Pyranha Blog

25
Apr

XCreek at X2 Festivalen in Volda, Norway

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Last weekend I travelled across Norway to XCreek, the first race in the 2015 Norwegian racing season. XCreek is the kayaking part of X2 Festivalen, an extreme sports festival based in Volda. We spent the long weekend exploring the local rivers, racing, and then partying with skiers, snowboarders, surfers, skaters, base jumpers and longboarders among others.

Filip Knörr nailing the final drop on the race course.

Mickey Wilson stopping to watch a racer while entertaining the crowd with his insane slackline skills.

Race Briefing

The race was held on the Hellsylt section of Bygdaelva; a technical, low volume creek with many drops and slides to keep both paddlers and spectators interested. It was a great competition with Jamie Sutton coming away with the win for the guys, while I managed to win in the ladies race.

The film from the event that was shown at the prize giving is at: http://x2festivalen.no/xcreek-2015/ – Thanks Torbjørn and the rest of the crew organising this year!

Throughout the weekend the atmosphere was buzzing with paddlers super excited to get back on the water and see friends they had not seen since before winter. When not racing we also paddled a couple of the other runs local to Volda. Although water levels were low we found endless drops and slides in spectacular gorges to keep us happy.

One of many slides on the Horndøla.

Roger Kveen Volden on the Horndøla.

A narrow slot on the Langedalselva.

The Langedalselva gorge.

Borge Hamso on another narrow slot on the Langedalselva.

The festival was the perfect way to start the season…… now we have a few weeks of play time on the spring snowmelt before Trøndelagsrunden, the next Norwegian kayaking festival and the second race in the Norwegian Whitewater Cup – can’t wait!

Tags: creeking, norway, racing, xcreek

23
Apr

Heading to the ICF Wildwater Junior/U23 World Championships

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Competition Reports

by Henry Hyde

Okay, this one isn’t going to be about freestyle or slalom or creeking or any other craziness. It’s all about making the USA Wildwater Junior Team and going to the ICF Worlds. I don’t know how I got this slot, because the race conditions pretty much sucked. 34 degrees, snowing and raining and a wicked wind blowing upstream in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado. Most normal people would have gone back to bed or just sat in their car with the heat blasting. Not me, so I guess I failed the normal test.

Wildwater racing is fun, hard, and the boats are massive at 4.5 m long. They’re also pretty unstable sitting still. It is a whole different technique in paddling them. You also cannot read and run with them and be successful. You have to plan your run, your turns, the flats where you’re going to pick up time. It is all about the time, the clock, the guy with the watch who is watching you. It comes in two parts; The Classic and the Sprints. You go full on in the classic for 3 to 4 miles. Sprints, you go more than just full on for about 350 to 400 m. The paddle is different and is what they call a wing paddle. The hardest part of a wildwater boat is rolling it. Something you’d better practice a lot and never forget how to do. The last thing you want is a race getting crushed. I think my Clipper holds maybe 300 gallons of water. Fun, huh?

Well, Team Colorado will be sporting 5 racers into the worlds. We’ll have our hands full because the Euro kids are pretty good…. but so are we 🙂

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21
Apr

Tsarap Chu – A Mildy Quick Decent

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by Michael Hatton

A phone call later and our planned commercial Zanskar multi day expeditions was cancelled. As always before any decision was made a mug of chi was needed. This allowed us time to take in surroundings and think. Daz Clarkson-King and me a long time holiday boater had a week before an IRF course based on the Indus and Zanskar by Mark Hirst. We paddled the Tsarap Chu & Zanskar multi-day combo last year taking our time to enjoy Puckhtal Monestry and the delights of Padam, four days Tsarap Chu and two days on the Zanskar. Then the question how far is the trip could we do it?

We had a borrowed map with all the bits we needed, a chi glass was exactly 10km on the scale. The Tsarap Chu was apparently 100km and Zanskar 120km. This was a bit inaccurate as rivers don’t flow in a straight line it’s more like 140km for Tsarap Chu and 130km for the Zanskar we did a proper measurement on completion using string so this is still probably wrong not that it matters.

