Playak Weekly Digest Playak News Flash - August 5, 2010  New Product Photos from ORPlayak - We are continuously posting new product photos from the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City this week. Check out Helga's galleries, grouped by brand. |
 Liquid Logic: Liquidlogic Celebrates 10th AnniversaryPaddle Press - It doesn't seem like it has been 10 years since we (Woody Callaway, Shane Benedict, and Bryon Phillips) along with the other original founders launched Liquidlogic on a shoestring and a lot of passion but it has been - and we're celebrating all the fun and opportunities that we've had over the past decade. |
 Videos from ORPlayak - Rapid Media is producing short videos from the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City this week. All videos are also shown in Playak videos, and on the Playak front page. |
 Hotel Charley V.5 – A Film by Eddie Bauer / First Ascent and Clear H20 FilmsPlayak - If expedition type boating is your thing, then this one will be right up your street. After an excellent introduction the action starts in Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains on the Rio Piaxtla, through the deepest canyon in North America. The team heads down for several days of ultra tight rapids, siphons and grueling portages. |
 Middle Kings On!!!CKS Squad - There's something about traveling around in a huge unmarked van that makes every road trip a little more interesting. At least I'm sure that's what Oliver "Hollywood" Deshler was thinking as he ran through the reserved limousine section of the Vegas airport and leaped into our conspicuous rig; which had been repeatedly rejected from low clearance parking lots and descended upon twice by airport security. |
 Being a world class kayakerDaily Paddle - What´s it like being a world class kayaker. Training, travelling and racing. Well have a look. Anders Gustafsson keep producing top of the line kayak videos. Enjoy! |
 Exploring the Granite Planet on Upper Cherry CreekTeam Swain SE Boating - Last week I was fortunate enough to take a trip to the granite planet on Upper Cherry Creek. Due to a work commitment and coordinating a plan for Gareth's dog, we had to wait a couple days to put on, which led to the water being lower than preferred. As it turns out though, Upper Cherry with any water in it is a spectacular place not to be missed. |
 Matthew Klema Reviews The Pyranha KarnaliCKS Blog - Pyranha has had a history of putting out great aggressive planning hull designs in their creek boats in the last decade. The H2 and H3 and the Burn family that sprung from that lineage dominated their designs. I was skeptical when they brought out the Karnali as a semi planning hull creek boat/river runner as it seemed like something they had lost touch with designing. I was wrong. I have been very impressed and love this boat for everything from low volume creeking to big water. |
 Kayaking Security – Preventing Kayak TheftKayak Raft Adventures - Sometimes when kayakers are out on the water, they will want to leave their kayaks somewhere unattended. For example, many great kayaking locations are near trails, beaches, or other interesting places to hike around. It's always nice to be able to leave the kayak and explore a paddling destination. However, kayakers who do this should give some thought to the security of their kayaks and kayaking gear. |
 What Low Impact MeansKayakQuixotica - Low impact does not mean dainty, wimpy or weak. Low impact kayak rolling is not about modifying a powerful roll to make it easy on the old bones. If you think low impact means, low power you're missing the point completely. What we're really talking about is efficiency. |
 No Sweep, No PlunkKayakQuixotica - Today I want to offer up a few video clips to demonstrate mind over matter.. Or I should say, "body over paddle". Let's start with a couple vertical sculling rolls. These come from Greenland Style rolling and simply won't allow you to push, pull or otherwise wank on your paddle blade. In the first clip I'm using a Greenland Paddle and it's shot underwater. You can see that I do get a little purchase with the paddle, but the thing to watch here is the boat. |
 Sea & Surf Kayak Amelia Weekend ReportSavannah Canoe and Kayak - If you think it's hot in Georgia, take a trip down to Florida ! We were definitely sympathetic to toasted cheese melt on Friday, but thankfully the thunderstorms rolled through in the night and Saturday cooled off some....a little.. ish. At 75', at least the water was cooler. |
Playak News Flash - August 4, 2010  New Gear and New ColorsSweet - With my time coming to an end here at home in MT, i rallied one more little fun day with my little brother and headed to Mesa Falls. It was just the other day i recieved a box with all the new sweet gear and was psyched to get out and try it on. So here are a few photos some new colors and some dope stuff. |
 NorthWest Round 3Sweet - I loaded up the car and made a final journey out to Hood River. After some business meetings on the way i arrived in Hood River again. I met up with Tyler Bradt again and we were off. After an afternoon run down the Green Truss, we went for a night out after Cody Howards premier of "Haymaker." We awoke the next morning a little rough for wear, but managed to get into the car and off we were. |
