Playak News Flash 2010-07-17

Playak News Flash - July 17, 2010
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines

Idaho Hometown Throwdown #4 – with the Jacksons! WK Throwdown - The Jackson motor home, piled with boats and mini-cooper in tow, screeched into the parking lot at 3:59:57pm – a good 3 seconds before our start-time. E.J. likes showing up early for an event. And Kristine thought he was going to be late… He and Dane put in just as we were starting and they milled around the eddy answering questions, giving pointers, and Dane helps score a bit as well.

Colorado, Idaho, and Montana Wavesport Blogs - This summer I've been hanging at some of the best and most beautiful kayak destinations on Earth - and they're right here in the US. The Glenwood Wave in Glenwood Springs, CO is the best manmade spot I've ever surfed. Our US Team Trials were held here last summer, which I won in the carbon Project 54cx.

First Descent: A Dam Demolished Frees A Drowned Section of River (Video) Dagger Blogs - This spring, I joined two friends at the putin for Upper Trout Creek, a classic class V run that for more than 100 years has cascaded through steep boulder drops to a lake. This trip down Trout Creek would be different though--the recent removal of Hemlock Dam meant that the lake was gone, and we had several new miles of river to explore.

Tamihi Creek Fraser Valley WW - Tamihi Creek is the crown jewel of the Chilliwack River Valley. It has two main sections on it, the Lower Canyon which is mostly class 4 with some optional 4+, and the Upper run which is a solid 4+ or 5 with lots of water.

Belated update Sam Roil - Seeing as I have been busy/lazy and haven't updated anything for a while I decided that you can just read everyone else's blogs for our Dinkey/West Cherry/Hospital rock trips and I will post stuff about our extra-curricular rest day activities which are highly entertaining, informative, all in one, drive in, pre packaged, americanised national park experiences which we then proceed to demolish with a characteristic combination of New Zealand charm and Kiwi mongrel.

Upper and Lower South Branch Feather – another 1st for Jesse! Kokatat Blog - Unbeknownst to me, the upper and lower half of South Branch Feather had never been done together in one day, and that is the best way to do a first! In my opinion running something because you think it will be fun is the best reason to run it. Something being a first descent is better enjoyed as unexpected benefit and not the reason to make a decision. When I joined Devin Knight, Ryan Knight, Chris Korbulic and Ben Stookesberry to run the upper South Branch with them before meeting Eric Seymore for the Lower South Branch I thought it would be a fun idea. We all put on with great anticipation and big smiles.

Axiom Dagger Blogs - On our Dream Result Europe tour I saw the Axiom for my first time. My initial response was, wow, that looks like a great boat for my father. My dad just had his 70th birthday and is still shredding it in a kayak but his Juice had become to edgy and his old creek boat too hard to roll. I decided to get an Axiom for the both of us for his 70th birthday present just before we went on the Grand Canyon. He was STOKED, but I had no idea how stoked I was about to be on it too...

The Ottawa River Level 6 - I'm up at the Ottawa River now living and coaching at Keenerville next to McCoys Rapid. Garb is in right now and although I hurt my back going off the ramp we have here I managed to get a few shots of Garb. Hope all is well. Enjoy this hot weather!

Vail Whitewater Park Demo wrap up Alpine Quest - This spring, every Tuesday John O'Neill and Ross Herr hosted free playboating clinics at the Vail Whitewater Park. The park is very unique because we are able to adjust the wave to suit the abilities of the people showing up. It can be anything from a friendly wave to an aggressive competition hole. The last demo on July 6th was a great way to really put the adjustability to the test.

Voss and Beyond… Max Bilbow - It's been a pretty tough year and, after temporarily quitting teaching, I was more than happy to represent Pyranha by taking the Team Van around Norway and Sweden. First stop: Picking up fellow team paddler, Paula Volkmer, from her house in North London. Some hard labour was needed to reorganising the van but we got everything in without squashing a single can of lager.

Feeling Royal on the North Fork of the American Team Swain SE Boating - With the California snowpack high and the weather staying cool, it seemed like it was taking forever to start off the high sierra multi-day season out here. Friends from the Southeast made their pilgrimage across the country and for the the first week they were out here I showed them around my favorite day runs in the area, including 49 to Bridgeport and Golden Gate, while we waited for the water to drop.

Fourth of July on Dinkey Creek Team Swain SE Boating - While our crew started out with Gareth, Ben, Adam and I, along with our Kiwi friend Rachel, by the time we finished the hike and made it to the put in, crowds of people were showing up behind us. Turned out we weren't the only ones excited about spending the Fourth of July weekend on Dinkey creek.

Living a Fantasy (and at times a nightmere) on the North Fork of the Mokelumne Team Swain SE Boating - After getting off Dinkey Creek we had to hit the road immediately once again to check another high sierra classic off the list. This time it was Fantasy Falls of the North Fork of Mokelumne and we were all excited to get into this run which we had heard was one of the most beautiful of all the California classics. One rest day and a food resupply was all we needed before meeting Darin and Jonas at the put-in to get started on our descent.

NFLW Wyoming Sweet - A couple of summers ago i did a hellish mission of mank in the Wind River Mountains. But the typical problem in these massive mountains is how young they are. The rock is not friendly the creeks tend to be very manky, but do sometimes have some fun stuff. This particular creek the north fork of the little wind we were told it was on the hide side of good. As i saw it i wouldnt go any lower, it felt as though we were barely floating as it was. But as always when things gorge up there was plenty.

NOrTh Boulder Mt. Hood H2O - The trip to NOrTh boulder was a grueling one, with lots of hiking both before and after. We had both had our eyes on this run for awhile now, but various issues had kept us, along with most others, out of this unique area of whitewater goodness. However, the time had come, so when we got a heads up from the meatball master that this area had water, we changed plans in a hurry and prepared for our new voyage. With almost ten miles of kayaking, and the first part being continuous class V- with wood and small eddies, we really had our work cut out for us. In the end the trip was a great success, albeit a little randy. Here is the tale of our adventure...

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