We packed for 3 days knowing resupply in Padam (confluence of Tsarap Chu, Stod, Doda and start of Zanskar) would be fine, stove and pans aren’t needed added weight change of clothes added faff. Food was important biscuits, peanut butter, cheese and dried tomato for dinner, multi-purpose donuts (pillow) for breakfast and mango juice for day 1. Snickers and nuts for snacks.

5am Wake up rivers looks cold and lower than last year rapids will be more technical with less boils in the boxes the flat will be hard. Daz hasn’t moved lie in till 5:30

6am in kit on river paddle into the gorge flat 25km braided low and COLD

9am Box 1 on a left hand bend trust it goes through the pinched gorge that feels like a cave with a footbridge on top. Box 2 hits you within 10 minutes sometimes a boily mess with a chossy bend, we drop in with the familiar shrug of the shoulders as were in it now. We pass the German team who were at their first night camp, they were a bit surprised!

9:30-9:45 A quick 15 minute portage around a sumped out section, this action required a Snickers portaging a loaded boat at over 4000m isn’t fun.

11am Quickly blasting through a couple of boxes we arrive at 2^nd night camp porter hut river right next to a small trib spooky but good if it rains!!!! 2 hours of flat the beautiful blue Zara Chu enters from the right, one for the brave.

2pm Pucktal Monestry we stop, we’re both feeling cold and tired sit in the sun for 15 minutes and chat to a monk and EAT! Below Pucktal lies some beautiful read an run slaloms between big bolero sized boulders perfect.

5:30pm We hit Reru a major rapid and portage for most possibly possible at certain flows. We spot the beach and the scree slope of doom. Reru can lull you into running the lead in section and making the portage worse the scree is longer and steeper. We scout it’s a no for me were cold hungry and tired so we drag the boats onto the beach and realise the portage can wait till the morning.

6pm fed in bed possibly out tomorrow?

5:30 up 6am changed portage complete by 7:30 take a long line 35m send one person up the scree and haul try not to dislodge a cliff onto the people below, Shouldering your boat up the scree is a miserably dangerous experience. The portage is still 4000m + altitude so allow time for lungs to burst and lie down to check out the scenery and scout. The run out is your reward for your hard work possibly the sketchiest part of the trip has now been completed time for the FUN.

The river down to Padam is an awesome section of world class ww with rapids up to 10 minutes long constant action for 25km big volume fun.

10am confluence with Stod and Doda and the Tsarap Chu become the mighty Zanskar, we hit the first major rapid Mothers Mercy “no scout down the middle” around 2pm and meet up with good friend Tsering Chotak (Wet n Wild) just downstream, we could be out of the gorge today but why not have a good meal and enjoy company and surroundings, we camp at Nyrak a beautiful beach in the middle of the Grand Canyon around 3pm.

Last day beautiful run through the more major rapids the Zanskar has to offer 18 down a site of many a raft flip and constriction where the mighty Zanskar is compressed and squeezed being highlights, a brief snack at the beautiful waterfall camp and at the confluence before the rafting customers for lunch PERFECT.

2.5 days around 270km still felt like a holiday (photos from previous trip)

Thanks to:

Pyranha Karnali fast and stable

Daz @ Pureland Expeditions

Chotak @ Wet n

Wild Explorations

Tags: expedition, Fast, Karnali, Tsarap Chu

19
Apr

Humla Karnali – 2015

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by Jonny Hawkins

The Humla district in the west of Nepal is one of the highest and most remote in Nepal. Getting there ether involves a nine day walk from the nearest road, or a flight landing onto a short, sloping runway in Simikot. Many pilgrims travel through Simikot on their journey to Mt. Kailash. However, we were not there for walking, we were more interested in the base of the valley. The Humla Karnali.