 Norwegian SummerLevel 6 - This summer started very well with a trip to italy and Austria with new Levelsix Teammember and friend Casper van Kalmthout. Finishing study the week after I was up for a whole new adventure in a region of Europe I had never been to, Norway. I have to say all the things they say about Norway are true, yes it has some of the most beautifull rivers I ever paddled, yes girls are pretty and yes, beer is crazy expensive! |
 John McConville Summer UpdateJackson Kayak - "This is God's Country" explained an older gentleman with a big burly beard and a very wholesome look. I was in Wyoming and looking for the nearest gas station before heading over the pass into Jackson Hole. I found out very quickly during my westward travels to always fill my tank and be prepared for anything before heading into the great unknown. |
 Lake Creek picsWavesport Blogs - When I posted video called My Home I called Pine creek rapid my home run. It is true but its easy, accessable, convenience and fun run. In this blogpost I would love to introduce you some of my best home runs ever called Lake creek. It flows in valley next to the road no. 82 called Independence Pass. Most of the summer its really high and running bottom section would be pretty hard core. You can run upper section though and it includes some fun class IV-V kayaking. |
 Tunuyan River Expedition 2010PeakUK - Nestled deep in the Andes, close to Mendoza in Argentina, and only assessable by horse, is the source of the Tunuyan River. With a glacier on Mount Tupungato at 6800m feeding the river with water, the Tunuyan river flows all the way across Argentina to the Atlantic Ocean. |
 Crystal GorgeSweet - Last weeks the waterlevels came down a lot and there is not too much snow left on the mountains. Low water still offers some of the best runs in the state so we headed over Independence pass to drainage of mighty Crystal river in Colorado Rockies. |
 Sam the Daytrippin' Bass SlayerJackson Kayak - When folks say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree SOOOO many things apply to my son Sam. At 6 years old he already has adopted most of my bad habits. At age 2, he used the 'S' word in a grocery store… officially his first word. Needless to say, the clerk and most of the patrons of said store… looked at me, daddy, as the culprit. |
Playak News Flash - August 3, 2010  Its Always a Good Time in the Granite Planet....Dagger Blogs - Last week I was fortunate enough to take a trip into the granite planet on Upper Cherry Creek. Due to a work commitment and coordinating a plan for Gareth's dog, we had to wait a couple days to put on, which led to the water being lower than preferred. As it turns out though, Upper Cherry with any water in it is a spectacular place not to be missed. |
 Big South, it's up NorthWRSI - The plan was for Casey Tango, Gordon Klco and myself to leave Buena Vista go to Denver pick up the rest of the posse and head to Fort Collins for the evening. We got to Denver and where immediately over taken by Hunter Pettit and Paul Siratovich, there idea was to hang out in the BIG city and having some beers. The next thing I knew I was waking up on the coach and we were pilling back in the van to head to the Big South. |
 Cherry Bomb Gorge POVEvan Garcia - I hope you guys enjoyed the video and song choice...it was the summer of the World Cup as well! I think my season here in Cali is coming to an end I am heading to OR show while the Cali locals are dropping in on the Middle Fork of the Kings. |
 Middle White SalmonTeam Pyranha - Unfortunately, the summer tour season is quickly coming to a close. But, we have a couple of great stops before ending back at home on the east coast. Here's Kristie boofing off Husom Falls during a Middle White Salmon trip we did with some of our friends from Hood River's Kayak Shed. Check out the rest of the post for some more shots from the trip. |
 Tearing up ST ShootOKS Keener - Hey everybody, its Keaton checking in after another awesome week on the Ottawa River! This week was the perfect blend of new and old runs and waves! We started Monday off with a usual training session down the Main, we had some awesome surfs on Garb, Baby face, Pushbutton, and of course Left side Horseshoe. |
 Aussie Pride on the YukonFat Paddler - A few months back I had the pleasure of meeting the Yukon Buddies on Middle Harbour. These women are members of Paddlers Abreast (a dragon boat team comprised of survivors of breast cancer) and had been training over the past year to take on the Yukon Quest, a 740km marathon paddle down the Yukon River in the north west of Canada. |
 Andie Bobs For Apples in Middle HarbourFat Paddler - This week Team Fat Paddler was graced with Grumm's sister Andie, up on a holiday from Radelaide. As we had promised some months earlier, we loaded her into the car and took off for our Sunday paddle session. |
 Grey foggy dayTony Paradise - We had a party of 9 today for a paddle out of Bay Bulls. The slipway we use there is not very roomy so the first on the water have to wait for the others. The forecast was for rain but light winds. Driving down to Bay Bulls it was clear but within the harbour the fog had settled on the water. It seemed to be held in place by the surrounding hills. It didn't matter to us. It wasn't pea soup fog because we could still see the land on both sides of the harbour. Safe enough! |
