We’ve had an epic trip involving Lemmings, stitches, hiking, driving, and of course, lots of paddling!
We’ve enjoyed first descents in the Baieraaga, Tverraaga, and Graataaga (the rivers up north are called aaga, not elva), and lots more!
The above photo is of Jasper Polak on the first descent of a big slide on the Tverraaga.
We camped for several nights on the shores of lake Krutvatn:
This year was a lemming year; every 3-4 years the population explodes leading to mass panic and bizarre confrontational behaviour from the lemming population. This means regular hilarious standoffs with a brown furry ball the size of a hamster.
One of the highlights of the Hattfjelldal (Hat-mountain-valley) area of Norway was the Upper Susna, with its classic pool drop fun.
It features one of the most fun drops in the world, the Dusj boof (shower boof) which involves boofing and disappearing completely into a white curtain. here Hugh Graham prepares to take a rinsing…
After a few days in Hattfjelldal we headed further north to Beiardalen in search of new adventures and first descents…
First up was a river called the Graataaga, which involved a beautiful clean, bouldery class 3 – 4 gorge, a perfect warm up.
After some further scouting, and a couple of projects to save for higher/lower water, Hugh and Jasper stumbled across an absolute gem, in the form of the Tverraaga. This involved a steep hike in the baking sunshine, but we were rewarded with a steep continuous selection of amazingly fun slides, boofs, and a picturesque swimming pool at the takeout!
A super clean, fast slide – I claimed 1st run on this baby.
A bouncy number – some carnage on this one, but nothing major!
My run of the big slide!
Catching some air off a kicker half way down. This one is pretty fast!
Finn Burrows at the exit of a tight gorge:
Stay posted for more pictures to come soon! There will also be a mini movie with footage of all of our adventures!
Big thanks to the team, which was Finn Burrows, Hugh Graham, Jasper Polak, Tom Parker, Sarah Nash, Yours Truly (and shuttle bunies/chefs Em and Tebb).
We’ve just managed to make what we think is the first linked crossing of Vaeroy and Rost in the artic islands of Lofoten in Norway.
The two crossings are about 35 km each and the first involves crossing the infamous maelstrom of Moskennes island.
Myself and Jann Engsted, a local guide who has been guiding on the Islands for 30 years, made the two crossings an ambition he has been trying to do for a long time.
We had ocean swell moderate winds and a fair deal of fog on the first crossing , but otherwise a great few days.
The new Palm Oceana gear performed well and kept me cosy and dry.
I have been in California for the past six weeks enjoying one of the craziest seasons in history. A record snowpack has meant a super long and late run-off and the paddling has been nothing short of amazing! We have hit most of the classics from The South Feather to West Cherry as well as a few of the lesser known drops hidden away in the Sierras. I have been rolling with the posse’ from River Roots and Bomb Flow and the content we have collected is epic!
For the duration of the mission I have been wearing the new Atom dry top and Stikine thermal ‘bunny suit’ along with the now trusted Amp vest and the performance has been spectacular. The new breathable fabric on the Atom performs super well in and out of the water and is really comfortable to paddle in. It keeps the cold, snow melt water out but lets your skin breath when hiking on the exposed granite here in Cali. I can’t recommend this top enough, it is easily the best dry top I have ever used.
Anyway, here are a few pics from the travels – more to come!
On a mission!
BB
Line up the 50 footer, lose the paddle, close eyes & hold on!
HIGH speed testing on Tenaya Creek.
The intimidating Heath Springs 2 on the Royal Gorge of the American.
Is the Wilderness system Tempest a fast boat, is it stable and can it deal with the rough stuff ? Well I raced a plastic tempest 170 down the river Ness last weekend in the annual Ness marathon 2011 short course and managed to win, beating the other entrants and coming only 30 second slower than the course record which was set in a wild water racer, so fast yes, good for the rough stuff, also yes it handled the standing waves and rapids superbly, and almost as fast as a racing boat without needing a change in underwear afterwards, though its noted I need to put more effort in next year. The sea kayak challenge is now set with Wilderness Systems now holding the Ness Marathon sea kayak course record, ideal fitness training for those longer journeys. See you there next year – Steve Mackinnon
Great Glen Canoe trail by Sea kayak, not just any sea kayak though, Wilderness System tempests, fast, stable and well behaved in all conditions. Enough grub to last out the whole trail without having to scrimp and save. Its not just an open canoeists paradise, its well suited to sea kayak journeys as well, no nessie shots though, sorry – maybe next time. Other photos attached, enjoy – Steve Mackinnon
I’m back home in the Uk for the first time since February now so now i’ve got power and internet I had a chance to put together a little video clip from a couple sessions after Worlds in Plattling & a session on Rogers Wave in France earlier in the year.
We’ve been on a mission filming and boating in sunny Valdal this week, and this morning we stumbled across this beauty! Pretty sure it’s a first descent, and it’s called Storfossen, on the Herdalselva.
Stay tuned for more pictures and updates coming soon!
CanoeKayak UK magazine are hosting an industry awards this year and amoungst the categories, there is a public vote for ’The most innovative product of the year’.
Generally at Palm, we like to let the product do the work and the paddlers do the talking, telling us about the adventures had using Palm gear. But we really think we have made some genuine breakthroughs recently, so would be honoured if you’d show your support and cast a vote.
You can pick any product and vote but here at Palm HQ the shortlist of three favourates came down to:
1. The Extrem PFD – like the Kiakoura it has tremendous fit, but the entry system, utility features and safety performance make this the top of our list.
2. The Atom Jacket – although all the new jackets share the superb new cut and performance, this model has all the bells and whistles.
3. The Kiakoura PFD – for the introduction of the flex formed foam concept.
No matter whether you vote, we think it would be fun for you to tell us on Facebook what your favourite Palm products of all time are – as an incentive the best story or image as supporting evidence will win a a Hoodie!
