Having a very busy kayak school season this spring I finally made it back to some races in June. I left Innsbruck end of May heading to Munich Airport and taking off to Vail, Colorado for the Teva Mountain Games.
The first race was the Steep Creek Championship which took place on Homestake. I had an alright first run but got pretty nervous in my second one, flipped, had to roll and finally ended in third position behind Palms Martina Wegman (NED) and Louise Jull (NZL).
Due to the low water levels the Freestyle hole on the Gore Creek in downtown Vail was shallow and tricky. Interesting to watch how current world champion Claire O´Hara (UK) was dominating the womens class, scoring 660 points in here winning ride. Also owed to the low water level the Down River Sprint Section took with a winning time of 24 minutes about 6 minutes longer than last year. It was a hard and tiring race and Martina, Lou and I made the podium again as in Homestake.
The last competition day of the Teva Mountain Games was the one which definitely attracted most visitors to the kayak events – 8-Ball kayak cross and raft cross have been on the schedule. After making it through the prelims in the 8-Ball competition, Claire and me tried to score in the raft cross as well. Unfortunately we had to race against two male US rafting team members so we were knocked out in the first round. Anyways, fun to watch the other teams fighting through the next rounds. In the afternoon I managed to make it through the semi-finals for the 8-Ball and so finally the three Kiwi girls Louise Urwin, Louise Jull, Toni Goerge and me who went into the 8-Ball finals. More and more 8-ballers showed up and it was quite hard to make a way through to the finish line. In the end it was me who crossed it first followed by Toni George and Louise Urwin. After my second participation in Vail I can summarize that I liked the Teva Mountain Games a lot. There is so much going on in Vail village – so many interesting events to watch like the bouldering world cup, the Slopestyle and Slackline competitions as well as pretty good concerts every evening. Still being stoked I left Vail the next morning and flew back to Europe, ready for the next event – the Eporedia Active Days in Piedmont, Italy.
Jetlagged as hell I made it to Val Chiusella two days later. Unfortunately the river occurred as low and bony as Gore Creek the week before in Vail. As a result the organizers moved the race section a little upstream compared to the past years, so it was a new challenge in the 2012 edition of the race to get in all the new drops. Mariann Saether (NOR) took first place followed by me and then Jenny Crimes (UK) in third position.
For the sprint race and the boater cross all kayakers moved out of the scenic Val Chiusella to the demanding race course in the beautiful town Ivrea – finally some water under my boat and incredible Italian ice-cream 
The same night the men’s team sprint took place what was close contest and really worth seeing. I was able to take a first place in the individual sprint and a second in the boater x the next day what ensured the overall wining of the womens class followed by Jenny and Mariann. Congrats to Honza Lasko (CZE) who was victorious in the overall mens category followed by Sam Sutton (NZL) and Filippo Brunetti (ITA).
Joe Rea-Dickins, James Smith and Chris Griffiths from Aberystwyth University were scheduled to begin their 5 month expedition to Pakistan, India and Nepal last monday. Here’s why they didn’t:
On the night of the 3rd of June, a higher power of some kind came to Griff in a dream. The mysterious voice told him that next week, Aberystwyth would experience a great flood. ‘But we fly to Pakistan tomorrow’ pleaded Griff.
‘Yeah, whatever’ replied the voice. And then it was gone.
Based solely on this information and no other organisational factors whatsoever, we decided to postpone our Pakistani adventure until the 21st June. That way, we get big levels in Wales and even bigger levels in Pakistan; win-win.
On the 9th June Mid-Wales experienced the biggest levels that any of us had ever seen. Quickly deciding that the Rhuddnant would be ‘a bit silly’, we headed for the upper-Ystwyth; a bouncy 3/4 on a regular flow, the river was almost two times higher than any of us had paddled it before. Finding that the river just kept on going, we walked up as far up as we could and ran a section which we’ll call the ‘upper-upper-Ystwyth’
The 'upper-upper Ystwyth'
It was so beautiful that Joe cried. FACT.
