What’s up kids!

I hope that you are wise. Because I soon arrive !

After a long and difficulf work. It’s time for me to leave the workshop. HO HO HO !

But this year, because of the crisis. I are not able to change my old reindeers. The snow is not every where… I decided to make my world tour in magic kayak !

I am at the moment in Pau to obtain my magic kayak driver licence with Eric Deguil.

Fortunately that i passed a good part of the autumn to cut some wood.
My arms are strong !

Molan, new Burn, and Rebel are in my back.

All presents are in my host.

Immediatly take off !!!

 Ian Garcia going large as usual in Argentina Salto Bonito.
What an epic season it has been here in Patagonia… and it has only just begun! Extreme kayakers from all over have been trickling into Pucon Chile looking to huck their meat, and no better place to do so. With high water here in Pucon and all over Patagonia the meat hucking has been set at an all time high. And of course with all the hucking that has been going on inevitably there has been some ridiculous carnage. Check out my blog update on the Demshitz.com blog

With Gauley Season loooong gone and the leaves off the trees in Virginia I thought I would post a little photo essay of the local action we’ve experienced in late summer and fall. After two years of drought conditions, Nelson County and the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia are finally getting the rain love.

Spring started off with the 3rd annual Goshen Race on the Maury River in Virginia. This mass-start race is as grass-roots as it gets – as in no registration, no fee, no classes, and all Glory. There is reliable carnage (the only “prize” this year was a red speedo bathing suit for the swimmer. It was unclear whether the speedo was new or pre-owned). There is always plenty of trashtalking too. There were less than two dozen racers this year due to short notice from the race committee, but this race is about to pop – I expect a huge turnout in 2010. The 2-mile stretch of river is a beautiful course with not much flatwater. I took first this year but I almost felt dirty about it – the Speeder almost seems like an unfair advantage (almost!). Keep your eyes peeled for info on next year’s race.

The Speeder stretching it’s long sexy legs through Devil’s Kitchen:

We invested some time in May giving the local runs a thorough chainsaw flossing.

Eric and Gordon working it out:

This turned out to be time well spent when the goods ran for most of June.

It took some folks a while to dial in their creek-o-meter: A little too high…

…a little too low:

Almost there (that had to hurt):

Just right:

Once the “434″ crew got back into the swing, we starting firing it up in bulk. Seemed like every day had boating of some sort, and every weekend was a “creekend.”

Trafford going down in a blaze of glory:

The fish likes it wet…

…and so do the ladies:

After the creeks dried up we kept up the “training” with some work-out runs in the Speeders on the Rio James. Like Sublime said, “Summertime, and the livin’s easy…”

The wetness has continued into the fall. Yesterday Trafford and I did an after-work session on one of the many Nelson creeks going off this week. I drive over Paul’s Creek every day on my way to work and it’s short length and super-steepness make it a primo apres-work option. Pauls Creek is around 800 fpm and everything is runnable.

 About halfway through Pauls Creek you get to two large slides.  ”Chutes & Ladders” is the first of the the big slides.  I’ve seen broken ribs, broken boats, tweaked shoulders, bloody knuckles, and stout blows to the head happen here. I’ve sworn-off this drop off several times now, especially at low flow (like yesterday). But for some reason I usually end up running it anyway. Yesterday I opted for the shallow but somewhat less-sketchy right line:

A short pool leads into the next big drop.

Here Trafford drops into “Novelty” (aka, “Where’s Haynie?”):

The creeks are still running and more precip is in the forecast. Keep the boats loaded.

Photo creds to Trafford McRae, Gibson Barbi, Dave Perrault, and someone’s unidentified girlfriend.

This last weekend saw the annual gathering at the River Dart Country Park for the 7^th annual Gene17 weekend organised by Simon Westgarth.

Just one of Dartmoor's Classic run's the Erme

Three factors meant this weekend was always going to be a great weekend, all the usual suspects heading to the same location mixed with a (heavy) sprinkling of rain and Pyranha launching the new Burn.

Sara showing the 2010 Burn's slide ability

Saturday morning saw frantic activity around the Pyranha stand as the majority of UK Team P were picking up their new Burn’s to go play, with padding being thrown around and some rather desperate sharing of a rather rubbish screw driver everyone headed out to go and play on the various rivers around Dartmoor.

Jo show upmost composure in the gorge

Saturday night was spent catching up, partying through the small hours and wondering if torrential rain outside would give enough water for some of the more adventurous Dartmoor runs.

Enjoying the scenery

Sunday came with a very thick head, but, the rivers were definitely up, so off to play again.

