29
May
Well the US Team Trials is now officially over and Demshitz made our mark on the freestyle world. Â This September the Freestlye World Championships will be held at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, NC, and Demshitz wanted a piece of the action. Â Click for the full story.
Mid Ride/ Mid Dknasty
28
May
We also attended the North West Creeking Comp at the East Fork of the Lewis and Canyon Creek. The NWCC was good fun with many laps at Sunset, one of the best waterfalls to get started and a couple races down the Lewis, a short section but with some nice rapids in a tight canyon.
Canyon Creek is a pretty cool run, just about 30min drive from the Lewis. There are many cool rapids in the canyon, specially the waterfall and the last few drops. Overall a beautiful run with many cool drops and a nice flat water paddle out!
The Robe Race consist of teams of two going down the canyon, portaging Landslide as fast as possible and continue racing through the following rapids. It’s about 25-30 minutes long (longest race I’ve ever entered!) and the rapids are high quality white water. We did a couple laps on Friday trying to remember some of the many possible lines. Saturday was race day, but unfortunately the race got canceled due to high water. Anyway we had our own race and timed ourselves. Was pretty fun, and the river couldn’t offer a better flow. We did another lap in the afternoon and drove to Bellingham looking fro some shelter.
Log Choke and Alpine Falls on the Top Tye, a Washington classic
On Sunday morning we had many options as it had been reining hard, Robe was at 7ft, Clearwater, Middle Fork… We faintly chose Top Tye, and it was such a good call. We meet up with Washington locals Sam and Rob and they showed us their amazing backyard run. Great rapids, big holes and a great flow under nice weather made for a perfect Sunday. We ran all the rapids of the run and then lapped the lower section 3 more times, it was so good!
Overall happy with the results as I’ve only been paddling since February and I’m just feeling better and better in my boat. 3rd and 4th on the Lewis, 2nd at Canyon Creek race and first together with Darren at the ‘unofficial’ but true Robe Race. Pretty goods times, stoked for more!
The beautiful Columbia river GorgeÂ
23
May
Below: Adam Goshorn in one of the many canyon sections, photo by Matt Beauchamp
Our third full day in Mexico was spent running a nine-mile section of the Upper Rio Bobos, putting in near Zapotitlan (If you missed the first two parts of this trip report, you can find Part I HERE and part II HERE).  We had almost the exact same crew as the previous day on Big Banana, but had the pleasure of being joined by Lianne Germaine as well. The long drive to the put-in for the Zapotitlan section was so rainy and foggy I’m pretty sure we would not have found our way there on our own. However, knowing the shuttle was quite long we had hired drivers from Aventurec (www.aventurec.com) who knew the route and after hopping out to push Christine’s car a few times, we found ourselves at the top of a rocky, switch-backed, trail leading off the side of the mountain, supposedly to the river, hidden somewhere below in the fog.
Much of the trail had been stabilized by the placement of large rounded rocks, somewhat like cobblestones paving the surface, but larger, rounder, and on this day, covered in a thin veneer of mud and algae. The next hour was a test for our knees and ankles as we negotiated the slick, rocky trail down into the valley. As we gingerly proceeded, step by careful step, a few local men jogged past us heading to the river as well, but instead of kayaks they carried fishing nets draped around their necks. Another local passed us heading uphill leading his sure-footed mule up the tough trail. Eventually, the steep path emerged on the floor of the valley and with knees screaming, we left the trail and cut across a grassy field covered in boulders to reach the river.
Below: Christine, Wade, and Julian at the rainy put-in, photo by Matt Beauchamp
Where we accessed the river, it was wide, shallow, and the water level seemed too low. Sliding into the water we started moving downstream quickly, mentally preparing ourselves for what might be a nine-mile scrapefest. Luckily, the river soon constricted between boulders and morphed into fun sections of continuous class IV boulder gardens. Again and again throughout the day I was surprised by great scenery and fun rapids, despite the low water level. Although a couple sections were tougher than rest, using aggressive boat scouting we managed to make quick progress and avoid timely bank scouts.
