For 25 days our world existed within the shelter of the Grand Canyon’s walls, thousands of feet below the rim. Nearly a mile above us, the rest of the world continued to move at its blistering fast, distracted pace.  At river level, for 25 glorious days, 15 people were lucky enough to slow down, focus on the present, and live the good life. Some days we floated, some days we hiked, some days we celebrated, others we recovered. Regardless of what we did, each day was absolute paradise.

 

 

 

 

Hi everybody!
I´m Katerina Migdauova and I paddle on Burn, 4-twenty and other Pyranha boats for a couple of years.

I want to say something about the freestyle kayaking in CZE.

Maybe somebody knows Czech playspots from the World Cup 2008 or Euro Cup 2005 and 2006.
I study in Prague, here is situated the slalom course Troja. In spring and summer I used to paddle in a small wave or a bigger hole, which is sometime very sticky.
Usually, we have four freestyle competitions in CNAWR rodeo tour and the Czech Championship in Prague.

The tour competitions have been in Kadan – a small, training hole, which is 100 km from Prague,

Photo from Kadan

back surf

Ceske Vrbne (Ceske Budejovice) – the simple slalom course with a small and good hole

and Sopotnice – the unique playspot with engine in tank for firemen.

Photo from Sopotnice

Jump from ramp

In the Czech Republic there are many rivers with dams, which have good water level only twice or once a year. On these rivers there are interesting playspots, too.

Otherwise we have kayak cross competition here. Our mountains are only 1600m high, but in spring the steep creeks flow down from snow. It is nice creeking.
I promise to send some photos from Czech creeks in the spring.

Nice and sunny days. Katerina.

Photos by Martin Betik, Jan Lasko, Jiri Langer.

A few years ago, having finished university, I decided that I would live my life around kayaking and to try and earn my living solely through white water coaching. I set myself, and my kayak, on a worldwide adventure of work and travel in an attempt to really get to grips with some of the premier kayaking destinations. I designed a business that has allowed me to sustain the life of travelling, kayaking and coaching (www.loveitliveit.co.uk). I was living the life I wanted, with a dream job, I didn’t realise how fragile that reality was.

Seven months ago, I felt a twinge in my shoulder as I was rolling. It was a normal day, and I was playing on a feature I had played on many times before, I thought not much of it at the time. I was part way through a two week coaching package. I finished the trip, making sure I didn’t use my right shoulder for anything strenuous. On the last day of the trip I felt a similar tweak in my left shoulder. I rested my shoulders but with no improvement I then went to see a physiotherapist.

Following the initial injury, I haven’t been properly kayaking in 7 months. I sat on the banks of the White Nile and the Zambezi, watching people go kayaking and come back. I coached from the bank and video but not from the water and I took photos of other people pushing themselves and enjoying the amazing white water. I was a tag along on a whole summer of Love it Live it trips that I had worked so hard to set up – I was out of a job. Fortunately, in my absence Love it Live it has been thriving, and I have been able to leave the coaching in the capable hands of long time paddling friend and coach Will Clark.

In short, it was in my face and I missed it. It is now seven months since I paddled proper white water, and I am about to go into shoulder surgery that will commit me to being out of action for at least another five.

I am not writing this to moan about not being able to paddle. Instead I wanted to share a few photos and experiences from a two day trip I did that I probably wouldn’t have done had I not been injured. This trip allowed me to appreciate many of the things, including simply being on the water, that as an avid white water paddler, it is easy to overlook.

We started at the hairy lemon island, which is pretty much at the end of the 45km section of the White Nile that gets run regularly.

This was to be an ‘intense’ section, and we were taking it very seriously. Protection from the extreme elements was essential, the ability to stay calm in stressful situations was key to our survival. This is Jared Taylor mastering both of these things…

Jared relaxing with his sun hat.

We were tagging along with a trip from a new company on the Nile – Kayak Cruises. It is a common misconception that the White Nile is a destination for only the experienced white water kayaker. In fact there is a huge variety of channels with sections of river to suit any sort of paddler.

We paddled six kilometres of slow flows and meandering channels on the first day, ending at with a fun grade 3 rapid. On this rapid is a little known play wave called ‘Mu 2’, great for the white water enthusiasts with working shoulders! I steered clear of the wave and my Burn lead me down the rapid and across the eddy line without any grief. I jumped out to take a few photos.

A couple of kids came down to see what we were up to at the wave. Nice Undies.