Rich showing off his Boof

So what’s the 2010 Burn like? Well when I was told the Burn was going to get a once over, you could probably hear me scream the other side of the pond! It’s no hidden fact everyone loves the Burn. So how could Pyranha possibly make it better? Well the guy’s in R&D have listened to you lot and given you something you’ve always wanted.

One of the more 'surprising' rapids

The 2010 Burn is still all Burn, but on steroids, its quicker, quicker acceleration & faster in a straight line. It hold’s it’s line better in the white stuff, yet a quick paddle placement and it’ll change direction on demand. More rocker and more carve means you be boofing and flairing your way down the river but still get that crisp Pyranha signature carve across eddy lines. In short it’s a lot of fun, if you don’t believe me go try one yourself, they’ll hit the stores in the next couple of weeks…

Adam Carving round in the Everest

See you on the River

Ben

So… When Sam broke the news that our summer exploration of East Africa would be put on hold for a couple of major shoulder operations, I had to quickly find a new summer plan.

I can’t remember if it was my idea or if someone else put it into my head but I decided a thorough exploration of Siberian Russia might quench my desire.

Deciding that the best way to do this at such short notice was to find some Russians who already knew their way around, I came across Kayak USSR and Vasilii Porsev.

Kayak USSR run several trips in Russia and the former USSR from May to October and in return for my help and expertise on the river (and a little bit of cross-promotion; found here) Vasilii agreed to let me tag along for 6 weeks of the Summer.

My adventure began as soon as I landed in Irkutsk, with a 10 day self-supported expedition on the Kitoy River.

This incredible remote river, in the heart of Eastern Siberia, involved a variety of white water, ranging from class 3 to 5+, and a fair amount of physical endurance!

Above: Max Bilbow paddles the 15m fall on the Ehe-Gol

The Ehe-Gol and Beluty are tributaries to the Kitoy and incorporate some of the most amazing continuous creeking I’ve seen outside of Norway, making the full day’s hike in worth the effort.

The second part of this trip meant catching the Trans-Siberia railway to Novosibirsk and driving to Russia’s Altai region; a trip jam-packed with a huge variety of white water and shenanigans.

And angry fish.

My favourite Altai river (above) is the Majoy Gorge. 10km of solid class 4 and 10km of class 4/5 are separated only by a fantastically terrifying and committing class 5 canyon.

After a few days sessioning the Majoy, it had become, in my mind, one of those great home runs, comparable to Norway’s Aamot Gorge on the Sjoa River.

And even though shortly after the above photo was taken I managed to break myself sliding into the water, I was able to limp down the rest of the river to film Vasillii running the last big waterfalls of the trip… in his new Karnali.

This trip signals the beginning of production for Means of Production 2, expected for release during December 2010.

To get a more detailed insight into the Kitoy trip (and soon the Altai trip), visit www.maxbilbow.com.

That Kayak USSR cross-promotion again: kayakUSSR.com

The Yough Defense party at the Falls City Pub was a great success.  Money was raised to help preserve the Yough watershed.  Thanks to all involved in making this happen.   The Fern Cliff Collective kept the party bumpin playing all night long.  I really enjoyed the band.  Not only where they very talented, but Jess Hartman (rhythm guitar) is a long time kayaking partner of mine.  It was good to see those guys tearin it up, I was very impressed.  Here is a video form the party and some kayaking on the Yough.

Long awaited update from the Puerto Vallarta, MX mission.  Enjoy the ‘making of’ video and some free stuff, @ huckinhuge.com!

It’s true, it’s not a joke.

A french frog with a strange pink helmet ran the Green narrow race for  second time.

Hungry because he didn’t win the last year, the frog trained very hard all the summer to climb at the first place.

(more…)

Exactly three years to the day I watched my first Green Race I found myself in the Gallimore parking lot with my 10 foot purple Pyranha Mountain 300 listening to Jason Hale shout out his renown pre-race messages. It was amazing to see so many great boaters who have helped form the history of the Green, and humbling as well.
I had one goal for the day: to finish the race. After shoulder surgery in January, I had started running Gorilla in August only to aggravate the joint again. I had put in close to 40 runs of Gorilla when the week before the race I made the discovery that I had lost enough range of motion that I couldn’t sweep my paddle out to roll on my right side.
I swam out of the bottom of Gorilla two days in a row after a perfect season. It was devastating and brought a lot of self doubt and humiliation.
I knew I had put the time in and could run every line on the river forward and backwards.
Knowing that Tommy Hillike would be setting live bait at the bottom of Gorilla added that extra bit of confidence. I was going to come up one way or another.
At 12:52, I jetted out from the pool above Frankenstein and was off. It was amazing, my focus was clear, lungs and muscles burning, I set up for the notch. My strategy was to go left of center off the launch pad to miss speed trap at the bottom but I went a little too deep in the notch. My line off the pad was great, but when I flipped at the bottom and set up to roll, I realized my boat was FULL of water. As the live bait crew grabbed me, it became apparent I had a skirt implosion somewhere between the notch and the trough. They helped me bail my boat, plopped me back in, and I tore off to finish the race with a less than ideal time of 7:20.
After hours and hours of training, I was disappointed with the implosion, but at the same time, considered myself fortunate that I was able to finish and be a part of such a cool event.
The biggest part of me wanted to hike back up and get a redo…. but I guess I’ll have to wait till next year.

