Playak News Flash 2010-08-21

Playak News Flash - August 21, 2010
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines

Thailand - Doi Inthanon National Park & Huck Wavesport Blogs - Like most paddlers out there, I deal with the struggle of finding that balance between going on lots of kayaking missions and not being flat broke. I've spent the last 2 months on the Ottawa River raft guiding and instructing kayaking, pretty much everyday so that I could save up my moneys to go on a kayaking mission to Thailand. But to be honest, if I wasn't spending my money on sweet kayaking trips ...

Lovin Life in North Carolina Charlie Simmons - Here are some latest local shots, and some of the first natural flow ive gotten since moving to NC.... though the almost daily dam released Green River Narrows runs are nothing to complain about!!! Here you will see the cascading 50ft. Rock Creek Falls, first showed to me by my buddy Will Dowling whom never stopped talking about it...after running it i can see why, starts off with an almost out of control slide into a few smaller ledge boofs, then on to back to back 12/15ft.

Ottawarougelachinecarbonhoot! Bootfahrer - Since 2007 I've spent every summer on the Ottawa. None of the previous seasons have been anything like this one though. Usually, when I get back in April, the Ottawa is a freezing cold huge river, running high and powerful. Same for all the runs in the area. When I came back this year I couldn't believe what I saw! It seemed as if we skipped a whole season and went straight into low water fall boating.

Cobra Falls in Chiang Mai Whitewater-Koa - New drops are always fun to find whether they are big or small. After a couple of days running some more well know rivers at super high flow we went searching again. On a map of Chiang Mai I spotted a river super close to town which had a Waterfall marked Nam Tok Mae Yoy so we decided to check it out. Heading up the creek we noticed that it was not high but had been 2 meters higher recently.

Middle Kings Willy P - The Middle Fork of the Kings river in California is like an old wooden ship, which I believe defines diversity. If you give her respect, proper permission, effort, attention, and admiration; she will reward you with the greatest ride of your life. However, if you neglect these simple principals, she will leave you cold, wet, hungry, hurt, and stranded for Bears to come along and eat your heart out. She is guarded by the towering snowy peaks of the Sierras; so that, one must be strong, willing, and motivated just to catch a glimpse of her majesty.

Mzimvubu River Fluid Team Trip – Days 1 and 2 Adrian Tregoning - This is first article in a series of 3 documenting the 2010 Fluid Team trip on the Mzimvubu River here in South Africa. This article will feature days 1 and 2, second one only day 3 and the final article days 4 and 5. It will be mostly of a photographic nature with words being thrown in to establish the setting, set the scene and provide some entertainment.

Sundance Kayak School- Rogue River! Immersion Research - Our friends over at Sundance Kayak School sent in this little promo clip for us to throw up! If you haven't experienced the Rogue River in Oregon, you really need to put it on the "to do" list- its one of the classic's! Sundance uses our Shockwave Sprayskirt for their classes on the water!

Sustut River, Northern British Columbia Fraser Valley WW - In July 13 friends and I met in Smithers in Northern British Columbia to do a 5 day self supported trip. We flew into Johanson Lake to run Johanson Creek into the Sustut River and finished on the Skeena River. It took 2 float plane trips to shuttle all 14 paddlers into Johanson Lake. The trip is packed full of awesome whitewater and equally amazing scenery. The trip started off with super low volume Johanson Creek, I think my bathtub faucet flows about the same CMS as this creek right out of the lake.

Wrong way up a one way street! Palm Blogs - My tail begins a few weeks ago when I came up with the crazy idea of doing the Tryweryn the wrong way! Yes that's right starting in Bala and journeying up the river. Its a canoe thing. I was inspired by the tails of someone having done this from the road bridge part way down, up to by Chapel Falls. Just so you know Polling is one of the traditional canoe skills dating back to the times of the fur trade and the Voyageurs, where this skill would have been used for up stream travel in order to access other areas and rivers etc.

Check out this video! Johnny Misadventures - Currents is a production from a local paddler the spot lights a river or area to help raise awareness to the river.

Jordan's 1st week OKS Keener - Hey this is my first blog as a keener and so far I've had an awesome time. Everyone is so chill and fun to hang out with whether its watching a movie or playing ultimate Frisbee.

New Coosa Kayak Photos/Video Drew Gregory - Some have wondered about the stability really being as good as those that have paddled the prototype have touted it to be. These are some photos and a video that should help clear that up. Still, anyone buying a kayak should always test it first because what is good for one person is not always good for another and their style of fishing. Without actually testing a kayak it is impossible to make any real judgements that are accurate.

Radio Sport Interview Palm Blogs - Here is a live to air interview I did on Radio Sport all the way from Norway. Check it out!

Alpine River Leader & River Leader Training Courses Gene17 - Gene17 are very happy to offer 2 complete comprehensive courses for the white water river leaders. Based in Slovenia on the Soča River, these courses are aimed at providing the next generation of adventure paddler's with the skills, technique and tactics to run successful and clean descent of rivers. In addition to providing the widely respected BCU 4 & 5 Star Training and BCU Basic & Advanced WW Safety & Rescue.

Pics from Spitzbergen Palm Blogs - After a 3 weeks successful expedition around the north west corner of Spitzbergen our camera is as loaded of megapixels as our heads of impressions and new experience. Weather changes fast, wind is strong and the trip could have taken a month. By turning night into day (paddling and sleeping when possible…) we managed to cover 550K in 16 days.

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