This august a motley crew consisting of myself, Ali Donald, Dave Carroll, Rosie Cripps and Sam Hughes found ourselves on the roof of the world in Ladakh, India. The idea was to paddle some classic multiday rivers like the Tsarap, Zanskar and Indus.

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Well what a weekend it was over in wet and windy Wales here in the UK for the Coaching Festival at the Tryweryn. Loads of people turned up for the event either for a boat down the river of for one of the many courses going on and the new Ammo and Recoil generated a lot of interest on the stand. It was the first time these new toys had really been seen in public and the Ammo in particular got loads of attention.

Luckily, being fairly short I managed to squeeze myself into the small pre-production boat and give it a whirl. I have to say that I’m not sure I have had so much fun in a boat for ages. Get the Ammo down the river and it’s incredibly manouverable cutting in and out of eddies with ease using those seriously cool edges and short length. Get it on a wave however and it paddles just like a playboat. Spins, small sidekicks, blunts, you name it I’m sure this boat will do it!! In fact, I had about seven, “one last go’s”. I can’t wait to get my paws on a larger one and giving it a spin.

Check out the pic below of me running a rarely run drop in the Ammo. Can you name it?

Photo by: Andy Marsh

Fall is my favorite season in New York.  Every weekend in September and October there is a great class IV/V dam controlled river to paddle on (thanks Chris Koll, Pete Skinner, and American Whitewater).  I kicked off the fall dam release season with runs on the Raquette River and Moshier section of the Beaver. 

Saturday I found myself doing lap after lap on the Raquette.  I just could not stop it was too much fun.  Sunday I ran the Moshier section of the Beaver River, which is the gem of the Beaver river system.  Sunday was the only day the Moshier section will run all year so I motivated for 3 laps down the 4 mile run.  Monday I went back to the Raquette for another 4 laps. 

 

 I only got a couple of pictures because I was too busy paddling. 

 

Next week it’s on to the Eagle section of the Beaver.  Yahoo !

Yep, that s right, we out here in Norway are always busy! This weekend the rains finaly came!!!! Yehaaar. Liz came out and we headed up to the Myrkdale River. Seemed like a good day to test a new PFD!

The Front, full harness, reflective tape and low profile shoulder straps. Read the rest of this entry »

Well its been the driest summer ever (except when Rob visited!!) and finally it has started raining again!!!!

Here are some images of summer fun.

                   

 

Well what a day…  Long would be one way to descibe it.   Team Pyranha had a good showing. 
Val Bertrand in womens(17th)
Jeremey L. In Mens (33rd) ANd C1(6th)
Jared Sieler (42nd)
Me (Matt Hamilton) (21st)
The levels were great making it an awesome competition.  Great to see so many people from all over the world showing off! 
I’m sure Jeremy will have some pics for you to see soon.  Once I learn how to post them I will put some up too.  For full results check out http://www.wcfkc.com/event.php?page_id=31
Later
Matt

Some people reckon that the West coast of North America is the best kayaking road trip you can do, but for me the best bang for your buck is the European tour- starting in Corsica, working up through Slovenia, Italy and France to the mecca of Norway. 

My season began in Corsica in April, through to Slovenia and France in May and June before arriving in Norway in July. Happy days!

Norway is definately one of the most incredible countries on earth, awesome whitewater in a wilderness environment. This year we didn’t make it up to the Arctic circle, but we saw some beautiful places all the same.

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