Eaux vives en Frog

Published on 25/08/2011 in Alps, Holiday and Kayaking. Closed

After over a 10 year gap I finally got a weeks boating in the French alps, note I said a weeks boating the last trip in 2008 was cut short after 2 days by mega high water levels and a paddling ban enforced by the local gendarmerie. The good things from the last trip; location (Serre Chevalier), company (Cheltenham CC) and time of year (May 1/2 term) we repeated and crossed our fingers for saner water levels. Fortunatley the river gods were kind and we were treated to excellent to high (but paddleable) levels on most sections.

After catching an earlier eurotunnel than expected, 10:30 not 11:50!, we motored south through the night and arrived in resort at lunchtime in blazing sunshine – things were looking good. A quick recce of the river levels and we headed up the valley to do the upper Guisane which conveniently finished at our appartments. Shorty cags, bright blue skies and a great section of grade 3 to warm up to the alpine experience.

That first afternoon set the pattern for the next couple of days as we were treated to gorgeously sunny weather and some great paddling as we worked our way through some classic sections of alpine water including the Upper Guil, Lower Durance & Onde.

After the upper Guil day the weather took a turn for the worse and rain closed in bringing up the levels – particularly on the Guil. We took full advantage and after staring rather too long at a munchy looking Triple Step, we launched below.

From the off it the water felt powerful and pushy, eddy lines were boily and the holes had that bit more bite too them! No one seemed eager to take the lead and probe the routes so I drew the short straw and headed downstream – it was 11 years since I had paddled this section and a vastly different water level. Fortunately the lines remained open and despite the power of the water everyone was hitting their chosen routes, all was good and I relaxed a little. All too soon though we arrived at the Staircase, a hard rapid at normal flows, today it was 500m of whitewater chaos with massive holes and technical route finding in the 1st half before heading left through yet more steep whiteness. We decided to portage the 1st section – too many moves too close together with limited support possible. Launching below the crux of the upper and into the relatively easier? section was still an exciting blast was we blasted through and around some large holes. The drift of the current was very strong towards the outside of the bend and hard paddling was required to stay online, this caught Ali out as she got nailed by the stopper and pushed into the wall. The throwbag crew quickly bagged her and I ended up solo chase boating after her paddles which I quickly retrieved, the boat was abandoned to the river gods as there was no opportunity to rescue it.




We continued downriver and were soon at “Le Tunnel”, this used to be Letterbox. Whilst scouting the best eddy to get out in I heard a cry of swimmer, looking up Carl was the victim and was being swept towards us quickly. I quickly set up with my line and fortunately bagged him first go, the following rapid would not have been nice to swim through – an evil looking walled in stopper lurked in the bottom and it would be all too easy to end up in it. Carl was now also boatless and some others had decided to stop while they were ahead so we merged into one smaller group. Continuing down still chunky grade 4 we got some good news from the bank crew folllowing us – Ali and Carls boats had been located and were beign rescued. By this point someone had called the local Fire Brigade (it was certainly none of us)and they were all too eager to get involved in our rescue of the pinned boat. We quickly completed the kit recovery before they got involved – ropes and water are enough to worry about without random French Sapeurs-pompiers getting involved. From here it wasn’t long to the take out and after such an intense but excellent day on the water we retired to a cafe and then appartment for well earned beers.

After such a long day on the water the following day was decided to be a rest day. All things are relative though as we ticked off 3 sections! Upper Claree, Briancon gorge and Lower Guisane, the latter in 26 minutes. The following day we did the long drive to the Ubaye – over the Col D’Izouard again – abnd discovered they had even more water than the Briancon area. The plan quickly evolved from Upper Ubaye and Racecourse to Upper Ubaye and Upper Upper Ubaye. Launching into the 1st rapid was like jumping on a swollen lower Oetz, with big heavy water full of silt and grit scratching your eyes! Unlike the Otz it soon calmed down to pleasantly spaced rapids with lots of room to regroup. All too soon we were at the takeout above La Fresquiere – this looked monsterous as the river thundered down and around the bend in tremendous rapids. No volunteers to run it today!

The Friday was spent on the local classics and on the Saturday most of the cars departed that morning for the ferry. We still had the best part of a day to paddle due to a sunday morning eurotunnel so another 3 river day happened. Middle Claree, Briancon gorge at a stunning level and finishing off with a 23minute speed descent of the Lower Guisane. Remember kids running grade 4 blind in a single large group without eddying out isn’t big or clever. Perhaps not the safest or most sensible run of the river but undeniably good fun.

Thanks to everyone that came on the trip and made it such a great week. As I was mostly on the water I didn’t take many of the photos in this post – they should be individually credited but thanks to: Abi Croshaw (who stole my lens!), Katy Warren, Pete Bogle and Steve Slater for the photos.

A Dry and Sunny Land

Published on 25/05/2011 in Holiday and Kayaking. Closed

“A dry and sunny land” not words normally associated with the west coast of Scotland! However our Easter trip up was certainly that, no rainfall for the preceding fortnight meant all the rivers had plummetted to very low levels, however all was not lost as the Scottish Highlands offer some of the best Hiking and Biking the UK has to offer.

Day one saw the classic low water paddling backup plan swing into action as we hit the Spean Gorge and the Arkaig. The Spean was actually not too bad water level wise, at least once you had got to the gorge past all the shingle beds after Spean Bridge. Headbanger for once looked inviting and Mark inspired confidence as he’d run it the previous day. Heading out of the eddy first I didn’t feel too convinced but I mastered my nerves to nail the line and miss the Syphon and undercuts!

Mark however didn’t quite go for it enough and somehow ended up sideways in the bottom of the drop, which was only just wider than the length of his boat! After a few scary moments he popped up and was safely on the bank and rescued all his kit, just a bit wetter than planned! The rest of the river offered no more dramas as we enjoyed the bed rock rapids and falls in the strong scottish sunshine (that still doesn’t seem right!). The afternoon offered up the Arkaig which is just around the corner with multiple runs of the main event and lots of small waves to shred. Post paddle we hit the Commando bar in Spean Bridge – tacky neon lighting ahoy!

Day 2 saw a very jet lagged Laura (back from Rio!) and Alec arrive, given the fine weather and that most people had bikes we headed over to the Laggan Wolftrax trail centre. Ali and I hired bikes before a gentle introduction to single track MTB riding on the Green. That done Mark, Alec and Nik convinced us that the Reds would be fine for two total novices. It was certainly interesting and it probably did me good to be a novice at a sport again. Getting down (and up!) rough terrain was a definite challenge and although I wont win any points for style or fitness it was a great day out.

Day 3 saw us head over to Glen Etive and after briefly contemplating the Etive we soon decided that a walk up a Monroe was a better plan. Buchaille Etive Mor rears up right behind the put on a triple falls and we were soon trudging up a very steep slope to the summit. Despite the warm weather some snow was still around at the top but not for much longer if the sunny weather continued. Carrying on along the ridge we made the secondary summit (complete with Cairn)

before winding our weary way back down to the cars. A great day out even if at 7 hours for 7km we wont be winning any fell races! Dinner was excellent at the Clachaig inn

After 2 fairly strenuous days out you might have thought we would ease off a little but no we were back on our bikes for the west highland way. Thinking back on it perhaps the warning bells should have been ringing a little earlier given we were only attempting it after Mark, Alec and Nik had got excited by some youtube footage. The fact we would be cycling back to Fort William from Glen Coe a forty minute drive away accross some pretty rugged terrain should also have given some clue. Kicking the ride off was the Devils Staircase and this soon set the pattern of pushing your bike up steep boulder strewn paths. Being over taken by walkers didn’t brighten my mood as I stompted uphill – surely we should be riding them? After a short break at the top we headed off to “keep ahead of the walkers”, oh how they laughed as they repeatedly over took us whilst we fixed punctures or picked ourselves up after a tumble! Finally we got ahead with a fast loose gravel descent into Kinlochleven and a chance to refill water bottles and look at the distance we had done… Which wasn’t actually that great with 2/3rds of the trip ahead but we were reassured it was “only a short climb, we’ll be contouring all the way to Fort Bill, honest”. An hour or more of panting effort resulted in several hundred metres of ascent pushing the bikes again!

Once up high again though the path looked reassuringly rideable, this should be fun, only for disaster as an expensive sounding crack brought my bike juddering to a halt – the rear derailler had sheared and wrapped the chain around the spokes! Fortunately Nik, Mark and Alec had the tools and ingenuity to shorten the chain and bodge a repair with cable ties and gaffer tape. Only one problem – it was now a single speed gear with a tendancy to jam! Mark gamely volunteered to ride the crippled bike and swapped with me, a big responsibility for me with a very expensive full suspension bike to look after! Despite going over the handlebars I managed to return it in one piece! Finally we made some serious ground and 10hours after we started finally rolled down the hill back to Fort William and hot showers!

