Dan Butler on the slidey combo drop, Rio Castro. Pic: Adam D.
Catching it on film. Tom Parker behind the camera as Chris Eastabrook whizzes past. Pic: Adam D.
Adam Dumolo dropping in. Rio Castro. Pic: Pete Firth.
Tom Parker running the ‘advisable to boof’ first drop of the famous triple combo on the Rio Castro. Pic: Adam D.
Myself, Niamh Stack, Dave Hollins and Fran Kohn are two weeks in to our month here in Colombia. We’ve been stunned by how beautiful it is: dramatic moutains covered in thick, lush jungles and huge canyons… a landscape that makes for some very committing sections of river!
So far we’ve paddled some amazing white water, including the big volume Suarez that really got the heart racing and the stunning multiday canyon of the Chicamocha. But the big story so far has been how one river that should have taken us 3 hours ended up taking 4 days – including two gruelling hikes out through the jungle in the dark! (read more about this epic on our trip blog)
The new Mamba is treating me very well and fitted all my multi-day gear plus camera gear in the back no worries. And it handles really well both with and without kit. Its really hot here so my Zenith shortie cag is probably my favourite new piece of kit as it doesn’t let water into my boat but also keeps me cool. That said, with all the jungle hiking we’ve been doing I’ve been pretty glad of how sturdy my Gradient boots are too… you can never underestimate the importance of shoes in the jungle 
Surfing a big wave on the Suarez in the Mamba
Getting from one place to another has been an adventure in itself as we are hiring 4x4s and trucks of all shapes and sizes for our shuttles and have been squeezing our kayaks into the luggage compartments of buses for transit between regions.
We spent the past 2 days on buses to reach Villavicencio and paddled a really pretty canyon on the Guayariba today. In the next couple of days we’ll be heading out into the hills to paddle a river that requires hiking for 3 hours, but this time we’ll have mules to carry our kayaks! Pretty excited about that!
Until next time, adios!
So me and Palm’s Bren Orton just finished making the Wrap Up Video of our time putting on the Kayak Display at the 2012 Tullett Prebon London Boat Show and all that was on during the show.
Our display was on for 15 minutes twice a day so this gave us plenty time to run around the show in-between demo’s to find all the activities you could try and cause a bit of chaos amongst the Yachting crowd 
It’s amazing what people will let you do when you have a Camera in hand.
Filmed by: James Bebbington, Bren Orton & David Bain
Edit by: James Bebbington RiverZoo.com
happy paddling,
Pringle
Last summer my buddy Palm’s junior ripper Bren Orton had the idea to shoot a little vid on Tryweryn, This was the first session we had on the Top Hole there.
For those who don’t know Tryweryn, it’s a fun dam released river, near Bala in North Wales. I started out kayaking on this river and did my 1st flat spins and cartwheels here.
It’s often over looked for play boating but is actually an awesome little river that’s fun to run down and has some sick little waves and holes surrounded by green lush, welsh countryside.
Thanks to Bren for the sweet clip!
More from the boat show soon,
Pringle
This last week we’ve been paddling hard on flatwater….It is for good reason though We’re at the London Boatshow at the Excel Centre.
Myself, Bren Orton, Claire O’hara, Mallory Franklin, Anton Lippek, & David Bain are putting on twice daily shows of freestyle & slalom on the watersports pool commentated by Ed Smith & Christian Stevenson along with our little video clips on the big screen.
Pretty weird surrounded by all these big yachts to be in a 1m deep pool showing off freestyle!
This year we don’t get to use the ramps & cable tow set up like last year but we have been doing daily talks on whitewater, freestyle & slalom to give the visitors the opportunity to fins out more on our sport, how they can get started and where it could take them.
Here is a clip from last years show by Bren:-
With 4 days left of the show we’re putting together some video interviews & other bits to check out daily, yesterday we shot Bren’s one, hold out until the end to see the outakes….
If you want to check out the display we’re on at 12:15 & 15:00 daily until the show finishes on Sunday 15th of Jan.