www.boushkanaka.com

The first weekend in November heralds the Tyne Tour in Hexham, North East England.

The event is a big gathering of folks to descend the North Tyne and other local rivers depending on rainfall. On the Saturday evening there is a big ceilidh, this is similar to what I imagine line dancing to be but heaps better and without the hats.

Dave Rossetter & I took the Pyranha demo fleet up including a couple of new 2010 Burns. These got a lot of interest and a brilliant reception – keep your eyes peeled for this one!
The rest of the fleet, the Karnali’s, Z:1’s & Ammo’s are still as popular as ever with people queuing at 7.30am to get their hands on one!

Here is Glenn Tomlinson playing on the North Tyne weir, all similes in the new Burn! Cheers for the photo Glenn!

Dancing the night away!  Many thanks to Paul Wilkinson for this photo.  For more brilliant photos from Paul click here!

The next event is the Gene17 Adventure Paddler’s weekend in December, the demo fleet will be out again and members of Team Pyranha GB will be there to badger about outfitting, boat design, technique or inspiration for your 2010 trip plans.

Just a quick message to everyone who plans on making a trip to NZ in the future. Plans are in process for river enhancements on the humble Hawea river nr Wanaka. Work should start this summer. This will add the perfect link from Fiordland to the west coast.

Great news. All the consents have been approved and things are looking good for later this summer. Scott Shipley is in control of the design and building. 3 enhancements in total are planned with the first to be build next year and the rest, the following  year. It will be designed to work at all flows, 10 to 200 cumecs. This will give all year round boating!

Answers on a postcard to Sammy at Pyranha. Best one wins a packet of hobnobs, kindly donated by tomparkercoaching.co.uk

This is a great movie from Benji Hjort, summing up the summer of fun in Voss, Norway, 2009.  There are other amazing videos in the gallery to check out! But this one have several Team P featured, even me!

Nice job Benji!

Check out the video here

Hola! Demshitz is here in Pucon Chile! We Kicked off our Chilean paddling season this year with a fun run ( kinda scary too ) on the Rio Claro just two hours south of Santiago Chile. Here is the video. We arrived at the river with a perfect high water level and were a little nervous. After we dropped in on the Salto Caracol we were fired up. picture above me running Salto Caracol. check out http://www.demshitz.com for a full trip report.

Fall in the southeast has been predictably awesome once again. Starting in September the rain clouds gathered and brought our parched rivers to life. This storm was the ‘big one’ we seem to get once or twice a year. By the time the rain stopped, most creeks were too high to paddle…but instead of sitting on our hands and waiting for the water to go down…my friends and I searched for places to paddle that either required more water or handled the increased amounts of rainfall better than other places.

At the top of my hit list was Silver Run Falls. This drop is just shy of 40 feet and has a tricky entrance. A crew of four of us headed up to check out the drop but in the end, only Clayton Gaar and I stepped up to the plate.

Me rolling over..photo by Jonathan Absher

Clayton had a love tap on the bottom of the river.

(more…)

Now that summer is long over and my school kids are slowly slipping back into their apathetic ways, I thought it was about time for a good bit of procrastination and nostalgia as dig out my photos to re-live a sweet summer of boating.

Sara James checking on Godafoss – photo – Nick Horwood

(more…)

In the past few years I have been kicking around the idea of putting together a guide to the whitewater in the Columbia River Gorge Region. After nearly a year of looking through other guides, maps, photos, and directions to decide what I liked, and didn’t, the time finally came and the first visual update of the book has been posted. It has been put together with the experienced paddler in mind covering the best whitewater that the Columbia River Gorge has to offer.

Team paddler Cody Howard on Summit

For more on this project check out Chapter One – Washington

Well its been a while since I’ve checked in here, because I’ve been spending most of my time surfing and kitesurfing on the westcoast of Ireland. September and October are perfect months, lots of swell before the winter storms start rolling in.

(more…)