Below: Ben Bernhard in one of the canyons, by Matt Beauchamp
20
May
I’ve been hanging around the Pacific North West in the USA for the last month now, and it’s definitely one of the best places to be. Amazing rivers, super nice people and beautiful landscape everywhere, loving this place!
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We drove down from Vancouver, BC with Ali and right after the border we stopped in Bellingham for some kayaking. I picked up my new Shiva and headed to the Middle Fork of the Nooksack. It was at a good flow and had lots of fun on my first day boating on cold water with Griff and Parker! We also got on the Robe the next day, about an hour drive south, next to Granite Falls. Robe Canyon is one of my favorites without a doubt! Miles of continuos white water with big holes and amazing rapids through a beautiful canyon… hard to bet! Thanks Fred and Brendan! From there we drove south to Hood River, about an hour east from Portland.
 Welcome to the Gorge! Amazing sunset looking at Mt Hood.
We’ve been paddling a bunch here, the Little White Salmon and the Little White are two of the main classics, offering many sections, awesome rapids and lots of hours of boating. Thanks to the great hospitality of the locals here we’ve had many great times on and off the water, and after some cold days this warm weather is making kayaking a pleasure.
Spirit sequence by Evan Garcia – SMH
Another amazing sunset at the Gorge over the Columbia river
 There are so many rivers here… and they are all different and offer sections for all levels…
20
May
The James River in Richmond Virgina has multiple play spots, good attainment routes, and small creek lines. This is all located right in downtown Richmond. I have been to Richmond several times to paddle on the James and it’s always entertaining. Every time I end up at the take out for the Richmond town run there is a parking lot full of local paddler’s gearing up for the James. This particular weekend is the Richmond River Rocks Festival! I’m going to have to admit my favorite part of this festival is the music. They always have some fun funky music that I end up in the front row for! Other than that I would say it compares to a smaller Vail Mt. Games! It’s damn fun and I was very happy to have won the Freestyle comp yesterday at the event!
Photo By:Â Chris Gragtmans
Winning!
On this trip I was lead down the James town run by locals Daniel Digrys and Chris Neighbors.
Daniel Digrys surfing with a industrial back drop.
17
May
I flew out to North Carolina for the NOC Team Trials and after a weekend of rain, the creeks in the Smokies started to rise. Along for the ride with Demshitz, we hit the West Prong and Big Creek at nearly perfect flows. The West Prong is a fairly steep continuous class five run and Big Creek has a similar feel but is a little less steep and technical.
Me in the Nano on Big Creek
I didn’t have any of my own gear so I got use whatever boat was on top of the van. I usually paddle a small Shiva on creeks because of its speed, stability, and because it is easy to boof. But, I ended up paddling the Nano and loved it! I was, admittedly, a little nervous putting on the West Prong, but by the end of the run I felt totally confident and unstoppable in the Nano. I had not problem staying on line just reading and running, even down the steeper continuous drops. The Nano is a very playful boat, easy to maneuver, and very easy to boof. Even though it is a smaller boat, I was extremely impressed with the primary and secondary stability. I really liked the edges, making it easy to turn and carve in and out of eddies, but it still felt very forgiving, just like the Shiva. Overall, I was extremely impressed with the Nano and I thought it was the perfect boat for the steep and technical runs in the southeast. The Nano is my new favorite boat and the West Prong is my new favorite creek run! See you all out west!
Erin
16
May
A few weeks ago, my buddy Shaun “Shifty” Hazel contacted me to ask if he could make a short film about me for his uni course.
Here’s the end result:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odxrKzXnYKU
See you on the water,
Bren
15
May
Henry Hyde is only 12 years old, but I have paddled and hung out with this kid and he has more on and off the river skills than most adults you know! Here is a little write up on what Henry is all about! Welcome aboard demshitz!
Click here to learn more about 12 year old Henry Hyde!
Henry and Craig Kleckner checking out Henry’s soon to be new boat!
13
May
Rapid Magazine – Loki
