08
May
Just returned from a weeks boating trip to north western Greece over the Easter break. Despite the weather being uncharacteristically cold (apparently making national news in the country) the water levels remained good, and the sun came out just enough to make the decision of taking shorts instead of a drysuit the right one.
Dropping in on the Aoos river
Sun in the Mileapotamos Black Canyon
07
May
Photos by Ben Trister
Below: Adam Goshorn on the last of the bedrock slides before the streambed changed to boulders and the bottom dropped out!
McWhorter Gulf and its watershed are contained entirely within the boundaries of Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area and speaking in terms of geographic place-names, it flows southeast off of Pigeon Mountain in Walker County Georgia. However, geologically speaking, PigeonMountain is really just a peninsula off of LookoutMountain. Its geology is identical and as a whole, along with SandMountain to the west, both are dissected remnants of the southernmost extension of the Appalachian Plateau. Putting all those semantics aside, the important thing for paddlers is that this peninsula, whatever name you want to call it, has the same characteristics that have created so many quality, runnable waterways all over LookoutMountain and SandMountain.
Below: Adam Goshorn and Jesse Carter scouting early in the steep section.
Below: There is much more to the steepest section than what is shown below, but these two photos below, shown together start to give you an idea of just how stacked it really is.
I have been involved in a number of runs that were probably first descents; creeks that I honestly believe that our group was the first to descend in boats. However, I always prefer to add some qualifiers, such as, “possible” first descent or first “known” descent because the reality is, there is no way to know with absolute certainty. Perhaps we were actually the first or perhaps just the first to document anything about our descent, after all there have been many generations of boaters who all had the same itch to explore. As of this writing, we have asked a lot of the usual suspects and have yet to find anyone else who has run McWhorterGulf or knows anything about anyone else running it. However, maybe the pictures and video from our run will bring someone out of the woodwork who has knowledge of a previous run. For now, I will say that April 7, 2014 was possibly the first descent of McWhorterGulf. Paddlers included Jesse Carter, Pat Smith, Ben Trister, and myself, Adam Goshorn.
For more photos from our run, check out my personal blog HERE.
Until Next Time…
-Adam Goshorn
Below: Adam Goshorn on some of the last good rapids before the take-out.
07
May
Welcome to the Pyranha Team Tour 2014. Our first stop this year was the XXL Paddle Festival at the Kanu White Water Park in Markkleeberg, Germany between the 2 and 4th of May. (May the 4th be with you :-).
Main centre and terrace overlooking the course
This event really kick started out tour with over 500 kayakers and a total over 1500 people attending. The weather tried to break us but we all prevailed. The days were mild but quite windy and the nights sleeping in the van were at times, desperate.
Our journey out to XXL was broken up with a nice ferry cruise and a hook up with fellow kayaker and friend, Eric Walter. Eric is a German freestyler who is now residing with David Bain in Nottingham. On this occasion, Eric was staying at his hometown in Dusseldorf. We spent the night there before continuing our journey to Markkleeberg.
Lake at Markkleeberg
Our stand was situated in a prime location at the festival next to the white water along side Jutta Kaiser from HF and Ollie and Ingrid Grau from Werner / Sweet. We also had Haglofs father and daughter combo next to us who were quite friendly offering us sweets and warm jackets all weekend.
Trade stands alongside the white water
It was a real pleasure to see so many people enjoying paddle sport. I mean there were hundreds of people on and in the water doing one thing or another in boats ranging from modern day white water kayaks to some of the first kayaks ever made mixed with innovative inflatable kayak and raft designs.
White water fun on the intermediate course
We had a great time representing Pyranha demoing over 70 of our kayak fleet over the weekend and selling a fair few tee shirts and caps. We spent most of the time however providing the general public with information about our latest boats and giving advice on which boats they should be looking to try in 2014.
Future team members
This was a really fun event with lots going on. As well as the paddling and trade show their were events in boater x, freestyle and raft racing. On Saturday evening Olaf Obsommer made a nice talk and presentation on some of his recent kayaking adventures. All in all, a really well organised event that we will strive to be a part of again next year. If you are in the area, I would highly recommend a visit. For more information visit Paddelfestival Markkleeberg on facebook alternatively visit http://www.paddelfestival.de
Saturday night Boater X
After the event was drawn to a close on Sunday afternoon, we drove to Augsburg for a few days rest and to catch up on life. We stayed with fellow team paddler Thomas Funke and managed to get a nice paddle on the slalom course where we would be visiting again in a week’s time to provide an event. We are now cruising to Innsbruck, Austria for the S2S Kayak Festival over the weekend. Our next Update will be in a weeks time showing what we have been up to in Austria. Keep you eye out for the Team Van if your in the area and come say ‘hi’ and come try one of our new boats, they are selling like hot cakes! Until then, Ciao.