However, due to the grey skies and horizontal rain the photos weren’t coming out as well as we had expected. To add a little ‘artistic flair’ and ‘excitement’ to the composition, Joe suggested that Griff capsize at the crux of the rapid and then leave his boat and paddles to explore the river alone. He naturally obliged and his boat is currently on display, wrapped around a tree towards the end of the run.
Griff showboating for the crowds
‘That colour boat simply didn’t go with my new drysuit’ he remarked. ‘It had to go.’
Simply put, we had a great final day in Aberystwyth on our local run and we hope that you enjoyed the floods too. In a little over a week, we’ll be heading out to Pakistan and we’ll post updates here when good stuff happens. We’d really like to thank Palm for their support. Have a great summer!
James
p.s. Here’s a quick video that Joe threw together on a steam powered laptop:
Last week I was running a FlowFree Playboating Development Week in Lyon. We had lots of fun and managed to catch Hawaii-sur-Rhone in good conditions as well as a couple of local slalom courses. Here’s a couple of pics from the week:
One of the students on the course has written up a report of his experiences, which we’ve put on our blog: http://www.flowfree.co.uk/2012/06/trip-report-lyon-playboating-development-week/
For a full album of photos, check out our Flickr page.
I’m now out in the French Alps running more coaching & guiding trips with some awesome levels. Next, I’ll be heading up to Norway for Voss Festival before flying out to Uganda for month of both guiding and play time! Hopefully see you on the water somewhere.
Lowri
Roll up, roll up, hear all about it, gold for NZ and Italy, double slivers for team GB at this years throw bag olympics.
Location:
Val Sesia River Festival, Campertogno.
Competitors:
Everyone.
Rules:
- Start clipped onto your rescue harness and to a static line with everyone else.
- On the count of 3 run forwards to the line and, using an underarm throw, hit the Palm banner on the volley ball net
- Collect bag and onwards to the overarm throwing target, a lime Amp vest hanging from a tree.
- Once target hit, grab bag and forwards to the bowling arm station, thrown kneeing down behind the line and the target is the cockpit of a new Mamba.
- Giving 110% ran back to the starting line, take out 2 hand full’s of rope and again hit the target.
- With rope fully deployed, recoil using small bunny ears (totally mission critical), and throw again.
- Repack bag, bag upside down above head.
The Prizes:
Amp Vest, Luna Jacket, Palm safety slings, 18 & 12m throw bags and Palm t-shirts.
The Winners:
Sam (NZ) & Dan (GB) for the men, Frederica (I) and Lisa (GB) for the ladies.
The Serious Part.
With all that fun over (for now), there’s a serious part to this chaos. You need to practice throwing your line accurately, because when you need it, it’ll really matter. I would encourage you to get it right every time but also practice the recoiled throw.
Crazy Time Lapse Video.
Palm Throw Bag Olympics from Chris Eastabrook on Vimeo.
In Other News.
The whole Gene17 Val Sesia River festival was a complete hoot. Who doesn’t love bedrock granite? Who doesn’t like quality cheese, coffee and wine? Same time next year?
There’s another chance to win Palm goodies at the Sjoa River Festival, Norway.
Thanks to Richard Watson for the photos and time lapse.
Stoked to be in California!! - Photo by Shilo Gibson
After three week of epicness in the states I’m back in Holland taking my breath after some healthy jam packet action. I flew into San Francisco on the 11th of May and met up with a bunch of kiwi’s to enjoy two weeks of paddling in California! I was lucky enough to rally with Toni George, who had two seasons in Cali before and taking the lead in our chicks kayak roadie, hooking us up with some sweet clean Californian style runs!
