Nicole Mansfiield suits up for the 30 foot Medina waterfall in Medina NY. This creek runs under the Erie Canal just before turning and falling about 30 feet.  So yes, essentially there is a river running over another river (canal) a little different to say the least.   The Erie Canal dumps water into the creek right above the waterfall making this park and huck runnable most days of the year!  Here is a video of Nicole sending this drop!  Click Here!

For every Kid, grown man, women or child the 1st trip down the very popular Green River Narrows is like Christmas morning.  This is a great day in any kayakers life.  Not only to run the Green, but to run all of the Green, the big 3 as they call them down there in NC.  I remember my 1st day down the Green for sure.  It’s just a damn good old time on the river.  I mean shit they even made a movie about it.   Check out Kid Chris’s video HERE.  It’s pretty damn good.

Kid Chris and some random going Left.

Photo by: Nicole Mansfield

Demshitz goes on a wonderful trip to Washington state. Along the way we ended up running the Little White Salmon and it’s next door neighbor the Green Truss. Also, have you heard of Hamma Hamma falls. Well my friends it is a stout for sure. We ended up at a pretty nice party as well..enjoy!

Video Click here!

Like every time Norway is one of the Best places in Europe, the problem this year was, that we had very rainy weather. But paddling makes still fun !!! Two days Nils Kagel joined us to make some nice runs around Voss.

Nice Drop ! Pic by Daniel Egger

Me on the lower Rauma .. great place to be !!!!

Big slide !!

What a beautiful River, just entering the first rapid on the Kleivelvi River ! (Pic by Andeas Stockinger)

The Tysselva offers some really big slides and drops, together with Teammate Nils Kagel we run this creek. The bad thing is that you have to portage a lot of drops..

Slide on the lower Jordalselva Gorge (Pic by Daniel)

Nils Kagel making a first descent of a very hurtable Slide on the Tysselva

See you on the River !

Cheers! Robert

www.vboyz.at

Well, Italy was obviouslythe place to be in May. Four separate blog posts from for separate Team-Pyranha paddlers in the last few months. I’ve heard plenty of people rave about the place in the past, and have been desperate to get out there for a while now.

Photo: Jim Pullen

Fortunately I managed to find couple of days spare leave from work at the end of May, persuaded two willing partners in crime and set about planning a 5 day mission. Initial plans for a fly-drive were scuppered as a result of an inconvenient Icelandic volcano, so we investigated the driving. 17 hours each way wasn’t going to be pretty, especially given the short duration of the trip, but it was possible, so we hit the man-up button and booked a ticket for the Eurotunnel.

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Well another year another trip to Yule for demshitz.  Yule was a good bit lower than we have experienced on previous sessions.  I am not sure I liked it as much, however that could be because I crashed so big that right now my ribs still hurt.  This was about 4 weeks ago.  You will see why.  We are in Big Fork MT right now getting ready to head further west.  Saturday is a boat with the bros session at Alder Creek followed by a Dashboard Empanada premiere.  The very next day will be a similar situation at Aquasports in Redmond Washington.  Come Paddle demshitz!                  Yule Creek video HERE

We recently got to spend a few days in New Mexico, hitting some classic sections on the Rio Grande as well as the legendary Embudo.

Here are a couple pictures from the trip, or you can check out the full report at:

www.RiverGypsies.com

Chris Roberts doing some yard work on Sleeping Beauty in his Mow-Lawn.

Andria blasting out of a sticky hole on the Upper Box in her new blue Burn.

 It is my birthday towards the end of May, so for the last two years I have been heading to Norway to celebrate and start the summer kayaking season with a refreshing start at the deep end… Last year I was in Telemark. However, this year there was a bigger cause at stake – saving one of the most beautiful rivers in the world! There are plans afoot to dam the Raundalselva – a chrystal clear river with many many kilometres of incredible white water for every level of kayaker – and beautiful scenery too.

