Playak News Flash 2010-06-12

Playak News Flash - June 12, 2010
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines

eurovision Team Pyranha - Now there are not too many countries like Italy, and I say this for many reasons. There work ethic seams to, well work pretty well! The people are friendly and welcoming, the country side like many of the female inhabitants is magnificently sculptured, there weather for the main part is warm and sunny, they drink wine like its water and when there not drinking wine they are sipping the best coffee or licking the best ice cream you can get on the planet. Oh and the whitewater is pretty dam fine too.

Familiarity breeds frustration rockratrobinson - I have just got back from a short bouldering session at Armathwaite's Sandy Bay and this has put me in a foul mood. This should not be the case; climbing should make you feel happy, but I have come to the conclusion that the familiarity with the problems at Armathwaite, and at any venue for that matter, breeds frustration when things don't go your way. This would not be the case if the venue was unfamiliar to you as you could justify, no matter how ridiculous the excuse, why you didn't make that move or send that problem, but when the venue is familiar to you and you can't make a move or send a problem, which you have done in the past, you have no real justification for your failing.

Bo don't know CO high flow but Demshitz know. Werner Paddles TEAM reports from Colorado Werner - With epic water levels in CO the past few weeks and the Werner Team wrapping things up at the Teva Mountain Games, here is Nicole Mansfield and Dave Fusilli giving us a quick update on how Demshitz are flowing.

Demshitz in Colorado 2010 (video) Astral Currently - Video courtesy of Dave Fusilli. A few drops from Oh Be Joyful. Also, video from the Teva Mt. Games and a little surfing at the Glenwood wave.

Glenwood Surfings CKS Squad - Steady high temperatures in Colorado means summer is finally here. The snow is melting and the rivers are pumping. The last couple of days myself and a whole bunch of others enjoyed high river levels on the Colorado to surf the Glenwood Wave. The line was never short, but I can't complain. It was very enjoyable to hang out in the sunshine and try to catch air and learn new tricks on this epic feature.

Kayaked New Zealand's Rivers? You Can Help Save Them! Rapid Magazine Blog - A new study aims to shed light on the whitewater kayaking potential of New Zealand's West Coast rivers and protect them from development. If you've paddled NZ's West Coast rivers, complete this survey to help.

Big Kimshew Creek, CA Sweet - Big Kimshew is one of my favorite creek runs in California…being only a day run this has got to be up there in the "most fun" category of all the rivers on planet earth. With the right flows and group, you will enjoy a mix between the Little White Salmon, and Upper Cherry…you can't go wrong. The rapids start out fast and hold to the class V character all the way to the last take out falls.

Italy update II – the Gronda Palm Blogs - For the steep creeking connoisseur, spring in Piemonte is always a treat, and this season has been no exception. This year the Gronda racecourse became pretty much part of our daily routine, offering 391 metres of steep technical fun, finishing in a truly classic ski jump drop that will leave you grinning for days.

European Raft Champs PeakUK - Peak UK Raft Teams arrived in Mezzana, Italy last week for the R4 and R6 European Raft Championships. We were glad for the support from Peak UK with our sweet brand new Multisport Hoodies and a couple of pairs of very special pink shorts!

High Water Playboating Ross Herr - A heat wave has passed over Colorado changing our low-water-blues, to high water heaven. In the beginning of May we saw a week of straight snow in the high country and it really gave our snow pack the added boost we had hoped for.

Steve's Adventures with Body Boat Blade Kokatat Blog - Growing up I was not necessarily into water sports, but I didn't shy away from being in the water either. I tried my hand at some water skiing and never hesitated to just jumping in and in the water. Since a car/pedestrian accident in 1987 cost me a leg, I had not been in the water in 23 years. With a prosthetic leg the last thing I needed was getting the expensive hardware wet. There are other options as far as prosthetics built specifically for water use, but they were cost prohibitive for me.

Thomas Oliver releases "Raven Fork"-a different kind of kayak movie Immersion Research - This is an ambitious project, to say the least. Those of you in the Asheville area can see the cast and crew premiere on June 17th at the Fine Arts Cinema- the rest of us will have to wait for the general release on DVD.

Budo Fest 2010 event report CKS Squad - The second annual "Budo Fest 2010" was an awesome event. I will go out on a limb and say that the Embudo race is the hardest class 5 race in the country. Northern New Mexico is the shit! The race starts at the normal put in and ends at my house just after the second canyon. 7 miles of full on class 4-5 kayaking. The format is a timed event. Teams of 3 race top to bottom without stopping. It is brutal.

Kayak Noise - Action on the West Coast Kayak Noise - This footage is from the last few years paddling here in B.C and down in Baja. Thanks to Justine Curgenven for some of the footage she took while we were on a quick trip down in Baja.

Versa Board down Gore Creek in Vail, Co. Shane's Logic - The last couples weeks has had me traveling in Colorado for a couple events and a couple rivers. This past weekend I was helping at the Teva Mountain Games with the Extreme Race down Homestake Creek and the Freestyle Event in the middle of the Vail Village. I also signed up for the SUP surf cross sprint down Gore Creek which is the first time I have entered any kind of an event on a stand up paddle board. Its also the first time that I have run a river that I hadn't first run in a kayak. So it was a personal first descent for me and my Versa Board.

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