Summer update

Summer update

Woah, has this year ever been epic. It seems like it has been forever since Mikkel St.  Jean Duncan and I set off on our road trip to the Little White Salmon race and the North Fork Championships. Since then, life has been a blur of good times working hard and enjoying life.

Arriving at the Little White Mikkel and I got right in the mix. The little white has so many features and drops to remember that after 4 laps in two days we were still trying to get it all dialed in.

On race day there was this great vibe in the air, everyone was super stoked and ready to rumble. Mikkel and I had an alright race and placed 17th, a little bit of an unfortunate finish for the Canadians, but hey what can you do. All in all this was an awesome race. Thanks to Capo Retting for setting it up and making it all happen.

Next it was off to the North Fork of the Payette for more awesome white water and good times. We were there a week in advance to get ready and by the time that race day came along we were feeling pretty good. I was racing in the expert division on the lower five miles. It was a super tight race, I ended up having a disappointing race finishing 25th, but it was alright because I was off the hook for racing the next day on Jacob’s Ladder. This was intense to say the least, mad props to everyone who raced and the safety boaters/ Volunteers, and James Byrd who made it all happen.

During the after party there was word of California being in so we hooked up with the Kiwi crew and headed out. About an hour into our drive we decided that it was not worth the risk of getting skunked and decided to head back to Canada. This decision led us to some good times, many drops and some runs at ridiculously high water levels. Most notably was the first descent of Ram Falls near Nordegg  Alberta.  This monster has been looked at by many paddlers but the water level has never been correct. When we showed up it was looking perfect. Dylan Thomson, Ryan Lucas and I were all keen and after scouting it for a second time the next morning we were ready to get in our boats and head to the lip.  Upon arriving, everyone went really silent. It was a lot bigger than we expected and the lip was a lot sharper than we had thought. Dylan went from being, keen to “I’m out”, to “I’m back in lets fire it up!” within all of about two minutes.  A game of rock paper scissors followed and I was heading up to my boat to get the first descent of a 100 foot waterfall. Once I got to a certain point I knew there was no turning back and I recall saying to myself “there is no turning back now better enjoy it.”  The free fall was awesome,the impact was super soft. I had a good line and came out at the bottom smiling. The boys both had good lines and we were all stoked to have fired up a drop of that size. To cap off the day the boys decided that they had not had enough excitement and got charged by a grizzly bear.

http://www.bombflow.com/archives/bomb-flow-tv-episode-11-merica

The summer has been pretty rad and it’s still getting better stay posted for another update soon... Hopefully.

Peter T

May

The past few weeks have been pretty happening. Between work and paddling the last month just blew past. Here are some pictures.

Beaver Creek falls

Overlander falls

Evan garcia Beaver Creek falls

Next its to the little white salmon race the payette race and Cali!

Vancouver Island

Vancouver island is a kayaker's dream. The island has it all, steep creeks, monstrous drops, clean water falls and boulder gardens are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to describing the rivers in this area. Along with the characters of these rivers, the insane concentration of rivers and the easy access, Vancouver Island is a lesser known location and a gem.

Near the beginning of April, Pavel Bendl and I set off for a ten day road trip to the Island. The plan was simple, fit in as much paddling as we could for the ten days we were there. With the prospect of creeking after a long winter spurring us on, we pulled an overnighter leaving Canmore after work and driving until we hit the ferry.  The ensuing day brought us to the Gordon River, where we met up with our friend Glen Carpenter. The Gordon is an Island classic. This run has it all, water falls boulder gardens, and to top it all off beautiful scenery. After spending two days at the Gordon it was time to move on. We had heard rumors that Little Qualicum falls was going off and rallied to check it out. Upon arrival, we found a pretty meaty flow and a tricky line. Little Qualicum Falls is a tough 20 footer to a perfect 30 foot water fall. The line on the first drop has been traditionally to plug it on the right - down a chute and prepare for some down time, but at this flow it looked like you would pop up on the lip of the second drop. I opted for the left line over a flake and missing some rocks at the bottom. My first run sent me into a pitch pole off the top so I decided to go again and was able to stomp it. Thanks to Pavel and Glen for setting safety.

Little Qualicum Falls

After our day at Little Qualicum we were pretty fired up, so we headed to Gold river. The Squamish of Vancouver Island Gold River has at least five class 4/5 runs within a 15 minute drive. We were able to get on the Pamela, Ucona, and Upana.  All of these rivers were full of drops and sweet rapids. Our trip was starting to come to an end, but before we left we were able to get on Lens Creek with a massive crew of the locals. All in all it was a pretty rad trip and I would definitely suggest getting out to the island for some adventure and some amazing boating.

Gettin ready to run the goods on the Upana

Locals on Lens

Pavel getting in for the must run drop on the Upana

                 

Videos!!!

The 2011 Aquabatics Film Competition

The 2011 Aquabatics film competition went off last week with 9 film entries and a great turnout, this festival showcased the vast amount paddling and videography skill in the region. The festival had two categories: Paddling Porn and Entertainment. In the paddling porn category Blair Trotman snagged first place with his entry Do It For The Love Vol. II. Paddle Junkies picked up first in the Entertainment category and won the peoples choice award, winning a Wavesport Project X and a Kokatat Rogue drytop for their entry: The Kayak Network. Super Sexy Kayak the film Liam Fournier and I entered placed second in the entertainment category.

Thanks to Simon Coward and the boys at aquabatics Calgary and all the event's sponsors these guys put on a great show and I'm super excited for next year. Check out all of the videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/AquabaticsCalgary.    

Peter Thompson       

Solo

Often the friendship and camaraderie that come with the sport of kayaking is over looked. This was hit home during a recent solo paddling trip that I went on to the west coast. Although it was a great trip and I was able to meet up and paddle with friends along the way, the alone time when camping and hanging out made for maybe hard trip but definitely a different paddling trip experience. The biggest thing I found with my solo trip was that I spent way more money and only had only had myself to bounce ideas off of to decide what to do. This was both a nuisance and a blessing in that I could do what I wanted, but I also made some decisions that in hindsight were pretty dumb. I suggest that everybody tries going on a solo trip, but also enjoy the great times and the camaraderie that goes along with the quintessential paddling trip.
Peter Thompson

Work'n Like a Dog

I haven’t had much time for play over the past couple of weeks because of work, but we have been filming for our movie "Super Sexy Kayak" where we snagged the first decent of Canmore Creek and hucked a bridge. I also managed to sneak in a weekend with the boys on the Upper Elk and the Spillmachen. Other than that there hasn’t been time for much else, but beggars can't be choosey and any paddling is good paddling. Hopefully I can get out to the coast and Skook to meet up with World Class Academy soon, but until then here is some media.

Thanks to Chris Yavorsky, Liam Fournier, Pavel Bendl, Mikkel St Jean Duncan, and Timon Salzgeber for the pictures and media.
   

http://www.vimeo.com/29359807