After our first polarbear encounters a couple of days we have now met a total of 14 during a 2 day period. Most we have met while we paddled by, while 3 have been while we were on land at our camp a couple of nights ago. Those we met while in the boats gave us the best opportunities to get quite close too them. It is incrdible to watch these animals casually strolling or swimming totally relaxed in their turf. In contrast, we are very aware that their environment can be deadly to us in a few minutes as we have already seen with the seas, wind, cold that continue to change in minutes.
After 2 days of many bear sightings we were on higher alert and had found a camp site with several hundred meters of open ground to give us plenty of warning of approaching bears. We also decided to have one of the team on bear watch all night. The first bear made an appearance several hundred metres from camp an hour after our arrival. Per Thore and Petter headed out in his direction and sent him away with a warning flare.
It was then decided that we were possibly camping on a popular path for the local bears, and that if we had another bear visit we would pack up camp and move 25 km’s across the fjord. Sure enough a couple of hours later (12.30am) camp was woken by bear watch and another bear was heading our way in the other direction from the first. The boys sent the second bear away, but he needed more convincing than the first (1 flare plus several warning shots overhead). So at 2.00am we paddled out from camp under blue skies and an oily sea.
We had an amazing 4 hours paddling under the midnight sun. We were visited by many seabirds, a couple of seals and a pod of minkie whales before making camp just just inside Widjefjord.
When we woke 8 hours later we got news from home that a couple of fellow paddlers who were attempting to circumnavigate the whole Svalbard group had been rescued about 250 km’s further east after one had been attacked in his tent and dragged 30 meters before being shot by his mate. The latest is that he is in a serious but stable condition in Tromsø hospital. Our thoughts are with these guys and mood in our camp is a little subdued. We are in an unforgiving environment.
We write this update while taking shelter in a hut 30km’s inside Widjefjord as 15meter/second blow from the south. We’ll be here until the wind drops.
It should go without saying that having solid gear and safety ready, along with the knowledge to use it is a must and if you don’t, getting hands on instruction from full time instructors such as Simon and the crew at Gene17 is a good idea before proceeding. Apart from that, running drops can often be more of a mental control so being conscious of when you’re good to go and when you should take a walk is worth thinking about.
Lead in
With many drops it’s often the lead in that posses the biggest problems. There’s a couple of basic things that will help you be where you want to be as you go off the lip of a fall. The first thing is keeping good posture in your boat with your head up looking where you want to be. Looking at where you don’t want to be is the surest way to end up in trouble. The second thing seems ridiculously simple, but actively paddling with positive strokes can be something that people forget in focusing all their attention on the freefall. It might be an idea to time your strokes on the lead in so you know what your paddling is doing when you launch…
Positive posture and strokes.
Launch
Launching off a waterfall is the bit where a lot people freeze. This is due to the very brief heart stopping moment, which causes people to stop paddling and look down in horror. A bad take off generally means a bad landing!
At the lip of a fall, once again look where you want to be going. Obviously down, but few waterfalls are perfect, so most of the time we want to be landing in a particular place or at a particular angle. As you look where you want to land, plant a stroke which will help you maintain control as you follow it through and use it as a leaver for you to change both body and boat angle if needed in the freefall.
Looking for the landing with a guide stroke planted.
Freefall
During freefall I don’t take my eyes off where I’m wanting to land, but one of the most important things to me in freefall, is to keep your body in an upright or slightly forward position, ready for action. Leaning back is a sure way to come out of the bottom a bit sore, by keeping upright or forward you keep control. If you are in a position where you need to pull the bow up because you have too much angle, you can move your body slightly back and use the active body momentum to pull your legs and boat up. On the other hand if you are falling with a flat angle then a good shunt forward should help your bow drop and arch into freefall.
As my body moves in a freefall my paddle follows for leverage – if I need to drop the bow my arms and paddle are over the bow. If I need to pull the bow up, I pull my arms and paddle back.
Keeping active to control angle through the freefall.
Landing
The main objective in landing is to minimize the impact and maximize your get away chances. On smaller bigger volume drops with a constricted landing this may mean an almost boof technique to avoid getting stuffed into any nooks and crannies but stomping the bow down at the last minute by quickly shoving the body forward and legs down to avoid shock through the spine.
But more often the case with drops where we want to enter the water at an angle between 45 degrees and vertical, it’s a split second tuck, folding away the head, shoulders and paddle. Shoulders should be turned at an angle so they aren’t face on to the water – around 45 degrees – your paddle should be kept parallel with your shoulders and elbows bent to avoid any wrenching. Having shoulders and paddles parallel keeps you stable and solid.
I like to keep my eyes on my landing pad as long as I can, so I generally keep my head up on falls around the 25 foot mark, as there doesn’t tend to be too much impact if things go to plan. On larger falls, or if things don’t go to plan, tilting your head down and to the side means that the top of your helmet will take most of the impact and there is less chance of your nose making impact with your cockpit rim.
