Playak News Flash 2009-12-12

Playak News Flash - December 12, 2009

News Watch Headlines

Werner: Steve Fisher Named "Man of Influence" Steve Fisher, who is well know in the whitewater paddling world, has been named a "Man of Influence" by the South African GQ Magazine. Steve seems to be one of the remaining few whitewater athletes "making a living" by parlaying their paddling into promotion.

Fluid Blog: Thanksgiving Blitz I'm quite proud of our team driving effort which allowed us to get up at 4am to surf Skookumchuck in the pre-dawn light on Saturday. We spent four days surfing that beauty of a wave.

PeakUK US: Always Dress for a Swim These past few days of cold weather have reminded me that when we paddle, we need to always dress for a swim. And right now, a swim could mean death if you are dressed inappropriately.

Wavesport Blogs: Jonny Meyers Looping large in the 54cx I was going through a few clips I shot in Colorado this summer and came across a few of Jonny Meyers looping the Project 54cx in the Salida hole.

Todd Wells: Mexico Part 2: Rio Alseseca Big Banana is an awing 100ft. waterfall that cascades out of the side of a mountain and marks the start of the run. After paddling through a couple manky boulder gardens we dropped into the first canyon. Right off the bat we followed Iker off a clean 25ft. waterfall and then strait into a fast 30ft. slide, each drop bringing us deeper into the canyon.

Wavesport Blogs: Rio Roosevelt expedition We followed the paddle strokes of Roosevelt and are the first team to descend the river in more than a decade, the fourth team ever. This stretch of the River Of Doubt, now renamed the Rio Roosevelt is nearly inaccessible because of its remote location and rapids that prevent navigation. Roosevelt's expedition was forced to portage many large rapids and nearly lost much of the team.

Whitewater Rescue: Former WRI Student Featured in National Publication Brandon Stevens, a Firefighter, EMT, and a past student of WRI, responded to a vehicle in the frozen Tongue River last March. His amazing rescue of the entrapped and hypothemic victim is featured in this month's Advanced Rescue Technology magazine.

Jackson Kayak: Lauren Burress Cascades update The plus side is it wasn't Nantahala cold water you hear about all the time, it was coming from the Cascades, which was warm. The Cascades will be releasing for a month straight at 450-600 CFS.

Kokatat Blog: Anna Levesque Awards Winner & Offers Winter Paddling Tips I'm happy to announce that Paulina Cuevas is the winner of the drawing for a brand new Girls at Play embroidered Kokatat Rogue Drytop! Her name, along all of the women who paid in full for their 2010 Mexico paddling trip by October 31st were entered into the drawing.

MDAC: Oct/Nov Gorge Games Training The very next day a group of us set out in search of Tony's gear and some much lower water levels. The Nire was much more welcoming and Colm, Darren, MJ and myself set out. Cold, clear water had replaced the brown torrent from the day before and an enjoyable days paddling produced a number of swims and some good lines on the big rapids by our newbie Colm but unfortunately none of tony's gear.

Am. Whitewater: Ship Creek (AK) Access Issue Ship Creek Canyon has been known for several years as a great Alaskan whitewater run just outside downtown Anchorage. The trail to the creek is on Forest Service land but the creek itself flows through the military's Fort Richardson light-tactical training area, that has been open to some forms of permitted recreation, but not watercraft.

surfski.info: Southern Shamaal: SA holds on for narrow victory South Africa hung on by the skin of their teeth to claim a famous victory against Australia in the four-day Southern Shamaal International Surfski Challenge that finished in East London on Tuesday.

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