Things change with time. Rapids get rearranged, beaches lose and gain sand, portage trails fall prey to foliage. Paralleling these changes in the paddling world are a few changes in our publication. Rather then roll over and rest on our literary laurels, we've decided to spice things up with the addition of a few new departments. Our regular sections will remain the same. But just as snowmelt breathes new life into rivers every spring, we've decided the time is right to do the same with our magazine.

Those of you who scan the magazine for pictures will be the first to notice our new photo department called the Flip Side. As with Gary Larsen's Far Side workings, the Flip Side is designed to take a look at the lighter side of paddling through photos. To be truthful, the main reason for the department is to find a use for all the Ender contributions accumulating dust in our photo archives. Rather then let them gather more sediment than the Glen Canyon Dam, we've decided to give them a voice in a two-page spread complete with what we hope are witty captions. Some of these captions might work, some of them might not. Some of you may get our thinly veiled attempts at humor, others might see them fly over your head like a giant standing wave.

On a more serious side is our new First Descents column, designed to give you an idea of who's doing what in the world of whitewater. Richard Bangs of Sobek fame volunteered to author the first one, an account of his 1996 first descent down Ethiopia's Tekeze Gorge. People are paddling new runs all the time and this is our way of helping you keep abreast of what's being run where. We are counting on you to contribute to this section by letting us know of your pioneering paddles, whether it's on a tiny Georgia creek or a multi-thousand-cfs waterway in Nepal. We are also re-introducing our once-popular Health column written by long-time contributor Buck Tilton. This month's topic is tendonitis, something that can strike whether you're oaring a raft, paddling a sea kayak or taking your canoe out for a Sunday stroll. The final new addition to our arsenal is the addition of an Inn of the Month section to our Destinations department. This piece is designed to highlight a different paddling-friendly lodge each issue that caters to canoeists, kayakers and rafters.

Of course, none of these new additions will subtract from our normal departments, which this time around includes a special Paddle Tales section highlighting our readers' Shuttle Tales of Woe. In our Skills department comes a piece by 1997 World Cup Slalom Champion Scott Shipley on how to get started in slalom, as well as a how-to story by Mike McCrea on building the perfect canoe trailer. For features you'll find a piece on what it takes to join an elite group of California sea kayakers called the Tsunami Rangers; a story on canoeing one man's backyard in Norway; and a first-person account of learning how--and how not--to paddle a sprint kayak. Finally comes a story entitled In the Shadow of Quartzite, which relives the events before, during and after the bombing of the Salt River's Quartzite Falls in Arizona. Changes in the paddling world, it seems, are indeed inevitable--whether they're a result of Mother Nature, publishers or the Hand of Man.

--Eugene Buchanan