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snapdragon — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:48:45 +0000

Special congrats to Kim Russell, Christie Glyssmeyer, Heather Hrbeck, Darren Albright, Tao Berman, Paul Kuthe, Nicks Hinds and the all the participants in this years Northwest Creeking Competition

The 2012 Northwest Creeking Competition is to kayakers what Sea Otter is to mountain bikers. It’s the regions largest paddling event of the year, featuring downriver races (raft/kayak categories) on two Washington Rivers: the East Fork of the Lewis River and nearby Canyon Creek.

Saturday, day 1, features a mass start kayak race as well as an individual downriver sprint. The race starts with a bang as racers sprint 50 yards and off 15 ft. Sunset Falls, the start of the course. Racers then charge through the remaining rapids aptly named, Screaming Left, Dragon’s Back, John’s Swimming Hole to the finish line at Copper Creek a few miles downstream.

EFL Downriver Sprint Results (Abbreviated):
K-1 Men Pro:
1 Darren Albright 8:07
2 Louis Geltman 8:09
3 Tao Berman 8:16

K-1 Men Long:
1 Darren Albright 7:46
2 Louis Geltman 7:48
3 Michael Gottlieb 8:16

K-1 Men Expert:
1 Scott Waidelich 8:33
2 Alex Podolak 8:37
3 Matt King 8:37

K-1 Women Pro:
1 Kim Russell 8:44
2 Christie Glissmeyer 9:20
3 Heather Herbeck 9:26

K-1 Women Expert:
1 Anna Herring 9:50
2 Helen Wheat 9:56
3 Roberta Grant 10:01

K-1 Fun:
1 Michael Freeman 9:25
2 Jack Cressuell 9:27
3 Brandon James 9:30

IK:
1 Riley Baxter 10:27
2 Scott Michael 11:09
3 Greg Babikoff 14:51

Raft:
1 Dan 10:34
2 Karl 11:11
3 Tim 11:16

Sunday brought about the Canyon Creek Extreme Race, another downriver sprint through challenging rapids such as Thrasher, Boulder Garden, 20 ft. Kahuna Falls, and the final falls – Champagne and Hammering Sport. A medium high level, fun was had by all racers as this was the first time the race had taken place on Canyon Creek in three years!

Canyon Creek Extreme Downriver Race Results (Abbreviated):
For Full Results, Click Here

K-1 Men Pro:
1 Tao Berman 4:55
2 Darren Albright 4:56
3 Louis Geltman 5:00

K-1 Women Pro:
1 Kim Russell 5:26
2 Christie Glissmeyer 5:53

Raft:
1 Dan 6:36
2 Sutherland 7:29
3 Karl 7:43

Photo Credit:

EFL Starting Line: Paul Kuthe

Kim at Thrasher: Logan Farrell

Kern Festival 2012 Slalom Classic

snapdragon — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:06:46 +0000

Sage Donnelly K-1 and C-1 Cadet Girls, First Place

Kern Festival 2012 Slalom Classic

snapdragon — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:54:23 +0000

Eric Giddens K-1 Mens Expert Elite, First Place

Explore Six Rivers

snapdragon — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:03:45 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

In Spring/Summer 2012 a group of paddlers will attempt to paddle the length of each of the Six Rivers in Six Rivers National Forest. The team will break each river into sections and use this site to promote the recreational benefits of each of these amazing waterways. – Klamath, Smith, Trinity, Mad, Eel, and Van Duzen Rivers

The Explore Six Rivers Team consists of Dan Menten, Paul Gamache, Will Parham, & Wes Schrecongost. Together they will attempt to paddle the length of each of the six rivers and document/share them as best as they can.

More info at http://www.exploresixrivers.com/#!

Tyler Curtis

snapdragon — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:15:39 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tyler Curtis first days of paddling on the Ottawa River capturing the action of the spring melt.
Filmed by Lisa Lind.
Enjoy.

JK Juniors

snapdragon — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:34:28 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un01p21Rl4w&sns=em[/youtube]
Check out the JK Juniors, Hunter Katich, Joey Brow and Matt Smith ripping it up.

Tyler Curtis on the Rio Nuble

snapdragon — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:46:43 +0000

After spending the last few days camping we rolled into the town of San Fabian and created a base camp at Cabanas Miraflores. This family run paradise was just what we needed. A relaxing pool side patio, grilling pavilion, and cold fridge to cool our tasty beverages would be our home for the next 2 nights while we explored the sections of the Rio Nuble. Again our trip charged into some more unique Chilean whitewater and some longer days on the water. With the days being incredibly hot and the sunshine nuclear it became mandatory to be on the river during the heat of the day.

