Playak Weekly Digest - week 47

Playak Weekly Digest
The world's top paddling links in week 47, 2010.

News Watch Big Banana Falls, Rio Alsaseca Evan Garcia (Sunday 21st) *** - This is a belated update from the biggest drop of 2010 in my mind. All the boys found themselves in the deepest darkest jungles of Veracruz Mexico firing up drops from another dimension. Lead by the animalistic leader of the revolution, Rafa Ortiz, we found ourselves scouting the 128 foot Big Banana falls. No one would step up, until after 5 years of dreaming and waiting Rafa was ready to drop this stout. Chile – Rio Claro worldkayak blogs (Friday 19th) *** - First things first, the boys bought a sweet truck… and we headed 4 hours south of Santiago to the "Siete Tazas" or seven tea-cups… on the Rio Claro. Then we met up with some american boaters who were kind enough to take us down the upper section known as the 22 waterfalls. Here are the pictures in no particular order! Jackson Kayak All-Star 2010 Carbon Playak (Monday 22nd) ** - What happens when you take the All-Star design and reduce its weight by 40% and increase ridigity? Fluid partners with Paul Villecourt Playak (Saturday 20th) ** - Paul Villecourt is a professional whitewater photographer whose work I've admired for many years, but I never had the pleasure of meeting him until Kanumesse 2010 last month. Well, when we met at last, it turned out that Paul is a fan of my work too, and the connection was instant. Krutåga - Norway Mark Basso (Monday 22nd) ** - There's no question that the secret is out of the bag. Whitewater in northern Norway has always been on the map waiting for the first paddle strokes to arrive. Yet exploration by the foreign crowd has been limited mainly due to the laden creeks and overloaded options in the known southerly regions around Voss and Sjoa. Norrish Creek, Helmet Cam Footage Fraser Valley WW (Saturday 20th) ** - Here are 2 helmet cam videos I filmed with a GoPro HD Camera. The first run was on Oct 11 2010, the second run was Nov 7 2010 and a much better flow. Red Bull Snowkajak Obertauern Freecaster (Tuesday 23rd) ** - 100 Snowkajaker traten am 28. März auf der Edelweissalm in Obertauern zum Red Bull Snowkajak an: Im Kampf gegen die selektive Strecke und in Vierer-Heats Mann gegen Mann paddelte sich Bernhard Steidl zum Snowkajaker 2009. Kayak Balance Exercise Simon Willis (Wednesday 24th) ** - A few mnths ago I wrote a piece about the 5 Star Training session I did with Gordon Brown of Skyak Adventures. (Incidentally, Mark Tozer has written a good piece about 5* assessment). Quick Chile Update Team Pyranha (Saturday 20th) ** - It's been raining hard for the last 12 hours. It's coming in sideways and it's cold. So, unlike the past 2 weeks of go go GO…we're sitting around drinking yerba matte, eating bananas, letting our bodies recuperate, and catching up with the world. Here's a quick photo re-cap of our Chile experiences thus far. Fred's busy making edits. So, the goods are yet to come. Video abriendo la temporada 2010 Kayakpro Chile (Wednesday 24th) ** - Great video!!!! A Little Idaho 'Go Left' Carnage worldkayak blogs (Friday 19th) ** - Always easy to find carnage at GLOYF on the Main Payette. For some reason people don't think left means 'left'! Means of Production 2 Double 2D (Friday 19th) ** - After the successful release of Means of Production comes the long awaited cataclysm of kayaking and comedy; Means of Production 2. With a healthy dose of Brit-irony, MOP2 showcases the adventures of Max Bilbow and friends as they explore the familiar creeks of Norway and Corsica; and the lesser known whitewater of Iceland, Vietnam, Thailand and Siberia. Mexico 2010: The Rio Jalacingo Todd Wells (Sunday 21st) ** - To us kayakers, the Rio Alseseca is without a doubt the most popular class V river in Veracruz. However, for those of us who don't mind working a little more for the goods I think think that the Rio Jalacingo can dish out just as good of a time as the classic Alseseca. 2010 Green River Extreme Kayak Race Video worldkayak blogs (Friday 19th) ** - A great video recap of "The Greatest Show in all of Sports!" by Pilot Collective Media!! Green Race 2010 Jackson Kayak (Tuesday 23rd) ** - The Green Race is known as being one of if not the biggest extreme kayak race in the world. It is also the birth place for racing long boats, and because of the Green race several boats have been made specifically for the Green Race.

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