I’m just back from a month long mission in Nepal and Morocco for which I got my hands on a brand new Pyranha Everest for some multiday action. My first reaction on seeing the the massive Everest was ‘I’m never going to be able to paddle this’. At 75 kilos, I thought the Everest would be simply too big for me to enjoy.
I was wrong. With a bit of practice, and some adjustment of technique, I can attest that the Everest must be the best multiday expedition boat or big volume creek boat on the market at the moment. Larger paddlers will love the volume behind the seat, but even lighter paddlers can really appreciate this boat.
The first thing to say about the Everest is that it is not the Burn. The Burn is a classic in its own right, super manoeuverable and responsive and incredible easy edge to edge for rolling flares and boofs. My first day in the Everest on the Upper Bhote Kosi was a disaster as I was trying to paddle the Everest as if it were a Burn and as a result missing eddies, messing up lines.
But about half way down the Bhote Kosi, I began to paddle the Everest like it should be paddled; fast, hard and in a straight line. Gone are the subtle adjustments and edge control of the Burn, in favour of speed and power. The speed was incredible, charging over and through sticky ledge holes as if they didn’t exist.
On the Marsyandi (2 days) and Karnali (5 days), loaded with self support gear the Everest handled beautifully, with no noticable loss of performance (unlike the vast majority of creek boats which start handling like pigs with more than two or three days gear in them). In fact the main issue I had with the Everest was coming to terms with its tremendous speed and not overcooking moves.
The Burn will remain my boat of choice for technical, low volume creeks. But for multiday expeditions, and for big volume creeks like in Norway, the Everest is unbeatable.
Phots by Rosie Cripps and Rob Coffey
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