Simikot is the administrative headquarters of Humla District of Karnali Zone in NW Nepal

The Humla is described as “one of the finest whitewater kayaking trip of its length in the world” and as such, is an ambition of many paddlers . With 400km of incredible paddling, in an extremely remote area of Nepal, it was hard to say no when George Fell asked if I wanted to join him and Stu Martindale on their trip.

Descending 1000m from Simikot to the river with local porters

We drop out of the air onto the modest runway at Simicot, wait for our boats, then the next day hire porters to help carry our boats 1000m down to the river. This is my first visit to the Himalayas, and the scale is mind blowing. Huge peaks tower above us with vast expanses of terraced land leading down to the rich blue bubbling Humla Karnali.

An excited Jonny Hawkins, George Fell and Stu Martindale at the put on

We are here in April, low water season, but the power and continuous nature of the river is still apparent. For the first couple of days we paddle short, exciting sections, between portaging long gorges chocked with colossal boulders. After all the boat carrying on the first two day I begin to doubt the hype of the river, but luckily this is short lived. By day 3 the paddling really kicks off. Long sections of fantastic whitewater flow beneath sawing eagles and stunning snow-capped mountains. Nepali children hoot and whistle from the bank as we soak up the incredible surroundings

Sampling the delights high up on the Humla

It soon becomes clear that mistakes on this river would be very costly and swim would be very bad news. This committing form of trip is new to me and I learn lots from George and Stu, portaging when necessary and picking lines down powerful whitewater.

Every camp and portage had excited Nepali kids to keep us ‘entertained’

Jonny enjoying some of the fantastic whitewater as the river increases in volume. Photo – Stu Martindale

As we approach the final and most challenging gorge of the trip we decide to camp early and inspect the section from the dirt track high above. Exhausted, we climb the valley side and stumble upon the village of Sani Gad. The inhabitants welcome us with huge smiles and offer a room which, after 5 days nights in bivi-bags, we accept immediately. We chat and play with the locals and spend time exploring the fascinating village. It feels like we have been teleported back to the medieval age. Goats, chickens and cows roam around the piles of hay on the terraced wheat fields. Houses are skilfully constructed with stone and finished with thatched roofs and wooden struts for windows. Wood smoke bellows from every house.

The excited and slightly perplexed villagers at Sani Gad

After some amazing sweet, spicy lemon tea, the village chief invites us to dinner. We enter his dimly lit house and perch on his bed whilst his daughter and wife tend to the food over a wood stove. We enjoy rice, lentils, spicy spinach and a helping of fresh goat meat and cautiously delve into the curds.

The pretty well developed town of Sani Gad in the Humla valley

The following day we walk around the long rapid below Sani Gad before getting into the hard gorge, and getting back into the pleasing routine of quality rapid after quality rapid. At the end of the day we have finished all the hard rapids of the Humla Kanarli

We reach the end of the 180km Humla Karnali the following day and paddle on – into the Lower Karnarli section. Driven by dreams of beer and steak we pick the pace up, clocking two 100km days filled with sections of amazing big volume class 4, and fantastic scenery, to smile our way down.

Jonny immersed in more big water happiness. Photo – Stu Martindale

Bivying under the fantastic stars, by a warm fire each night, gives us chance to reflect on what has been an incredible few days of paddling.

The final camp of the trip, on an island offered, a great place to reflect

Reaching the bridge at Chisipani the Humla certainly lived up to all the hype. 400km of fantastically continuous whiteweter, in the bottom of a magnificent valley provides the perfect setting for an awesome journey on one of Nepals finest rivers.

Thanks George and Stu for an amazing trip and I look forward to another 2 months of kayaking in this awesome country.

Tags: expedition, Humla Karnali, Nepal, shiva

13
Apr

Tallulah Fest 2015

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Paddler Lifestyle Articles

by Bren Orton

The Tallulah is one of the coolest dam released rivers out there. Long slides, great boofs and a pool drop style see’s kayakers of all abilities flocking to this south east classic.

Saturday we got to take a nice leisurely stroll down 600 or so steps and then cruise down the river with a huge crew of new and old friends. I have always wanted to run the Tallulah it’s by no means a big, scary or hard river, it’s just good old fashioned fun and it is awesome to see so many people enjoying there time on the water.

