As a new designer here at Palm and relatively new to kayaking, and after getting pretty fed up of getting wet and cold from swimming far too much, Paul (our marketing manager) thought it would be a good idea to send me off to Plas Y Brenin for a 2 days rolling clinic
I arrived at Plas y Brenin on Friday 7th December in the evening. I was welcomed by the friendly reception staff and shown to my room with a welcoming, cosy, bed after a long drive up from Bristol. In the morning I met my follow students, John, Andrew, Rodger, Branwen, and our coach Chris, and off we went to the pool all keen to get on and start rolling. First Chris showed us how to rescue each other which proved very necessary!
We started by doing some hip flicks off the edge of the pool and some of the guys jumped straight into attempting their rolls having been able to roll successfully in the past.
After doing my hip flicks effectively off the edge of the pool, Chris came over with my paddle. I was pretty nervous at first so the plan was I would go over and Chris would guide my paddle once then on the second time I would do my hip flick and come back up. To my amazement this worked! So after a few more of these I then started using a paddle float and doing it on my own.
To begin with it wasn’t going too well but Brenwan was very patient and become a pro at rescuing me! Then I started to get the hang of it, which was a massive relief.
Next we all went off for some well deserved soup at the bar. Taking advantage of the lovely setting I went off for a wander around the lake and to call my Dad to tell him the exciting news!
After dinner the session continued to go well with people doing successful rolls with and without the paddle floats. After a while Chris suggested we should have a break from rolling and have some fun with Andrew’s sea kayak. So we all had a go at doing some self-rescues. Some proved more successful than others, which was amusing and a welcome break from rolling.
That evening we all went off to watch some videos Chris had taken of us during the day. This proved very useful as we could all pick out the areas where we needed to makes adjustments to our technique.
The next morning we were all feeling a bit achy and tired therefore as a result the morning wasn’t so successful… Until Chris came in with tea and biscuits, which put a smiles on everyone’s face! After the little break things started going much more smoothly and I managed to do many successful rolls without the aid of the paddle float. So off we went to lunch again with a big smile on my face!
The afternoon went just as well and I came away very happy with my progress and confident I can continue to improved with the technique we were taught. I think the others would also agree they came away happy all having being able to do successful rolls.We all dried off and had a de-brief with Chris. We said our goodbyes and all set off on our long drives home.
The team and Chris our coach
Overall it was a fantastic weekend at Plas y Brenin, I was very impressed with the facilities and coaching. Everyone was looked after very well and I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to master the art of rolling!
So a big thanks to all the staff and Chris our coach! And I hope all my fellow course students continue to improve their roll and I hope to see you out on the water!
Mexico: A place famed for its white sunny beaches, ancient Mayan ruins and steep creeks! This guide is aimed as a helpful information pack, which I hope might make planning your trip a little easier.
When to come: We arrived on the 10th of October and left on the 13th of November, before this is the rainy season and following this is a drier period. It seems like October/November is a popular time of year, as there were plenty of other kayakers.
Over the time we were their we saw fairly low water levels, it only really rained twice, but their was still plenty to paddle.
How to get here: After much research on flights it was decided we would fly with Virgin as they take kayaks for free. The negative side of this plan was that they only fly into Cancun, which is a 3 day drive up to Tlapacoyan (where the bulk of kayaking is)
It must be said that Virgin were great to fly with and very helpful with the kayaks.
It cost us roughly £700 for direct flights from the UK. If you fly into Mexico City its only a 5 hour drive to Tlapacoyan.
Currency: The MexicanPeso. In 2012 it was 20 Peso’s to £1. This definitely made the British Pound feel like a strong currency.
Language: Everyone speaks Spanish, and only a few speak English. But speaking fluent Spanish is not essential, as we proved! It always seems to work out somehow or another.
Living expenses: We traveled around allot, and found that living expenses varied quite a bit. In general if you are in a city it willbe more expensive than in a smaller town. On average I probably spent about £7 a day on food and £4 on accommodation.
Accommodation: In big cites such as Cancun you can expect to pay about £20 – £30 for a three person room, however when you get into smaller towns prices drop to more like £10 – £15 for a three person room.
