200-mile kayaking trip from Seattle to Alaska.
