Last year we ventured into the “Upper Upper NF Kaweah” for it’s first descent. Besides a couple of Google Earth scouts, we knew nothing of it’s sick, steep whitewater. Here is a video of the trip(s) and a teaser photo for the write-up over at HUCKIN HUGE.com

THE VIDEO:

The Burn gettin’ some love on the first descent of the Upper Upper NF Kaweah, California.

Check out this edit from Pennsylvania creeking this past year. Enjoy!

Pyranha’s 40th anniversary year is drawing to a close. I’ve had a Pyranha boat in the quiver since at least 1995 and Wendy has loved her various Pyranhas since ’98, so I dug through the archives to find a few oldy-but-goody images to share.

Great Falls of the Potomac: I love this pic. Original Micro 230. Harris and I at Great Falls:

Upper Gauley, October 1995. My first day in my new Acrobat 270:

Upper Gauley. Surfing in a Pyranha “Blade” at Geek Wave. Back in the day this boat was a cartwheeling machine.

Maury River, VA. Locally renowned art photographer L. Collingwood gave me this one:

New River, WV. Wendy working her Attak through the “Splat Room.” This boat is a cult classic. Kinda seems like a precursor to the Ammo design: 

South Fork Tye, VA. (1998?) A much-younger me in my first Micro 230. This boat opened up creeking for so many paddlers. What a breakthrough boat! This blog post could also be seen as a tribute to the Micro; when I look back at all the creek and rivers we explored in this boat I realize how revolutionary it was. This solid yellow one here was one of the original hull-style versions of the Micro 230:

Vallecito Creek, CO. (June, 1998). My first time in Colorado and my first run on Vallecito. We had no guidebook and no clue. Kirk and I hiked in to the creek together but he (wisely) decided to not put-on; but I (foolishly) decided to drop in solo. All I knew was I had heard this was a run people whitewater kayaked. I ended up routing Entrance Falls blind and scared as hell. I had a good landing but realized I was in some serious aqua. Somewhere in there I came across Charlie Beavers and Brett Bowerman chillin’ on a midstream rock and they made the rest of the run sound pretty calm [it’s not] so I kept going. After a few more terrifying but thankfully-clean drops I caught up with “Bubba” Cotton and leached on to his group as fast as I could to finish the run.

…and now, 13 years later, I think Vallectio is probably one of my favorite creeks in the U.S.

Below: Pyranha’s Burn dropping into “No Way Out” on Vallecito:

 Below: Crystal Gorge, CO. (July, 2001). “Zute Chute”

Lake Creek, CO. (July, 2001) “Paralyzer.” Props to my then-girlfriend for holding a throwbag and a camera while I hucked myself from Brains down through Cauldrons.

Big Sandy, WV. Two shots of “Big Splat” – the first is in the original Micro 230 and the second is in the yellow/black newer-style Micro with the revised hull design.

 

Gauley River, WV. I won’t name this boater (let’s call him “Tino”) because he’s a friend and a good dude, but this pic is just too good to not get some air time. Textbook carping! The boat is an Ina-Zone. I also had an Ina-Zone and it was the boat that I learned to do flatwater cartwheels in. Spent the whole summer double-pumping my way through the pools between drops on the New as a video-kayaker. Wish I still had one.   “Tino S.” on the Gauley River:

South Silver Creek, CA. We post-holed through hip-deep snow to get on the California gem:

Henry’s Fork, ID (2002). Lower Mesa Falls. My buddy Josh and I took turns hucking this double drop in my Micro 230:

Big Timber Creek, MT (2002). One of the Top 5 Greats.

Big Timber Creek, MT (2002). The Micro hopping down “The Pinch,” a massive slide:

Randy Boush in his tough, well-used Micro on Bottom Creek, VA at a healthy flow. Like I said, this post is almost a tribute to the uber-classic Micro 230.

A retrospective of recent-past Pyranha boats wouldn’t be complete without a couple shots of the venerable S:6 – one of the best Pyranha boats ever, IMHO. Here’s the S:6 at the Durango Whitewater Park, CO.

The S:6 was a superb playboat but it also ran rivers like a champ. Here it is producing a clapper at Valley Falls, WV:

The last shot is a bit of a memorial to our friend Don Smith. Here he is dropping Yule Creek, CO in his Micro 230. Yule Creek is balls to the wall creekboating.

Pyranha’s hull designs have been the best available for as long as i’ve been paddling. Looking forward to 40 more years of cutting edge kayaks.

