Playak Weekly Digest - week 49

Playak Weekly Digest
The world's top paddling links in week 49, 2010.

News Watch Paddling as a kid! Palm Blogs (Thursday 9th) *** - I've been meaning to write this for a while but sometimes you just don't get around to things for a bit. It's actually sort of fitting as I'll be turning 30 soon (this puts me well out of the being a kid range at least in the strictly age category) which means I'll have been kayaking for 23 years and paddling in general for 28. Several of my friends have young children of there own have asked me how my parents got me interested and got me to stick with kayaking. I Like I Win: °hf Weasel Playak (Sunday 5th) *** - Another cool and easy sweepstake on Playak! If you like the °hf Weasel throw bag, click the Facebook 'Like' button an the bottom of the product page, and feel free to write some good Facebook comments about the product. On Monday, December 20th, we will randomly pick two winners who will receive a Weasel (one in red-yellow and one in black-yellow) for free! The Purely Theoretical... Dagger Blogs (Monday 6th) *** - I think about kayaking. A LOT. One of my favourite things about our sport is the process of applying knowledge, skill, and fitness to a particular rapid, and coming up with a theory of how it should be run. We then apply this theory to the rapid to the best of our abilities, and hopefully create a line for ourselves to run smoothly. Leap Of Faith Falls Just Liquid (Friday 3rd) ** - Welcome to white water paddling in the East Kootenays BC. This is one of our many local drops that we run on a weekly basis. Rio Claro New River Academy (Sunday 5th) ** - I had been waiting for these ten days for a few years now. Before heading to the Claro everyone was very excited. I knew that the Claro offered beautiful clean waterfalls and committing whitewater canyons. The First day we paddled the Siete Tazas section. This was by far the most amazing stretch of rapids I have ever paddled. The Next day we paddled the Viente Dos Saltos, which means 22 waterfalls. North Coast Level 6 (Wednesday 8th) ** - This past Sunday a large crew or North Coast homies and I ventured up into the California mainland in search of some stout. What we found was Tish Tang. Tish Tang has an intimidating entry drop, a blind lip, and a mank exit drop with some wood in it. African Update: Down the Mysterious Rusizi River Kokatat Blog (Saturday 4th) ** - Kokatat Team paddler and First Ascents Kayak Team member Ben Stookesberry sends an update from Africa. Carlsberg don't do Adrian Shanahan (Friday 3rd) ** - Don't do places to learn the basics of free style kayaking, but if they did they might start with somewhere like Kilkenny! Fluid Big Bang Playak (Tuesday 7th) ** - The Big Bang is our evolutionary creek boat / expedition kayak capable of handing class 5 creeks yet at the same time having ample speed for long hauls and enough packing space for extended periods in the wild. Rain in the South East = Greeter Falls Jackson Kayak (Wednesday 8th) ** - This past week we got 3 inches of rain here in Rock Island. Though it wasn't just us, the entire South Eastern United States got slammed. Everything thing was running, and the question was where do we go? River SUP on the Chilliwack Fraser Valley WW (Thursday 9th) ** - Stand up paddling, also known as SUP has been getting a lot of attention these days. However, here in BC we still seem to be a step behind the rest, and working to catch up. It's not the first place you think of when you hear stand up paddling due to cold water temperatures but it is gaining in popularity. There's flat water SUPing and THEN, there's river SUPing. These are two very different things. Flatwater is smooth, relatively risk free and requires little balance. Tomata 1 Team LiquidLogic (Sunday 5th) ** - Mariann Sæther and me are just back from a 2 weeks trip in Mexico. Fantastic land for paddling, nice, clean river, good locations, and awesome waterfalls. Mexico is my new destination. On our last day we ran Tomata 1. A must to do if you are in to waterfall running. Land of the Thunder Dragon: Bhutan Kayak Expedition Kokatat Blog (Tuesday 7th) ** - Extreme kayaker Gerry Moffatt sends a video dispatch from the Bhutan Kayak Expedition. First Descent of the Rio Huallaga, Part 2 Kokatat Blog (Wednesday 8th) ** - The Rio Huallaga, the last major tributary of the Amazon is yet to be navigated! The runablity of the gorges amazed us, as we had no major portages past the chalkstone. I'd highly recommend this run to anybody who enjoys multi-day adventures, though the clock may be ticking. Rumor has it that the "Great Bend" of the Huallaga will be inundated by 2013. We saw evidence of the possible dam site, though hard facts have been difficult to nail down. November Mt. Hood H2O (Monday 6th) ** - November is the best month for boating in Oregon in my opinion. That is because all the hunting gates are open and the snow hasn't blocked access to high elevations runs. This means I get to see some new runs without having to hike for them. This year we got on a few really fun sections and I felt we took advantage of the opportunities presented.

Hot Forum Topics Fluid Team Paddler dies Locals Only Official Trailer Online! I Like I Win: °hf Weasel (Gear) whitewater rescue caught on tape Kayaking in Austria (Europe) Top Videos SportsTonightTV3high (Ben_Brown) Locals Only Official Trailer (Kelseythompson) TV3China High (Ben_Brown) Kayaking Slovenia (getafix) fixing kayak (saggi) Upcoming Events The Nile Kayaking Festival Uganda, Bujagali Falls, Dec 7 - Dec 9 Xmas @ Kaituna New Zealand, Rotorua, Dec 18

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