We killed it at CKS Paddlefest this year. Team Pyranha was on hand to lend out boats for demo and give advise on which ones people should check out. There seemed to be a lot of interest in the Varun and the Karnali. Pyranha ended the weekend on top with huge sales that beat out all the other boat manufacturers, and judging by the shortage of demos, a ton of people fired up about our boats. We all took turns in the Varun on a sweet wave just downstream from the comp hole. In between rides I managed to get a few shots of the Varun making light work of the touchy wave feature.

A couple years ago, on the Team Pyranha blog, Ryan Scott posed a retrospective of pictures of himself paddling various Pyranha boats through the years (see his post here). At the time I remember thinking that it would be a fun project to look back through some of my older padding photos and try to find pictures from the many Pyranha boats that influenced my paddling life. As with all too many ideas, I promptly forgot about it… until recently.

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Here are a few photos I thought I would share from the Elk River, NC from last month. As the spring rains wound down, this was one of the last good creeking days from the high country. Enjoy.

The Crew at the Put In

1st rapid, good boof

 

Ty at compression falls

 

Myself at compression

 Since the end of the school year, I have moved to Bryson City, NC for the summer on the Nantahala River.  Updates soon!

Record snow and a late snowmelt has made the anticipation for Colorado tour more exciting then ever. I just finished my first week in colorado and it could not have gone much better. One of my favorite runs we got on this week was Cross Mountain Canyon on the Yampa River. This run is about an hour and a half outside of Steamboat Springs, and because it is at record high flows, it is definitely one of the bigger rivers I have ever run. It is five miles of continuos class 5 big water. I got on this beast of a run twice and both times turned out to be quite an epic adventure.

Another run I went to was Slater Creek. Not only did we get stuck in the snow for two hours attempting to take a shortcut, but we also had to rope boats out a quarter mile from the main drop, ( a twenty foot slide into a thirty footer) because of a tree. Slater Creek was at ridiculously high flows and I claimed a highest recorded descent (1200 CFS) of this beast. All in all Slater Creek ended as a great park and huck.

Lastly, was the competition at Steamboat Springs, (Steamboat Springs Paddlelife Pro Invitational) which included a creek race on Fish Creek, and a rodeo on the Yampa River. Although we did not have ideal temperatures or flows it turned out to be a great competition. I ended up seventh in the creek race and eight in the freestyle. Next is Glenwood wave and Teva Mtn. Games. Another update is coming soon.

Stories and articles about kayaking drops can fall short of getting to the feelings and depth of emotion. The calculated risk, the dynamic assessments we make, these cannot be from the heart.

It is my personal view that the heart matters. For me, for the ride – this inner being more than anything is why we push ourselves.

The place of magic – the place of bijou- is on the edge, the thin chance – the moment that is passed before it arrives. The moment that you have planned for in the sleepless nights. The moment of no return, no second thoughts – no second chances. For those that have the ability to think in this way our natural world will hold spells beyond belief, it will hold you in its charm and welcome you for the ride.

Last week was a time I ran Llanberis falls in North Wales, A fall I had wanted to do since my youth. Read more and see the film and images via www.purelandexpeditions.com and find the blog, you know you want to.

DAZ

Hi Folks!

Check out a little video from my trip to South Merced river in California >>>

We have returned to Italy this weekend to find water in the rivers thanks to a little rain followed by a lot of sun. Dave hollins decided to go for an early run on the upper Ayasse this morning providing some fantastic entertainment for the locals and the camera. take a look for yourselves!!

 

 

 

For more photos and info click here –http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Pyranha-Team-Van/136918449653266 to follow the team van on the rest of its tour around Europe.

We have just returned from a great couple of days over in Switzerland visiting Toro and Kevin from Kanushule Versam. We arrived in the evening and went straight out to catch the local play wave before the Dam release washed it out.

 

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A few weeks ago a group of work shy paddlers paddlers gathered at the Falls of Lora to take advantage of the perfect tide.