A potential problem with working in the paddlesport industry is that you often don’t get as much time in a boat as you’d like. So when team paddlers Simon Westgarth, Matt Tidy and Nick Horwood invited me out for a week’s boating and photoshoot in Ticino, Italy, it seemed rude to say no!
Full report coming soon but for the meantime here’s a few shots from the major mission of the week – the Loana and its sidecreek, the Basso.
We were lucky to catch the Basso with plenty of water and were rewarded with a truly spectacular run. From the epic hike in, to the endless bedrock slides, to the horrendous portages – the whole river had the feel of a high Sierra Californian creek.
After a full day of sunburn, dehydration and 200m slides aplenty we finally reached the Cascada di Loana – the takeout. Matt chose to run the first fall and, after an exciting takeout just above the second ‘gutter drop’ (in the background of the second shot below) fired up the third as well!
I’d definitely recommend the run if you’re in the area and there’s water – but bring some decent shoes, there’s a lot of hiking!
Last week I was elected Aberystwyth University’s Sports Person of the Year, a great honour which makes me extremely proud. Usually all the awards go to traditional field sports but this year myself and the canoe club dominated:
I won Sports Person of the Year : This is awarded to the individual who has excelled in their chosen field of sport and has enhanced the reputation of sport in Aberystwyth”
I was nominated for the Gwyn Evans Shield : Awarded in memory of a former PE lecturer and club coach, the award recognises personal dedication, commitment and commendable sporting attitude towards achievement in sport
I was awarded one of 18 College Colours (an award I also received last year) : Awarded for long service & loyalty to a club and/or university sport in general and/ or outstanding performance
On top of all of that, the Canoe Club also won Most Improved Club, which fills me with just as much pride as the personal awards, my friends and I have put in so much time and effort over the last five years to make the club as inclusive, fun and active as possible. (We also won the “Spirit of PGL Award” at the National Student Rodeo this year)
I am awaiting official photos from the evening, but as my housemate is a photographer he took the above photo to make sure I have at least one nice one! Thanks to Rob Clark for the photo.
I hope you have exciting summers planned, I know I do… Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland for the World Freestyle Championships then to finish off I am heading to Tibet for an expedition exploring two previously unpaddled tributaries of the mighty Tsangpo.
Over the summer, both on my travels and at home, I will be doing loads of coaching, including a Kids Camp and several Ladies Specific FlowFree courses. Oh and in July I’ll be donning a mortar board to graduate from my Masters Degree. Happy days…
The West Coast of New Zealands South Island is world renown for its steep creeks. During the Southern Hemispheres summer months the West Coast ranks amongst the worlds premier paddling destinations. What is lesser known is that the North Island also has some world-class creeking hidden amongst her rolling hills….
During the Autumn in New Zealand, South Westerly Low Pressure systems tear up from Antarctica bringing with them strong winds and heavy rain. Whilst this weather is not really conducive to many outdoor activities it does grab my attention because with this rain comes the possibility of some of my local creeks starting to flow…
The rains have been battering New Zealand over the past few weeks and with the Northern Hemisphere adventures rapidly approaching I was pretty eager to get amongst my local runs for one last time before heading North.
Here are a few shots for you to check out from my backyard…
Driving our big events van to Scotland in high winds was pretty eventful – you felt like you were surfing the road at times but eventually we got there.
The Big Van surfed to Scotland
The site was a great little Loch about half an hour from Edinburgh with a superb watersports facility, which also hosts Scotland’s largest club – Fife Canoe Club. It was held over two days so plenty of time to talk the Brookbank guys through some new kit and get people on the water. As well as enthusiasts for Tour and White water boats the sunshine on the Sunday brought loads of local families to try paddling for the first time – cool!
Cam and Lawrence from Brookbank
The Brookbank guys are all keen paddlers so after the event finished on Saturday we pilled into the vans and headed up to Perth to paddle the classic river Tay. It’s only a short blast of a few miles but less than an hour from Scotland’s major cities it is a brilliant section full of on the fly play. Hats off to Canoe Scotland for working with other local users (especially the fishermen) to secure access to this spot.
Stanley Playwave
The weapons of choice were longer faster surf boats so Cam the Brookbank Scotland store manager took the Axiom for a rip whilst Lawrence, store manager from Lancaster, got the Juice to make the most of the wave trains that you could catch on the way down.