In Tlapacoyan we stayed with Aventurec, who are a family run raft company with accommodation set amongst their beautiful sight. They have three different options: camping, a bunk style hostel and several different size Cabanas. We hired one of their larger Cabanas which slept 9 of us (£3 per night per person, amazing value). They can provide awesome breakfasts and dinners for a reasonable price. They are able to provide transport from and too the river, as well a hiring out a modern fleet of boats – this makes it possible to fly into Mexico city without boats or having to hire a car and Aventurec can provide the rest – http://www.aventurec.com/
Food: Tacos, Tacos and more Tacos! Possibly not as you imagine. The Mexican taco’s back home in the UK are a bit of a lie! In reality when you order Tacos you usually get 5 small taco wraps, usually fried often with a kebab type meat on top, finished with some chopped vegetables and chili sauce. These definitely became our stable, some of us loved them, others, myself included were not so fussed. One of my favorites was the BBQ chicken experience – you see a few of these about and its all about finding the right one! When by the sea, make sure you try some fresh fish, you will often see the Fishermen brining in a healthy haul each morning.
Beer: Of course this is an important substance on any kayaking holiday, expect to pay 10 -15 Peso’s (50p – 80p) per bottle.
Getting Around: We hired two cars to get about in, which worked out as £1350 per car for 5 weeks. The cars we had were Dodge Journeys, a very comfortable 2 wheel drive SUV. These did the job very well, they were capable of taking 5 people, with all our kit and kayaks. A 4 by 4 is not really necessary but some of the put in & take out roads can be interesting!
Before leaving people had told me that driving around Mexico was dangerous, we did not really find this to be the case. There is a well developed road system across Mexico. For the longer drives I would recommend using the toll roads, these tend to be in good condition and allow you to comfortably drive at 70MPH. They do charge, but I think they are worth while and are definitely safer to drive on. The free roads (Libre) do the job around towns, and for getting to places which do not have a toll road. Beware of the speed bumps, they jump out of nowhere and will send you and your mates through the roof!
Police: Its worth knowing a little about the ‘Long arm of the Law’ In 5 weeks we were stopped countless times by different road blocks (set up to stop drug trafficking) Have your passport, drivers license, rental documents and passenger passports to hand. They may ask to check around the car, this usually did not take long. Some are serviced by army personnel and others by police, the army tended to be less corrupt and more friendly, but have bigger guns! We ended up paying three bribes; one because the Police were being naughty, one because I was being naughty (I ran a red) and the other because we were in Mexico City with the wrong type of number plate.
Hospitals: No trip seems to be complete without a visit to the hospital, on this trip we had to deal with a broken back. The hospital care seemed OK, but nothing to advanced. We also had a trip to the dentist with a broken tooth, he did he a good job fixing it for a tenth of the UK price – Any fillings get them done out here!
Night Life: The classic tourist nightlife is in Cancun, as for the rest of Mexico, its how you find it and what you make of it. Locals always seemed friendly towards us, even when walking about some of the dingier parts of town.
Rivers: The following is not intended to be a river guide, just some helpful information on the rivers that we paddled. Many of the following rivers are quite steep and technical, and as such are filled with horizon lines, Mexico has its fair share of clean drops and slides, but also its fair share of the bad and ugly, so don’t be lazy, get out and scout!
Tlapacoyan area
Filobobos ruins section (class 2 – 3+): A good off the plane warm up run. This section takes you down cliff lined jungle on fun boulder garden rapids. It is used as one of the local raft runs. For added perks there is a Mayan temple hidden within this section, although I must confess we never found it
Rio Alseseca Is one of the main rivers in Tlapacoyan, here are a few different sections:
Road side section (class 4 – 4+): A classic creek. Bed rock fun that just keeps giving in a pool drop style. This is a great run for most abilities, everything here can be scouted with ease, and portaged if necessary. The first third of the run is filled with fun drops and slides which will bring you down to S-Bend, the main event. S-bend is an impressively long, steep slide (portage left if you don’t fancy it) Some ways after this you will go under a small concrete bridge, which is a possible take out. Other wise carry on down to the main road bridge and take out on the left.
Photographer: Jeff Colgrove
Big Banana section (Class 4 – 5): Wow. This run is a definite step up from roadside and it holds some amazing white water. This is a run not to be taken lightly, the put in is hard to find and it can take quite some time to paddle your way down the river on your first time (it took us 6 hours) so best to find someone to show you the way. In this section you will find some classic drops such as Silencio (40 foot boof), Meat locker (a double drop affair) and many other fun drops. Towards the end of the run you find your self in the Pesmar section, and then take out at the road bridge before Tomata one.