Ben Jackson at Double Drop on the East Kauweah
Sunset at Moro Rock, Sequoia National Park - photo by Toni George
One of my favorite rivers of the trips were the South Silver with a juicy flow and the Kaweah river in Sequoia National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada. The park contains among its natural resources the highest point in the States, Mount Whitney at 4,421m. The park is famous for its giant sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree, the largest trees on Earth. During the trip I also did my first official multi-day paddling trip, running the Middle Fork of the Feather in two days.
Chasing down Lulu at the Kaweah River - Hospital Rock section
A sick slide on the South Silver - Photo by Shilo GIibson
Here is a little edit of the sweet times in California!
https://vimeo.com/43077086
Yampa river Festival
After an amazing time in Cali it was time to hit the road and drive 1000 miles east in our little red car, towards Steamboat Springs in Colorado for the Yampa River Festival. On the weekend there were some fun amateur races as a down river, freestyle, rafting, tubing and slalom.
Borrowing Dane Jackson his kayak for the freestyle comp
Looping in Steamboat Springs
On Monday the Pro races were on. Due to low water levels they postponed the creek race to later in the day, starting the day with the freestyle comp. Although the water was low the freestyle hole was pretty sick. Courtney won the women’s with me in 2nd and Lulu in 3rd. Dane Jackson won the mens with some awesome rides followed closely by Nick Troutman in second.
The crew - Photo by Shilo Gibson
After 18.00h the creek race kicked off. Although the river was low it was still fun paddling down! I won the women class, having a pretty smooth run, not hitting to many rocks ;). As it was a combined race I won the overall of the woman’s class Courtney got second en Lulu third. Dane and Nick both tied in the men’s.
Enjoying Steamboat Spings
Teva Mountain Games
A two hours ride on Monday night brought us to Vail for the Teva Mountain Games. We had two days to lapping the steep creek course and learning the fastest lines, which was really hard due to low water levels. It’s so easy to make a mistake on this course and one mistake can do you for the race.
Louise Jull, Martina Wegman, Anne Hubner
I had a sweet first run, but made a big mistake in my second run, almost pinned, went into the eddy and had to eddy out back to the current. Luckily I nailed and was fast enough to keep the top spot winning the gold medal! Stoked!!! Louise Jull from New Zealand got second and claimed the fastest time of the race in the women’s. Anne Hubner got third with two solid rides. Mike Dawson had two sick runs styling the men’s coming on top followed by Dane Jackson and Sam Sutton! Shot guys!
Lou Urwin boofing nicely on the last drop at Homestake Creek - Photo by Shilo Gibson
Friday the Long Distance Race kicked off. A brutal 24-minute effort down a very low and dry Gore Creek at an attitude of around 10000ft! Epic! I had the fastest time of the girls being 10 seconds ahead of Louise Jull. Mike Dawson also won his second win in the Games having the fastest time in the men’s by 7 seconds. After that the freestyle went off with some impressive move on the low water feature! Check out Pringles post here, for more about the freestyle event!
Chicks prize giving - Louise Jull, Martina Wegman, Anne Hubner
Besides the kayaking there is so much action on the side. You can fill your bags at the gear town, print some limited edition Teva shirts and of course watch all the other sports, such as the slope style, bouldering and mud run. All super fun and impressive to watch! The 8-ball is definitely the most fun to watch, as so much carnage going on battling for that price money and GoPro Hero.
Lou Urwin and Toni George battling at the 8-ball - Photo by Shilo Gibson
Biking action - photo by Shilo Gibson
So I’m now back in The Netherlands making the next plans for another epic trip! – www.martinawegman.com | www.martinawegman.blogspot.com
Last Monday evening I arrived in Vail, Colorado the site of the Teva Mountain Games to find barely any water here…I mean literally none!
With the lack of a playspot I spent the first couple of days practicing on the Homestake Creek which although very manky and rocky was actually quite good fun. There was talk of cancelling the Freestyle so I’d thought I better find something to compete in having come all this way 
Creeking not really being my forte and only being able to borrow other peoples boats I was pretty scrappy the first 2 runs i did, the last 3 i had though felt better and better, so was feeling I could do an alright run in the race.
