Two days ago I came back from a ten day trip guiding for www.kayakchile.net on the Big Water fun of the Futaleufu in Southern Chile. Much fun was had by all as we paddled all the sections including Inferno Canyon, Terminator, Bridge to Bridge, Mas o Menas, Casa de Piedra and the Macal section.

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Adam and I have been in New Zealand for about two months now. Living out of our trusty campervan.  Our general plan has been – no plan- which seems to have paid off most the time.

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The plan emerged over the week. The Pyranha Sales Team would go paddling together on Saturday. After many considerations were taken it was decided the mighty Tryweryn in North Wales would be the river of choice. We also decided that the weekend would perfect to do some filming……

A drive through North Wales to the river told a story of rain…lots. In fact North Wales had something of soggy look, lots of water in the fields, the rivers would be high.  In fact the Lower Tryweryn was running very high indeed, higher than I’d ever seen it despite the actual low level of the dam release.  The rain was lashing down, it was not great weather for filming. Hey ho.. we went boating.

In honesty we were all a bit rusty but after a couple of runs I think we all became a little happier with ourselves. Jim Pearce was showing some lovely boofing work in the Z:One, Liz Maybury was looking good in her Burn Medium, Dave Cusick was squirting and boofing his way down the river in a Varun M as was honorary team member Steve Sale. I was doing my wobbly best in the fantastic 2010 Burn M.

Highlight of the day was Dave getting two runs down a little trib that doesn’t normally run but with the monsoon hitting North Wales was in full flow.

So in the end it wasn’t a great day for filming but we did get some nice boating done. Nice one.

Tim ‘Average Joe’ Lambert

Holtwood has long been a playboaters dream, any boaters who have gotten a taste of the Susquehana rivers whitewater below the holtwood dam knows that this is a gem. In 2006 PPL the owner of the Holtwood hydroelectric power plant applied for a permit to expand and make the 100+ year old plant more efficent and cost effective. The project includes enhancing the shad passage by giving them a low velocity passageway to the fish ladder. The Piney channel is the home of stormhole, one of Holtwoods preimum playspots. This channel has been under extencive exavation but stormhole has been left untouched as per the deal with the boaters and AW in hopes that it will be the same great hole it was. With the addition of the new unit one turbine the days of natural flows in the area will be cut down controlled by the powerplant and the new turbine. So to make up for the loss of recreation days PPL has signed an agreement adding two new features to make up for the loss of natural flow days. Alot has gone into getting to this point with a great group of local boater, and Kevin Colburn from American Whitewater working hard to make this happen, and acting as the watchdog for future boaters. As it stands we are planning on doing the next flow study this spring. If the project stays on track.

Breaking out the L Burn in sunny California.  This particular falls has a nice launch ledge just below the lip that never treats you the same twice.  Good to dial in that freefall for the springtime!  Photo by Alex Conheim

Paddled a brilliant river in Nepal last year, heres a little Video of the trip down.

For more information on the Dordi Khola Click here

Jake

With a free weekend and MetCheck suggesting that Wales might be in line for a spot of rain it seamed only fair to make the drive north and see what was running.
Not long after crossing the border into Wales it was pretty obvious, pretty quickly that most were running in Wales.

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And some more Here.

That’s right folks. It may be “cold as a witch’s tit in a brass bra” in Virginia right now, but Spring is not far away. The Great Goshen Race – also known as “Kickin’ Ass In Goshen Pass” – has quickly become THE spring paddling season kick-off in Virginia. After a brief hiatus due to completely and totally unacceptably dry conditions last year things are looking up for this year. So mark your calendars for the 4th Annual Goshen Pass Race on March 6th, 2011.

What:  An officially-unofficial (or unofficially official?), barely-organized, grassroots, “gathering” of Virginia’s varied paddling crews and cliques. A lung-busting mass start race with no safety – you are paddling at your own considerable risk through some of Virginia’s best and most scenic whitewater.

Where:  The race begins in the pool above Undercut Rock. The finish line is at Indian Pool a few miles downstream. Surf over to the AW’s Goshen page for more info on this fine section of Rio.

When:  The first weekend in March or the first weekend with flow. The race window opens this year on March 6th, 2011. If there is 600 cfs or more at the USGS Rockbridge Baths gauge on March 6th then we are ON. If not, the race automatically falls back to the next Sunday with flow over 600 cfs. The race starts at High Noon. [Creeking Clause: Rainfall resulting in flows high enough for regional creeking may result in the Goshen Race being moved to another weekend in which the “Race Committee” is not off creeking somewhere else instead. Remember this is a free deal. Information will be posted on Boatertalk and the Coastals.org page if this is the case. Go creekin.]

The usual non-prizes will be “awarded” – including the infamous carnage speedo suit. This year we will even have some ACTUAL prizes due to the generosity of Pyranha Kayaks, Appomattox River Company, Friends of the Maury, and others.

Think Rain!!

After five weeks in Mexico, it ‘s time to come back to my cold mountain and work !

Last video about this awesome trip.

http://vimeo.com/19131673

Happy new year 2011 !