The previous 3 days had taken their toll with some very tired and aching legs and bodies to the conclusion that a paddle was required so we did the Spean Gorge and Arkaig again with Alec and Laura who had missed out the first time. Nik had a day off in Fort Bill whilst Mark and Emz bounded up Ben Nevis (where do they get their energy from?). Levels were lower with Headbanger on the Spean now looking really evil with the syphon guarding the drop particularly tricky to avoid – portage for all. The Arkaig had also dropped providing a pleasant sunny float but not much more as all the play waves had now gone.

Friday had a release on the Garry so we were up bright and early to bag a carparking space as we knew the place would be jammed due to the lack of water around. We all had fun with 2 or three runs down, I just wish the walk back to the top was shorter!

The Friday night saw some rain, just as we were due to head home but the opportunity to get another river in couldn’t be missed. The Etive was in the right direction and had responded to the light rain so Ali, Mark, Emz and I quickly got on and had a fine low water run down to right angle falls. I provided some drama on the right angle as I got my boat pinned across the apex of the bend right above the 6m drop! Fortunately we had anticipated issues here and Mark quickly shoved me off the rocks and into the pool above the plunge! After this final burst of excitment all that was left was the long drive south, roll on the Alps in June!

Pictures of the trip can be found here

Seasons turn

Published on 16/03/2011 in Alps, Kayaking and Skiing. Closed

Well another winter paddling season draws to a close and it would be easy to get depressed with the weather patterns. The classic weather systems of atlantic lows tracking accross and depositing rain into our rivers has been remarkably absent and the cold north and easterly weather brought the snow and freezing temperatures and correspondingly low rainfall and river levels for much of the season. Despite the general lack of rainfall when it did rain we all took full advantage of the spike in river levels leading to some fine times on the river.

One great day out was to the Irfon a fantastic gem of a river in the heart of wales, a classic narrow ditch of a river with some interesting rapids to challenge you. Emz had a rather exciting swim through this slot next to Rich B! All was well although her paddles are somewhere in the bottom.

More excitingly after some heavy rain the Clywedog also ran and thanks to the EA Web gauges meant we knew! Arriving at the put in at Bryntail falls it was immediately apparent that levels were very high as the dam was not only releasing but pouring over the top!

Contemplating the fall only Pete and I fancied it as it required a bold line through fair sized holes and ducking the odd tree. I went first, clipped an eddy and span above the final drop, fortunately a swift roll corrected matters but not before I had apparently cartwheeled spectacularly in the bottom of the drop!
The rest of the river proved an exciting continuous alpine style grade 3 more reminiscent of the Onde than anything in Wales! After run 1 it was time for a 2nd trip down, this time Rich B was tempted by the top fall, unfortunately despite a nice line down his roll failed and he bailed before being rescued by Pete. His boat however had dissapeared downstream at quite a rate leaving Rich to walk out and shuttle the cars to the bottom again. Fortunately his boat was found pinned on a tree and after cracking out the rescue kit to create a z-drag and pig rig we soon freed his Kendo (I admit we all got a bit excited a the opportunity to use the rescue kit we carry but rarely get the opportunity to use!).

The following week was the Wye Usk weekend and the Clywedog ran again, albeit at a lower level. A more successful descent of Bryn Tail falls followed for all although Mark achieved a spectacular backloop!


Given the lower levels you might expect the rest of the river was a breeze, 3 swimmers in the first 200m soon changed that as people and kit were all over the river. A swimmers were rapidly fished out as Adam and I embarked on some frantic kit chasing whilst dodging the trees! All kit was eventually recovered but it was perhaps more frantic than some would have liked!

A weeks skiing in Zermatt provided a great getaway and we were lucky to get the first big fall of snow since Christmas! A foot of fresh powder on piste and more off it was a fine way to spend the days all in the shadow of the Matterhorn.

We also discovered a fine Swiss version of the Mooserwirt apres bar from St Anton – the Hennu Stall (Chicken Bar!), so good it was worth walking a connecting lift every day! More photos here

Perhaps the truest indicator that the winter season is drawing to a close is the start of the stick chasing season with Ali racing back to back at Shepperton and the Tryweryn. I leave with a pic of Ali racing last weekend.

Life in the freezer

Published on 17/01/2011 in Kayaking and Photos. Closed

Well Winter certainly arrived in the UK before Christmas, so much so that the UK at one point was colder than Greenland, -18C daytime temperatures anyone? The cold and freezing weather also brought the run of paddling trips to a screeching halt, a few from the club ventured out on the semi frozen Wye in -13C but frankly thats too cold even for me! The only trip of note was a cold and snowy ascent of Corn Du and Pen-y-Fan in the Brecons, the snow and ice making south Wales a picture of sparkling whiteness and providing views more akin to Scotland or the Alps. More pics here

Christmas then intervened with the now annual Ski trip to Kirchberg, we had a full mix of weather from +5C at the start of the week (10C warmer than the UK we left) through to -15C at the end of the week and 10cm of fresh in the middle. So overall we had a great time with Ali guiding me around the mountain and sniffing out all the best fresh powder.