Pyranha Team Van 🙂
You can also check our progress on Facebook. Images : David Bain & Matt Cooke
03
May
I’m just back from a trip with a difference to Romania, where we’ve been paddling and exploring the Carpathian Mountains, with a Romanian team of paddlers, arranged by one of Pyranhas’ newest dealers, the excellent http://www.barciinbagaje.ro/.
We found some excellent quality Whitewater, in a fairly unexplored and very friendly and extremely pretty area of Europe.
We ran a coaching week for Romanian Paddlers, sharing some of our various experiences with them, as well as educating people on river safety and rescue protocols. We were also fortunate enough to take part in their biggest white-water festival, the excellently run Mures Marathon!
All in all, an excellent week with my fellow team paddler and coach Chris Eastabrook, and it was a real pleasure to visit a country and spend a substantial amount of time with the residents of the country.
27
Apr
As Baino mentioned in an earlier post, Pyranha were up in Glen Etive for a sweet weekend of boating for the British Universities Creek Race.
Video Time!!!
23
Apr
Since getting hold of a new large Burn nearly 2 months ago now Ive been getting out on the water in it as much as possible, spending 2 weeks in Scotland and also trips to North Wales and the Lake District in it too. I can honestly say that the design is fantastic and all of the subtle tweaks from the previous generation burn all add together to make a very noticeable move forwards from the last design.
The new Burn is fast and nimble
Ive paddled the new Burn in a range of waters from low volume creeks and slides, to pushy high water runs, through to the big volume rapids and it has excelled every time. The boat is fast in the water, gathering speed through holes and waves, whilst still retaining control throughout. The rocker profile is improved and skips easily over the top of the water, with the deck shedding water quickly. The edges feel good and are very smooth in the water, with a little bit of practice you can get the boat to make some impressive, dynamic moves, with the boat responding well to changes in your body position. For me the sitting position is fantastic, with lower and narrower knees giving you greater control and better connectivity in the boat. The new seat is the best version so far and the option to raise the seat and to change the angle all make for a comfy paddler.
The Burn’s flat hull makes surfing green waves easy
I’ve found that the boat does favour a positive approach to your paddling, responding well to getting weight over the front of the boat when charging for must make moves and eddys. With the boat being quick, it does like to be driven and I’ve been loving picking up speed and flying through rapids with it. The boat boofs really easily and the improved bow rocker picks up with very little effort, proving that it is more than capable when the river gets a bit steeper.
More than capable on the steep stuff – The falls of Falloch
One question I have been asked a lot is which size of the new Burn would suit me best? I weigh in at 80kg and paddle the large comfortably. If I was to be carrying more kit and equipment for overnight expeditions or was simply going through bigger water I could possibly opt for the XL. If I was paddling more steep creeks or dropping off big waterfalls on a regular basis I would be bringing out my Shiva, but for a boat that I can paddle pretty much anything in, run rivers and coach from the large feels just right for me.
This boat is fast, nimble, accurate and exceptionally versatile!
23
Apr
After 2 great months of charging Chile and Argentina, we headed back to Santiago for a flight to Quito, Ecuador to begin the last leg of the South America trip. After arriving and spending a night in the airport, we headed for Baeza, one of the major hotspots for paddling in the country.
Cascada San Rafael, a massive 500 foot stout outside of Baeza
While Ecuador does not have the massive clean waterfalls like Chile and Argentina do, it does have some of the most fun whitewater of anywhere I have been. There is loads of steep continuous rapids and huge boofs, set in the middle of lush equatorial jungle, yet mostly with simple logistics.
After a few Casa de Queso laps on the Quijos and a quick run down the Cosunga on my first day in town, we were discussing plans for the next day over dinner and pilsners at Mama Ginas restaurant and decided to check out the Alto Quijos the next day. The bottom part of Alto Quijos has seen a few descents but the top had only been run once before, 15 years ago, so we were essentially dropping into the unknown given the rate of change of Ecuador’s rivers.
Loading up the kayaks for the full day journey to the Alto Quijos put in
Vicente was really the one who made the trip happen, he got us access to the road to get closer to the put in, gave us all a ride in his truck to the top, and helped arrange horses. I think he was really stoked just to get us into the shit and laugh if we had to spend more nights in the jungle than we intended. We planned on one day of hiking to the top, and one full day of paddling out if all went well.
Hiking to the Alto Quijos Put in
The first and only glimpse of the gorge from the hike in
We loaded up the horses and spent the day hiking to the top of this huge gorge on a muddy trail used by the few local who live up in the valley. We arrived at the put in at 2 smaller tributaries coming together to make a runnable river, and spent a fortunately dry night in hammocks. We put on early the next morning and began picking our way down this awesome creek! We found it to be mostly class IV and IV+ with a few stouter sections and just 1 real portage…that is until we hit where they are building a road, just a mile or two above the confluence with the Papallacta and our takeout.