Check this little video of one of the sections on the Tay
At at the end of April in Val Sesia the valley was just thawing from a long winter. In Alagna this year there have been record snowfall and even now towards the end of May there are still big snow fields waiting to melt. This makes this Piemonte the place to be this spring as there are great levels in all of the classic runs, and even some more obscure rarely paddled rivers have had water this year.
Enjoying the first melt on the Egua
Fighting the temptation to put my ski’s back on, I warmed up on some of the classic runs of the Sermenza, Gronda and Egua, (where there was still snow at the put in!) before I put my guide hat on and waited for the first G17 clients to arrive for a road trip around the area.
We decided to make the most of the good levels and for most of the week we were based in Campertogno making day trips out to enjoy the fantastic white water here. Before making an excursion into Ticino.
Gradually the Danish boys stepped up, getting accustomed to the gradient, and firing some great lines down the Egua.
Nilas, earning another clean line on the bedrock
This year although the lines stay the same, the rocks are well cushioned and the holes become more….entertaining
Zambezi belt comes in handy yet again
That'll learn them, issuing punishment with the last of the snow
Satu Vanska Westgarth , joined us for a couple of days to show the boy's how its done.
Mads, styling on the Egua
..and San Giovanni
Nilas, airbourne on San Giovanni
Morten on his first proper creek!
Morten captures the feel of the week, and celebrates a sweet descent.
As the Danish boys waved good bye and started their long drive back up North, Simon and I received two more guests from the USA for a week of kayaking in Piemonte. The rain brought the water levels up yet again, rendering some of the classics un-runnable, but with a bit of creative thinking we showed Tim and Kristen around and had some fantastic days on the water.
Tim McFee on the Landwasser
Kristen leaning into the fall line on the San Giovanni
Campertogno at night
Overall its been a terrific start to the spring season here in the Alps, if you like steep creeking and you’ve not visited Piemonte before make sure you do so, it never disappoints.
So on with the next mission, a visit to Ticino! Ciao
Next week, Tim Trew, Palm’s new boy and Mac Magician comes with sick kick Nick Horwood to the mighty Ticino. Over the last few days Matt Tidy and myself have been lining up a few runs to consider for this photo shot and general huck fest for the office boy.
To date, the research into the wider Piemonte and Ticino granite areas of Italy and Switzerland, has been extensive, and I do promise a guide book or something alike at some point. Still what is great about this season is the amount of options, as the snow pack is high and the weather stable of late. The base flow has been ideal for hitting all the runs. Now today the Gene17 trips are over for Valseisa, and we’re about to go to the Sessera for a research mission, and will do the Lower Strona tomorrow, before pick up the guys in Milan on Monday evening.
As we are nice, we’ll go for a warm up day on the might Verzasca, this is a pristine valley, set high into the mountains be hide Lago Maggiore, images of this run have littered the paddling press for the last 15 years, so its a great spot for getting the images done on the first day. Check out a few from last year…
After the warm up day, we’re off to Ribo for those Park n Huck shots and then the Loana and its side creek Alpe Basso. Now I have been a few times up here, but never found the water, however for this year, I will hope its all very different. The following is a description of these runs, translated with Google from they source, first Alpe Basso
Since walking on the path traced along the valley for about 35 minutes. Boarding is after you cross the path with a farm, the trail is level on a beautiful meadow with a little cabin on the upper right. Descend towards the river and embark on the slide.
Description Series of slides, in 2 km of descent, we counted 3 / 4 rapids with rocks the rest on a bed of rock. Attention to a jump of 4 / 5 m with possible shallow basin (Boof).
Sounds just prefect, hike to a slide and get on, and the bed rock is about 2Km long!!!! Now the Loana,
Many steep cataracts remain in our low water with some impressive bedrock chutes. The exit in the usual combination of waterfall and not the scenery is around the track wonderfully wild and lonely.
Warning barrier after the rapid hard and a cascade of 30 m in 2 jumps! Reconnaissance!
Sounds great, and with a plum waterfall at the take out. Here is a shot of the Loana….
