Playak News Flash 2010-03-09

Playak News Flash - March 9, 2010
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines

PeakUK: Steve Brooks, Back in Europe The Futa is amazing, I only managed to run the Bridge to Bridge section as the river was double the volume of what it should have been. Apparently it had been continuously raining for the previous 7 months!!

Dagger Blogs: Yoga for Kayaking: Upward Frog Pose The Iliopsoas is a hip flexor muscle group comprising of three muscles: The psoas minor, the psoas major and the iliacus. This group is one of the strongest of the hip flexor muscles and the psoas major runs from our lumbar spine across the hip joint to the upper inner thigh. Very important muscle! The interesting thing about these muscles, is that they actually need to be stretched to keep their normal tone.

The Roaming Dials: New Zealand West Coast Compilation All excited about that new Alpacka "Witchcraft" boat, but it's snowing now and can't get out in my own boats even. So the best I could do was reminisce about the West Coast of NZ.

Mike Dawson: T-Camp The last few weeks have been crusing by pretty flip'n fast. I've spent them in Penrith training. The course which is around 300m long, is really good for training, It's set up purely for that. We have unlimited water at the moment, as the lake is slightly polluted, so the course has to run 24hrs a day, meaning the sessions are pretty empty. A lot of the internationals are slowly heading back to their respective cold corners of the world as all the nations selection races are quickly approaching

Down River Kayaks: Why We Freeze on that glorious day, as the ice cream headache wore off, I found myself wondering, "what makes someone leave the comfort of coffee and couch to paddle around with ice cubes?" My non-paddling friends blame brain damage due to many previous winter adventures. But I am not the only crazy out there on a cold day like this. In fact, if you look hard enough, you can find a variety of winter wierdos practicing their warm weather sport when others won't get out of bed.

Fraser Valley WW: Dagger Nomad 8.1 Review By definition the Nomad is seen as a boat and boater constantly on the move to follow the flows of whatever is running. Often defined as the ultimate creek boat Dagger's Nomad is one of my favorites for increasing confidence and proving itself over and over again.

Trent Thibodeaux: Final Chile blog post video Chile is a spectacular place and kayaking is an incredible way to see it. Chile is full of life. From the people, to the land and water and even the skies, Chile never ceased to amaze me. Everyday was better than the last. I miss it already and feel honored to have been able to be a part of its culture for a month.

Adrian Tregoning: Luke Longridge – Swazi Gold – Part 1 That evening found us at Gunda's emporium of pleasure for a little bender, and the arrival of a bunch more paddlers from Kwazulu-Natal, Parys and Johannesburg. In the morning, some of the guys were looking a little worse for wear as we headed out to tackle the "Particle Accelerator" section of the Usutu River. The river was pumping, and we had to run a sneak line down the Particle Accelerator, which some of the more hungover amongst us walked. The rest of the river was nice bouncy big-water flowing through the trees, and a rapid called Knife Edge provided some more excitement, and a few more walkers.

playak.tv: Video: 2010 Pyranha Molan The new Pyranha Molan in action. Check it out!!

Teva Blog: Dream Result wins top place at Rosenheim Paddling Film Festival Teva Life Agent Rush Sturges latest movie Dream Result had its European premier last weekend during the 13th annual Kayak Film Festival in Rosenheim, Germany. 800 enthusiastic spectators watched 4 international paddling movies, all of them showing the state of whitewater kayaking on a very high level. In the end the judges decided that Rushes Dream Result showed the spirit of the sport at its best and gave it the award for the top prize of Europe's biggest festival of its kind.

The Roaming Dials: Videos of the month Yes it's time for the best packrafting videos of the month, this month being now and the best videos being these three.

Adrian Tregoning: Gravity Adventure Festival 2009 We headed up to the put in for the 5km section and got ready for the downriver race, which is basically all 5km down to the final rapid where the sprints are held. I knew I would never be able to make a good time with my weak body so I took my playboat and would do the sweep, making sure everyone got down safely.

Jackson Kayak Recreational: City of Ann Arbor Canoe livery has an AMAZING kids kayak program! If you are a kayaker and would love to have your kids learn to paddle with you, you will be hard pressed to find a kayak that makes this easier than the Mini Tripper. Jackson Kayak is the kayak company that makes boats for kids and as you can see, it creates a smile that is hard to match.

Inflatable Kayak Blog: Kayaking at Crooked River State Park Elliott's Bluff public launch is probably the best launch area for kayaks. If you take an chance and launch at a random location along the shore you may experience the oyster beds that will cut your feet and may do some damage to your kayak.

CKS Blog: The Glacier Glove Toughtek Perfect Curve Waterproof Glove Glacier Glove originally created the Perfect Curve neoprene glove. With curved fingers, it was a solid choice for paddlers who wanted to keep their hands warm, not have to use pogies and not break the bank. This year's version of the perfect curve glove is constructed out of "Toughtek" neoprene. This is a waterproof neoprene that has a laminate on it. This laminate is impregnated on the neoprene, thus causing it to be waterproof and extending the shelf life. These gloves are very durable.

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