Playak News Flash 2010-12-11

Playak News Flash - December 11, 2010
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines

Tribute to Hendri Coetzee Playak - The death of South African explorer and whitewater kayaker Hendri Coetzee has shocked our small kayaking community. On Tuesday morning, 7 December 2010, Hendri was taken by a crocodile whilst paddling in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mexico Nostalgia Down Hill Kayaking - For the last five years I have been lucky enough to spend the late fall/early winter in the magical paradise of eastern Mexico. The rivers that drain the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Mountains boast beautiful turquoise water and a seemingly endless number of waterfalls. Abundant water, lots of drops, and sometimes challenging logistics are all part of what made the annual pilgrimage to Mexico such an adventure every year.

Titan Kayaks Genesis V:II Playak - A boat designed for beginners to excel in and professionals to change the sport in.

Bimbo Bread? Say what? Class IV Kayaking in Ecuador Small World Adventures - November 27th brought as a fun crew from Colorado, Virginia, Austria, and the UK to paddle some of Ecuador's finest Class IV Rivers.

Locals Only Movie Photo Update Aquabatics Calgary - As many of you know, Aquabatics Calgary is one of the major sponsors of Kelsey Thompson's Locals Only video project. Now that the season has wrapped up, Kelsey is now hunkered down in Rossland editing like crazy (in amongst epic powder days in the backcountry). From all I have heard and seen, this flick is going to be super unique, well shot and will be a nice mix of paddle 'porn' and some cool lifestyle, story telling moments.

First Descent of the Rio Huallaga, Part 1 Kokatat Blog - Nate Klema returns from a successful first descent of the Rio Huallaga and shares a trip report below.

Joel Kowalski: Winter Mini Bus= Epic Jackson Kayak - Its been a long long time since we've seen any Bus Eater. The wave we love so much here on the Ottawa River has been taking a vacation for almost a year and a half. This past spring we saw water levels reach a dismal high of 7 feet on the guage, Minibus needs 14.5 feet.

Pucon, Chile: Upper Nevados New River Academy - It's been almost four months of honing kayak skills with the students at the New River Academy. And their final exam has been Pucón, Chile's finest clean creeks. Yesterday, it was the Upper Nevados. I know I know… "Isn't that a hard one?" It's not a beginner creek, but if you've mastered holding your forward position, your boof stroke, and can ferry moving creek water then with solid leadership you might be ready for this Pucón classic.

Canoeing[!] rockratrobinson - The weather in Cumbria has remained decidedly arctic for the past fortnight and today I was off canoeing with the University. We had been told to bring kit for heading off into the mountains to enjoy the snow, but we also had our canoeing kit. We decided to make use of this canoeing kit by heading to the River Eden to paddle the Lazonby to Armathwaite section.

Better Than You Imagined Five 2 Nine Productions - Cool video, check it out!!!

Production Model Coosas are Here! Drew Gregory - This past weekend I had the pleasure of inviting the members of the Jackson Kayak Fishing Team (and their friends or parents) over to the factory to pick up their boats and take a test paddle on the river! After a tour of the plant and a sweet cookout at Eric Jackson's ranch, the team members that were able to make the trip hit the water to test out their boats for the first time.

Canoeing the Upper Colo River in Flood Fat Paddler - The week had been wet and the Upper Colo River to Sydney's north west had gone from around a metre deep to over 10 metres deep in a matter of days. I'd been chatting to a fellow canoe paddler about getting out in our open boats for a paddle and we decided to head up to the flooded Upper Colo region with another canoe fan to get a little white water. Of course when we arrived the river was in full flood and rushing through the valley at a huge rate of knots.

Fair Isle SW Sea Kayaking - The picture above is borrowed from a splendid blog about life on Fair Isle. I've just been enjoying some photos on the blog of this remote island in winter. But, given that one of my pet hates is blogs simply reporting what other blogs say (or websites about other websites, etc) I'd better offer something original…

Tamur River Expedition – Nepal Kokatat Blog - Everyone has "that run" that they always wanted to do, but for all sorts of reasons have never actually done it… That run for me has been the Tamur River in Nepal. I've tired twice to get on it; the first time I broke my leg weeks before the expedition departure date, the second time I actually made it to Kathmandu all ready to go – only to find out that a landslide had taken out the road, and we couldn't even get to the beginning of the trek to the put-in. This year we decided it was time to remove the jinx – we'd warm up on the Sun Kosi – buy fresh supplies at the take-out then head straight for the Tamur.

"Did you see those three madmen at Seafield?" SeaKayakPhoto.com - After the recent snows, the Ayrshire coast was one of the few places in Scotland not to be under a blanket of snow. Even the Arran mountains seemed to have escaped with a light dusting. However, a chill northerly breeze kept the temperature down to minus two Celsius.

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