If things go horribly wrong and you’re heading for a flat landing, the forward shove mentioned earlier will aid to prevent the shock from traveling up your spine. However this may provide you with the harsh alternative of your face making contact with your cockpit or deck but given the options, my face is no where near pretty enough to take the risk.
Different fall but Dave Martin in landing gear.
Recovery
If everything goes well, all you may need for a recovery is to shake the water out of your eyes before heading on downstream. If you’ve gone deep, then trying to get your body forward as you’re under water will help you resurface in a stable position. If you end up upside down then a quick roll will help you be in position for the next rapid or prevent you from heading into that corner where you don’t want to be.
Posture and paddle placement helping me prevent a back-loop and getting stuffed.
Overview
Have the right equipment and knowledge.
Don’t get pushed off line before you’re at the edge.
Spot your landing and paddle for it as you launch. Don’t freeze.
Keep your body active in freefall to maintain a good angle.
Tuck up to reduce surface impact on landing.
Be on the ball for the next rapid or any hazards.
Next update will be from last weekends surf trip to Machrihanish!
Petter Thorsen sent us this update from Day 8 of their Svalbard Expedition, including their first polar bear sightings.
Team ‘Lost’ have been Found!
Since we last sent an update we have been taking advantage of continual talewinds and paddling up to 40 or more km’s per day!
After leaving Longyearbyen on July 20th we paddled west before reaching Forlandsund the following day. It was a strange and lonely feeling knowing that we were heading north, away from civilisation and into a wilderness area that is both beautiful and extreme. The dark sky towards the north didn’t help!
In the last few days we have paddled up the entire western side of the Svalbard Islands, past hunting huts and grave yards of polarbear, whale, seal & fox hunters dating back 500 years. We have paddled past more glaciers that I can count, and been caught in wind squalls that sprung up from nowhere and nearly flattened our tents.
“Lost” had a bet the the first to predict which day we would sight our first polar bear would win a bottle of whiskey…but I and sorry to report that no one won. We all expected to see a polarbear in the first week of the trip…but none materialised…..UNTIL TODAY (day 8)!!!! And not only did we see one, but 8!!! With the last 2 being a mother and baby walking along the sea shore less that 50 meters away from our kayaks. What incredible animals…and there are only about 3000 left on the svalbard islands.
We have got into a pretty good routine for each day now; beginning with dried cereal which we just add water to make a super energy meal that keeps us paddling for several hours without stopping. We then check the weather forecast via satellite telephone to decide when we paddle and where (if any emergency stops are) as the weather changes quickly and with potentially dangerous consequences. We then break camp, take down the polarbear trip wire flares, pack boats and get on the water. We are using Aleutian dry suits from Palm, which we always wear on the water with up to 2 layers of clothes underneath. The secret with staying safe and warm is to manage your body temperature so well that you don’t sweat, or if you do; paddle yourself dry afterwards. And we have found that these dry suits have been amazing at breathing without letting water in.
Once on the water we usually try to paddle for 2 shifts of about 4 hours with a lunch break inbetween where we stop, boil water and eat hot lunch. At the end of each day we then send 2 of the boys on land with guns and polarbear flares to check none are in the area, before landing and setting up tents before we begin to freeze. Then its setting up of polarbear flares around the camp, drying equipment, eating, and sleeping!
The second Episode of Finn and Hugh’s Norwegian adventure is up!
In this installment we take a look back at the events of the Sjoa River Festival, a lovely playboating session and look forward to some steep creeking! Enjoy.
Still at the Sjoa campsite, preparing to leave, me and Hugh are about to set off to check out a possible first decent, which could either be really nice, or massively disgusting! Fingers crossed. After that we’re hoping to head a little further north to session Sjak wave if it’s in and run some of the lesser known rivers in the area.
Next episode should be done by the end of next week, so stay tuned!
Having had a great summer so far, I thought it was time to look back on some of the highlights. Starting in France, with some great fun runs in relatively high flows.
Whilst there, I attended the annual Student Boater X and Slope Jam. Despite no longer being a student, there is still good competition to be had in the old boys or “bloater X” event along with the super fun Slope Jam.
With sun, rivers and great food & drink it’s easy to see why the French Alps draw so many boaters from the UK every year. However, after a couple of weeks the road north beckoned and we set off for the distant shores of Norway.
The Ekstremsport veko festival in Voss is one of the world’s largest extreme sports festivals. It brings in athletes of all disciplines, from long-boarding to BASE jumping. The kayaking events consist of an extreme downriver time trial, and a boater X. I joined Palm team riders Nick Horwood and Tim Trew to compete. With low levels the Extreme downriver was moved from it’s usual section to something a bit more sporty on the Raundeselva.
With Voss Extreme week over we said goodbye to Tim and headed north to the Valdal Summer games, a much smaller festival with a more relaxed feel. A few good days boating on the local runs and a 4th place in the strong man contest were a great relax after a hectic week in Voss.
From Valdal we headed to Sjoa, (a “home from home” for many UK boaters in Norway) in preparation for the infamous Sjoa River Festival. Stay tuned to the Palm blog for a full report of the week.
Luke.
Photos: Tim Hamlet, Andy Jaunzems and Luke Farrington
After a long drive to Norway, we made it – this is the first in a series of video blogs that myself and Hugh will be releasing throughout our trip here in Norway!
So without further ado here’s some driving, BMXing, cliff jumping, oh and kayaking.
Given that it rained all day in Sjoa, no one was best pleased to bring their camera out, still this year’s Sweet Rumble BoaterX time trail was, given that in the my Saffron Missle, ie Dagger Axiom 9.0, I managed a tidy result. Palm Paddler, Andy Phillips, Nick Horwood & Tom Parker also managed to make the cut. This is only for the seeding of the main BoaterX, on the famed Ămot Canyon of Sjoa, this Saturday afternoon. It’s one the best BoaterX events around, as the river is both contained, creating powerful and steep white water, that allows for different lines and with surging conditions and changeable outcomes.
Stay tuned for more of Saturday’s actions, plus an update from the Gene17 Ula Extreme Race tomorrow, on the famed Ula Slide, the sun is meant to come out, which will be ace. In the mean time check out one of the prizes for the Ula Race, an image of Rondane, the National Park, Ula flows from.
In the summer of 2011, Jan-Gunnar Winther and John E. Guldahl of The Norwegian Polar Institute will paddle and walk from where Fridtjof Nansen had to give up during his 1893 Arctic expedition, to the North Pole. The purpose of the trip is research on the changing ice conditions at the pole.
The best equipment is essential for the success of the trip and the team have chosen Palm Aleutian Suits which they’ve already been putting through their paces. The photo below is from training near Tromsø this spring.
Best of luck to the team as they train for the expedition. We’ll keep you updated on their progress.
More information Norwegian Polar Institute – Norway’s central institution for research, environmental monitoring and mapping of the polar regions Alfa Fritid – Tromsø based sea kayak specialist also offering courses and kayak rental. Sponsoring the expedition.
We travelled out to Norway last week for the annual Ekstremsportveko. Established 10 years ago by a group of adrenalin nut-jobs, Extremsportveko has grown to become of the worlds largest Extreme sports festivals. With two kayak races (one head to head on class 3 and one full-on class 4/5 time trial) and some of Europe’s best whitewater paddlers to contend with, I flew out to fancy my chances.
It turns out that Europe’s best are pretty fast and big holes seem even bigger when you’re racing! Needless to say I didn’t come home with any medals but, for other aspiring racers out there, here’s my top tips for (a bit more) success:
No 1: Train
Training’s not cheating. Forget the gym though, try timed laps of Cardiff whitewater course or some flat water sprints. You’ll be thankful for it on race day when you’ve still got energy to punch through that last monster hole.
No 2: Practice the course
Whilst it’s tempting to put your poundings off until later, the more confident you feel on the course the more in control you’ll be when you have to do it at speed.
No 3: Don’t look back (& don’t fall over)
Do no.1/2 better than everyone else and you might find yourself out in front. Don’t turn around and congratulate yourself. It will line probably line you up perfectly for the slot/pin/hole, and last place!
No 4: Aggression
Everything goes as long as you keep your hands on your paddles. So take no prisoners!
No 6: Never Give Up
Don’t underestimate other competitors’ abilities to mess it up as much as you. There’s always a chance to pull it back if they get pushed off line.
No 6: Don’t forget to smile.
Could do with some practice. Check out these classic paddling faces!
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The next races (both at the end of September) are the Sickline World Champs in Germany and, closer to home, the Etive River Race in Scotland. So get training, hopefully we’ll see some of you there.
Tim
Images: Fri Flytt More Images http://www.friflyt.no/index.php?pagenr=22&collagenr=18234&picturenr=1&fromarticle=0
With second year assessments all wrapped up at uni, the weather and surf reports were looking as good as it gets on Cornwall’s north shore, and so a contingent loaded with surf boards, body boards, skim boards, power kite and Axiom 8.5 settled in at Gwithian Bay for a weeks worth of epic conditions.
Since the Axiom came out I’ve had my eye on the 8.5 as an all round machine due to wanting a fast flat hull for blasting the local runs and using in races but also wanting a boat that doesn’t leave you lagging in good surf.
I’ve used it on rivers with the seat in a middle position, giving a bit more stability and momentum, but moving the seat all the way back for surf put a grin on my face.
This wave earned some cheers from a couple of local surfers, not what I was expecting as I’d been managing to pick up waves a lot earlier than them all day and was sensing a little frustration.
The Axiom blunt. Despite it’s size, this boat has a playful edge due to an agile hull, it’s freestyle forte is definitely in throwing the fattest kick-flips around! With 8’5″ of boat you can get a lot of speed to rocket you into the air off the back of on coming waves, I went more than the full 360 on numerous occasions… although the guys at HQ tell me they’re working on their kick-flips in the Alchemy touring boat!
