Team Pyranha Blog » David Fairweather

Last Stop on the Road Trip: Norway

David Fairweather — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:22:23 +0000

The big hit on the Upper Driva (photo: Pat Clissold)

The final destination for our summer road trip was Norway, my first visit to Northern Europe’s whitewater Mecca, but certainly not my last. Bex and I spent an incredible few weeks in Southern Norway, firstly being shown the classics around Sjoa and Otta, and then joining up with a couple of other British boaters to catch a few other late season runs. There have been plenty of posts about the quality of Norway’s whitewater rivers, so I’ll spare the words and just leave you with some photos from our travels in Norway.

Classic Pool-Drop on the Upper Rauma (photo: Hick Norwood)

Tearing up the Sjkak wave in the Z:one (photo: Pat Clissold)

Tom Parker on Ulla 1

Classic Powerful water on the Lagen Canyon (photo: Carl Mitchel)

Bex enjoys the Scenery on the Driva

Enjoying van living, even in the Norwegian rain

Upper Bovre (photo: Pat Clissold)

In all, it has been an amazing summer, taking in some of the best whitewater in France, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Norway. Four months of boating and that is barely the tip of the iceberg for European paddling, which suits me just fine as that means i will have to get back in the van as soon as possible and go and explore the rest. For now I’m preparing for the UK winter season, kicking off with a couploe of coaching clinics and a big party at PyranhaFest in September.

On the road… (photo: Pat Clissold)

More Euro tripping…

David Fairweather — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:02:54 +0000

Bex leading the way on the Soca

It’s been a few weeks since Bex and I packed up the van and left the rivers of the French Alps, and it’s been a busy few weeks. Starting with a week of work and play in Slovenia, we met up with Chris and Tom at the Soca and had a fantastic time coaching during the days with a great group and getting a few cheeky runs in on the Trnovo to Kobarid section in the evening.

Playtime on the Soca (photo: Chris Eastabrook)

Contary to popular belief, there is more than one river in Slovenia. Bex and I headed across to the beautiful tonw of Bled and had a fun run down the Sava Bohjinca with a local raft guide. Both the town and the river are well worth checking out if you are in the area.

Fun times on the Sava Bohjinca (photo:Bex Pipe)

Next up was Austria ; we started with a few days in and around Lienz, there is no shortage of paddling around here, not to mention the climbing, mountain biking, and trekking. The rivers offered a nice mix of low volume continuous runs, especially the stunning Shwarzach, and bigger volume play runs such as the Drau and Isel. The Z:one worked a treat on the bigger volume rivers, even managing a few ends in the playhole in town.

Playboating the way it used to be done… (photo: Bex Pipe)

Continuous fun on the Shwarzach (Photo: Bex Pipe)

From Lienz headed north to Lofer for the Saalach and it’s tributaries and then on to the classic Alpine runs around Landeck and Oetztal. I hadn’t been to this area in summer for a good eight years, so I was like an excited puppy running about trying to get as many of these classic runs that I remember getting a few exciting lessons on all those years ago…

The beautiful Hasselbach flowing into Lofer (photo: Bex Pipe)

In what seemed like no time at all, it was time to head to the airport to collect fellow team paddler Paul for and action packed (and coffee-fuelled) two-and-a-bit days in Bavaria and the Upper Rhine. We are currently on the long drive North towards Norway and I’m not sure if it’s the excitment or just the coffee that’s making me twitch…

Summer Lovin’

David Fairweather — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:27:30 +0000

It’s summer, which means it’s road trip time, and where better for a road trip than Europe, following the paddling season as it progresses North from the South of France, up to the Fjords of Norway.

Bex and I are currently in France, soaking up the sunshine and getting a few early season runs in. If you are out and about on the continent this summer and see us about in the van then do come and say hello. We also have a whole bunch of Pyranha spares, so if your boat needs a bit of attention then we might be able to sort you out.

Anyway, here are a few photos from the trip so far, I’ll post occasionally over the summer as we progress…

Wet West Paddle Fest

David Fairweather — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:11:59 +0000

Ben White hucks with Style on the Morriston

This weekend saw over three hundred people from all over the country, and beyond, head to Fort William in Scotland for the West West Paddle Fest, the event that signals the end of summer and the start of another whitewater season in the UK. As with previous years, the folk at the SCA and the big group of volunteers put on a fantastic event, with scheduled dam releases on the Garry and Morriston and a super hero themed party that brought out costumes ranging from sublime to ridiculous to obscene.

Fun on the first drop of the Morriston

There was a whole lot of carnage going on on both days, especially on the Morriston, but despite a few broken bits of kit and some damaged egos, I think the weekend passed without any major injuries. The rivers were cracking, but for me, the real highlight of the weekend is catching up with a whole bunch of people and hearing everyone’s stories of summers of adventure and mis-adventure from around the world. Thanks to all involved in the organisation for another great event, looking forward to the same again next year….

Bring on Pyranha Fest next weekend…

Morocco Part 1

David Fairweather — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:09:19 +0000

A bunch of us are just back from a short trip to Morocco to sample some of the incredible scenery, famously hospitable people, amazing food, and of course the whitewater that the country has to offer. Just a short flight from the snow of the UK landed us in sun drenched Marrakesh and from there we hit the road looking for rivers…

Chris Eastabrook flying in his Everest

The aim was for a relaxed trip, and we certainly achieved that, with some beautiful long trips through some deep sandstone gorges and low stress multi-day paddling. the whitewater isn’t the hardest, but the scenery is incredible.