Saturday night played host to the Tallula fest video comp. We got to see so many brilliant videos it must have been incredibly hard for the judges to decide which one was going to take home the $1000 cash prize. My personal favourite was “Resemblance” by local south east charger Dylan Mckinney (see video below). In the end Colin Hunts blend of ridiculous kayaking, chilled tunes and footage from local rivers took the win. With Dylan in second and Ryan Macavoy in third place.

Sunday morning rolled around far too quickly for most and we had to shake of the previous nights celebrations and go for one last blast down the river before heading back home to Asheville.

Huge thanks to all the awesome people that volunteer to make this festival happen, see you all next year.

Demshitz

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10
Apr

Why Kayaking and the LPS are Awesome (As if You Needed an Article to Tell You!)

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by Fran Kohn

The Ladies Paddle Symposium 2015 is coming up this weekend, and some last minute places have just opened up; if you’re interested, please call 07737 040 785.

Here are some words from Susanna Rickard about last year’s event!

I hadn’t realised a jaw could really, physically drop until Fran read out my name as winner of a Pyranha kayak at the 2014 Ladies Paddle Symposium. Then came a mixture of disbelief, amazement and complete joy before some tears of happiness shed on Lowri Davies, who had the (damp) experience of sitting next to me.

Learning to paddle something this short!

The LPS is fantastic. Not because I came home with a boat, but because it’s the only weekend like it in the kayaking world. In a male dominated sport, a weekend of female-oriented coaching and networking is great for our confidence and development as paddlers. It’s also a great weekend away in itself, full of laughs and good times.
Kayaking can teach us a lot about ourselves. When I started learning in 2013, it was the first time I’d taken up anything new in about a decade. I came to it after a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, as part of a recovery process. It quickly became obvious I was shy about getting things wrong, didn’t like making mistakes (especially ones that led to swimming!) and put huge pressure on myself to do things right as fast as possible.

Early days, learning to roll it…

The sport has built my confidence and taught me a few valuable lessons along the way, including ones about my concentration, patience, and empathy for others in a group. Paddling definitely demands a less self-centered outlook than we might otherwise have. What I really like is that the stuff it teaches us applies to life outside paddling.
The LPS manages to capture all the elements of this great sport and brings them together in one weekend. The fantastic set of talks on the Saturday night in 2014 covered everything from boat design (built for average male measurements) through to Deb Pillinger speaking on the paddling ethos – surmising that if bankers were paddlers, the banking crisis wouldn’t have occurred.
Friends were made, and I reckon everybody headed home with a smile on their faces.
Since winning my Jed, I’m certainly happier spending a lot more time upside down, and indeed getting thoroughly trashed in waves. And after all, if it comes to it: “if you’re not swimming, you’re not trying hard enough.” So a huge thank you to Pyranha, a huge thank you to the LPS and all who make it happen, and bring on LPS 2015!

Fun at Lee Valley

Tags: Female, festival, jed, Kayakers, Ladies Paddle Symposium, Lee Valley, LPS, ThisGirlCan

01
Apr

FREE Demshitz Video Boating Waterfall Clinic

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Paddler Lifestyle Articles

by Dave Fusilli

Paddler: Dave Fusilli

Photo: Aniol Serrasolses

Come one come all. We will have boats to demo and skills to pass along! See you on the water!

Demshitz Day with Alder Creek!

What: FREE Video and Waterfall Clinic with the Pros!

When: April 5^th 11AM-3PM Easter Sunday

Where: Sunset Falls Park on the East Fork Lewis – Sunset Falls is on the East Fork Lewis River. It’s the first drop on the race course Saturday at the creek comp. It’s run-able even at low water and is an easy park n’ huck for folks that would be exciting enough to look cool on video but is a great spot for a first waterfall run too.