Playak News Flash - August 2, 2010  Cherry Bomb Gorge HeadcamSweet - Take a peek into the depths of Upper Cherry creek's crux gorge. This set of drops lies in a half mile long committing canyon in the middle of no where California. Here is a little edit I just threw together on some of the highlight shots from a few laps through the gorge…enjoy. |
 Exploring in the land of MayanWhiteWater: July 2010 Central America roadtripPaddleBlogs - MayanWhiteWater (that's me Greg Schwendinger/Guatemala) and SierraRios (that's Rocky Contos/California-Mexico) teamed up last week to explore some new runs. |
 Goodradigbee RiverKayakCanberra - Back in September last year Nick dragged a DSLR on one of our 'digbee trips. He got some great shots. |
 Kenner CompetitionOKS Keener - We had a great competition on the Ottawa. With one of our keeners throwing a massive airscrew! Hope you enjoy this video I made. |
 Video: Kayaker Hammered by HorseshoeOutside Blog - I usually think GoPro footage of kayaking looks like somebody threw the camera in the washing machine and hit rinse. And so does this footage from Oregon paddler Nate Pfeifer getting hammered by the infamous Horseshoe hole on Washington's Little White Salmon. But in this case, that's why it's good. |
 Rosanna Gorge - The Local Run!PeakUK - It has been 5 years of planning, scouting, checking the seasonal river levels and finally this July the boys dropped into the Rosanna Gorge in St Anton am Arlberg. St Anton is famed for its hardcore skiing and backcountry routes but for a bunch of local kayakers it was the gorge that has been working away at them. |
 Driven Episode 3Ross Herr - Here it is, episode 3. This one pretty much wraps up the Tour of Colorado Classics with things like the Poudre Narrows, Bailey, Lake Creek, and Crystal Gorge. Pumped to have some footage from Rex Lint and his bad ass Canon 5D mkII. I hope you enjoy. Feedback is always appreciated. |
 TACEN EXTREME 2010 part 1duemmstuff - Tacen Extreme is currently the biggest freeride kayaking event and the only freestyle event we hold each year in Slovenia. It is organised by a bunch of freestyle and creeking enthusiasts from Ljubljana area, leaded by Jonas Savšek, a former KK Tacen slalom competitor. |
 Another saturday morning on the waterhomemade kayaks - Here are some pictures of a Saturday morning paddle, the first group goes out at 7am, the second at 9.30. Because there are so many new members the first session is usually full, that makes about 20 plus kayaks in the water. |
 Birchbark Canoe at Abbe MuseumIndigenous Boats - The Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, on Mt. Desert Island, Maine, is dedicated to showing the history and culture of Maine's Native Americans. Set right in the center of town (which is a zoo on a summer weekend), it's new, slick, somewhat on the small side, somewhat political in nature, and it has a few canoe-related artifacts. |
 Gene17 Autumn Courses WW KayakGene17 - This Autumn Gene17 has a wide range of BCU Qualification & Technique Training Courses plus Assessments. Our course range from UKCC Level 1 and Level 2 Training to the new Moderate Water Endorsement up to BCU 5 Star Training & Assessment, plus each safety required in between. Gene17 is well known as a leading provider for advanced white water training, running several 5 Star & Advanced WWS&R Training course, we also run 4 Star Training & Basic WWS&R along with probably the last BCU Level 3 Assessment and the new Moderate Water Endorsement, its replacement in all but name. |
 Nate Klema Reviews The AT-4 Play ECKS Blog - The AT-4 Play paddle is a great, affordable bent shaft white water paddle. The blade design follows the same great blade design as the AT-2 series but is made without the foam core. The result is powerful, responsive and proven blade shape made of nylon and carbon composite fibers with a carbon shaft. It has a smooth entry and exit from the water and has great power transfer from the muscles of your body to the shaft and blade that propels you and your boat predictably forward. |
 Video: BirthrightOutside Blog - Check out this inspiring paddling film from Sean Mullens. Birthright is black and white, mostly lacking in narration, and filmed with a digital SLR, like Canon's 5D. It gives the film a soft focus that sets the right mood for the story of quadriplegic paddler Michael Mitchell's surf session. Thanks to Canoe & Kayak and the Epicocity Project for bringing it to our attention. |
 Essential Paddle Strokes for Womenpaddling.net - Now I'll try and describe how to do the strokes you need to make your boat go where you want to take it. Once you've read these descriptions and looked at the pictures, get out on the water and give it a try! It can be good to practice new strokes with a paddling buddy because they'll be able to see what you're doing and offer helpful corrections and encouragement. |
 Lucy's Revenge kickoff paddleKayak Mississippi - It was an honor to be a part of Keith and Sharon's kickoff of the Lucy's Revenge Paddling Project. The paddle was the same path as the Battle on the Bayou -- started at Gulf Hills Hotel and ended at the Shed. Doug and I did a shortened version of it, going up halfway and heading back, saving the logistical difficulties of a one-way trip. |