After that we’re head in the Toce valley for the Dèvero and may be back to Strona. A real favourite of mine, and a river that rarely runs…
As you can see, there is a lot to get done in a week, and a race next weekend in Valsesia, but I’ll keep you posted on how Tim does…
PS I forgot to mention, we’ll be trying to complete filming of “My Ticino”, another short film from Gene17 about our lifestyle as kayakers, I hope to edit in October and show the film at Gene17′s Adventure Paddler’s weekend in December in Devon, UK
It’s been a hectic winter season in Cumbria. Managed to get in some runs on the local classics
Robin gets it almost right on Langstrath Beck
Top drop on the Caldew on a bleak winter day
We have even managed to make a change in the ridiculous access agreement that was in place on the river Eden. I love meeting the estate owners and greeting their statements of ownership with a bemused lack of understanding of their ideas. It’s always a pleasure to get on the river with it’s variety of sections that give lots of options to the intermediate paddler. When high the wave trains can be enormous. In November we paddled 25 km in under 3 hours.
This guy lives at Armathwaite weir and loves sharing the beta with paddlers when they show up
Christmas spent in Cumbria allowed us to get the children out on the river for a couple of days.
Preparation included some dry land training for Méabh
Sarah took Eimhear in her boat. She sits quietly in her seat and is no problem to have in the boat.
Méabh is alot more active but loves sitting in the boat and playing with her paddle
All the children decided to walk this drop.
Christmas dinner on the banks of the Eden in the Cumbrian sun
After Christmas life got busy again with the Stikine getting well used on loads of rescue courses. I lost count of the days spent swimming around on the rivers of Cumbria.
Sunny days on the Leven
Dave Rossiter taking charge
One of the highlights of the season was paddling the Findhorn and Meig with a particularly strong 5 star team on the same weekend that Ireland sealed their first Grand Slam in 60 years.
First big drop on the weird and wonderful Meig
All in all a great season with lots done and more to do.
The Salachan Burn and the WigWam Burn are two Scottish Creeks which you might not have paddled, but really should. Following a couple of sweet runs with Thom Brown I thought I’d do a quick rough guide for those who aren’t in the know. Both are grade 4/5, but there’s nothing too stressful if the flow is sensible.
The Salachan is located about 5 minutes drive south of the village of Duror on the Glencoe to Oban road (about 10 mins from the Ballachulish bridge turnoff). It needs quite a bit of water so looking over the road bridge there should be enough flow to get down the main channel without scraping off any rocks. If it was super high (completely covering the entire river bed upstream of the bridge) then it would be fast and scary with big holes everywhere and no eddies….
You can park up at the bottom of the private track which leads up beside river left. Walk up for about a kilometre and a half until you reach a fork in the road, there should now be an open grassy area to your left. Walk down and put on to a short grade 3 warm up and after 70 metres or so you’ll be at the top of one of the coolest drops in Scotland. It’s a pretty easy line at a low flow, but would get pushy high and could feel shallow if you don’t boof (Gr5): enjoy the rare feeling of complete disconnection and freefall!
Thom Brown On the Pull
After this the difficulty of the river will be entirely dependent on the flow, but is generally good 3-4 which can almost all be run from the boat. There’s a big horizon line which is a fun 15ft slide followed by pool then a fast flume into a sweet parabola boof off a 3 metre drop. This is all good and easy at low/med flow, but would get very serious at high flow.
These would be big in high flow...
After this you’ve got another section of good G3/4 action which all goes well- mostly from the boat. There are a couple of trees and the odd dodgy looking boulder trap to avoid, but it’s all good if you’re upright and in control.The get out is on the left where you will spot the track that you walked up winding along above the riverbank.
Droppin into the WigWam Burn
Next up is the Allt Auchtertyre or WigWam Burn which flows into the north side of the glen between Tyndrum and Crianlarich (opposite the Connonish). Coming from the south take the right hand turn immediately after the bridge over the Connonish (sign for wigwams) and follow the track to a large parking area. Looking over the bridge the rock beneath the downstream side should be completely covered and forming a reasonably chunky hole. If you don’t think you can run this rapid then maybe the rest of the river won’t be for you…
Walk up the track which follows river right. It’s probably a good idea to stop at the top of the first hill and bash your way to the river to check out a big fall, “Spit Roaster”. It’s big and gnarly and may require a portage although it has been run at a good flow (but not tremendously successfully!). If it’s very low then this drop would be an excellent park and huck…
Carry on walking until you reach a stile above the point at which the river splits. The bigger river, on river left, has got some cool slabby stuff to be explored and is more worth it than it might look. Otherwise it’s probably best to put on below the ‘Destroyer’, a grinding, churning hole which is immediately after the meeting of the two streams.
