Summer Saviour

A dry spell over the last few days left me with no excuse but to get on with some work, fortunately I was reminded about the Moriston, which is releasing every tuesday afternoon throughout the summer. Bumping into a group from Sheffield Uni at the put in, it’s quite apparent that this reliable run is a pot of gold between downfalls in the west.

The fun rapids are split between two sections, the upper and the lower, doing laps of both is the best way to go about the afternoon as it only takes ten minutes to walk back to the top… please don’t paddle between the sections as it’s longer than you think! Here’s a quick look at the rapids…

 

Trying hard not to get slotted on the first drop of the upper, river left of the island. The middle of the V shaped drop is quite shallow so best to avoid it by pushing left or boofing off the right.

River right of the island at the top of the upper is much cleaner with a short but sweet lead-in to a ledge, it has given out a few kickings over the years but offers a great boof and anyone who’s a bit nervous can have plenty of saftey cover right next to them.

Half way down the upper this ledge creates a sticky hole against an undercut on the right. Without a half decent boof you take a chance on this one, I’ve seen it just spit people out after a quick backloop and I’ve also seen it recirculate swimmers.

After the ledge a short continuous section leads to a shallow playhole right next to the take out. Load up the boats and head down to the lower!

Again you have two options at the start of this section. Put in river left for the trickier drop (above) which has a slow lead in, making a clean line a little bit harder than you first think… I’ve done my best rock splat ever, totally accidental, against the undercut wall at the bottom of the drop in a Nomad! Also since it’s summer and there’s a bridge right below the drop, count on a coach full of carnage hungry tourists having cameras at the ready, (Below), to escape potential embarrassment go for the cleaner river right put in.

The main event of the lower section is the slide, just around the corner from the bridge. Keep left and hold on, it’ll put a huge smile on your face.

Don’t forget your playboat! At the bottom of the lower a little hole which is awesome for working on your ends, loops and blunts.

All in all, not a bad guarantee when everything else is dried up! Looks wet this weekend though, speaking with Dave and Rich it’s going to be an exciting one!

See you on the water

Ed