That night we camped out on the island next to the infamous ‘Malalu’ wave, enjoying the sunset, a good barbeque and a show of stars you can only see in the wilderness.

Morning coffee – an essential part of any multi-day trip

The following day, after packing up camp, we carried on downstream, taking plenty of time to enjoy the very rarely paddled Basanna section. The Nile changes in character after Malalu, as it meanders through hundreds of small islands we saw all manner of different vegetation and wildlife as we floated down. Monitor lizards sunning themselves in the morning sun, monkeys grooming each other, we even saw some otters playing in an eddy.

The river is an integral part of the local community’s day-to-day lives. Locals lined the banks throughout, busy farming, washing clothes and bathing. Our brightly coloured boats, very rarely seen on this section of the Nile, attracted attention the whole way down the river.

As we explored some of the smaller channels, we came across several grade two rapids, which provided entertainment for the sit-on-tops.

In particular, at one small feature we found, some kids who were supposed to be fishing took an interest in our surfing.

They attempted to imitate our actions, paddling their dug out canoe into the flow, which was very close to ending in disaster, much to the amusement of all.

We continued downstream at a very relaxed pace and came across a small cliff face with a deep pool below.

It was time to get my adrenaline fix for the trip.

We took out at Basanna, a small fishing village, and jumped on the back of a pick up truck for the bumpy ride home. As we drove through the villages it gave me a chance to reflect on all the things that make paddling so special, it made me feel alive again to be involved once more. To move downstream and experience places that not everyone gets the opportunity to see. It helped remind me all the good things I missed about paddling, and made me even more determined to get fit again so that I can live and work the life I want to lead.

After a long and dry fall we have been fortunate to get some much anticipated rain. Northwest rivers getting to perfect levels for some playboating in the Willamette Valley, and creeking in the Columbia River Gorge.

Enjoying a session at Grassy Lawn on Lake Creek in Oregon.

Photos by Corey Morton.

Little White Salmon also getting up to super high flows which pushed out most of the wood that was in play. The river seems as clear as I can remember every seeing it. Still a few logs here and there so scout it out if your not sure. Here’s a link to a helmet cam of the whole run shot by Shon Bollock. Good way to scout the river and learn the lines if you haven’t been down before.

I’m crossing my fingers that this year keeps pumping out the precipitation so that we have a sick spring and summer to look forward to.

This weekend was Rollapolooza 2009, an event put on by the Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department for the paddlers of Raleigh and the triangle area to come out and try new toys from different kayak manufacturers as well as get paddling instruction from the pros. Dylan Bruce, my girlfriend Alexis, and I headed down east from Asheville in the team van as day broke Saturday morning with a load of shiny new Pyranha kayaks.

Dylan and I taught hand rolls and flatwater loops. We spent about an hour teaching and ended up getting several folks rolling without a paddle.

Getting some hangtime in flatwater. Photo by Alexis Decosimo

When the time came to teach flatwater loops, I guess nobody wanted to learn, so Dylan and I practiced our loops for a while before going back to our table to send out the Karnalis, Z.Ones and Revs we brought, chat up the event-goers, and give away Pyranha swag. The Karnali and Z.One were big hits. A couple of guys borrowed both Karnalis as soon as the doors to the event opened and hung onto them all evening while learning to roll with LVM’s John Grace and Will Lyons. The Z.One also proved easy to roll (and handroll)!

This is Patrick..stoked moments after nailing his first handroll in the Z.One!

This year most attention to Pyranha’s new items has gone to the Karnali and Z.One. Recently we have been testing a backpack system for Pyranha creek boats. It will be available for purchase for around $75. I decided to bring my new backpack system with me to Raleigh this weekend and take some photos of it. Backpack systems I have devised in the past from cam straps and pool noodles ended up being frustrating implements of torture to the user (me). I went back to shouldering my boat and suffering through hikes.
The Pyranha backpack system makes carrying a kayak through the woods to the put in of your favorite creek much more comfortable. When fitted correctly, the system allows you to carry the boat’s weight on your waist via a belt. The shoulder and sternum straps keep the boat from shifting and causing you to flail on your back like a turtle in the trail. Carrying a kayak has never been this comfortable for me! Now I won’t dread the Horsepasture or Toxaway hike so much!

Here’s Thomas Williams carrying a Burn with the backpack system.

Video: Dinver shows how to set up the backpack system at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTn3MsRDZOo

Thanks to the organizers for putting together a cool event like this one for folks to escape winter weather in their backyard. I hope to be back next year!