Some good grade 4 boofs for 100 metres lead to an obvious horizon line which can be inspected on river right. “The Lamb Fondler” is definitely one of my favourite drops and seems to go nicely at most reasonable flows. I’ll let you decide the line, but it’s pretty obvious that you don’t want to go left on the bottom ramp… The short gorge that follows is turbo, but has a few trees to avoid and a good face shot from a river left waterfall if the river is high.
Thom Brown on "The Lamb Fondler"
After this there’s a kilometre of awesome grade 3/4 which all goes sweetly. It flows through a reasonably gentle sided and escapable gorge which makes for easy scouting and portage if necessary. There’s a great drop and hole under the railway bridge then a 2/3 section until the Spit Roaster breakout. The bit from the big drop downwards is a “Stay Left” boulder affair until you reach the rapid under the bridge. Take out river right and be careful not to damage the fence. Enjoy!!
The stills have been taken from footage which I am collecting for “Sneaky Freaky Creeky”, a Scottish boating film. It’s going to be a while coming, but it’s going to be radical!
Start of april, a team of three Swiss paddlers from Interlaken, consisting of Marc Gacond, Phil Hausammann and myself, set off to explore the whitewaters of the legendary island Corsica. After a warm up on the Verzasca, we had a short stopover at the airport in Bergamo to pick up Canadas Tyler Curtis, to complete the team of this mission. Marc, Tyler and I had already sucessfully been on expeditions in Tibet, Patagonia and above the Arctic Circle, and so we were quite positive to collect a few „airmiles“ early in the season. With the VW Multivan fully loaded we fired up the engine and set off to the ferryport.
Marc Gacond launching at the Travo
Beside Freeriding different rivers, our goal was to shoot the next chapter of a movieseries for the biggest international Whitewater Magazine. And so we’ve been taking cameras, mounting tripods and playing with all sorts of innovative capturing technics. The schedule was tight and challenging, due of the good teamplaying defenatly manageable
„KayakSession Magazine“ organised at the same time the „Corsica Whitewater Festival“ and the regularly at Eastern by kayakers flooded island turned into a whitewater ressort for paddlers from all directions and corners of this globe.
Ron Fischer with the perfect line, captured by Marc Gacond
The first days we spent with Ron Fischer, Arnd Schäftlein and many other well known kayakers and already a couple of hours after our arrival on the island we had the first splashs of corsican whitewater in our faces.
And so we road- and rivertripped around the island, running stunning Whitewater and getting to know to island once more in a unique and very special way.
After a long, very rich winter with lots and lots of pow pow, at was the right moment to start of with spring. Putting up camp somewhere in nowhere and to feel again as individual yet very insignificant part of our nature.
Phil Hausammann boofing very nicely..
Stay away of these cute little creepers: very beautfiful yet very dangerous and poisioning.
Marc Gacond with the camera mounted on the back of his boat.
Ron Fischer at the start of his „Quest of the lost carkey on Corsica“, Phil trying to help. As a note: His van was loaded up on a truck and driven back to Switzerland…
Myself on the first Rizzanese drop.
Marc and phil givin’er!
Second Rizzanese-drop
Phil Hausammann seat belt fastened and ready for landing!
Tyler Curtis waiting for his turn!
Marc Gacond on the Asco
Visiting one of the worlds greatest Whitewater destinations doesnt mean you got to close your eyes from the rest of its treasures and beautiful places… The little town of Bonifacio is not only vey rich on history (Napoleons birthplace), its also breathtakingly beautiful!
Hmmm… One day, i will be back without a vanload full of boys!
A feast for all senses!
Phil Hausammann in action
Canadas Tyler Curtis with the perfect line on theLiamone
Important things for a succesful Corsica trip:
- Ellbowguards
- Full Face Helmet
- Tar- Band
- Duct-tape
Nice campspot for a night
Typical corsican mountainvillage.
And so we returned after 14 paddlingdays and 13 explored rivers (some we paddled twice), numerous shot videotapes, unforgetable moments and impressions of breathtaking nature back to the mainland. Without any real injuries or problems we discovered most of the islands whitewater gems. And altough temperatures have been lower as expected with more raindays than Switerland, we will keep this place in memory with a warm heart!
Off to the next adventure… on a mission
Simon
Here is the first trailer of the Kayak Session Video Guide from Corsica:
