Continue reading »]]> I’ve been paddling in the small Varun since last spring and have been loving it! I love to do downriver play and to do class IV creeking in my playboat, so it’s been a super fun boat. Here is some footage from some North Carolina goodness, the Nolichucky, a class III play run and the Watauga, a class IV boof run:

Fun Nolichucky footage of Leland in a medium and me in a small:
http://www.brushymountainpublishing.com/rivergypsies/pyranha/varun.mov

Scroll down our facebook page and click, Fun At Watauga Falls!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/rivergypsies

Have fun out there!

Continue reading »]]> This year is shaping up to be one heck of a good year, we have three new boats to paddle and so many places to paddle them.  Right now I want to talk briefly about Pyranha’s NEW playboat the JED, I really like how fast, loose, and big this boat goes.  As Dave Fusilli has already said, and I will totally agree with, “I can’t believe that playboats can continue to get so much better,” but they are, trust me. After our time in Uganda testing the JED, I returned home to find the New River was at the perfect level for Surprise Wave. So as anyone with a sweet new boat would do, I rallied down to the New and got some more great surfing in on this very dynamic, surging, and steep wave.  The JED should be out soon and then we will do our best to list the details about the boat, but for now enjoy some footage from the prototype.

JED sends stout cleans

Watch this video on YouTube.

Continue reading »]]> Here’s a look at the Pyranha JED.  I know this sounds repetitive, but the JED is hands down the loosest, fastest boat I have ever paddled! My first reaction after paddling the JED was,…”man I cannot believe that playboats can continue to get so much better”. So sick!! The footage is from the Nile river in Uganda. Most of what you see is from the Nile special wave with a few shots from other rapids on the Nile. Click below for the video!!

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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 »]]> 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 »]]> As part of our tour Demshitz headed up to the Northwest for some creeking and some Skook action and we were not let down.  We started with three rainy days at Skook and then once back in Washington we got on some new runs along with some classics.  Watch as Demshitz surfs Skook and runs the brown on such runs as the Top Tye, Icicle, Fall in the Wall, and the East Fork of the Miller.  Click the BROWN for the Video.  This video sums up a little bit of what it’s like living in the van with Demshitz!!!

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-

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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!!

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