Playak News Flash 2010-06-28

Playak News Flash - June 28, 2010
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines

Middle Heber River, Vancouver Island Rafting Life - Toward the end of June I had some worked lined up with the COLT program at Strathcona Park Lodge. I had the goal of trying to get out on the Middle Heber river for a little while, as I had heard that it was a beautiful section of river. Talking it over with a number of people it worked out on June 21 that we could go. Getting back from the last day of WW2, finished organizing the boats for the 3 day Nimpkish trip we were doing the next day and a good dinner at the Lodge. Good food at Strathcona Park Lodge.

River Leader Training Course in Soča Slovenia Gene17 - Gene17 introduces a new trip to Slovenia on the Soča River, the River Leader Training Course every Autumn & Spring, is aimed at paddler's wishing to gain competence on white water and the confidence to lead their friends on Class II/III.

The New Celestial Falls Evan Garcia - I was going on and on about how much I love the Metlako falls on Eagle creek this last week and I saw something on the Internet where Clay Wright called it "The New Celestial". This gave me a good chuckle! For those who don't know what that is check this out Celestial Falls.

West Side Wavesport Blogs - I been in Western Canada for a few weeks now and it started off as a bit of a shock to the system. Leaving the Ottawa Valley where temps reached as high as 38°C I arrived in Calgary greeted with snow and a temperature of -1°C. Although it did warm up right away the weather has persisted to be less than desirable barely breaking into the double digits with lots of fresh snow in the higher elevation mountain ranges... in some cases there have been reports of a larger snow pack now than there was in January. Luckily it seems like the worst is over and things are starting to brighten up.

Teva Extreme Outdoor Games 2010 PeakUK - This years extreme kayak race took place on the Val Chiusella river. A longer race section was set than previous years, which, after running the river several times before the race and realising I couldn't successfully remember any of the lines, resulted in having to draw myself a map and knuckling down to some revision the night before!

Royal Gorge - Not for Mothers Eyes Jordan Searle - I know I say this about a lot of river trips but this is the best multi-day, or even single river trip, I have ever done. Although the original team of six was eventually reduced to four, due to work commitments and and just not feeling it, I could not have picked a better crew to go in there with. Logistic's worked better than imagined with Shannon driving our shuttle (thank you), Corey taking our car back to Auburn (thank you) and for Rach, Dee and Matt who walked into the generation gap put in, day two camp, with steak, pesto, pasta, bacon, bagels, avacado, cheese, beers and even goon! With a good flow on the guage we decided it was on...

Liquid Fusion Kayaking: Tour de Mendo - The Ultimate of Mendocino Coast Sea Kayaking PaddleBlogs - Imagine 4 days of sea kayaking among the rock gardens and sea caves of the ruggedly beautiful Mendocino Coast. Yes, many come to the Mendocino Coast to sea kayak and have paddled stretches of the rock gardens and sea caves but few have done a Tour de Mendo Liquid Fusion Kayaking Style.

Video: Kayaksurf session 2010 playak.tv - Biggest kayaksurf meeting in Portugal!

Video: River Bassin Trail Sponsored by Kokatat playak.tv - A short promo video about the River Bassin Tournament Trail that was founded by Kokatat Kayak Fishing Ambassador Drew Gregory. Kokatat is proud to sponsor this exciting new format of kayak fishing.

Gore Canyon, Still High, Still Epic Ross Herr - Some how, we're still lucky enough that flows are holding out on some of Colorado's classics. Word on the street is that our reservoirs on the western side here are all full to the banks. That means that all you on the Denver front range will have plenty of water to keep your lawns green, and we'll have plenty of quality class V kayaking over here!

Hogs Back – Spring 2010 Level 6 - HUEVOS! This here is an update from the local waterfall run in Ottawa close to Carleton university… Usually each spring this bad boy is flooded to the tits, but with the low water levels of spring 2010 we were running Hogs Back almost everyday… Sometimes the NCC ( dont know what it stands for) puts an end to the session and threatens tickets but we were lucky this year with no negative run ins.

International Canoe Federation: Another Canoe Slalom World Cup Coming Up Paddle Press - It's Round Two of the 2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup, this time the best Slalom paddlers in the world come together in La Seu d'Urgell; site of the 2009 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships and the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. The Parc Olimpic del Segre in La Seu d'Urgell is ready to accommodate the 267 athletes from 39 countries who will hit the water this weekend with demo runs and opening ceremony on Friday 25th. Among these athletes are some reigning World Champions.

Kayak Noise - Looksha Elite Kayak Noise - Alex Matthews talks about the Elite....

Playspot Kalikovak Playak - Playspot Kalikovak is a small artificial hole created on a "Kalikovský mlýn" mill race. The obstacle consists of two wooden plates raised and lowered by car winches that allow the spot to be adjusted to different water levels. The level in the river varies through the seasons, highest in the spring (up to 20 cumecs) and lowest in the summer (4 cumecs), however the mill race has fairly constant flow about 4 cumecs. Most of the time, the feature is a nice hole 3,5 meters wide with eddies on both sides. It can also be fine tuned to a wave/hole or a nasty sticky hole just the way you like it.

A welcome break at Ganavan SeaKayakPhoto.com - So it was a great excuse to stop for second luncheon. Jim W's kayak is a Sea King. The low winter sun showed off her fine lines and chines.

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