Jay Mahan running one of the big ones on the Alto Quijos
There is a dam going in on the Papallacata and for building or maintenance or whatever reason, there is a road going in thousands of feet above the Quijos river. They were blasting for the road and knocking tons of debris into the river, causing massive landslides and debris piles to block the river and make horrible horrible blast rapids with even worse portages. After about 10 of these we came to where they were working. We tried to get past as quick as possible, and just as we were around 100 yards downstream they sent a barrage of trees and huge rocks into the river behind us! We got out of there as quick as possible rallied to the takeout! The top part of the run was sick, but the hassle and danger of the bottom part makes me unlikely to want to go back unless it cleans up, but it was a sweet adventure!
After a few more days of paddling around Baeza, we headed down the mountain to the steamy jungle town of Tena, home to many more classic Ecuador rivers. One of the most awesome things about Ecuador is how simple logistics are. All of the taxis are trucks, and all the drivers know the put ins and takouts of the classic rivers. They pick you up from your hotel, you tell them where you want to go and they will be at the takeout a few hours later! So simple and good.
Typical shuttle ride in Ecuador on the way to the Rio Jondachi
Since we were in Ecuador for a relatively short period of time, we just tried to do as many new rivers as possible, something different everyday. Highlights of Tena were the Jondachi, Hollin, Missualli, and Jatenyacu. Ill just let a few photos do the talking.
Nice put in 20 footer on the Hollin
Colin with some take out snacks in Missualli. Streetmeat, fried plantain and a Pilsner Beer.
At the Rio Jatenyacu, the kids at the takeout were stoked on paddling our boats.
One of the sickest swimming holes in the middle of the jungle!
After Tena, we headed up to the town on Banos, a major tourist destination but also where some of the best rivers in Ecuador are located. On the way into town we noticed a massive strange cloud hovering above the city. As we got closer we realized that the nearby volcano was having an enormous eruption sending plumes of ash miles into the sky and spurting lava down the side…however no one in the town seemed to be worrying to much, so we tried to get a good night sleep listening to the distant rumbling of this thing erupting. The next morning the eruption had subsided so we went to the Rio Topo, probably my favorite river of any we did in Ecuador. It was 8 miles of class IV/V large boulder gardens and more great boofings than almost anywhere. Super great! However, the top half is in the process of being dammed (same with loads of great whitewater rivers in Ecuador) so if you want to experience this gem, go now!
The last river we paddled of the trip was the Rio Encanto, or the enchanted river. It is a really sick box canyon in the middle of the jungle, which is kind of a danger in itself because of the constant threat of flash flooding. But the skies and forecast were clear (haha) and we ended up having a great day routing this nice little waterfall run. Ecuador was an awesome destination and great cap to the south american summer! I am now back in the Pacific Northwest USA for the next few months, kayaking the little white everyday and loving life!
Cheers
Clay
22
Apr
On the 5th and 6th of April over 110 ladies descended on North Wales for the second Ladies Paddle Symposium, organised and run by team paddler and coach Frannie Kohn.
Once again it was a multi-discipline event with more than 30 white water kayak, sea kayak, freestyle, open canoe and white water safety& rescue coaches running sessions over the weekend.
The weekend started on the Friday evening with the ladies on the residential option booking in and picking up their goodies – stickers from River Flair, LPS t-shirts and yummy 9 Bars !
Saturday morning saw the Ladies collecting their demo boats, which had been kindly supplied by Pyranha and Palm, although some chose to use their own more old school kit, with great success!
For most it was a wet and windy day, but everyone came back smiling for a well earned and delicious meal at Glan Llyn.
In the evening there were some inspiring talks from Sara James on motivation and inspiration, and Deb Pinniger on trust and her experiences on the Zanskar river, captured in black and white.
There was also a fascinating presentation from Shelley Broomfield on her Phd into how paddling efficiency relates to seat height (if you’d like to participate in her research study email sbroomfield@bournemouth.ac.uk ) and a raffle raising money for the Womens Sport Trust which raised £616 pounds!
With so many happy ladies, we better get organising next year!
Many thanks to Paul Smith, Fiona Dubber, Susie Walker, Sharon McGovern and Diane Lee for the photos!
21
Apr
Below: Matt Beauchamp on the El Salto Section of the Rio Valles, photo by Adam Goshorn
We had been enjoying our time in Veracruz (see Mexico 2013 Part III HERE), but water levels continued to be too high for many of runs we would have been paddling in a normal year. There were a few paddlers around who had done some recent, high-water descents on some of the other sections of the Rio Alseseca. However, the idea of going into the steeper and deeper canyons of the Rio Alseseca or those of the Rio Jalacingo at such high levels was unappealing to me… especially after getting beat down on our high-water day on the Roadside Section, which is easier and the proximity of the road provides an escape route. We only had a few more days in Mexico before we had to head home anyway, so we decided to head back to San Luis Potosi immediately, which would allow us a couple more days of boating in that region before the long drive home. The drive back to San Luis Potosi from Veracruz was significantly faster than the drive down and we were able to set up camp at Aldea Huesteca with enough time to go into town for dinner.
