European Whitewater movie mash up

Whilst I’ve been hiding inside from the -26 winter fronts coming through Alberta, I’ve had a chance to go through bits and pieces white water footage I’ve been hoarding from some of my favourite places over the last few years.

I’m no Spielberg and its a hodge podge  mix of different cameras and cameramen.  Most of you European kayakers will recognise the rapids. I would have liked to add some of the more obscure places i’ve been, but I didn’t take my camera everywhere.  Watch out for an old Dagger prototype boat and prototype Palm amp vest.

Its only 2mins  enjoy!

Matt

My best bits of 2010

Last year I went back to study for 12 months, which frankly isn’t as much fun as kayaking even though it was quite a challenge.

However being based in the UK for a year had its advantages,  I didn’t have to pack and unpack my bags every couple of weeks for a start, and I managed to fit a small amount of quality British kayaking, and the time I could spend on the water I appreciated even more.

I got to paddle some classic Welsh runs the Melte and the Upper Mawddach for the first time, and in very high water. I have to say when those two rivers have high flows, they are world class.

I did travel to Italy for a precious couple of weeks in Val Sesia guiding with Gene17 and paddling with friends.

The Golden Nugget boof on the Sorba

Boof left line on Cylindre

I dusted off my old freestyle boat and entered a couple of the British championship events. managing a 7th and 4th place in each, despite being restricted to all of the moves I could knew when I stoppped competing freestyle several years ago. Time to learn some new tricks!

Paddling the Nottingham ditch

Have a look at this to watch me try to get to grips with freestyle again, and catch up with the kids. You may recognise some of the moves from uh 2003 ish!

Later in the summer I also squeezed in a couple of weeks in Norway, arriving just in time for the Ulla Extreme race where my combined runs took me to 6th place amongst an international field.

Crossing the finish line Gene17 Ulla Extreme race

I spent a couple of days with old friends paddling some classics like the Upper and Middle Skjerva (which reminds me of a committing West Coast NZ run) and numerous blasts down the Sjoa canyon. During those excursions I was lucky enough to test out a pre production version of the new dry top, which I’m happy to say is comfiest dry top yet and really easy to move in.

I was also there to work, and had a fun week guiding for Gene17 which unfortunately ended with an off the water accident when Simon broke his leg!

Upper Skjerva

Beautiful Norway

I worked for the rest of the summer on my dissertation project and finished my studies at the end of October, so at the beginning of November headed out to the best place for that time of year: ‘The Himalayas’

Kathmandu

In the first weeks I warmed up on the Upper Bhote Kosi, then I led a commercial, self supported trip into the Tamur for Gene17. This is the second time I’ve been into the Tamur and the combined 3 day trek/4 day paddle lived up to its world class reputation once again.

7 Days supplies for 6 people, importantly including rum!

Our porters on the hike in to Dobhan

High levels meant most of the rapids were not so recognisable from my previous trip a few years ago, and we were less than lucky with the weather being rained on often as we slept on the beaches, but it was a great experience for everyone on the expedition.

After finishing the Tamur trip out East, I travelled West with Jakub, Sara and Adam to paddle some of the local greats around Pokhara, we ended up finding that above the regular section Upper Kali Gandaki from Tatopani to Beni is one of the finest one day Class IV runs around, and very continuous at the grade.  After a late start we finished the last few rapids in the dark!

Sara James powering through another quality Class IV

I finished 2010 with what could have been the final descent of the Subansari river in Arunachal Pradesh, India.  The damn being built on this large tributary of the Brahmaputra will be one of the largest in the world and will flood over 30000 km² of jungle which is the home to Tigers, Leopards, Elephants and countless other smaller wildlife, not to mention several isolated tribes living in small bamboo villages.

Arunachal Travel

The river itself is one of the most beautiful, pristine rivers I have ever had the pleasure to paddle on. Whilst it was not the hardest white water I’ve paddled, there was plenty of fun to be had on large volume Class IV rapids with abundant playspots for a big boat!

Subansari

I was safety kayaking for a commercial raft trip and for the upper section this was a first descent for rafts, which provided plenty of entertainment and kept us kayakers on our toes more than once! After three days of travelling to get there, the river trip lasted for 8 glorious days, and it was a pleasure to spend that time in a real jungle wilderness, with the Indian, Danish and Candian crew. We had great days on the river and mellow evenings on spectacular beaches (mellow until the rum appeared anyway).

My final adventure of 2010 was to pick up the suit that I’d been measured for in one of Delhi’s many tailors and head home for a snowy graduation and Christmas. I’m now  working in Banff enjoying some of Canada’s finest powder snow, but I’m looking forward to whatever 2011 has to offer! Happy New Year.

Bitchin’ with the Axiom

With the spring tides in September Deb P and I took the chance to paddle at the Bitches in Dagger’s new baby the ‘Axiom’.  Thursday wasn’t the biggest tide but a glorious day to paddle to the Bitches to surf, and to charge around in the rapids with the seals.

As the rapids built we tried out some old school stern squirt manoeuvres…

…..and then headed to the hole of the soul, for some big ends…

…and finally used some superior speed to surf some waves.

Job done, we paddled back to mainland Pembrokeshire for drinks and a fish dinner : )

Thanks to Deb Pinniger for the images.  I’m now in Scotland surfing Falls of Lora, making the most of the recent rain, and preparing for the Etive race. Reporting back soon.

The Place To Be

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.

 

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. 

 

This year although the lines stay the same, the rocks are well cushioned and the holes become more….entertaining

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

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