The awesome people at the Voss kayaking club have been very active in fighting these plans (which go against the already existing protection for the river, hard-won in the 80s). If the preservation order is overturned, this could be a precedent for many other rivers in Norway – and as such is hugely important.

(Me on “Penny Drop” which is just below its big brother, the world renowned “Money Drop”) 

A protest was organised for the 22nd of May. Our plans to go to Telemark before heading up to Voss were abandoned after the levels were so high that even my brave viking friends weren’t keen on paddling there.

Levels in Voss were high too – we went boating on the very river that is under threat of being dammed, before heading to the protest. The sky diving club and many other local residents supported the protest, with around 400 people turning up. You can help too by signing the petition here: http://raundalselvi.invoss.com/ – it will literally take you 5 seconds of your time.

More boating followed by an epic party at the skydiving club made for a great weekend – I also managed to get on lots of the usual rivers which seemed very different at such pumping levels and one river I have never paddled before: the Steinelva.

Thanks Voss!

Protest!

(I took my boat along to support the protest!)

(Lars Georg Paulsen boofs on the Brandseth – Photo Arild Tvilde)

(Andy Phillips shows us how its done on the Brandseth in HIGH levels! – Photo Arild Tvilde)

DEMSHITZ CALI CREEKING 2010 VIDEO!!!!

Hello Demshitz! Check out this little edit from our past week in California creeking in the NEW BURNS! The boats are killin’ it on these world class California playgrounds and Demshitz couldn’t be more stoked! Enjoy! www.demshitz.com
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Just returned from a superb trip out to Italy. The weather was miserable but the water was excellent. The Sesia valley is an absolute must for any keen white water kayaker. You can go as hard as you want and the camp site has a really nice vibe and fantastic food. In the morning stroll into town, drink coffee and eat fresh Brioche for breakfast. Then take in the beautiful buildings and culture before heading out for well…. four rivers in one day was my best but I didn’t try too hard. There are loads of classic runs all so close together.

It was my second trip to the area and I will definitely be back.

Boating season has is well under way for most up here is Norway, despite the currently cold nights and low water levels.

For me, I have to wait and train up a few more weeks before trying anything too exciting after a back operation, but I have paddled the rafting section of the Raundalselva

Which brings me to the subject of saving the the Raundalselva.  One of the worlds most beautiful rives is under threat from hydro projects!!

Check out the Facebook group created by Voss Kayak Club here -

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=511904939#!/group.php?gid=119108778099266

http://raundalselvi.invoss.com/

As anyone who has been to Norway knows this river is a gem, with its crystal clear water, raging waterfalls and scenic beauty there is no way in hell you could ever live to see it damed.

At the moment a dubious play has been layed out presenting 10 different ideas for hydro developments, but the most poplar project from the developers side of the table would involve taking water out at the the start of the ‘Rime’ section and delivering it back right down near the airport near Voss.  The minimum summer flow left in the river is said to be around 6.5 cumecs, and about 2 or so in the winter – This is obviously not good for any river users, be they fishermen, kayakers, fish or animals after the fish.

Voss Kayak club have been leading the debate and opposition right now and doing a great job at prompting discussion.

To find out more about this and get involved you should head over the to FaceBook group and join in – everyone can help!!

Check out these two videos from our last few weeks on the road killin it!

Demshitz and the Paddlebillyz at NOC and more!
&
Demshitz playing the Molan’s at Galloway beach WV

Demshitz is selling Demshitz shirts for 15 bucks in blue and grey with the logo above (DS logo with fish saying demshitz) on the back. Get one today!

check back next week for an update from the Reno River Fest and Demshitz in Cali!!! DEMSHITZ!

Filming for Means of Production 2 has been continuing in Corsica! But it hasn’t all been simple fun and games; oh no.

April 4th: Lucy and Luke picked me up from my grandmother’s house in London and we shot off at high speed to catch our ferry. However things took a turn for the inconvenient when Luke’s radiator exploded just before reaching the dartford crossing.

We were towed back to my grandmother’s, had a cup of coffee and decided: if Luke’s car wouldn’t take us, then my Vauxhall Corsa Can. Ha!