Below: Matt Beauchamp running a juicy rapid in the 4th canyon of the Rio Santa Maria, photos by Adam Goshorn
When we arrived back at the campground that night, we heard that our friend Julian Schafer had been asking about us. Julian is a German paddler who Matt and I had met in Veracruz during our trip the previous year. In 2012, Julian had quickly become friends with our whole group and ended up paddling with us almost every day our of two-week stay at Aventurec. This year, he had been living in Cd. Valles and working as a raft guide, but due to a shoulder injury (on the Rio Minas Viejas) was now recovering rather than padding. We were able to get in touch with him that night and Julian and his girlfriend Karenn ended up coming along with us the following day to run shuttle with Shannon while Matt, Evan, and I paddled the classic 3rd and 4th canyons of the Rio Santa Maria. The watershed of the Rio Santa Maria is amazing! There are fifteen known whitewater sections on eight different rivers, all part of the same watershed. The Rio Santa Maria itself has five distinct canyons that contain beautiful turquoise water and class III-V rapids. As usual, the Rio Santa Maria did not disappoint us and Matt, Evan, and I had an awesome day making our way through the 3rd and 4th canyons at a healthy flow, eventually reaching the take-out at the base of Cascada de Tamul. Cascada de Tamul is a 250-foot waterfall created by the Rio Gallines plunging into the narrow canyon of the Rio Santa Maria. I’ve been told that at very low flows it is possible to paddle through the falls at the confluence., but most of the time it is impossible. So, groups take-out at the base of falls, climb ladders in a steep gully near the falls, and hike upstream to a small parking area at the end of a long dirt road… not the easiest take-out. Shannon, Julian and Karenn had hiked in to the base of the falls to meet us and after hanging out for a bit (and the mandatory photo op) we all hiked out with one thing at the forefront of our mind… finding dinner!
Below: Shannon Goshorn at the base of Cascada de Tamul, photo by Matt Beauchamp
The day after we paddled the Rio Santa Maria, we broke down our camp and drove about an hour north to paddle the El Salto section of the Rio Valles. The El Salto section starts just downstream of a powerhouse and therefore almost always has boatable flows, making it an ideal run to get on when other things in the area are getting low (although its even better at high water!). The three- mile run starts out in a man-made channel which is the outflow of the power plant. This channel creates a quarter-mile section of fast continuous water that leads into a couple of strong holes as it re-enters the natural streambed at a rapid called El Nemo. The rest of the run is an endless number of travertine ledges ranging from five to twenty feet. The run goes quickly, so we made two laps and then checked into the resort at the take-out. Wanting to have real beds for our final night, we were willing to spend a bit more for the nicer accommodations, hoping that a good night’s sleep would prepare us for the long drive home the following day. However, I couldn’t help thinking about how a single night at this resort cost almost as much as our five-night stay at Aventurec (what a bargain). The next morning we packed everything into the truck, ate a delicious breakfast at the resort, and our 27-hour drive back to Alabama was underway. The drive is never fun, but we completed it without a hitch, arriving home exhausted and completely satisfied with another successful adventure south of the border.
Below: Evan Alfano on the El Salto Section of the Rio Valles, photo by Adam Goshorn
Below: Here is the video I edited from our trip. It is not in chronological order and is not sorted by river either. It’s just a sampling of everything from the whole trip, mixed together for variety. Be sure to stay tuned after the credits for a bit of carnage too! Enjoy!
Until Next Time…
Adam Goshorn
17
Apr
British Universities Creek Race 2014
Glen Etive was blessed with perfect mild conditions allowing snow melt to provide a really nice race level.
This year the race consisted of races on both the Etive and Allt a Choanne with a 2 runs on each. The best run counted from each course.
For all the none students and old boys there was a Boater X which provided hard racing and incredible carnage especially on the slides that the area is known for.
This year the winner of the Student Creek category was Callum Strong with Phill Mitchell & Barnaby Prees in close second and third place in the mens. Thewomen’s event was won by Beth Morgan with Fiona Wetherall taking second place.
The boater X event, which was possibly the most exciting boater X event I have ever taken place in which I managed to win after coming first in both races.
A massive thanks needs to be given to Callum and the rest of the organisers for arranging this fantastic event in such an epic location.
Loads of footage was taken of the whole event and creeking in the area which is being made in to an edit by Joe Ray Dickins so stay tuned for an awesome watch in the next week or two.
David
All photos credited to Matt Cooke
