Great white shark spotted among Calif. surfers ~ Cali First D- Piute Creek

Playak Weekly Digest
The world's top paddling links in week 36, 2011.

News Watch Great white shark spotted among Calif. surfers Misc. (Sunday 4th) ***** - Two miles of beach in San Diego were open Friday despite a series of recent shark sightings. Middle Fork of the San Joaquin - Devils's Postpile Jordan Searle (Sunday 4th) ** - Missing this run was the most disappointing thing about hurting my ribs in cali, as it was right up there with Fantasy on my personal list of runs to get in cali this year. The boys rallied, as they should, and although Snarley hiked out Barny and Smurf had an amazing trip in there. Here is a break... Cali First D- Piute Creek Immersion Research (Saturday 3rd) ** - Whispers of a big mission into the Grand Canyon of the Toulumne had been circling around crews in California for a few years now. A year ago, I got the invite from good paddling buddies – Cully Thomas and Macy Burnham. That year, they hoofed in and scouted out the canyon, returning with a solid report of some "next level whitewater". Fast forward to this spring, conditions and crew where spot on and we pulled the trigger. Nord Norge vol.2 Zet Kayaks (Wednesday 7th) ** - North part of Norway by Jakub Sedivy. Northern Norway is becoming a favorite late season destination, while spending a summer in Norway. There no more festivals or competitions and the waterlevels in the classics are coming getting low. Time to head North for some exploring and rivers that do not get run so often. Last year I got to Northern Norway for a first time with Rush Sturges, Steve Fisher and Ben Brown. It had been a great trip and I was keen to return there soon. USA, Idaho – NF Payette River – Vertical Mile H2Omaniaks (Tuesday 6th) ** - When I got to Idaho U.S. a few weeks ago I had no idea what kind of experience Payette and its North Fork arm can possibly be. I went down the lower and middle part of a 15 mile run rated WW5 and after having gone down this bit a few times I heard that there's something called "Vertical Mile". Retiring a Life Jacket SherriKayaks (Saturday 3rd) ** - In over 20 years of canoeing and kayaking, I did something recently that I have never had to do before – I had to retire a life jacket from service due to equipment failure.  As I was getting my equipment ready before a class, I noticed the tear in the fabric around the neck. Lower Lewis Falls and Caves Jackson Kayak (Friday 2nd) * - I've been thinking about this drop all summer. The plan started a few days beforehand when Gordon said he was going up to run Lower Lewis Falls and Brian Burger was, too. Yeah!! We showed up in the afternoon sometime, the view was amazing and powerful. I had seen big falls before, but never driven 3 1/2 hours specifically to run one. We were all pretty fired up. Brian got ready and helped me set a rescue position on river left that was great for bagging someone out of the cave. Caves! A Quick Recap of the Garberator Rodeo- Ottawa Cup- (,,,) Jackson Kayak (Monday 5th) * - Hey Everyone, I am actually diving into my car to head home as we speak! (i haven't been home since march) So this is going to super short but for those of you who were wondering the top three for all the classes at the 2011 Garberator Rode i do have those! Uganda 2011 SquareRock (Saturday 3rd) * - This summer, rather than go back to Canada for the 3rd time, I decided to head out to Uganda for two and a half weeks of coaching with Love it Live it. My first day on the Nile was spent getting used to the massive eddylines and wave trains. We spent most of the day playing around on the Nile Special wave train. Coming from the UK, it was massive! After Work Gems: The Pitzbach...... Seth Ashworth (Saturday 3rd) * - So after a depressingly cold and rainy July in Austria, August came with a bang a produced almost a full month of warmth and sunshine, with temperatures regularly reaching the high thirties and staying warm in the evening it means just two things for 'after work' paddling crew, long days rafting and every evening on the Pitzbach. Sopotnice and Troja freestyle duemstuff (Sunday 4th) * - In the middle of August second czech freestyle cup took palce in Sopotnice. My favourite artificial playspot was so hard, party was so hard too…. There were except hole riding, "world champinoship in Slope style" and competitipn in swimming against current and the main prize was carbon Zet boat! Alsek River Fluid Blog (Tuesday 6th) * - As the summer comes to an end and the mornings start getting that fall smell, I've been thinking about where I was last fall, all that's happened since then, getting very nostalgic and philosophical. In that vein, thought I'd toss up some pics of my big fall mission from last year, the Alsek River.... Defereggenbach, Ost-Tirol Team LiquidLogic (Tuesday 6th) * - Austria is a beautiful country but there some areas which a more beautiful. One of these areas is Ost-Tirol esp. the Defereggen valley. It is surrounded by the national park Hohe Tauern and offers some remote whitewater in a narrow gorge on the waterfall run as well as roadside runs on the standard and tunnel section.After meeting up with Max and Markus we headed to the put-in of the standard section to run it combined with the tunnel section. 2011 World Kayak Pro-Am United States White Water Center Wavesport Blogs (Friday 2nd) * - As most of you know the hometown throw down series of events put on by WorldKayak is a great series targeting ANYONE to come out and throw down in your white water boat. And while this event did in fact encourage that, it had a different undertone. This event, the Pro-Am, incorporates ... California Softcore Immersion Research (Friday 2nd) * - In early June I realized that I was going to have time for a little western adventure this summer. Having paddled a good bit in Colorado in the past, California was at the forefront of my mind. California in summer is on every creekboaters wish list and after years of missing out, I finally got my first taste this year. With all the hardcore trip reports from California lately, it kinda has me feeling like a slacker. Our quickie trip to California this summer was not hardcore.

Hot Forum Topics wet exit (Whitewater) Paddles (Whitewater) Dry pants (Whitewater) Win A Trip to Uganda!! Himalayan Whitewater Championships 2011 (Whitewater) Top Videos Mill Creek Swim Club (M Leyva) Liquidlogic Freeride Ottawa River 2011 (rh970) Team Bliss-Stick UK's first outing! (RobMenown) Great White Invasion - Paddling With a Shark 2011-09-05 Steve's B-Day Paddle (Ctrl-R) Upcoming Events Canoe Slalom World Championships Seniors Slovakia, Bratislava, Sep 6 - Sep 11 Hiawatha Paddling Festival US, MI, Peninsula Les Cheneaux Islands, Sep 9 - Sep 11 US Open Of SUP USA, FL, Miami Beach, Sep 9 - Sep 11 Biyak Scramble Points Series #4 US, MT, Flathead Valley, Sep 10 - Sep 11 Gauley River Festival US, WV, , Sep 16 - Sep 18

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Today's News Editor(s): bartw, Allen.