Continue reading »]]>

Within a year of learning how to roll, I put a Uganda trip to surf the Nile Special on my ‘to-do’ list.  For the past 3 years I have been haphazardly making plans and searching flights to Entebbe, hoping to check it all out before the dam flooded the top section.  Finally, this November Craig Kleckner, Dave Fusilli, Jessica Yurtinus, and myself spent 3 weeks on the White Nile; surfing the Special and paddling some of the biggest whitewater I have ever experienced.  And with some bittersweet luck, we paddled the top rapids 2 days before the dam was actuated and they were buried under the Nile Reservoir.

Surrounded by spectators, tourists, and a painter, Dave paddles Bujagali Falls only days before the Bujagali dam started submerging the upper rapids.

When we visit Bujagali Falls 3 days later, the scene is quite different.  Half of the rapid has been swallowed and trash floats in the newly formed eddy above what used to be dry rocks.  There are still people along the banks, but the town is quieter than before.   Bujagali Falls and the whitewater rafting of this section was a prime tourist attraction.  Will tourists continue to come and see the Nile Reservoir?  It is uncertain, but regardless, the locals who will experience whatever changes this dam brings will not benefit from the power it will produce.  We hear about similar circumstances constantly, but it was powerfully emotional to witness such a deep-lasting event, if only superficially and for a brief moment.

Left: The brown claw IS universal.

Right: We never saw any hippos, crocs, or other typical African megafauna….But, we saw plenty of harmless & venomous snakes.

Dave above and below clean blunting the JEDi prototype, which proved to be super fast, loose, and an overall awesome big wave surf kayak.

After spending  our first days at Kayak the Nile’s Jinja compound, we moved to the Hairy Lemon Island for the rest of our time in Uganda.  With delicious meals, friendly staff, and a mere 15 minute paddle to the special, the Hairy Lemon was a wonderful, relaxing place to live for 2.5 weeks.

Left: That’s what friends are for?

Right: The Hairy Lemon = Kayaker’s Paradise

Craig Kleckner doing some good stuff

Nothing beats a Nile Special at the Nile Special.

Stoked I finally made  it to surf the Nile!!

Craig getting in a last surf before floating down to the Lemon & the delicious meal that awaited.  I finally made it to the Nile. Now I can’t wait until I can go back…  with a SMALL JEDi!!!!

Continue reading »]]> Fast and slow

Another great year of the Adidas Sickline race is over. The results are in, the final ceremony is over and competitors around the world are heading back home or on to their next adventure. After two weeks of training, racing, sleeping and eating with the world elite in extreme kayak racing I would like to share some of the thoughts, plans, ideas and routines we all had during Sickline. If you are planning to go to a race in the future, whatever ambitions you have, hopefully the guidelines in this article will help you along the way.

Choosing the right equipment

The most important thing you need to be asking yourself before going to a race is what equipment will you be using.

What clothing should I use? A thumb rule I always like to stick to is picking the lightest and most maneuverable clothing that will still keep you warm. If you have a dry suit or a dry top with a latex gasket make sure it is not too tight and that you can breathe properly without discomfort.

What paddle should I use? The size, shape and length of your paddle really comes down to personal preference, but if your paddle is too short for you with too small blades you will find yourself wasting your energy overpowering the paddle, and your paddle will fall short of your own strength.  If it is too long with bigger blades then your strength will simply not be enough to make your paddle do the strokes it is able to do. A little trick to test this is to do 100 forward strokes at full sprint on flat water and if your last stroke is as powerful as your first but you are too tired to do many more then your paddle suits you fine.

What kayak should I use? The choice of kayak is going to be your most important one. The first thing you need to know is the length limit on the kayaks at the competition you are going to, usually between 260-270cm. Before choosing a kayak I would like to discuss a few facts about speed, length, shape and weight. What makes a fast kayak? There is a big difference between a fast kayak on flat water and a fast kayak in whitewater. What makes a kayak fast on flat water comes down to how much friction you have between the kayak and the water, and how much water has to move out of the way to let your kayak go forward. A pointy kayak with a round hull and little rocker will slice through the water with great speed, while a stubby kayak with a big rocker and a flat bottom hull will be pushing more water in front of you making it slower. What makes a kayak fast in whitewater (only while going through waves, holes or drops) comes down to staying on top of the water as much as possible, keeping your speed through drops and holes. A stubby kayak with a big rocker and a flat hull will do this with ease while a pointy round bottom kayak will tend to get submerged and pushed back by holes and waves making you loose valuable speed. When it comes to the weight lighter is always better but in the end it doesn’t make much difference. Let’s say we have one kayak that weighs 18kg and one that weighs 24kg. That’s a 6kg difference. Then we have a kayaker that weighs 75kg plus gear that weighs 5kg. That makes the whole package on the water 98kg with the 18kg kayak and 104kg with the 24kg kayak. 98kg and 104kg is not a big difference. However you will notice a difference every time you are carrying your kayak to the top of the course again. Then which kayak is the fastest one? There is a perfect kayak for every person and every racecourse but it will differ depending on the size, length and weight of the kayaker and the style of the racecourse. Though, something I always like to stick to is having a fast flat-water kayak for easier courses and more full on creeker for harder more technical courses. In the end the best kayak for you on a specific course will only help you if you have a perfect line. If you make mistakes then it doesn’t matter how fast your kayak is.

