Happy Paddling New Year

Here's to a New Year and another chance for us to do the right thing in 2012... have some fun on the river!

Links section

A new link has been added (below right)  for the rainchasers.com site which has had a recent makeover and is looking very tidy.

THE GOAT WHISPERER

Disco Museum

Leaving Italy and our empty espresso cups behind,  back into France just in time to set up camp at Freissinières ; pizza, wine and early to bed nestled between the sweet smelling mountain pines.

A woodpecker's wake up call; Ticking off a somewhat lower than last year Ubaye Racecourse, Gyronde and  Lower Guisane  onto the various Guil sections which were all holding up.

The Upper Guil remained playful and without so much as an eddy out we continued straight into the Château Queyras Gorge, a section most notable by the guidebook description of: 
"just like being flushed down the toilet!"
 

Château Queyras Put In

 Middle Section

Take Out

So much fun in so few minutes, was it three or maybe even four? 

On a group high we moved onto the more punishing Middle Guil before ending the week on the Durance, playing the Rabouix wave and finishing back on a very low Gyronde.

Triple Step Curtain

 Le Tunnel 

Team France even flew by...  bet these ladies won't be smiling when they see the state of the roads on Box Hill come the London Olympics!

Allez vous en

So was it worth it?

  The Goat Whisperer

Yes,  I really could have stayed until the cows came home....
or is that a goat...?  Do they even have goats in Austria ?
....  and pizza !?!

We'll just have to wait for next year's trip to find out.


Rivers paddled: Ubaye Racecourse, Gyronde, Lwr Guisane, Upper Guil, Château Queyras, Middle Guil, Durance.   

Photo's Glyn & Chas.

RIGHT TO RHÔNE

The 2011 farewell tour rolled over the English Channel for summer's visit to the French Alps.

With dubious river levels  forecast we first headed for the Rhône Alps and Bourg St Maurice with it's guaranteed releases on the Isère river. After setting up camp we hit the lovely old town and enjoyed our first taste of French cuisine of the week... Pizza!

 

 

Menu looking good

The following morning we arrived at the Isère and were suitably impressed by the put in:

400m of Class IV gradient on the International Slalom site, fast and grabby,  immediately followed by 500m of Class III National Slalom site; a stiff introduction.

Good to go, we unloaded and ran a quick shuttle but to our surprise this was the same moment they had decided to turn off the release leaving us high and dry!

Fortunately this was only a two hour shut down and gave a chance for some throw line practise, sun worshipping and a laid back lunch.

Much needed practise

So when it came to eventually getting on we were perhaps a little too keen and hadn't inspected the top course carefully enough;  one by one we launched and into the first drop... a no warning diagonal... quelle surprise!  Everybody made the last gasp line down the centre slot and r/h eddy but the next 100 metres passed very quickly with Dolby ™ surround sound and an  HD visual experience both above and below the waves.

Phwoar!

Eat it

So onto the river proper, where we added paragliding/paddler German Georg to the group. The  Isère really was worth the visit, 9k of class III followed by 9k of class IV with some notable rapids, big long wavetrains and even a lovely gorge towards the end.

Isère Gorge

Not knowing when the taps were being turned off we blasted down at break-neck speed completing 20k in just two hours.  So much fun that we went back the following day with Georg and repeated the run.  Once again at high speed before making the 4 hour scenic drive over the mountains through Italy and our next seven day camp in Hautes Alps.

 Italia bound

 

   Bellisima!

Rivers paddled: Isère International Slalom Site,  Isère National Slalom site,   Isère to Gothard and Centron.


To be continued......

Who is Number One?

Be seeing you!

Today the Lee Valley Olympic Whitewater Centre began assessments for park n'play kayakers by introducing a members only policy for all those wishing to embrace the waters.

As part of the very first group to be assessed I got to claim the  Number One membership badge, how cool is that? ( ...for any Prisoner fans).

If Stenna made whitewater parks...

The hour and half assessment started with a flatwater paddle through slalom gates with a roll, before moving on to mainlining the Legacy Course (this is similar in grade to The Nene excepting that it's maybe four times wider so a really nice introduction to eddy hopping, wave, hole and river running skills). We ran this again, making nominated slalom gates and eddies, before moving on to bottom drops of The Olympic course for more of the same. Watching from the eddy as the first candidate dropped over the horizon and pulled three massive enders (in a H3) before being exiting the hole.... and all this was happening in London!  Then we ran the entire course showing various pilot skills as per examiner.



This course is said to hold possibly the best artificial whitewater in the world and it really is pretty damn funky; Nice horizon lines, alpine wave trains, surging eddy lines and generally powerful class IV whitewater from top to tail, add in large rubber buses and it makes for a challenging but funtastic way to spend an hour or two in the sun; in fact once the test was over our group stayed on for an additional hour of pay per play before getting off and having the obligatory mug-shot taken for our new members passes.

If only Boris could bring out assessments for drivers on the M25, we might all get home a little quicker next time!

Marathon Man

Is it safe..?  Is what safe?

Getting into a two man marathon kayak and racing 125 miles from Devizes Wiltshire to Westminster Bridge  in just 26 hours!

Former CAP stalwart  Nobby Clark (left)  fulfilled a lifetime's ambition when he actually found someone foolish enough to partner him in his elusive dream of chasing fame, fortune and a walk on part in  ITV2's drama-doc "The only was is Essex".

In an exclusive interview with the CAP blog he said afterwards..
" Every one should try it once,  flat water can be harder than it looks."


Whatever tickles your vagazzle!

Lord Of The Rings

Today I was passing close to the Lee Valley Whitewater Course and payed them a 'surprise inspection' visit primarily to check if they've been pulling their socks up to just above the knee and also because I'm a nosy bleeder who can't wait to see the water we'll be visiting over the summer months.

As the centre is still officially 'in construction' with no public access permitted, Security asked for my credentials before admitting me..

It's amazing what a quick flash of  'The Cardiff Challenge'  kayak medallion can do. When I informed them that only three have ever been minted; the red carpet was rolled out and 'access all areas' status granted with my very own eager to please tour guide who took me by request straight to the deep end...

The Olympic Course...

The 300 metre competition course has a drop of 5.5 metres, for an average slope of 1.8% (18 m/km) and a pump-powered streamflow of 15 cumecs per second , 4 out of 5 pumps were working and the Slovenian National Team were practising as well as some rafts.


 The crystal clear green water runs deep and powerful with small confused eddys, multiple pourover drops and  a mother of a hole 3/4 way down. Ideal for playboats.  High concrete walls on either side with only an occasional take out opportunity for swimmers and rafting evacuees. An open plan conveyor belt effortlessly takes rafts and boaters from the lake to the start point. Photography was prohibited so you'll have to imagine the scene below with freshly laid turf.

 The centre boasts an excellent viewing gallery with lots of party room, the cafeteria was small, unimpressive and not up to the CIWW standard, the same can also be said of the changing rooms
(who really needs fancy digital lockers)?



The reception staff were friendly and welcoming, despite having a morbid fixation that when the doors are thrown open to the thrill seeking park n'play brigade next weekend an air-ambulance will be permanently shuttling casualties to A&E;  perhaps they've been tipped off by Cardiff that Mike is planning another club trip?

Can I get off now please?