Playak Weekly Digest - week 12

Playak Weekly Digest
The world's top paddling links in week 12, 2011.

News Watch Independent Playak Review: GoPro HD HERO Playak (Wednesday 23rd) ***** - I'm the kind of person who is happiest in the water and I love to share my adventures with family and friends through the video and photos that I take. So I decided to test out the infamous GoPro HD waterproof camera/video camera to capture the action from a personal perspective. Over the last few months I've been able to get some footage which was not possible before and test the camera in some interesting conditions. 1st Place at West-German-Championships Team Pyranha (Wednesday 23rd) ** - Already at 8 o`clock in the morning many paddlers arrived to practice bevor the competion had started. Fortunately we had great weather, good waterlevel, more than 80 participants and a big party at the local kajakclub, which also offered cake an coffee. Ben Stookesberry Reports from Brazil: 40 Meter Monster Jackson Kayak (Tuesday 22nd) ** - 26 days into the filming of the Brazilian reality TV series I am standing at the brink of a 40 meter monster.  My stance is as wide and as stable as possible, to compensate for the red Jasper at edge of the drop that is some of the slipperiest rock I have ever encountered.   This is Venezuela's Gran Sabanna and is one of the only places in the world where this semiprecious mineral appears at the earth's surface in such quantity.  Also playing host to significant deposits of gold and diamonds, this land of Islands in the sky and the tallest waterfall on earth, is said to be the oldest undisturbed land form on the planet and is one of the largest still undisturbed wildernesses left on earth... Kayakers Do Amazing Things Adrian Shanahan (Wednesday 23rd) ** - There are endless stories of kayakers achieving all sorts of amazing things from crazy multi-day solo epics to the likes of Tyler Bradt's taking on of 189 ft of Palouse Falls right the way through to the individual achievements of each paddler at weekends pushing their own boundaries. Each of us all do amazing things in our own way. Carbon Rock Star! Oh Yea! Jackson Kayak (Tuesday 22nd) ** - Check out my newest ride! I requested a random color, "surprise me" when I got my boat made. Kristine intervened and I have the most incredible boat for my taste. Checkered flag to match my 80′s upbringing and my shoes, and the arrow is from the Norse Rhune for victory in competition (Kristine gave me necklace with that symbol on it in 1998 and I won the next 10 events straight). I wear this necklace during the competition season each year and have won three world championships, two pre worlds, and a world cup with it on my neck. Now it dresses up the bottom of my new boat! Red deck looks cool and black seams. Tomorrow I will get it assembled and paddle it at rock island ! Oh yea! EJ Core Paddles: First Impressions kayak4play (Sunday 20th) ** - OK guys, Leigh asked me to write a piece on my first impressions of the new core paddles. After paddling at clifton beach in tasmania with both the straight and bent shaft paddles in moderate surf i was able to get a pretty good idea of what to expect. Core paddles are designed by Steve Horvath... Its Hard to Beat the Southeast When Its Raining! Dagger Blogs (Tuesday 22nd) ** - Over the past couple weeks the Southeast has been getting a lot of love from the rain gods, and it just reminded me of just how good the southeast is when its raining! With tons of great options within a couple hours of Asheville, it really is hard to beat. In the past couple weeks, I have managed ... Darin McQuoid Explores Backyard First Descents in California First Ascent (Monday 21st) ** - By Darin McQuoid Early in the morning I get a call. Hazy from sleep, I distinguish a few key words: "hike," "first descent," "waterfall." A mission is born. I pack up as quickly as possible and head out. 2011 Jackson Villian Review Team Midwest Mountaineering (Wednesday 23rd) ** - I picked up my new Villain Elite Large a few weeks back and have paddled approximately 100 miles of class IV and V rivers in the last two weeks. I went with the Large because I wanted a larger volume boat and the Elite model has cross link plastic. Early Season Successes- Great Indicators for New Products Jackson Kayak (Wednesday 23rd) ** - 2011 is starting off with a bang here at Jackson Kayak, thanks to those of you who are putting our new products to work.    The new Hero, Super Hero, Rock Star S, M, L, and Coosa Elite and Standard new models are flying high in the first quarter of 2011.    Nathan from Canoe Kentucky sold all of his new 2011 Hero/Super Heros he received in the first week he received them and had to re-order and pick up more right away.   More Rain, Higher James. Better Video. Fluid Glass (Saturday 19th) ** - After my high water run on the James, I knew we were in for a solid week of kayaking. Over an inch of rain was predicted for Thursday, so the prospects of Reedy Creek running were pretty high. Hopes for Urban Creeking Daniel, Cooper, and I met up after school to figure out the game plan. Reedy... NZL South Island! Martina Wegman (Saturday 19th) ** - Buller Fest The last two weeks in the Southern New Zealand Alps has been amazing! We headed down South on Thursday night and went straight to Murchison where the Buller Festival 2011 was held. The Buller Fest is all about catching up with each other and havi... Justin Owen on the Dries Jackson Kayak (Monday 21st) * - The first rides in my new Rockstar would take place at The New River Dries. Kevin Mather and I (a Cookeville local) headed to the great state of West Virginia as soon as we heard they were going. Little White Salmon River, WA @ 5ft. Dagger Blogs (Friday 18th) * - Here's a POV Video that I put together from a day this spring out on the Little White Salmon River in Washington. On this particular day the water levels kept at a juicy 4.9-5.0ft. Tooling and Production Setup CORE Paddles (Sunday 20th) * - So after a small unintended blog hiatus I wanted to post a bit of an update. I have been swamped with pre-production setup for CORE but it looks like everything is coming together on time. We originally wanted to have production established for the middle of March but it looks like we will be about ...

Hot Forum Topics Traveling and Kayaking around NY and Pennsylvania (North America) New Outdoors/Kayaking Apparel Company Steve Farthing report about Santa Cruz Festival 11 (Surf) NEWS kayaksurf.net / Kayaksurf & Waveski events 11 (Surf) info about kayakking in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Europe) Top Videos Raven's Fork 110320 alto sella (desfiladero de los beyos) (r2_) Chicken with Broccoli Twelve Productions - South Island Heli-Kayaking. (mikekayak) Kayak Freestyle- Promo Rockstar - Jackson Europe (dalso) Upcoming Events Blyde Xfest South Africa, near Hoedspruit, Feb 25 - Mar 27 The Locust Fork Whitewater Classic US, AL, Cleveland, Mar 26 - Mar 27 Fourth Annual Spring Paddle US, FL, , Mar 26 - Apr 2 KASK National Forum New Zealand, Anakiwa, Apr 1 - Apr 2 King of the Harbour Ocean Ski Race New Zealand, Auckland City, Apr 1 - Apr 2 New Haven Festival US, VT, Bristol, Apr 1 - Apr 3 Cameron County Canoe & Kayak Classic US, PY, Cameron County, Apr 2

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Today's News Editor(s): bartw, adrianshanahan, Tony_D, JeanT.