To my relief however Clay Wright and the rest of the Jackson crew spent 8 hours dropping in plywood and all sorts to try and make a useable feature and succeeded, allowing the Freestyle event to go ahead after all.
Its very brutal and shallow still but you can do some good moves if you avoid the rocks. Considering when I got here there was only a 1cm deep little hole that looked like you might be able to spin in if you got lucky, I’d call their work a big success.
Thursday I decided not to do the Creek Race and instead stayed and paddled a bunch in the play hole, trying to decide whether to use carbon (very traumatic) or plastic.
The sound of me smashing the bottom in my Carbon GuiGui could be heard back in the hotel…Thankfully Dagger let me borrow a plastic boat to use which is a lot less stressful and actually paddles really well. As much as I enjoyed the stress free paddling of the plastic Dagger prototype I ended up going with my carbon in the end. its what i’m used to and felt most comfortable using with only a little amount of time to practice.
Friday was the day of the Kayak Freestyle Qualifiers the hole was still brutally shallow it is possible to get some sweet rides as long as you manage to keep off the rocks.
The qualifier cut the field to the top 10, with each paddler getting two 1 minute rides both of which counted. For non locals here one of the main challenges of this event is the altitude.
I’d never felt the effects of altitude before coming here but it really does make it hard to breathe. I’d get 3 or 4 moves into a run and be panting hard!
Even with the challenges of altitude and low water though, the comp gave some sick rides. I had pretty good rides, missing quite a few moves from flushing a bit to low down when I tapped the rock but got enough moves stuck in the hole to come in 4th. The only other European in the mens Mat Dumoulin from France had such a sick smooth 1st run then an ok 2nd run to take 3rd with Stephen Wright in top spot followed by Dane in 2nd.
In the Womens Uk’s Claire O’Hara cleaned up with awesome rides with Fonix’s & Mc’Nasties and a bunch of other stuff, very cool to see her doing well over here.
Full Results from all rounds and events can be found: http://www.tevamountaingames.com/summer/athletes/results/teva-mountain-games-results.aspx
Yesterday brought semi finals in the morning and finals in the afternoon. For semis the top 10 would have looked just as legitimate the other way up, a very tough field of paddlers to get in the top 5 of.
Myself, I had a pretty good 1st ride that would have been enough but I flushed just a bit too far back on a few moves for them to score. I was either smashing the rock or landing too far back in the hole not to flush a bit. Was a bit frustrating for me but theirs always next year. I ended up in joint 8th with fellow euro Mat who also didn’t get that lucky either bit of a weird level that just didn’t seem to work for us.
However it didn’t seem to stop the others throwing some awesome rides. Stephen, Dane & Dustin were all on top form in the hole and in my eyes any one of them could have won, but as the finals came around Stephen was the most consistant at getting a good mix of hard technical moves and big air and even hit a 5 move combo (no easy accomplishment in this hole) to take the Win, 2nd was Dane, 3rd was Dustin.
In the Womens Claire had a sick 1st ride scoring 610 (beating mine and Mat’s score in Semis!) and took the win straight away, 2nd was Haley Mills and 3rd Courtney Kerin from NZ.
Today is the 8 Ball Kayak Race where we race 4 at a time over a short distance with other paddlers paddling at you in body armour trying to stop/ destroy you, qualifiers just been and I made the cut 
Finals later.
It’s a good time here and nice to get into competing for this season/ meet up with friends I haven’t seen for a while. Bit frustrated to not show my best but some good fire to get me training harder as we have European Champs in Lienz, Austria in just a few weeks.
I fly home tomorrow and drive straight out to Lienz so really looking forward to getting to work on my paddling there.
bye for now,
Pringle
(Photos of myself thanks to Steve Gould/ Chewy)