It would be a 3000 mile round trip that would leave me without brakes and spending around £500 on repairs and losing a kayak. But it was worth it. (Full boat-losing story at www.maxbilbow.com)

Observing a ferral existence, we barely had time to string up a hammock; setting up camp wherever we could, we managed so circumnavigate the Island in a week.

Some dodgey walk-outs…

Lovely views…

And, to be honest, a lack of truely amazing stil photos… but here’s some nice ones:

Many more opportunities to find good shots for the next film!

And why not try some playboating on the middle Golo!

A new trailer for MOP2 will be out this Summer. Keep watching this space:

Means of Production: www.mopmovie.co.uk

Means of Production 2: www.mopmovie.com

And if you want to know how I lost my kayak, you can read the full article here.

Photos by Adam Dumolo

I’ve put a review of the 2010 Burn up on our website, with a rundown of some of the new features and how it handles compared to the old Burn.

Check out my take on this smooth paddling, mank loving, creeking machine!

www.RiverGypsies.com

Leland switching edges in the 2010 Burn.

Mac McGee airing out Watauga Falls in the 2010 Burn.

Thanks for making us a great new toy, Pyranha!!

Chris Eastabrook, Toboggan, Rio Alseseca. Pic: Pete Wood.

Turns out Mexico isn’t all desert and cacti after all…

For more stunning images and the lowdown, head to www.chargingarc.com

Inspired by some previous winter trips to Portugal on the Pyranha Blog, in 2007 and 2008 a group of friends and I headed out there to see what we could find…

Beautiful scenery, kind people, good food, wine oh and lots of steep granite fun!

Read the full article for more on the rivers… for just the pictures here are galleries of some of the different rivers we paddled: Vez, Castro, Cavado.

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Check out the Demshitz Blog for a bad ass update from Pucon Chile!

Here is a Teaser for our Next Demshitz Movie ¨Dashboard Empanada¨

Run the Shitz! Looking forward to the NEW BURN and the NEW PLAYBOAT ¨THE MOLAN¨!!! PYRANHA WORLD DOMINATION!!! DEMSHITZ!!!

The first word that everyone learns upon arrival in Nepal is the ubiquitous greeting ”Namaste”. Our trip however was to be different. The first word we learned was “Banda”. Banda is the Nepali word for a strike. These strikes aren’t quite the same as you’d get back home, where a line of disgruntled workers stand at a factory gate, they are much more extensive and indiscriminate. Traffic is not allowed on the roads, shops aren’t allowed to open and the whole country effectively grinds to a halt. 
 
We arrived in Nepal at 10pm the evening before three consecutive days of these strikes. One day of waiting may have been acceptable, but no matter how you look at it, 3 days of a 2 week holiday is a lot! Despite stories of the rather violent enforcement of the banda by the Maoists, on day 2, a local guy we met in the street said he could get us a “landcruiser” to take us and our boats off to the first river under cover of darkness. Obviously this would cost us dear, but we figured it was worth it. When the “landcruiser” turned up, it turned out to be a tiny car, and the driver wouldn’t go without his mate, but by then we were beyond caring, so we crammed 5 guys three boats and 2 weeks worth of kit into and onto the machine and set off into the night…

Although December is the low water season, there is still some great paddling to be had, especially if you venture further up the valleys of some of the rivers normally done “in season”. Whilst dodging strikes, we ticked off upper sections of: Bhote Kosi, Marsyandi, Kali Gandaki along with a few other nice runs down some of the classic sections of these and other rivers.

Anyways, enough spiel… To the photos!! Here’s a flavour of the trip:

Ominous Gorges:
 

Good Lines: (more…)

Richard on the far side on Marsh

 
I have a go too…although, I am waiting for the SMALL MOLAN I think!

One of the many small boof drops on the Upper Tawe!

 
Fun slides too.
 

For more photos check out www.worldkayakblogs.com/paula .

Hope to see you all at Pyranha Fest at the Dart in Devon!