The Rio Nuble is a classic Chilean river with more volume than most rivers. It is for this reason hydroelectric development threatens this great section of whitewater.

The Rio Nuble is a fantastic read and run, big volume, pool-drop, class III-IV river. With over 40km of whitewater, which can be segmented into 3 sections, the Rio Nuble gives the ability to pick and choose what sections you want to paddle and how much you want to paddle on a daily basis. It always has water even in a low water summer and if you choose you can also head upstream to check out the main tributary Rio Los Sauces.

At this point of our trip vacation mode had truly taken over! As I gazed around the resort style base camp I could see nothing but smiles and absolutely no stress or thoughts other than the moment of peace and quiet and time in the epic scenery of Chile.

We also had the opportunity to talk with a few of the local paddlers who were very excited to check out all our gear and new boats as the paddle community of the Rio Nuble is lacking the equipment required to get more youth on the water. We managed to organize a few items of our extras, which will allow another 2-3 paddlers to get more time in a kayak. Stay tuned to follow the adventures of team Whitewater Chile as we continue to move south and paddle….

For more info on the River of Chile check out www.whitewaterchile.com and find the guidebook ‘Whitewater Chile’.

Chris Baer: Rio Blanco

snapdragon — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:43:14 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rio “Blanco” High water line on the “Cali” drop, The epitome of nervous anticipation, kayak an illegal canyon, with a very committing gorge, at high flows. The weather in Futaleufu had turned rainy and the rivers were rising, after a great high water paddle of Inferno canyon I received a call from Matias Nunez. He said that the flows on the “Blanco” were starting to come up. I needed to catch a bus out of Futaleufu immediately. Walking out of the town of Futaleufu I bumped into Clay Wright and friends, and caught a ride across the Chilean Argentine border to the town of Esquel. The next day I caught a bus to a speck on the map and waited on the side of the road hoping that Matias would show up. Manuel Carignan, dangerously close to anther undercut wall An hour later Matias’s pickup truck came into view and I was greeted with Yerba Mate and a warning that the river was a little higher then Matias had previously though, he said,”I might walk a couple things, but you have to run it all.” I was already nervous from previous rumors of, walled in canyons, big drops, and the fact that if you are not from Argentina it was technically illegal to paddle. The entire river is on private property and the American owner doesn’t want any one on his property. Luckily for the locals, there is a lake on the property and Argentine law says you must provide access to water ways, for Argentinians. The “Blanco” valley The laws are simple, If you are Argentine you can access the water ways, if you are from anywhere else it’s a no go. I was not supposed to be on the property, but that hasn’t slowed me down much in the past. I like to think that almost all kayakers break laws on a regular basis. We are constantly blurring trespassing laws and changing in and out of wet gear in public. Chris Baer, poping off another 10 footer Chris Baer, stomping that nose back down The level was ten inches on the bridge gauge, and it looked bank full to me. The high flow made a couple of the bigger rapids super fun and also turned a couple rapids into a jungle portages. Over the next week I was blessed with the opportunity to sneak pass the gate keeper two more times and paddle with Matias Nunez, Facha Morron, and Manuel Carignan. We paddled at a variety of flows from 10 to 2 inches. The locals talk about these flows as “damn that is high”, all the way down to, “most people still call this high”. Manuel Carignan, tucked deep down in the “Blanco” canyon The river is simply amazing, bright blue glacial water, tucked between polished granite, in a 200 ft deep canyon. The river features are as beautiful as the scenery. From the top you get a tricky double drop, boof to slides to vert, boof to stumpy walled in hole, 10 footer to off angle 20+ footer, slide into a nasty wall, 8 footer that kicks like a mule into a mandatory 40 footer, 10 foot almost vertical slide into a super committing canyon, 200+ foot tall walled in boogie, and a nasty multi tiered rapid to get you out of the canyon, and into the two mile class 4+ paddle out.

Bryan Smith’s next project

snapdragon — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:33:42 +0000

The Man Who Can Fly

Just finished a big one hour special for National Geographic called The Man Who Can Fly.

Some FCP practice with various levels on Last Sunshine in Robe Canyon

snapdragon — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:49:09 +0000

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Dan Patrinellis took some nice video on the Robe Canyon by Granite Falls Washington.