Training

If your goal is to go all the way to the win or battle for those top positions in a competition then training is essential. You need to make yourself familiar with the racecourse and know every line and paddle stroke in detail. A minimum of 7 days of training on the course is essential to get you in top shape. Here are a few tips on how to spend your days leading up to the race. Put everything in a morning and afternoon session with at least 3 hours of rest in between. Make no single session longer than 3 hours. If you are too tired you won’t learn anything new. It is good to spend your first 3-4 sessions only trying and scouting different lines. Divide the racecourse up in different parts. Race them individually and get plenty of rest in between. A very good tool I use is the Go Pro helmet camera. Have it roll through every one of your rides and watch it all later and compare what lines are the faster ones. On your 5-8^th session (day 3 and 4) it is time to start doing race runs. Race like it is your competition run. It is essential to start racing as soon as you know your lines. Keep your Go Pro rolling. Here’s a little trick that will give you a goal for the last days before the competition. Compare all the footage from your training sessions and edit together all the fastest and most perfect lines to one ride of the whole racecourse. You now have your perfect dream run. Use that time as a reference and try to beat it with a single run in the days to come. For me during the Sickline race my dream run was 56.00 seconds and the closest I got to it on a single run was 58.10 seconds. If you nail that time in your race then you know you have done your best and after that you can just wait and see how far that got you on the ladder. If you completely mess your competition rides up then tough luck, it happens but it is still fun to see how close you would have been to the top if you had your dream run and how much work you need to put in to take the title next year.

For me this years Sickline has been very memorable and giving but now this season is over and all I can do is to start preparing for next season. With new thoughts and ideas I am now ready and have a working routine and a perfect setup of gear ready for a whole new season of kayaking and racing. I hope my ideas and routines have been helpful and that they will help you to prepare and perform your best in your next race.

Happy paddling and see you on the river.

Anton Immler

Continue reading »]]> Late summer in the southeast doesn’t leave a whole lot of options for kayaking except on dam release runs. Wanting to get on something new, myself and a small crew went and checked out North Harper Falls, a waterfall in the Upper Wilson Creek Drainage. After a 2 mile hike/bushwack, we found a huge runnable waterfall with a somewhat green landing but after a little scout decided it was good to go even at, oh about 12 cfs.

Turn out the hit was not even that bad, and its a great place to practice paddle tosses and stomping down, because it does want to kick you flat. This would a really awesome, high quality drop with a lot of water, so I am hoping to get back out there this year with water.

Continue reading »]]> The Seiler brothers running one of many waterfalls on the N.F. American River “Royal Gorge” photo: Robby Hogg
Sunday morning July 10th 2011 I awoke with a plan. After catching word from friends the previous week about the classic California class 5 overnighters’ finally “dropping in” to runnable levels, a dream inspired me to hop on a plane to go kayak some of the best rivers on the planet!

While lying in bed after an intense dream about kayaking the infamous Royal Gorge of the N. Fork of the American river, I had run once before 4 years ago, I sent a text message to my brother Graham that read, “Let’s go to the Royal Gorge this week!” Expecting him to question my sanity, he instead responded with a simple, “OK”.

With that response, I went online to find plane tickets. 440 bucks round trip from Newark, New Jersey to Reno, Nevada…a little steep but not bad for last minute, and with some money saved up from working all spring and summer it seemed worth every penny! I then called my good friend in nearby Truckee CA and team Pyranha paddler, Shannon Carroll, and asked her if she knew of any used Burns we could buy out there for a two week Cali kayaking trip (so we didn’t have to fly with boats)…and… if she could pick us up at the airport? She did, and would! I told her to buy the boats and I would pay her back, hoping that I could sell them after our two week trip. Then, I called Dave Fusilli, while on the Demshitz tour in the Pacific Northwest, and got him to pick us up 2 Werner Powerhouse paddles’ from the Kayak Shed in Hood River OR and hand them off to Evan Garcia and Fred Norquist of Bomb Flow TV, to bring to Cali on their way down.