Following on from the successful 2009 Below and Beyond Machu Picchu Expedition (http://belowandbeyondmachupicchu09.wordpress.com/) to Peru, the team were looking for another destination that would offer excellent whitewater, adventure and a break from the British weather. After some research we had a destination that fitted all of our criteria – Kenya.

The destination gave us everything we were looking for and a lot more beside – In the course of a three week trip we achieved 6 first descents, and paddled some of the classic rivers that Kenya has to offer.

http://belowandbeyondmountkenya11.wordpress.com/

Check out our blog for a more detailed account of the trip, and stay tuned for details of the lecture tour in the New Year.

In August and September Thomas Motz went with his frinds for 2 month to the USA. After some nice Runs in Washington they drove to Boise where they paddled the North Fork of the Payett. On their way up north they also did the Wenatchee. A really great experience was the decent of the Homathko.

So just shy of 6 weeks was this summer’s stay in Uganda.

Sam Ward, of Love it Live it fame, wanted me to run a couple of trips for him in Uganda. And even though I was very busy setting up my video production company (Rattle Media) back home, I still (selflessly) managed to drag myself down to Manchester airport and catch that flight.

When I first ran one of these White Nile trips with Sam, in 2006, it was a joint venture for my own company, Liquid Satisfation. In the years that followed, I was finishing my final year at Uni before heading off for 9 months, kayaking in Norway, Zambia and Uganda… I didn’t really have the time to push the whole coaching thing.

So that year Sam set up Love it Live it and when he was successful enough, I told him, that he needed to hire someone to run the odd trip, I would be more than happy to.

So that’s what happened. Liquid Satisfaction became my avenue for peddling low-budget kayaking movies – like Means of Production and the NSR Movies – on the white water community and running LiLi trips seems to becoming a very welcome addition to my calendar.

This time I was even obliged to go with the clients to Merchison National Park and see the falls.

I have a varied collection of photos attempting to capture the sheer madness of this wonder… But it’s pretty hard to get across the feeling of seeing the white water features you understand blown up to an obscenely senseless scale; such that the water no longer seems to behave in the way you’d expect.

Nick, Tom, Alex and Ed at the top of the falls.

Gotta love Nile Special, of course

Colin Wong throwing another huge Panam!

Me doing something as well.

And did I mention the rafting?

Some of my boys raft guide at Holme Pierrepont… So it was only fair I gave them a taste of Nile Rafting!

One long surf on Nile Special Please…

Incidentally, everything in these photos is still there, and will always be there, despite the Silverback dam. In fact, with the help of Sam and a few other people in Jinja, we shall be making a sequel to ‘A Dam Shame’ (which was a film about the rapids now gone); a film about all the wonderful white water, among other things, that still makes Uganda one of the best kayaking destinations on the planet.

Ah, Uganda, I shall see you again soon…

This autumn i had the best trip to the famous Ötz Valley ever. Even when i didn´t have the chance to participate at the Sick Line Race it was worse to drive 600km each way to the Austrian alps. The weather was so perfect with blue skys and temperatures like in summer time.  We paddled Wellerbrücken, Heilig-Kreutz and the middle Section of Ötz river and had great times on the water.

Greets Timo

Read the rest of this entry »

 

I feel really lucky to have paddled whitewater for 17 years and remain injury free.  Last Saturday it all changed.  I sustained a shoulder dislocation while paddling the Moose River during the annual Moose Fest.  I wish I had a better story than, I ran a big rapid, braced wrong. and it just popped out.  I’m off the river til spring, but I’ll be back hungrier than ever.  I learned three things from this experience and I’d like to share them. 

• Do Your Rotator Cuff Exercises-if the smaller muscles around yor shoulder are strong you are less likely to have a dislocation. 
• Keep Your Hands Low-Even if you think the rapid is easy
• Educate Your Friends and Yourself About Shoulder Reduction-A lot of pain and damage can be avoided with a prompt reduction.  This was not the case with me. 

Below is a photo of Team Member Ryan Mooney sending the rapid that got me…Crystal

 

“Never, pass up a trip on the Grand.” 

All the mantras often parroted when the topic of the Grand surfaces in conversation can certainly bore those of us who had never been down.  Yeah I totally get it, sounds awesome.  Three week desert run with incredible scenery, history, rapids and the opportunity to sit on a groover and be amazed how everyone’s poop always looks exactly the same.  A dream come true. 

“Will you take me?”  “No” 

Will they show you pictures and tell you how cool it is?  Yes. 

Read the rest of this entry »