First session in Lee Valley

London has never been an unknown white spot on my kayaking map. With Hurley Weir as one the country’s prime freestyle spots close by and a vibrant boater community living in the region, the metropolis of England has always ment more to me than Tower Bridge, Big Ben and the Queen.

But now, London has gainded one more attraction: the Lee Valley White Water Centre. As part of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, no efforts have been spared to create one of the most challenging and modern whitewater courses in the world.

Since I moved to Bristol about two weeks ago, there hasn’t been enough rain to get some of the notorious local creeks running. Hence, when Rowie from Palm asked me whether I was keen on checking out the Olympic course before the world’s best Slalom athletes would occupy it for their games, I was in. Rowie booked the course and invited all her paddling buddies. And off we went.

Despite the chilly February wind and rain, the course was full of people. Rafters, whitewater paddlers and slalom kayakers braving the weather. But before we could all join them on the water, we had to undergo a mandatory assessment by an expert, proofing that we were skilled enough to cope with the difficulties. I was highly amused when the guy came up to our group. It was my old friend Matt, whom I haven’t seen for years. So we had quite a lot of fun with him during the following hour.

The whitewater park is devided into two separate sections: the easier Legacy course and the full on Olympic course. While the Olympic one is really fast, pushy and packed with stronger holes and waves, the Legacy course is way more relaxed but still good fun containing some really nice play features like stern squirt eddies, surf waves and a hole for big loops and enders. Both end up in a large pool where two conveyor belts wait for you to bring you back up to the start.

After passing the assessment in our red bibs (showing that we were capable of avoiding a number of rafts banging around with lack of control) we were allowed to pay for more time on the water (10£ per hour) and had to change to orange bibs (cameras monitoring that you’re wearing the right one everywhere). We were surfing it up, racing against each other or just cruising down both sections numerous times until our time was up. Cold, tired but smiling from one ear to the other we got changed and headed to the local pub to celebrate the great session with a delicious pint.

Can’t wait to come back. It’s just a shame that London is so far away from Bristol. So let’s hope for rain and see you all on the Dart or the Lynn :).

Seppi

PS: I also had the pleasure to try out the brand new Spark Suit and AMP vest from Palm, both in lime green. Check out the photos. The combination looks wicked.