The final plan was to fly out tuesday morning with just helmets, life jackets, skirts and other checkable essentials and meet up with Shannon and the boys tuesday afternoon, pack boats, and put on the Royal Gorge Wednesday morning. It was a tight schedule, but fully doable, and it worked magically!

Quite possibly the most EPIC Royal Gorge trip in history, our group of 12 had 4 “Royal Flushes”, meaning 4 kayakers in the group ran every big drop on the river, and 5 others, Graham, Shannon and myself included, ran all but one, (the one being “Scotts Drop”, a nasty complex two stage 100 footer, 40 vert to rolling 60).
Shannon and I stoked!
Shannon Carroll on Heath Springs 1.
Jared Heath 1. photos : Robby Hogg
Graham on Heath 1…probably the most photogenic waterfall in the world…actually harder to stick than it looks…
Heath Springs Gorge. What a place!
Graham and I scouting Heath 2. photo : Robby Hogg
Graham running Heath 2.
Looking serious in the Crux Gorge.
The choice whiskey for the Royal Gorge.
Boofing above Rattlesnake falls.
Smiling big above 50′ Rattlesnake falls at the end of the 1st day.
I wasn’t planning on running Rattlesnake at the end of Day 1. We decided to camp directly above the falls and a few of the group members decided to run it that evening. Most had plans to run it first thing in the morning day 2. After running Heath Springs Gorge and the Crux gorge we were all pretty tired but some had the idea to get it over with rather than think about it all night and have to run it first thing in the morning. After watching 4 people stick it, and a swig of whiskey, I decided to gear back up and give it a go! It was so good, I ran it again the next morning!
Group camp at Rattlesnake photo: Robby Hogg
Graham running Rattlesnake Falls while crazy kiwi Ryan Lucas hucked a gainer off the river right wall!
Graham on the Perfect 20′ Photo : Evan Garcia
Rapidly approaching Scott’s Drop on day 2 nerves were high. It was the one we all had on our minds. When the time came to buck up, only 4 brave dudes wanted it bad enough. Rush Sturges went first with an amazing boof off the top drop landing flat followed by a little stuffage against the left wall on the crux move on the bottom 60 footer into a back freewheel to straighten it out for a bad ass line! Evan Garcia went next taking his time with his line eddying out in between the two drops and set it up perfect for the bottom drop. Dan “skippy” Simenc followed next with a buttery soft line and Ryan Lucas went last with one of the cleanest lines. An amazing drop to watch the boys run, deep in the wilderness, far far away from any hospital… on a drop that can definitely send you there!
The Group at Scott’s photo: Robby Hogg
After much stoke from watching the show at Scott’s people were fired up to go big. Luckily, we had the tallest single drop still ahead, 70 foot Wabena Falls. 9 of us decided to run it with… a plethora of interesting to straight up horrible lines. I probably took the cake with the WORST line boofing the tricky flake at the lip of the big girl and inverting flying through the air for what seemed like minutes and landing directly on my back to an immediate ejection!
Shannon running Wabena.
Running the lead in to Wabena.
Graham had one of the better lines.
Jared on Wabena.
Landing on my head from 70 feet. Luckily just embarrassing…and I’m sure the video shot will be up for the “carnage of the year award”! photos : Robby Hogg

With sore bodies and 25 more miles of Generation and Giant Gap sections we took off the river and drove straight to the next overnight adventure, Dinky Creek.

Robby Hogg hiking in to Dinky creek.
Graham dropping in on Dinky Creek.
Dinky Creek was equally spectacular and a little more relaxed. The river can be compared to a ski park for Kayakers. So much fun with the same group from the Royal Gorge trip.
Shannon on one of the first big ones on Dinky. photos : Evan Garcia
Morning of Day 2. All slept well!
Graham on a stout day 2 Dinky. photos: Robby Hogg
Robby Hogg dropping a fun one on Dinky Creek.

After our blissful two day Dinky, we were high on life and realizing that we had made “the best choice ever” to come out to California, especially hearing on the news that it was 110 degrees in Philly, where Graham and I were supposed to be landscaping!

Still on the move with a week left in the trip we partied hard in Sacramento at Robby Hogg’s house and half the group lost motivation to head to the next overnight run, the N. Fork of the Mokelumne River aka “Fantasy Falls”.

