A competitive kayaker and kayak instructor from Tennessee has been identified as the man whose body was recovered from the Stikine River on Tuesday.

The B.C. Coroners Service says 42-year-old Jeffrey Dean West set off alone where the river crosses Highway 37 and was to be picked up near Telegraph Creek.

Another group of rafters found his body floating in the river in the remote and rugged Grand Canyon of the Stikine.

The canyon is known to be one of the most challenging kayaking runs in North America.

West was familiar with the Stikine. He is known in paddling circles for a run down the Stikine he did with two other kayakers in single day in 2010.