Purpose?: Now that cameras are small, wearable, and waterproof, more people are posting videos of their adventures online. Plus, videos of people going over water falls are cool. Why not learn to truly inspire people with your videos. Learn some easy ways to take your video boating to another level from the guys who do this for a living. Learn about different perspectives, framing, creating suspense, etc… The boys can also offer up some great strategies for running drops and techniques that will have you lookin good for the camera. There will also be some Pyranha demo boats available to try out!

Who: If you are up for running the falls and have the appropriate class IV skills then huck it! If you just want to come video the fun and get some tips on photography and videography then you are welcome to stay on the bank too.

Tags: demshitz, easter, waterfall clinic

31
Mar

Night Laps on the Green River

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by Dylan Mckinney

After deciding to hold back and not go down south for winter, I was hoping, as every other paddler in the Southeast was, that El Niño would bring the cold winter rains and get all of the Southeast classics up to prime levels. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case and even the Green hasn’t been running… at least during the day. So, we have resorted to night runs with head lamps! Night Green runs aren’t completely abnormal, but are usually done with the aid of a full moon. With neither a full moon or a release during the day, and a couple of us really jonesing to get out there we had no other choice.

20141218-P1360342-2

A night Green run really adds some spark to paddling a section of river you paddle often and know so well.. It also turns out that head lamps don’t provide as adequate lighting as you’d think and your depth perception not the same either (obviously). Although, I wouldn’t recommend paddling the Green Narrows at night with a head lamp to most people, I do think that paddling on some sort of water at night with the aid of some sort of light can help improve your paddling and really help you get a feel for the water! It can especially prepare you mentally for those times that you accidentally might end up paddling in the dark too.

Lessons learned:

Bring extra batteries
Pack food and extra layers
Paddling in the dark is actually really fun (also really scary as well)
Paddle a forgiving boat like a Shiva for these endeavors

20141216-P1360331-2

Till next time,

Dylan

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31
Mar

What to do when you are broken……..

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Paddler Lifestyle Articles

by Erin Clancey

I finally broke down and went to see the doc for my shoulder and knee. After two MRI’s, it turns out I have a torn rotator cuff and torn articular cartilage behind my patella……bummer……no skiing for a while and no hard paddling for six weeks. So why not get out and go on a beautiful, multi-day, class II adventure??

Scott with boats I live in Idaho, so I’m very lucky to have many wilderness rivers right out my backdoor, and I think easy self-support kayaking is going to be the best way to get out and stay strong during my six-week recovery. I started with a three-day trip down the Grand Ronde in northeastern Oregon a few weeks ago. Except for my boyfriend, Scott, and I, the canyon was empty of humans and full of wildlife. We saw a bear from the river, a herd of elk while hiking, and river otters. Since it is still actually winter, the first night was really cold and we woke up to ice on our tent and a foggy canyon.

fog lifting camp 1 I paddled a Shiva and Scott paddled a Burn, and between the two of us we easily fit enough gear, food, and tent to stay warm and have a few beers at camp. I think easy multi-days are a great was to get out and have a fun adventure while giving yourself a chance to get your gear dialed in for self-support kayaking. I’m so fired up on multi-days that I just ordered a Fusion so I go on wilderness trips for weeks at a time!!!

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26
Mar

Video: High Water Raven Fork in the 9R

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Creeking Articles

by Clay Lucas

Like so many others out there, the 9r has quickly become my favorite kayak of all time. I have had a lot of fun taking it on harder and harder whitewater, and it performs beautifully, from class II to class V+! Here is a quick gopro edit of a sweet weekend on the Raven Fork river in North Carolina, with good juicy flows! Enjoy.

– Clay

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XCreek at X2 Festivalen in Volda, Norway

Heading to the ICF Wildwater Junior/U23 World Championships

Tsarap Chu – A Mildy Quick Decent

Humla Karnali – 2015

Tallulah Fest 2015

Why Kayaking and the LPS are Awesome (As if You Needed an Article to Tell You!)

FREE Demshitz Video Boating Waterfall Clinic

What to do when you are broken……..

Video: High Water Raven Fork in the 9R

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