Ty Caldwell Rio Gol Gol Photo: Bernie Engleman 

 

 

Ty Boof to Swim Photo: Jon Clark

It is coming up on two months that I have been traveling around Chile and what an unbelievable experience to say the least.  Since watching the first Demshitz videos of Chile, it has always been a dream of mine to visit this magnificent land of waterfalls and Chile is just that… magnificent.

Ty on La Princesa Photo: Eric Mount

While the whitewater is amazing, the culture of the Chilean people is what truly blew me away.  My first few weeks in Chile were occupied by homesteading just outside of Futaleufu. While I lived with a few Gringos, my only outside contact was that of rural Chileans.  Viewing their lifestyles was similar to traveling back in time 100 years.   It is truly amazing to see people living off of the land and tending to their livestock.  After chopping wood to cook breakfast on the on the wood stove, most of my days were filled with climbing over cattle fences to reach the Rio Futaleufu.  Oh man, what a river.  With strong winds, whirlpools, and waves/holes the size of cars this river is fierce, but oh so fun.  Kayaking can only get better with good places to fly fish on the trek downstream.  The Futa is home to some beautiful trout and gorgeous mountains.  Make sure not to only get views of the bottom of the river but also from the tops of the surrounding peaks.

Ty on top of the world Photo: Theresia Hinton

After spending a few weeks in Futaleufu, I headed North to help assist in showing the NOC Youth Paddling Team around the Country.  Three very experienced paddlers from the Team made the flight down and spent their winter break in a warmer environment.  Upon their arrival we met up in San Fabian to set off on an overnighter on the Rio Nuble.  The overnighter ended on Christmas Eve where we were able to experience a traditional Chileans Christmas.  With the festivities over we headed south to Pucon.  David Hughes hosted us at the Pucon Kayak Hostel and we centralized ourselves for some amazing rivers.  Near Pucon we paddled the Rio Trancura, Palguin, Llancahue, Fuy, San Pedro, and even made it a bit further south to the Rio Gol Gol.  Each river is phenomenal in its own way.  After two weeks of paddling the guys headed home and I found my self back on a bus to Futaleufu.  Chile continues to amaze me each day and I now prepare to the next adventure of paddling from the Argentina border to the Pacific Ocean, crossing Chile in less than 24 hours.

Taylor and Bernie Brotraining Photo: Ty Caldwell

Bernie on the Palguin Photo: Ty Caldwell

Overnighter on the Rio Nuble Photo: Ty Caldwell

Waking up Photo: Ty Caldwell

Taylor Cofer on Rio Llancahue Photo: Ty Caldwell

Bernie checking out the cave Photo: Ty Caldwell

Theresia at the Pacific Photo: Ty Caldwell

Do yourself a favor and visit Chile, the adventures never end.

Hi friends,

2013 has come and gone. With the new year here, it is always fun to look back at the past 12 months and remember the good times on the river.

This past season was once again a great sone. It was less quantity, but more quality. The spring and summer saw me mostly in my backyard of BC. Just enjoying the classics and exploring some new stuff. BC, it just never disappoints.

In early fall, together with Kiwi Simon Rutherford and Frenchmen Jules Domine and Mathieu Coldebella, we headed to the Alsek way north in Canada’s Yukon. It was my second time down this gem. It truly is one of the most spectacular places I have experienced. Huge glaciers calving in the river, massive mountains, and very unpredictable weather. Again it turned into an eventful trip. During our time on the river, the river went to full flood stage. We watched flash-floods coming down tributaries, turning the river into a muddy monster. Turnback was out of the question (the french boys tried and paddled the first rapid, but quickly abandoned). The portage around the canyon was an absolute suffer fest. We Finally arrived at the ocean in Dry Bay after eight days and 180 miles of paddling through the spectacular St. Elias Mountains. Unforgettable.

Jules Domine on the Alsek

Read the rest of this entry »

For my first blog I figured this would be a good start, thanks for the best kayaks on the planet!!!
WHITEWATER!!!!!!

Now that the evenings are getting darker, and there is a chill in the air in the UK, kayaking becomes a bit less “comfortable”, and we Brits start dreaming of warmer waters and sunnier skies. Ecuador is the perfect winter destination. Offering warm climates with fairly regular tropical rainstorms which keep the river levels nicely topped up.

Although the geology is volcanic, like Chile and other countries known for their impressive waterfalls, the character of the rivers we paddled around Baeza/ the Quijos valley and Tena (a little warmer and about three hours from the Quijos valley) in Ecuador are of a completely different character. The rivers we paddled were consistent and very continuous boulder garden rapids boasting a paddler’s paradise of S-turns, eddy moves, rock spin opportunities and beautiful boofs! All the time you are surrounded by very dense jungle with incredible plants and butterflies and other wildlife! DO  watch out for the monkeys though, as a friend was bitten by a (possibly rabid) monkey and spent the rest of the trip having to visit the hospital daily for rabies vaccine injections!

Given the rapidly changing water levels and sheer number of rivers and river-sections, there is something here to be had whether you are a class 3 (I highly recommend the Rio Piachua grade 3+ with lots of eddy moves and boofs!)  intermediate or if you fancy something more exhilarating around the class 4/5 mark (e.g. Upper Jonchachi, grade 4 boof city) It is very accessible as a holiday destination and it is very easy to get from Europe over to Ecuador and then across from Quito the capital to the kayaking centres. Get hold of a guide book or employ a local guide to show you the lines. There are a number of independent guides and all-inclusive outfits providing accommodation, logistics and guiding if you fancy more of a relaxing break !

(Photos: Dan MacFarlane and Dave Gardner)

Demshitz here with a quick update from Pucon, Chile! This is my first trip to Chile/ first time paddling outside of North America. Loving life, paddling the goods everyday and meeting great people along the way is making this trip amazing. I have been staying at the Pucon Kayak Hostel, doing some coaching for Patagonia Study Abroad. This program is sick, learn spanish, video editing, and paddling the goods everyday! Heres a shot from David Hughes on our trip to the Rio Claro. This drop is called the Throat of the Devil, Garganta de Diablo. Once you run it, your committed to one of the most beautiful, tight canyons on earth. Its a very special place where you can feel the energy of the river. Rio Claro is a very special place, my favorite river I have paddled thus far.

Chris Morelli and Pyranha Shiva get committed into the canyon

This shot is from Tino Specht who was working real hard this trip to get some of the coolest shots I have ever seen. This is the “long crack” the river funnels into a boat width for around 70 feet. The canyon has some of the most unique rapids I have ever paddled.

Super cool 70 foot boat width slide deep in the canyon.

The Nevados is a classic Pucon run when it rains, and we have been lucky to get on it a few times these last few weeks. The river is filled with sweet moves and awesome 20 foot boofs in a beautiful canyon. The Upper gorge ends with Demshitz Drop. Heres a shot of my first time dropping into Demshitz and the Lower canyon that follows.

Morelli sends Demshitz for his first time

Heres Clay Lucas sending the Wall Drop on the Upper Gorge

Shiva loves to Party!

Uno Mas, this one is called Dulce Amor. One of the coolest 20 foot boofs on the river! A big wall grind lets you take flight into the last few drops before Demshitz drop, and the Lower gorge

Screen grab browns on the Nevados

Stay tuned for more Chile updates!!!

Cheers Chris Morelli