Boulder Slide
My favorite rapid. The Green Monster!
The easiest drop on the run, Fantasy Falls.
The last rapid known as California Class 3 or “show me your tits”
This drop makes a lot of people swim, including both Garcia brothers right before I went which made me choose another line.
Miraculously I made it through!
Our Fantasy Group. From left, Fred Norquist, Jared (me) Tyler Bradt, fresh off his back injury from running 100 foot Abiqua Falls this spring, and Ian and Evan Garcia.

Fantasy Falls proved to be one of the most bad ass river trips in California and high on my list of favorites!

After Fantasy we headed south to the Kaweah drainage in Sequoia National Park where we spent the remaining days of our kayak vacation and put the icing on the cake!
Our buddy Jake Greenbaum convincing us to run the Skyhook rapid on the E. Fork of the Kaweah.

Skyhook! Lean away from the wall!

The Toxaway Slide! E. Fork Kaweah has a fun skate park feel at low water.
Back in Philly now and back to work with a big smile on my face and our California Dreams fulfilled. California might be THE best place in the world for a class five kayaker!

Continue reading »]]> This year’s 40 year anniversary of Pyranha has me reminiscing about times gone by and all of the fun that I’ve had in Pyranha boats over the last 15 years. I thought I would take a little walk down memory lane through my progression of various boats with some photos and video clips – it’s taken me over a month to put it together, but here it is. Some of the photos and videos are kinda old and crusty, but they’re still fun. Sorry it’s a bit heavy on the Green, but I have a lot more photos and videos from there than anywhere else.

My first Pyranha boat was a Creek280 that I got in ’96. It was one of the earlier ones into the US – with the old polypro rope grab loops, before they went garden hose. I paddled the hell out of that thing for years before I finally paddled it to death. In a region covered in other boats, the Creek280 was really unique around here.

Here’s my trusty Creek280 riding high atop the rabble on my truck. It looked so short back then!

The Creek280 also carried me safely through my knuckle dragging phase. This was before the kayak-specific hand paddles used now – back when we used the little webbed neoprene gloves available in surf shops at the time. Here’s a video clip of some hands paddling in that boat:

Hand Paddling Gorilla – Creek 280

In my early days I was an avid c-1 paddler, and in 1998 I got a hot new boat – the Micro240 – to convert over to c-1.

I immediately set out on a road trip, bringing the micro as a kayak so that a friend and I could share it. The boat was so good that I was really pleased with it, pleased enough that I credit this trip with being the beginning of the end of my c-1ing. Here’s a little video clip of me kayaking Penis Buster Parfait on Cheesman Canyon in Colorado on that trip:

Penis Buster Parfait

As soon as I got home from that road trip, I wanted to try out the Blade. I borrowed a demo for a day on the Upper Gauley and loved it. Here’s a shot where I’m splatting the boof rock at Sweet’s Falls, first time ever in a Blade:

A few weeks later I got myself a Blade, and really loved paddling that boat for about a year. Here’s one from the Notch at Gorilla on the Green in the Blade:

The following spring I headed for California to do some paddling, and finally took the Micro240 along as a c-1. Here’s a shot on the North Fork of the Tuolumne in the Micro240 c-1:

We also got some video that day – here’s a clip of a few rapids:

North Fork Tuolumne – Micro240 C1

I was now getting pretty deeply into my years-long love affair with the Micro240. It took me to amazing places, including over the biggest rapid I’ve ever run. Here’s a shot from the first of 4 drops that make up High Falls Gorge on the West Branch Ausable in NY, October, 1999:

In ’99, I also got a hot new boat called an InaZone. Now here was a seriously fun boat! I started in the 220, which I somehow never got any pictures of, realizing fairly quickly that the boat was a bit too small for me. It wasn’t long before I swapped it out for a 230 and really got into some vigorous play!

Here’s Frankenstein on the Green – not sure if it’s a 230 or 232, they were pretty similar looking.

When the 232 came out, I switched right into that one and kept on having fun – here it is at Sunshine on the Green:

In 2000 I also picked up a Mountain300 for creek racing, which I still have around today. What’s not to love about the pink bow cap?

Contemporary to the Inazone 232 was a really radical ride – the ProZone. If you were looking to throw ends while your feet were in agony, this was your boat! But man, did it ever paddle great. This boat really took my playboating up a notch and expanded my horizons for downriver play. Here’s a great clip with a lot of ProZone action, pulled from my 2001 video about the Green River – Playin’ in the Back Yard:

Green River Play Segment – Prozones!