Photographer: Jeff Colgrove
Pesmar section (class 3-4): A shorter but fun section.From Tomata falls carry on driving up the hill for roughly 2km, on a tight left hand bend you will see a turn off for a camp ground. Drive down here and put on for a shorter section back to the main road bridge. The main event in here is a fun double drop.
Tomata 1 (20m Water fall): Its big, and scary, but its flat above and flat bellow! There are two lines one on river left, and one that is right of centre. When we were there I opted for the right of center line, which has a harder lip, but bigger boil. The important thing to realize is that Tomata 2 lurks just bellow! Once you have run it, paddle the next small drop, and take out immediately in the small pool on river right. From here traverse along the river bank for 30 meters or so (in a downstream direction), then climb out, and pull the boats up with throw bags afterwards.
Photographer: Jeff Colgrove
Upper Jalacingo (class 4-5): Another jungle filled event. It has a few magical drops such as Bukaki, which is a steep, twisting slide straight into a 20 footer it looks like nothing else! The rest of the run is a mix with the good, bad and ugly, so don’t be to surprised when you are walking yet another rapid! Again this is the kind of run which would be sped up massively with someone knowing the lines, and showing you where to portage. There is a longer portage near the beginning of the river around a nasty 50 footer. Its also worth noting that the put in and take out tracks are quite steep and bumpy.
Photographer: Jeff Colgrove
North of Tlapacoyan
Cascada Micos (Class fun?): The Rio Micos is a playground for kayaks. Located a few miles west of Ciudad Valles is the rafting company called ‘Aldea Huasteca’. They have several beautiful Cabanas located at the get off for the Micos. Accommodation worked out at about £6 per person per night. Its a brilliant clean camp, surrounded by mountains with nice facilities.
The Rio Micos has an intriguing geography to it, Its formed by episodic deposition of Calcite which comes from the high mineral content in the water. The accumulation of these minerals over the steep gradient of the river bed forms dams, which form water falls for us to paddle on. The Calcite in the water is also responsible for the funky blue colour of the water.
To find the put-in, drive from the camp ground on river right for approximately 3 – 4 km. You will come to a lay by with locked metal gates. Walk down from here to find a large bore water pipe, follow the steps down to a big pool below a 70 foot water fall.
The Micos is a completely different kayaking experience and is the very definition of ‘Pool drop’ Each pool is separated by a river wide horizon line, simply pull up to a shallower part of the lip, peer over the edge, and spot your line, brilliant! The main event is a very clean 30 foot fall on the right, or a slide into a 20 foot drop on the left. We lapped this one 10 times in one run.
Photographer: Tim Hunt
Salta(class 3 – 4): The Salta is the upper section to the Micos. Put in on the small road bridge over the Dam canal, be careful of the first small drop – a fast shoot with a cave on the right. Following this is a fun 15 footer. The rest of the river is filled with shallow ledge drops, which reminded me of a garden water feature. Take out river left above the very large cascade, you can get a beer in the bar that over looks it.
Río Santa María: We paddled the section above the Cascada de Tamul. I would not recommend it to anyone, there are many long flat sections which link the gorges and they are filled with horrendous Sieves – Don’t do it!
South of Tlapacoyan
Agua azul: We had seen some amazing photos published in Kayak session showing off vivid blue water dropping over waterfalls. As it was on our way back to Cancun we thought we might stop in. The Agua azul, is located in the state of Chiapas, 60km from Palenque. When we arrived we were not particularly inspired by what we found – heaps of low volume falls and slides, most of which were a no go. Instead we spent our time swimming in the pools. Perhaps with more time and energy you might find the goods?!
The Oro: The Rio Oro is a rare beast, crystal blue water carves it’s way down through glorious dark basalt gorges, pool drop rapids await at each corner until she finally gives way to the much warmer Gulf Of Mexico.
You need to drive to the small village of Punta Roca Partida, ask for a man named El Flaco. This sounds mad, but its what we did and it worked! On arrival we found El Flaco, who hooked us up with accommodation, food and showed us the put on to the river! To put in you have to walk for about an hour across various farmers fields, so you will need his help. Once on the river you will paddle a few fun class 3’s that lead you down into a couple of meaty pour overs. Its worth setting up safety here as they can hold boats.
Follow the river down to a big horizon, here you will find a sweet looking 30 footer – we had an epic here, one of our group broke his back, which resulted in a 6 hour rescue. The lesson learned, don’t boof this one! If you decided to run this first fall you will be locked into the gorge, the only easy way out of here is to run the next 30 footer, which has a delicious rolling lip. If you don’t fancy these you can portage river right, and walk down to the bottom of the second drop.
