Playak News Flash 2010-07-24

Playak News Flash - July 24, 2010
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines

Hucking great weekend! CKS Squad - All I can say is that im still stoked from last weekend. Saturday Big South with Sarah and Ashley, and Sunday Crystal Gorge with Brian Burger, Chris Menges, Sean Lee, Andy Blakesly, and Tom Janney. Here are some highlight photos!

Waterfall Chasing 2010 Sweet - After the North Payette I went back to Oregon and met Pat Keller and a photographer named Lucas Gilman. He followed us around the state as we scouted and ran some pretty amazing big stuff. Candace and I drove them around and enjoyed the high life once again at the Wells House! Big Thanks once again to the Wells Family for being such a huge help this season. You guys are the best…

Just before Tacen Extreme 2010 duemmstuff - Tacen Extreme is well on its way. As you may have heard Duemstuff is one of the main sponsors of the event so you can expect some nice looking gear is going to be awarded ;)

Crystal Punch Bowls CKS Squad - With things getting low I decided to try for the punchbowls from the Crested Butte side, the easy way, especially since my Tacoma is a bit low and only 2WD. We got shut down on the first attempt by snow over the road early on. We went back a few days later and some more defined ruts in the snow (not in the video) made it a bit safer to cross. After hiking in we were met with the thunderstorm/slush/hail storm from hell...it got cold fast and we were pelted with large slush/ice balls mixed with rain and strong wind. After hiding under a tree for a little while things were getting worse, including the lightening.

CURRENTS – Episode 4 – South Korea Five 2 Nine Productions - Every time President Lee Myung-bak emphasizes the necessity of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, I find myself at a loss, confused as to whether he says such things with an understanding of the true picture, or if he is doing so according to some other political understanding. Most disconcerting of all is when he claims that the project saves animal and plant life and restores the ecosystem.

East Kaweah Jordan Searle - Last time I was in the states I missed out on this gem, much to my distaste. This year, however, I was fortunate enough to get in there with a great flow (some people thought it was a bit too high). A good friend of mine got a nasty beatdown in double drop and elected to walk out early in the day, which left Barny, Daan, Taylor and myself... a good team, with good lines and an amazing day!

Llech canyon Team Pyranha - Level water is going down in Pyrenees. Perfect time to run canyons. Fafa (Fabrice Pouyeto) in the first double slide. I agree this one was a little bit dry, but so fun ! Fafa in on of the 16 drops runable by kayakers in Llech canyon.

The North Continues… Sweet - After completing a random pit stop and potential first descent of the Umnas River, our next stop was Lake Røssvatn and take-out for the Krutaa River. Our camp location turned out to be the most epic camp location I have seen in a long while. The perfect place to spend July 1st Canada Day! We were surrounded by snow-covered mountains, an endless rock pebbled shoreline on a massive lake, a large supply of dry drift wood for a campfire, and presented with continuous 24 hours of daylight.

West Cherry & The Put-in Slide Sweet - After a huge run in Royal Gorge and taking a few days off paddling to celebrate 4th of July I was ready to hop back on it and go boating again. The levels of Dinky and Fantasy Falls dropped fast with a few crews hitting both over the Holiday weekend. It was kind of a toss up on what to do next, but over the years it is a natural move to head for West fork of Cherry Creek. It has been two years since I got on this run last.

Casper's Eurotour Level 6 - On our overnight drive back home, from Millau in France, I finally get the chance to write a review about this super hectic month. This month absolutely saw its extreme highlights, as well as its big disappointments. After all it has been an adventure and I am not in the position to complain, as I've been out, on the road and focused on what I love to do; kayaking.

First Descents on the White Salmon in Washington Kokatat Blog - Being from Hood River, we are lucky enough to kayak with some of the most talented folks around pretty regularly. This particular week, however, we got to boat with the most amazing kayakers in the world. They aren't the most amazing because they are running huge drops or throwing big tricks however. They are amazing because they are brave, persistent, and inspirational….oh, and they have all battled or are battling cancer.

2010 Augsburg Boater X Teva Blog - After last years big success, it was time for another round of spectacular head to head action on the olympic whitewater course in Augsburg, Germany. 32 men and 6 women signed up to battle it all out to be in the win of a 1000 euro worth brand new mountain bike, great paddling gear from Sandiline and of course, high performance whitewater shoes from Teva.

Jim Buley races Great Falls, loves the Villain Jackson Kayak - I've been paddling for 18 years now, and have been running Great Falls of the Potomac since 1995, yet I have never entered the falls race during the Potomac Whitewater Festival. Let me state for the record, that running the falls, and racing the falls, are two completely different animals. One animal has teeth, and the other has really big teeth. Going full-out over Great Falls takes a lot more juice than just a normal lackadaisical run of the falls. A lot can happen when you paddle as fast and as hard as you can over class five rapids.

Kamchatka Science and Fish Exploration by Kayak Kokatat Blog - One of the main goals of our project was to find a way to use our kayaks to contribute to the scientific body of knowledge about Kamchatka. As kayakers we knew we could access rivers and canyons that other people would find inaccessible. The research aspects of the team have begun full swing with Jeff's arrival from Mexico. The Karymskaya River afforded us the opportunity to begin testing the waters of Kamchatka in a much more methodical way.

The Northwest...Washington and Oregon! Sea-Boo-Photos - I cruised into Hood River just after dark wishing I could see more of the Gorge. I had spotty cell reception on this trip and directions that told me to go a mile exactly from a gas station and I'd find the private drive to Lori's. No problem...I've had worse directions and still found my way, in the dark. Lori gathered her gear and we set off to find the boys at our home base camp at Trout Lake.

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