Playak Weekly Digest - week 14

Playak Weekly Digest
The world's top paddling links in week 14, 2010.

News Watch Team Liquid Logic on Ravens LL Ladies Lounge (Sunday 4th) ***** - Nestled in the heart of the Appalachians in the Great Smoky National Park is a river. A river called Raven Fork. Within this river are all things that are good. No Baileys though. The hike in is only slightly grueling, just be sure to not fall into one of the massive holes between the boulders. Rio Baker, Chile Chris Baer (Saturday 3rd) *** - So let's start this story from the beginning. I was asked by Marcus if I wanted to go to the Rio Baker, the only real information I knew about the Baker was that it was HUGE, so my obvious reaction was, "YES!" For a week I trained on the Futaleufu, trying to get mentally prepared for the biggest white water In the Southern Hemisphere. The morning we were to leave I find out that Marcus our trip leader isn't even going to go; with this information I became immediately apprehensive. The success of our adventure seemed... very vulnerable. Marcus was the only one in the group that had been to the Baker before; this mission was getting harder, and more entertaining by the moment. A decade using the same style life jacket Kokatat Blog (Friday 2nd) ** - "So I am on the water a bunch, following the summer around the world, instructing, finding creeks and rivers for our videos. I wanted to say that I am a huge fan of the PFD I have been using – Kokatat for over a decade now. Although I have changed the life jacket over just for peace of mind, I have continued to go back to the same one for a few reasons. The last 5 years I have been going back to the Ronin, made by Kokatat. Pat Keller Bio Video from LVM Dagger Blogs (Friday 2nd) ** - From Lunch Video Magazine - Pat Keller has been on the river since he was 3 years old. A two time Green Race Winner, Teva Mountain Games Champion, and all around multi-sport athlete Pat is easily argued as one of the best paddlers in the world. This is an action packed segment with Pat showing us how it is done. Available in full on LVM #33. How to: The Boof Wavesport Blogs (Wednesday 7th) ** - The Boof is one of the most important things to have in your bag of tricks as a kayaker. It can be used in almost any situation, but in general is a maneuver used when going off a drop or through a rapid, if you want to keep your bow up to go over something your bow would typically go under. Workout Wave (Upper Brave Wave) Nick Troutman (Tuesday 6th) ** - When Rock Island starts spilling over the dam all sorts of opportunities pop up. You can start with the Falls, then make your wave down to Sieve City surf the Put-In wave, surf the Top Hole (Corner Pocket), surf the Main RI Hole (which is a big wave at higher levels) and if the levels are just right (between 13,000 at 17,000) you can surf Workout Wave also known as Upper Brave Wave. April 2nd, Western North Carolina Trifecta Golden Strokes LVM TV (Saturday 3rd) ** - More gold here for you. We have a shot here from Wesley Bradley on The Watauga, the LVM sticker doesn't hurt. Hey John, Will & the rest of the LVM Crew! Eternity Hole Kokatat Blog (Saturday 3rd) ** - A little known place tucked away in the mountains of Western North Carolina, providing endless amount of fun and ice cream headaches. Get a Free T-shirt for Your Pain teamscum blog (Tuesday 6th) ** - f you've got a good injury photo send it in and if we post it on the site I'll send you a free Tshirt. New Whitewater Events at Teva Mountain Games Rapid Magazine Blog (Wednesday 7th) * - The largest celebration of mountain sport, lifestyle and music in the U.S. welcomes whitewater Stand Up Paddling into its competition fold. April 5th, Golden Photos and a Video LVM TV (Wednesday 7th) * - Here we have a combo entry from Dave Gorbachev. Looks like these boys have been taking full advantage of the wet and juicy spring the southeast has had this year. Our post tomorrow will venture away from the southeast, but as we look over the submissions California has little representation. We have been hearing of some early season Dinkey and a few other creeks and rivers…let's see'em Cali! Edging Technique Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association (Wednesday 7th) * - Majority of instructional materials advise that edging is accomplished mostly by lifting with the opposite knee. Minority insists that weighing down the buttocks and upper thigh on the on-side does most of the work to submerge the gunwale. Anna Levesque explains how to put on a Sprayskirt – Immersion Research (Tuesday 6th) * - Last Summer and Fall I spent some time filming and editing Anna Levesque's newest kayak instructional DVD. In the below excerpt from the video she explains how to put on a sprayskirt. You'll notice she uses the IR J-lo, women's specific skirt. Sneak Preview: New RapidUp Sail from Advanced Elements AirKayaks (Wednesday 7th) * - Advanced Element's new AE2040 RapidUp Sail is a compact and fast deploying down-wind kayak sail. 2010 Teva Mountain Games Registration Open SUP Surf (Friday 2nd) * - Although it's still ski season in the Rockies, the Teva Mountain Games are only two months away. The nation's largest celebration of mountain sport, lifestyle and music get underway June 3-6, 2010 in Vail. Now is the time to start training for one of the 24 comps including kayaking, rafting, mountain and road biking, bouldering, fly-fishing, running and new this year…stand up paddling!

Hot Forum Topics Teaching girlfriend to Kayak... (Ladies) Boats! (Gear) Looking to buy white water kayak - for intermediat (Gear) Looksha V experience/review required (Gear) Want to paddle in Europe first weekend in May... (Europe) Top Videos Great White Shark Hunts Kayakers Workout Wave 5th Annual Monarch Mountain Kayaks on Snow Boatercross Taylor Robertson Butte Cr. SUP Brilliant 2009 (MikkelASD) Upcoming Events Easter Corsica Kayak Sessions Corsica (FR), Aléria, Apr 4 - Apr 10 New England Paddlesports Show USA, NH, Durham, Apr 9 - Apr 11 Kaiserklammtrophy 2010 Austria, Kramsach, Tirol, Apr 9 - Apr 10 Northwest Creeking Competition US, WA, Yacolt, Apr 10 - Apr 11 Puget Sound Challenge-Segment 1 USA, Seattle, Apr 10 Withlacoochee Wilderness Canoe & Kayak Race and Rally USA, FL, Inglis-Yankeetown, Apr 10 New England Whitewater Championship USA, Tariffville, Connecticut, Apr 10 - Apr 11 First amateur rafting and whitewater slalom contest in Romania Romania, Tirgu Mures, Apr 16 - Apr 18 East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival USA, SC, Charleston, Apr 16 - Apr 18 10th Annual Port Angeles Kayak Symposium US, WA, Port Angeles, Apr 16 - Apr 18 Austria Kajak Saison Open Austria, Lofer Basecamp direkt an der Bundesstrasse, Apr 16 - Apr 18 Ledyard River Festival United States, NH, Hanover, Apr 16 - Apr 18 Kajak Festival Netherlands, Zoetermeer, Apr 16 - Apr 17 Grizzly Man Adventure Race & Black Bear Challenge USA, MT, Greenough, Apr 17 Open Canoe Festival France, Mirabel et Blacons, Apr 17 - Apr 18 Shark Bite Challenge USA, FL, Dunedin, Apr 17 - Apr 18

The Playak Weekly Digest is a special Saturday version of the News Flash, containing the most popular paddling news of the past week. To see all the latest headlines, videos, forum discussions and more, visit Playak News Watch.
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