From here follow the river down through easier water to where it meets the sea, enjoy surf, beer and food!
Photographer: Jeff Colgrove
Summary: Mexico as a kayaking location lends itself more to the advance paddler, with plenty of harder runs, and relatively few easy sections. So if your looking for a place to kayak countless waterfalls and steep slides in an exotic setting, this is a definite contender.
Less than 24 hours after landing in Chile, I was racing head-to-head on the Rio Nuble as part of Nuble Fest. Not quite how expected to be taking my first strokes in the country… in fact it had been quite a strange 24 hours. After a long flight I arrived in Temuco, only to find my boat and bag had inconsiderately not made the plane changes I had. I was met at the airport by a motley crew of paddlers, only one of whom I sort of knew and taken many hours north for a festival I´d never heard of.
My airport pick-up
Without my bag I had no camping gear, but miraculously the airline sent a driver up after us and my gear was delivered to me in the field we were making camp in for Nuble Fest 5 hours north of the airport! Good work TAM.
After a day of racing both in kayaks and rafts, there was a presentation party in the town square with dreadlocked rappers and old men with guitars. In state of jetlagged confusion I was presented with some medals, a bottle of wine and a giant cheque. Not a bad first day!
The next day we loaded up and hauled ass to the Rio Claro where we spent a couple of days paddling the beautiful clean waterfalls known as the 7 Teacups and 22 Saltos. The river was low, but this is a very cool place. Stunning tight canyons filled with a kayakers theme park of slides and drops.
Aside from the kayaking, we saw some cool wildlife… not least this “little” fella…
Soon it was time to head to Pucon, but I´m told no Chilean adventure is complete without some vehicle mishaps. On our 5 hour drive we broke down 4 times within the first 30 minutes (3 times within 500 metres!), the rough dirt road and heavy load having taken its toll on our suspension and tyres.
A couple of hours later another tyre started to warp and we were forced to chase around a random town trying to find somewhere to buy and fit a new one at gone 8pm. After several failed attempts we found a tyre in a big hardware store and a bloke with a roadside shack to fit it as the sun set.
We finally made it to Pucon at 4.30am… Quite the epic journey! So we´re now in Pucon and many more adventures have already been had. But now I should get off the internet and go paddling…
I’ve been paddling in the Spark suit since heading out to Italy in May and have been surprised by how good it is. I was therefore, really excited to be able to get my hands on the new Torrent suit a few weeks ago.
The suit is keeping me warm & dry but nothing I can do for my hands!
I’ve been running white water safety and rescue courses virtually none stop since getting hold of this sample suit and it’s stood up to my demands of the job incredibly well.
I’ve remained completely dry whilst jumping in and out of stoppers and lying in the water pretending to be injured for prolonged periods of time.
The material shows no signs of wear despite having been dragged over rocks, bushes and gravel (still pretending to be injured in the scenarios), so I think it’s going to be really durable.
I’ve noticed the new sock design is making it easier to put on my shoes and feels less bulky once on, which is a sweet improvement too.
The safety courses also have a paddling element and once on the water, the cut of the suit, the positioning and flexibility of the zip are the most notable improvements from the last generation of Torrent suits. If you try one on in the shops, you’ll notice the freedom.
#moretosafetyandrescuethanjustswimming This freedom of movement in this suit is great.
I also hear it will be available at your local dealer come the start of December, good news given the cold weather and heavy rain that is due!
The British Raft Race series came to Mid Wales for Remembrance Weekend. It was a weekend of rafting, partying and meeting loads of fab new people, and old friends, and enjoying this awesome sport together. It was a truely international affair this year as we had the First Ladies Irish Rafting Team come over to race as well, and 20 teams of varying degrees of experience hoping to win the coveted Llandysul slate medals.
A beautiful start to a thrilling weekend.
What makes this race series so ‘Oarsome’ is that it is an open event for anyone who wants to have a go! There are Mens teams, Mixed Teams and of course Womens teams. But with most never having rafted before, the first thing we did on the morning of the first day was give people a few tips on how to raft, and we couldn’t resist giving them a demo
Our demo run of the sprint, guns out!!
There were so many people taking part it felt like we were at a major competition in Europe!! And not wanting to let an opportunity for training pass us by, we treated it like one too – except obviously for the partying, and fancy dress, and getting a bit too tipsy and the horrible horrible hangover on the Sunday just in time for our endurance race…
20 teams of 6 people = ALOT of fun to be had, and the sun was shining!!
