CKS Blog: Defending the whitewater culture of making paddlers drink beer from the booties

One of the first things I learned about whitewater kayaking culture when I started to get into the sport 5 years ago was that if you swim on the river, tradition compels you to drink a beer out of your bootie/paddling shoe (or your primary rescuer’s bootie, depending on the crew and the amount of peer pressure applied) at the takeout.