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 »]]> The main czech creeking event took place last week in August. Many competitors (CZE, SVK, SLO, GER, NZL, ITA…) came to Lipno.

The event is my favouritre, because I usually  meet there many friends,  kayakers and competitors!

The men category had better and harder course, but we had slalom like qualification (I gained 2. place) and the main competition was sprint. I placed on 3. place after Anne Hubner and Louise Jull. Men had longer sprint and the winner was Mike Dawson.

On sunday was kayak cross and team sprint, which the Zet kayak team won!

Photos by Jakub Suchy taken in Lipno.

Continue reading »]]> In the end of August we had many compeition in Czech Republic.

Second czech cup in freeestyle took place in Sopotnice. The artificial playspot was so hard and I went to the final from 5. place, but in my third ride in final I done 173 points and I won!

Next week after Sopotnice, we had Czech championship in Prague Troja. There were sun, many fans, good music, slack line, fire show, Slope style kayaking and many others!  We had many categories incuding old bastards, youngsters, juniors… Czech freestyle get younger and it is so good for us!

In women category I was in 3, place.

Thanks for photos Petr Prause.

Continue reading »]]> The worlds took place in Germany in the end of June. Th bigestfreestyle event in Europe this year was fun, but also serious. ICF and German team did great event, but in my opinion the freestyle have changed so much.

There were 250 competitors from many country. The water level was high and the move was so high too. Unfortunately I didn´t pass through qualification. But I stayed like fun and enjoyed this event.

Continue reading »]]>

Usually by the end of June when the Pyranha van is rolling out of Colorado to head to the Northwest, the rivers in Colorado are dropping; most of the creeks have come and gone and the rivers have already spiked.   We left Colorado full of water with most creeks still left to be run.  Before our last stop at the Gunnison River Festival, we ventured down to Silverton, CO to find Mineral Creek still under snow, Ice Lakes Creek filled with wood, but were able to run the Lime Creek classics.  Above Dave Fusillil enters Adrenaline Falls on the 1st Gorge of Lime.

Mike Patterson dropping Adrenaline Falls.

Dave running the wood siphon portage on the 3rd Gorge of Lime.

We brought overnight gear with us & after  the gorge enters the Animas, we found a camp spot and spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine.  The next day we paddled the Animas in search of another tributary; Crazy Women Creek.  We found it a bit too low and continued down the Animas through the Rockwood Box.

The weekend was the Gunnison River Festival, which was yet another high water Colorado river event.

With the high water, we were able to enjoy Gunnison’s newest play feature; a rowdy hole.  Here Dave watches Craig throw a big ole loop.

Raft Rodeo…

Demshitz killed it at the rodeo and stole the podium!

1st – Craig Kleckner

2nd – Mike Patterson

3rd – Dave Fusilli

Sayonora Colorado!  We’re now in Montana where the water is also high!

Continue reading »]]> Hallo from Czech.

The besst competiton this summer for me was Teva Outdoor Games in Italy (river Chuisella and Dora Baltea in Ivrea).

The water level was lower than last years, but the event was fun and exciting.

The competition is consist of down river, sprin, slalom and kayak cross. I did well slalom and sprint, but I failed kayak cross. In the end I finished on the 3. place. There were Team race too. And our guys was third after NZL and GER!

Photos taken by Arnd  Schaeftlein.

Continue reading »]]> From June 9th June 12th 2011 edition of the Freeride Worldchampionships took place in Valchiusella and Ivrea, which is in the beautiful Piemonte area in Italy. As the Kaiserklammtrophy in Austria in April was cancelled due to low water levels, this was the first extreme race on my calendar this season.

The Teva event consists of four different races concerning the individual ranking: first off was a long downriver race (roughly between 6:30 and 7 min.) on a pretty steep and shallow stretch of the Chiusella river. The key is to keep the route and especially some mean stones in mind. This was followed by a 2-run sprint race down the slalom course in Ivrea, as well as a slalom race and a boatercross there. The overall results are determined by counting together the points you get for each race.

Just like last year, it was again Mike Dawson from New Zealand, who could win the first three events and therefore also the overall competition. Sam Sutton, another kiwi and Sickline champion 2010, took silver, Michele Ramazza from Italy bronze. Congratulations!

I started pretty poorly into the race, not getting the lines properly down the Chiusella and hitting too many stones. Fortunately though, it got better when I was able to perform a solid sprit race and got second and third in the slalom and boatercross category, respectively. Eventually, it meant the 7th rank for me in the overall result, which I’m happy about. I certainly want to step up a bit next year though!

Concerning the team event, each team made up of three paddlers of one nation had to run the downriver, the sprint and the slalom race. Jakobus Stenglein, Paul Böckelmann and myself formed the German team. After another weak start on the Chiusella, we were more than happy to win both the sprint and the slalom and thus the overall competition. Finally! The second place went to the New Zealand team, followed by the Czechs, who were really strong in the downriver part.

A separate race – the “King of the Falls” – was organized for the top 20 kayakers of the downriver race on another, more difficult stretch of the Chiusella. Ron Fischer from Switzerland had a sweet line down the main drop and took home the crown in front of Maxime Mitaut from France and Sam Sutton. Due to some extra turns in the eddy on the bottom of the big drop, my team mate Jakobus and I finished 5th and 9th, respectively.

For more information, photos and detailed results, please visit the event homepage: www.tevaextremeoutdoorgames.it

Continue reading »]]> This was a great year for the Teva Mountain Games and for Demshitz.  This year Demshitz celebrated the production of Demshitz Brown Ale made by Bonfire Brewery.  Watch as Demshitz enjoys the fruit of Bonfire Brewery’s labor and then watch as Team Pyranha takes on the Teva Mountain Games.  The most notable facts, Mike Patterson placed an impressive 7th in the Mens freestyle, Dave Fusilli placed 3rd in the 8 Ball race and Nicole Mansfield took 1st in the 8 Ball race.  Watch as my video tries to capture all of the fun involved in the Teva Mountain Games.

Demshitz Party