The races completed were a Time Trial around the lake followed by the Head to Head on the SLalom course, Slalom on the River Teifi course and Endurance, also on the river. The pressure was on though when we had to do the Slalom demo…you really don’t want to mess it up when everyone is watching…
Pole dodging on the slalom course
As we go in for the upstream gate check out Suze eye-balling the poles!! Go Girls!!
…but we didn’t, PHEW!
Team P.A.L.M (Party Animals Loving Mojitos) pulling out the stops!!
We came first overall in the Women’s teams but were really inspired by all the other teams who took part and gave it their all, especially if it was their first time! It was a really chilly weekend but you wouldn’t have guessed from all the smiling and warmth that people were showing.
It was an Oarsome weekend, with Oarsome company doing an Oarsome sport!! A HUGE thanks to all who helped organise it and also to all who took part. And a HUGE thanks to Palm, I think we were the warmest and driest team on the river.
The next open race of the series is in London on the 15th and 16th December. Come along and get involved!!!
We got a slate medal!! WOOP WOOP!! and we were lucky enough to be joined by Macy a member of our youth development squad!
First of all I owe Palm a big thank you for taking me into the team and helping me survive one more year as a white water kayaker. I have a really hard-work year behind me as I believe I have kayaked on average 1 to 2 times per day every day this year. Unfortunately mostly for work but still kayaking is a huge part of my life and I could not handle the costs of the gear overuse without the support of Palm and Dagger Europe. I do have to admit that even if I kayak on a certain level, I mostly kayak in a basic level gear, such as Vortex jackets, because they offer me the most freedom of movement and a refreshing feeling of lightness. I really don’t enjoy paddling in thick and heavy gear during the hotter days. Also for this reason, the one piece of gear that I appreciated the most this year was the Spark immersion suit.
Anyone that has tried paddling in a dry suit knows that it is a piece of gear that can replace numerous jackets, neoprene pieces and under layers. Dry suits are easy to dress, comfortable to wear and fast to dry. There are a lot of variations of kayak dry suits out there, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. A spark suit is an extreme case of a lightweight dry suit. The material is a thin 3-layer fabric, which is quite unusual for a dry suit. But the truth is that most of our paddling consists of shorter trips in less than extreme weather conditions. I can imagine that I would prefer a thicker, warmer and more abrasion resistant suit for a multi day trip somewhere cold but for anything other than that I prefer the feeling of freedom. I have never felt anything else but excitement in up to a few hour creeking missions and during the long hours of work and multi times dressing up and undressing the same suit and under layer on the colder and rainy days. And now that the autumn weather hit Europe I simply can’t imagine going paddling with anything else.
Next to the soft fabric the two most notable things about it are the flexible T-zip, which is kind of becoming a standard for all the kayaking dry suits, and its neoprene neck and ankle gaskets (now that it’s colder I prefer the socks version). Especially the neck gaskets seemed to have been accepted with mixed responses. Nobody likes the way latex feels on the neck too much. A big advantage of Spark suit gasket is that it will never stick to your skin, it is not as nearly uncomfortable to dress up and undress as the latex and it will last longer. I also haven’t noticed any difference in how much water leaks through the gasket. There is one problem though. Unlike latex you cannot cut the neoprene gasket and make it fit you. I am fortunate that my Spark fits my neck really well. I prefer it a lot compared to latex but I can imagine a frustration of a big neck kayaker not being able to do anything to make it fit.
To conclude, I can’t recommend the Spark suit enough to an average kayaker. It is an excellent piece of equipment for a great price. As written, that comes with the warning. Try it out first to see if the neck gasket fits you well. If it isn’t too tight you’re free to buy your new favourite piece of gear.
A lot has happened in the last months so here’s a taste of it: Some photos from the Adidas Sickline race and Učja creek, which is one of the best continuous class 5 (and more) technical creeks you can paddle and it is just 5 min away from my home. Thanks to Tony Demarco and Ryan Vekins for some photos. GoPro photo stream was made at Učja creek.
Here’s also a video of our trip to Switzerland this spring that was made by my friend Andrej Bijuklič . I was testing the Spark for the first time in some of the clips. I haven’t had the Dagger Mamba “speedboat” here yet so you’ll fiond me paddling the blue Burn.
Halloween is my birthday. Yes, I’m a witch! And what better way to celebrate than a quick mission to Scotland with about 45 friends / friends-of-friends?
