It wasn’t until I looked down from the top that I realized quite how high 40 plus feet is, its terrifyingly high. Especially when my mind was already so set on the fact that within the next 5 minuets I would be sliding off the top of this thing, falling into what looked like a small pool from the bottom, let alone way above it! With Will and Stu back in the U.K and JP in hospital the only people that could come out to play were the Siam river crew!

Thunder cloud’s in Chiang Mai – Photo Jake Holland

A late 11Am and we were on the road, I had found a Suzuki 1.3 petrol jeep for only £16 per day, which i truly cherish especially the steering which must be done on string! All of a sudden the car was rather Cramped with Bill, Tam, two girls that had appeared out of no where, and myself. But none the less we made good time over to Mae Pan, and I had even started to master the lack of steering!

To get into the Mae pan its a 15 min walk on an easy path, however to get to the put in is a different story! With a steep long hill to be climbed followed by a dubious lowering in’s of the boats by one person, while the other makes there way down an exposed ridge to the lip of the fall, before cutting back into the large pool above the Mae pan. How ever the battle does not stop here, the pool is manic with spray being hurtled around by the freak winds created by the giant water fall above!

It was a great drop, with the most amazing feeling as you rolled of the lip, looking down into that small pool, and it even gave out a soft landing! One down one to go! Tam who works for Siam rivers, is a bit of a lad, and decided he wanted to make his first ever water fall happen here, and why not? So he took up the challenge like a pro and nailed it! Good lad!

The fun does not stop here, after this I enjoyed the sweet pitted slide, which fires you down at an amazing speed, and if this wasn’t enough there are two nice boofs straight after! What a section!

And here is a video of the whole thing, enjoy! Be sure to watch in the HD setting which is available!

Mae Pan – Thailand

See you on the water – Jake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Labor Day Monday saw the first ever Raquette River Race.  For years paddlers have fantasized about how sweet a race on this northern gem would be.  It wasn’t until the five 2 nine crew stepped up that it actually happened.  When six Americans and and six Canadians showed up, we realized we had a real international barn burner on our hands.  Read the rest of this entry »

Review by Adam Goshorn
Action Photos by John Kern

Having entered the sport after the introduction of edges and flatter hulls, the majority of the boats that I have owned have had simi-planing hulls, including most of the creekers. Perhaps it is because of my introduction to planing hulls early in my paddling progression or perhaps it is just my paddling style, but I have almost always preferred boats with an edge I can use for ferrying, staying on line, and snapping into and out of eddies. The original Burn series was the natural progression from its predecessors (the H2 and H3) and certainly fulfilled my desires for snappy handling. As to be expected, the new 2010 Burn furthers the progression towards perfection with noticeable design changes, but none that are radically different from the original series.

I never like to review a boat until I have really spent a lot of time in it and gotten to use it in a variety of situations. I paddled the 2010 Large Burn a TON in the last 6 months (80+ river days) and I have had it in almost every type of whitewater. I spent lots of time on low volume creeks like North Carolina’s Green River and Johnnies Creek here in Alabama. I have also been able to paddle it quite a bit on the pushy, higher-volume creek style that characterizes Little River Canyon (AL) at a healthy flow. In June I was able to get a great feel for the Burn in a high volume river running environment when I spent 14 days paddling it down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. I feel that I have thoroughly gotten to know the new Burn design over the past 6 months and can now provide an informed opinion of its features and the differences from the previous design (which I also paddled extensively).

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After some heavy rains in New York, a bunch of us rallied to Watertown to surf Inner City Strife.  Here’s the video:

Team Pyranha at Inner City Strife.

Photo – Craig Kleckner doing another one of his ridiculous back PanAms at Inner City Wave on the Black River

The month of August has been a mix of summer road trip recovery and northeast playboating.  Here’s a lil bloggings of Inner City Wave on the Black, low level Ottawa, and a visit to Rochester’s Lock 32.

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 Quebec is known for two things.  Poutine and Water.  On a recent trip to the eastern reaches of this candian province 9 kayakers found both to be spectacular.  The Romaine river provided us with 6 days of unbeievable kayaking in a vast setting that is threatened by a massive hydro power project. 

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