New Year brought a change in the Weather back to more expected weather patterns with a series of Atlantic depressions finally bringing back the rain! New Years Eve saw a low trip on the Upper Usk, 2 days later we went to Cardiff WW Course and since then have done trips on the Irfon and middle Usk with this weekend being spent on Dartmoor with theUpper Dart, Dart Loop and Lower Tavy proving great fun. The Dart on the Saturday was at a perfect level for introducing several paddlers to the fun of the upper, rocks covered but not yet pushy – just lapping on the ledge.


Of course upper Veterans also had their moments!

Pics of Upper Dart and Loop here

TT 1 & 2

Published on 09/11/2010 in Kayaking. Closed

Well its the start of another winter paddling season with the traditional opening tours on the Teifi and the Tyne. I returned to the Teifi after a few years absence looking forward to the mix of friendly banter, beginner carnage and throwline spagetti at the main rapids at Henllan and Cenarth. In a change from our usual accommodation we stayed in a fantastic cottage not far from Newcastle Emlyn, which whilst not close to the megabash was far more comfortable than the Llandysul bunkhouse, and whilst we avoided the student carnage we still managed a fun evening with several “winners?” at ibble-dibble!

As far as the paddling went we had huge numbers from Cheltenham with over 30 of us on the water on the Saturday and only slightly less on the Sunday. As it was half term some had sneaked off on Friday morning to get some practice in on the Slalom site before the rest of us arrived that night. The practice showed with everyone paddling well with very few points (from my group anyway!). Most people portaged the Weir at Pentre-Cwrt bridge as the line through the stopper was quite narrow and nobody wanted to emulate the student who decided to play in the fierce looking hole at the bottom, but ended up getting played with! At Henllan most inspected before running it down the left although here the heavier water led to a few more points and swims being picked up. Despite that most peole had nice lines through the rapid and everyone left with smiles on their faces and looking forward to the next day.

After a mighty amount of Chilli (thanks Sharon) washed down with plenty of refreshing beverages we headed off for the 2nd days section from Newcastle Emlyn to Cenarth. The weir at the put-in provided some sport with the odd swim or roll and after everyone had had their fill we floated on down the mostly flat water to Cenarth falls. Here the river thunders down a grade 4+ fall on river left and down an easier grade 3+ drop and channel on the right, most people wisely opted for the right hand route. Multiple runs were had, particularly by Mark, Ali and I as we led groups down – in particlar I had great fun in borrowed Topo Duo (despite its lack of footrests!) taking down some of the younger paddlers. Running the river left channel was definately more challenging with 2 big stoppers to negotiate in a tight channel. A good line through the first hole was key to unlocking this rapid allowing you time to set up to boof through the second, larger drop and hole. Unfortunately Jason backlooped in the 1st and got slammed head first into the cliff before swimming and being live bait rescued by the lifeguards. Seeing the state of his face after was a bit of a shock with a couple of big lumps and grazes testifying to his tussle with the river and the rocks, perhaps also ironic that his full facer was still in the boot of his car…

After a week at work which saw a trip to Dublin for me and a field trip for Ali, it was time to face up to the long drive North for the mighty Tyne Tour. Friday night, as ever, saw us in the Station inn catching up with old and new friends from Durham Uni and Leamington CC. In a change from the usual script, we had (reliable) word that the Allen was running and so dashed off to the put in at Cupola bridge, levels were low but looked to be doable. It was worth the paddle with technical grade 3 paddling through fun boulder gardens to keep everyone entertained or challenged depending on their point of view. Hag fall was a straight forward slide no monster stoppers at this level! Following this entertaining run we dashed to Barrasford to do the North Tyne and after negotiating our way past the tour organisers concerned at the lateness of our arrival we headed off down the Tyne. Due to the good levels in the Tyne the flat passed quickly enough and we hit Wardens gorge with enough time to play our way down the features and surf the waves at the bottom. Fish and Chips refuelled us for an evenings partying at the Ceilidh after watching the excellent fireworks display, everyone danced their socks off and retired to their decidedly icy tents for some much needed sleep.

Sunday dawned far too early and the usual rush to pack away soggy tents and camping gear before heading over to Barnard Castle to paddle the Tees. The water had very definately gone as we bashed our way down a very low river although we still had fun and at least the sun was shining!