Meanwhile, I was still loving that Micro240. What can I say – I was reluctant to give that boat up. The H:2 came along and I never made the switch, although I did really enjoy it on a 4 day self support trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon in ’01 – it was a great surfer, even with 4 days worth of gear:

The short boat revolution was on then, and I got right in the game. I picked up an original S:6, still one of my favorite boats I ever paddled. Although I don’t have any pictures of it, I do have a video clip from a very cold Middle Fork Salmon trip that I paddled it on in 2002. Flatspins!

S:6 on the Middle Fork Salmon

When the H:3 came along, there were no Micros any more. I began a love/hate relatioship with the new boat, taking a couple of months to adjust to the crazy edges. Adjust I finally did, though, and made the transition to where I absolutely love all of the things a nice set of rails will do for you. Here’s a shot of my H:3, once I’d mastered it, at Sunshine on the Green on race day:

And also a fun clip of the H:3 on Callaghan in B.C.:

H:3 on Callaghan Falls

Now we get to my favorites ever!! In 2003 I got a new playboat called the I:3. This boat had all the play of the ProZone with none of the pain, and it boofed like a dream. It became my all around go-to boat, fun for light creeking in summer, fun for surfing, fun for everything! Here’s a shot of me running Gorilla in my 221. I still have this boat and paddle it occasionally. This shot is fun because it was taken on my wedding day!

Remember when Pyranha made canoes for a year or two? Here’s me in the Pyranha Prelude, having a try at Go Left on the Green. I still have a Prelude and have been paddling it a bit this summer.

Moving into modern times, we come to the next boat which was love at first stroke. BURN, baby! From the moment I first sat in it, I knew this was the boat for me. Still love it – best creeker ever!! Here’s a shot from Gorilla, first day I ever paddled a Burn:

The Burn really helped take me to a new level. Here it is helping me have a sweet run my first time off Spirit on the Little White:

One thing I loved about the original Burn was how fast it exited drops. You could just stick those rear edges in and carve where you wanted to go. How about a clip from Chile – first drop on the Upper Palguin:

Burn on Upper Palguin

Four fun filled years later, the 2010 Burn followed up in style, giving me some smooth rides through old favorites and new treats as well. Here’s a slo-mo video of Gorilla, shot from the driver’s seat of my 2010 Burn:

2010 Burn – Slo-Mo-Go-Rilla

Finally we come to the latest new Pyranha toy, the Varun. Super fun surfing with some river running length, this boat has been a blast on the rivers of the Southeast this summer. Here’s a link to a video that I threw together of Andria and me Varuning the Nolichucky on the summer solstice:

Varuning the Nolichucky

Now I’m eagerly waiting for the next toy – the Loki – to arrive – fast slicey play here I come!

Many thanks to Graham and all of the crew at Pyranha for 15 years of fantastic paddling in all of the boats I’ve enjoyed!

Here’s hoping the next 15 years are every bit as good-

Continue reading »]]>

Pyranha Demo Day in Voss

Pyranha Demo Day with The Pyranha Van crew and Allan Ellard, Mike Abbott, Lizzie Bell and Andy Phillips.

Come and try out the boats you wish you owned and then maybe buy one!

The Van and crew will be parked in the Car Park just up stream of the Money Drop Waterfall on the Strandaelva of the E16 highway.

Depending on who turns up we will head off to a river nearby for fun and frolics. This could mean hucking the Money Drop, running the Upper or lower Strandaelva, a trip to the Raundalselva, or maybe even the Branseth!

We will be on hand to give you tips and tricks on anything from outfitting ya boat to boofing the right direction.

SPREAD THE WORD AND SEE YOU THERE AT 10am 9th JULY!

Continue reading »]]>

After the Teva Mountain Games we spent a couple of days surfing Glenwood Springs Wave at ideal levels before heading back to Vail for a Kayak Demo Session with Alpine Quest Sports.  We had fun playing with the bladders to adjust the Vail hole and trying to avoid hypothermia while throwing loops with our buddies Ross and John from Alpine Quest.

Whilst surfing Glenwood, Craig took Pyranha’s new river running playboat; the Varun out for a test drive.  We already knew it was a great river running boat, but it was good to see how well it also surfed big waves.  Craig was throwing all sorts of tricks.

Above and below Craig shows off his Molan surfing ninja skills.

Mike Patterson throws some backwards tricky maneuver

Pink helmet… that’s me

Dave can blunt forwards, backwards, left, and right… wizardry

Above picture says it all.  Below Mike Patterson shows off for the crowd.

There will be a Glenwood video.. coming SOOOOON!!