Two days after Fran Kohn and I arrived in Chile, the Pucon River Fest was held. On the Saturday the Palguin Boater Cross was held on the Upper Palguin and organised by Ben of Kayak Chile. On the Sunday there were raft races held on the Rio Trancura.

Words: Dave Hollins

Photos: Fico Gallese

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Typically December is great month to be a kayaker in Alabama. Frequent rainfall and mild temperatures usually result in lots of river days without much discomfort. However, December 2010 started out with a deep freeze that swept mercilessly across the southeastern United States. Alabama is typically around five to ten degrees warmer than the rest of the southeast paddling scene, but even here nighttime temperatures dipped into the single digits and daytime temperatures stayed below freezing for days on end.

What’s a paddler to do when the water is low and the weather is unkind? The same thing we do the rest of the year, of course! Go kayaking! The lack of rainfall has left many rivers too low, but Little River Canyon in the northeastern corner of Alabama remains runnable at quite low flows. A trip down Little River Canyon at higher flows is usually characterized by pushy water and big holes (lots of fun in its own right). However, at low flows it channelizes between the huge boulders and creates a run that is more the style of a low volume creek and is a local favorite when most other rivers in the region are too low.

For the rest of the write-up, pictures, and video… click HERE.

To skip straight to the video… click HERE.

A in-depth look into the dwelling of a dedicated boater on the side of a river. Click on the picture to view. M 17+ Rating

Sickline Team searches for The Book Of Legends

In the Bashkaus River Canyon in Siberia there is a book waiting in a metal box for all those kayakers who are not too scared to run one of Russia’s toughest rapids. In 1972, Bashkaus River Canyon saw its first descent. Forty years later, the team want to perpetuate their names in the mystic book, which cannot be accessed from land. Legend has it that once your name is written in the book your are immortal…

Ten kayakers – Olaf Obsommer (GER), Tomass Marnics (LAT), Florian Dillier (SUI), Jared Meehan (NZL), Bernhard Mauracher (AUT), Sam Sutton (NZL), Stephan Pion (FRA), Thilo Schmitt (GER), Timo Köster (GER) and Philip Baues (GER) — aim to master the challenging Bashkaus River and find The Book of Legends.

The expedition takes the kayakers to Siberia’s highest mountain range, the Altai Mountains, where Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia all come together. The range extends some 300 km from the West to the East and from the South to the North, the highest summit being Mt. Belukha (4,506m/ 14,783ft) at the Kazakhstan border.

Apart from surviving the Bashkaus Canyon and writing their names into the legendary book, the team plans a first descent of the 25m high Kurkure waterfalls and a first descent of the remote Edygem Canyon, a 4-day adventure in itself. Big volume rivers and roaring waterfalls embedded in untouched wilderness will not only demand technical excellence of the ten kayakers, but also adventure spirit, stamina and a high tolerance for suffering, as conditions will require long self-sustaining river runs and ample hikes.

Watch the video