The Everests really came into their own when loaded up with multi-day kit and on the longer paddles where the extra speed was certainly appreciated. When we found a long stretch of almost Corsica-esque bouldery grade 4, they were responsive enough to deal with tight and twisty rapid, even fully loaded.

Tom Parker and Chris Eastabrook in a deep gorge

Chris has stayed out there for another couple of weeks and the last we heard, was headed for the Dades Gorges in a bus, so keep your eyes peeled for an update from him in a week or so…

BCU Student Safety Symposium

David Fairweather — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:53:12 +0000

The Student Safety Symposium is always a good weekend. Put a whole bunch of students together for a weekend and you’ve already got a recipe for fun, but then throw in a selection of great coaches and a program packed full of workshops, Q & A sessions, lectures and on the water coaching sessions covering everything from steep creeking to beginner trips; and you get a great weekend that everyone gets a lot out of and enjoys being a part of.

This year, was a great success and as ever it was a pleasure to be involved and to work with some really enthusiastic students. There were a whole bunch of Pyranha paddlers helping out with the coaching and it was great to see the students making good use of the fleet of Burns and Ammos available for demo. during the weekend I was on a Q & A panel on overseas trips and it was inspiring to find out how many students are keen to get out and get involved in more adventurous trips and expeditions.

Hundreds of people are introduced to kayaking each year through universities, so it feels good to be involved with helping to make that a safe and positive introduction. More importantly, there were some great parties. Cheers to all involved for a most memorable weekend. Here’s looking forward to next year’s…

Coast to Coast in a Speeder

David Fairweather — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:19:55 +0000

The Great Glen in Scotland is a beautiful part of the world, a fault line running diagonally across the highlands formed three long deep lochs (Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness) which were joined in the 1800′s by the Caledonian Canal, allowing boats to travel across the country from Fort William to Inverness. This seemed like the perfect summer mission for the Speeder.

Jelly fish in Loch Linnie

Starting in Loch Linnie, a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland, it took two and a half days of relaxed paddling to reach our destination of Inverness on the East coast. The Speeders were perfect for the trip, meaning that we could load up with all the comforts needed to make it a relaxed journey (tea, a few single malts, a good book etc…), and still be fast enough to cover the distance in a good time. They also meant that we could blast down the River Ness at the end of Loch Ness and stop for a play on the Stanley section of the Tay on the way home.

Caledonian Canal at Corpach

Tea break on Loch Lochy

Heading out onto Loch Ness from Fort Augustus

Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness

Thankfully the weather held out for us, making for some superb views. A great trip all round, I just need to figure out where to take the speeder next…

Thule Bheri

David Fairweather — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:16:51 +0000

Passing Tibrikot Gompa at the start of the river

We have just got back to Pokhara after sucessfully paddling the Thule Bheri River in Western Nepal, and oh boy, what a river! The town of Juphail at the top of the river can only be reached by a short flight or a very long hike, we chose the first option. The river starts with some incredible views of the surrounding peaks before entering the first gorge where the action really starts…

The start of the hard paddling, from here it just keeps going

…and once it starts, it doesn’t stop. The river remains at incredible quality continuous class 4/5 for the rest of it’s 100 km length. Fresh snow on the surrounding hills meant that for our first day on the river we had high levels and grey water, making for an intense time in the first gorge.

The fun continues on the second day…

…and the third…

…and the fourth.

In total, the Thule Bheri provided us with four days of quality whaite water paddling, a short hike around a fearsome looking 5/6 gorge, and a long flat paddle from the confluence with the Sani Bheri, where the two rivers combine to form the Bheri river, before reaching the road and a combination of busses and jeeps to take us back to the comforts of Pokhara.

Day 5: a long, hot, flat paddle out on the Bheri

Many thanks to Andy Sommer of Shiva Outdoors for all the help on the trip.

Photos: David Fairweather, Giles Bruinning, Chris Smith

A Nepalese warm up

David Fairweather — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:58:20 +0000

Greetings from Kathmandu.

Hard lines in the gorges of the Upper Bothe Khosi

Three of us (myself, Giles Brunning and Chris Smith) arrived in Nepal five days ago for three weeks of quality Nepalese whitewater. Our primary intention is a descent of the Thule Behri river in the West of the country, a river that is seldom paddled despite a reputation for being on of the best hard multi-day rivers in the country. So far we have hooked up with Andreas, a german boater with all the local knowledge that we need, and we’ve been warming up on the Bothe Khosi, Upper Bothe Khosi and the Thamba Khosi.

Chris on the Bothe Khosi

The Burns have been looking after us, even when I decided to take mine for an extended side-surf session in a sticky hole on the Upper Bothe Khosi gorges. We are all feeling suitably warmed up and excited about heading west to the Thule Bheri, tomorrow we have a long drive and a short flight followed by five days on the river. Enjoy the pictures from our warm up and stay tuned for futher updates on our progress…

Kayak transport in Thamel

“Mummy, can I have one of these for christmas?”

Photos by David Fairweather & Chris Smith