By Dan Stewart

Wispy clouds dot the Midwestern sky. The water below is frigid, but he still sweats  underneath layers upon layers of tough clothing. There are rapids up ahead and cave walls all around. This is how Andrew Scherff white-water kayaks in Brown’s Canyon on the Arkansas River in Colorado.

“You gotta be fearless in that sport,” Laura Scherff, Andrew’s mother, said.

This type of kayaking is known to be extremely dangerous, especially because of its high risk of drowning. In the United States, over fifty people die each year from white-water kayaking.

“Trying not to flip over, that’s the main thing you’re trying not to do,” said Andrew. “So far the things I remember are when I tip over, it’s cold and you don’t know what to do,”

Andrew’s dad, Bill, got him into the sport when he started doing it, and now Andrew goes kayaking with his dad and people from the Missouri White Water Association.

“[The best part is] Just being out in nature, being on the water, being away from civilization,” Bill said.

Andrew plans to continue kayaking in the future and his father hopes he does, so he can have a partner when he goes.

“I love all of it, the water in my face, and the places I go are amazing,” Andrew said. “Like I’m on another planet.”