With only a few days to spare (and one of them spent in A&E after an unfortunate, comedy-yet-totally-sober incident with a Giant Jenga set) we bagged only a few runs but I still managed to add a tick to my list with a lovely run down the Kiachnish.
But what trip to the Fort William area would be complete without the obligatory Etive day? There’s a reason this river is such a classic…
Matt Bostock… but wezzit? Answers on a postcard…
Hammer on Triple 2.
It was fantastic to catch up with so many old paddling buddies. That’s what makes paddling great really isn’t it? Your mates. So cheers to mine who helped me celebrate my birthday with a good mix of boating, float shenanigans and fancy dress! And rightfully took the mick for my Jenga brick incident…
Last weekend, similarly to Pringle, I spent my time at the Hurley Classic helping out at the Palm/Dagger stand and shooting a little photo and video. If you’d like to read about the weekend and for some more photos check out Pringle’s blog post: http://79.170.40.166/palmequipmenteurope.com/blogs/ww/hurley-classic-extravaganza/
Or if you’d like to watch a video, without further a due, my video wrap up of the Hurley Classic:
Sunshine, 3 Gates, Big Air & Good Friends – Hurley Classic 2012
When I first started competing the ‘Hurley Rodeo’ was the UK’s biggest event, drawing in paddlers from all across Europe for an aerial frenzy on the Thames.
In recent years the event has been on a much lower scale, largely due to poor levels, but this year Jacko from KayakoJacko went all out to bring the festival feel back and turn it back into the booming event it once was. With the boom that’s going on in freestyle right now it seems perfect timing to relaunch the event in this manner.
Jacko definitely didn’t disappoint! We had perfect levels, good weather and over 120 paddlers attending including all the big names: Peter & Nina Csonka, Mathieu Dumoulin, Quim & Nuria Fontane, UK’s Bren Orton & myself and Katya.
So we had World Champions, World Cup Champions, European Champions, Rider of the Year winners, National Champions & past Champions all gathered to do battle on one of the UK’s most iconic spots. Jacko had a treat lined up for us.
A very international eddy queue
Cheesy came down and put up the Palm & Dagger tent to show off the new kit and the Dagger Jitsu. We had all 3 sizes for people to try. They definitely fly here on Hurley!
First up was the final of the British League event. Your best two out of three 45 second rides gave you your final score. I had some great rides getting KY’s, Loops, AirScrews and Panams and thought I might have the win but as it turned out I ended up in 3rd place behind local favourite Alan Ward in 2nd and World Cup winner Peter Csonka taking the win. In the ladies Emily wall took the British title with Nina Csonkova taking the overall Win.
1st place to Peter Csonka
Saturday afternoon gave us a steep ramp into the Boatercross. Carnage ensued throughout but keeping the speed up and avoiding the crashes David Bain sprinted his way to the win.
Sunday was what the weekend was all about really, going big with our friends without the pressure of timed rides. It was a jam session format of 15 minutes and then a superfinals of ICF rules for the top 5. Unfortunately I was a bit too determined to get my KY and wasted too much time and finished way down the list but those who got the right tactic of going big but making sure to cram all their moves into their session came out on top.
Mathieu Dumoulin from France fighting hard into 2nd in the final
Palm’s Seppi going high – Exactly what the Classic is all about!
Palm’s Bren Orton went huge in the prelims and got everyone raving when he got his place in the senior mens final (he’s still a Junior), UK Champion Sam Anderson made it too then we had Quim, Mathieu, and Peter all there. The finals were a great display of the various styles but eventually Peters consistency edged ahead of Mathieu’s fluidity to take the Win, with Quim in 3rd. In the womens Nina Csonkova took the win again with Flea in 2nd place.
A little while ago I arrived home with a tan, a severely infected cut and some new friends on Facebook – every boy’s dream.
There’s no better place than Uganda to brush off the cobwebs from a long summer of working in the UK in preparation for the upcoming winter season! I spent five weeks of sessioning big waves, big rapids and playing Frisbee golf with a great bunch of people – what more could you want.
A nice cold soda after a day on the river.
We did a little filming while we were out there, so here’s a short video wrap up.
I’ve got a couple more weeks in the UK and I’ll be heading the Hurley Classic next weekend for some Thames freestyle action, the Gene 17 adventure paddlers weekend and then flying out to Chile for six weeks of waterfalling!
Matt Bostock… but wezzit? Answers on a postcard…
Hammer on Triple 2.