Anyway enough talking, here are some photos from around the show and a walk around Londons sights.
Pringle
Do you know what the ISO test is? How is fabric waterproofness measured? Is breathability in paddling gear really relevant. Will Kevlar® socks really stop a bullet? These questions and more will get answered at the end of January when we bring our head designer Barney Caulfield to the inaugural Gene 17 River Source Symposium.
He’ll be fresh off the back of Palm’s annual design week and no doubt buzzing with new ideas from planning our ranges for 2013, 2014 and beyond. So what better chance to get a unique glimpse into how Palm go about the whole process from product concept to manufacture – oh and its free, yes FREE!
But it’s not just about us showing off how we make stuff – although we’ll have a load of new gear on show Making the right kit choices can massively increase the enjoyment and success of you or your groups days out. Barney will be guiding from inside out so you understand how to get the most from your paddling gear and how to choose the right stuff.
Its a unique opportunity, but you’ll need to book so for a place on Barney’s gear seminar go here.
To start with a little background, here’s Barney at last years Kanumesse talking about the revolutionary new Spark suit
Palm’s New ‘SPARK’ suit – coming Spring 2012 from James Bebbington on Vimeo.
2012 is getting off to an exiting start for myself, Fran Kohn, Dave Hollins and Niamh Stack as we are just about to set off for a month of boating in Colombia.
Bags packed and ready to go…
I’m taking the new Mamba 8.1 on this trip which I’m really excited about because it seems to handle really well both with lightweight day kit and a full boat for multi-day adventures. We have a long list of rivers we’d like to get done: some of which may involve jungle hikes and sleeping in hammocks or bivis. We can’t wait!
I’ll be updating the Palm blog as often as is possible on these kinds of trips, so stay tuned and I hope to bring you tales and photos from our adventures!
What a great year we’ve had at Palm. So many highlights that have been covered here on the blog, on facebook and just generally gathered from being out about about on the water.
With 2012 almost upon us, we already have a load of trips, adventures and other exciting activities planned by team members, plus requests for events to attend and of course lots of new gear on its way…..can’t wait!
But for now, no matter where you are or what you are doing, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
It’s wet, cold and a strong freezing wind is blowing the raft off course – again.
It’s our 584th hour of training this year, and despite the mechanical repetitive drills and boat still veering off to the right it feels good. Spending this much time in a boat with 5 other determined and competitive girls puts you in some stressful situations but has great rewards when it all comes together.
On our 12th and final training session of the year we are focussing on maximising the efficiency of the blade and torso rotation, key skills for kayaking that you can directly transfer to whitewater rafting. With two sessions a day; two hours on flat water and two hours on whitewater with 10 minute off the water warm ups it’s an intense day. With no coach at present we spend time providing constructive criticism to each other on the flat, trying to create a balanced boat where everyone moves in symmetry with perfect vertical paddle shafts, matching torso rotation and sinking the blade to the same degree.
Timing is key to maintaining momentum and making moves on powerful water, and with two new squad members in the boat we spent a significant portion of the weekend working on synchronising all paddlers.
Over the next year we will be working on this and other skills, using video feedback and intense coaching in the hope that it might just give us that extra edge. In this game every second counts, and minute adjustments to the boat can make that difference between a medal placing, or nothing.
We’ll be bringing you updates from our training weekends over the next year as we prepare for the European Championships to be held on the River Vltava, in Czech Republic. We’ll be bringing you training tips and showing you what lengths we go to in order to stay fit and healthy and build up our fitness – it’s a real challenge! Follow our monthly blog to see how we’re getting on.
I know the gear can stand up to it – whether I can or not remains to be seen!
Safe.
Rosie Cripps
http://www.gbraftteam.co.uk
It’s here at last!
Vaniljesaus – A Norwegian Odyssey, taking you from the rivers of Valdal, North to Hattfjelldal, and even inside the Arctic Circle in search of adventures by kayak.
Enjoy!
Nick & Finn.
