Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Raft Guide Training Pics!
Well.. Finished my second weekend of training on the Rouge! It went fantastic! I was given some lines to take at certain rapids... waves to hit...pourovers to avoid...unflipping a raft...making a 4 point anchor to unpin a raft...And I did very well! Better than I had expected! I took a day on Monday to go kayaking as I have not had the time to paddle on weekends! We ran the white dog section of the rouge.. Class II and III water with a big wave on river left of one rapid. I ferried from the right shore to the left and when I got to the wave..I found it to be way bigger than I expected.. Very bouncy and dynamic surf! Here are a few photos from my gopro!!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Raft guide training and New summer home!!
Well.. this weekend is easter long weekend and I am headed out to the Rouge River for my second weekend of Raft Guide training! Last weekend was rainy, cold , windy and snowy so I decided not to camp out... It was really exhausting, spending 8-9 hours on the water and then 3 hours of theory.. Turns out that steering a 15 foot raft is nothing like paddling a kayak and its wayyyy harder! Im having lots of fun and gaining swimming skills for sure!!
Apparently I will guide the whole Canyon Harrington section of the Rouge wich is big class IV water at these spring levels! Im pretty fired up! Im also looking forward to camp in my new summer home aka truck cap! It has plenty of space and a nice big roof rack to haul the boats!!
Heres a few pics!!
Apparently I will guide the whole Canyon Harrington section of the Rouge wich is big class IV water at these spring levels! Im pretty fired up! Im also looking forward to camp in my new summer home aka truck cap! It has plenty of space and a nice big roof rack to haul the boats!!
Heres a few pics!!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Finally! Some water!
Well....The gauge for the Ottawa has been going up to almost normal spring levels! Better than last year for sure! I headed out to Deschenes Channel wave and then Champlain for some hole surfs! Heres a few shots of Ryan, Adam Chappell and I! Taken with new my point and shoot waterproof camera..Thanks to Air Miles! :) Also check out the inspiring video at the bottom.. First Descents does awesome things to Cancer patients and survivors.. Please donate to First Descents!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sunset Flatwater Sesh!
Annie, a friend of mine and awesome photographer, took some pictures of me practicing flatwater stuff last night on the Ottawa river. Weather was warm but water a bit cold! The looks on the peoples faces was priceless! Merci Annie pour les superbes photos!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
First full on run of the year! Petite-Nation River @ 36 cms!
Well There's a little river about 60 foot wide tha runs through my parents backyard.. Theres about 4 sections you can run.. The upper canyon north of St-Andre Avellin, The Hells Gate canyon (the one we ran), the third canyon thats a little more sketchy with lost of portages and the Chutes de Plaisance..a class V+ 120 gradient waterfall! The last time we ran this section, the level was 24cms.. Let me tell you that 12 cms more makes a lot of a difference on a small river like this.. Small features turned into intimidating holes, pourvovers and bigger wave trains! I didnt expect that at all! We found one nice playwave but its at the top of a gorge and a1km rapid and it has no eddy. The water pushes through fast when the canyon gets narrower! Fun class III+ run I would say! Rapids are longer at this level and a swim woundlt be a short one! It ends with a fun little seal launch and a 2km class II wavetrain with one hole in the middle! Fun spot to practice Wavewheels and kickflips! Heres a few pictures! The Chutes were impressive at this level! Gnar!!
Monday, March 28, 2011
How Jackson Kayak saved my legs and life.
Friday Morning, Mike McKay and I decided to go for a bit of paddling at Blakeney Rapids in Amonte, ON. We got there to find the levels really high, with alot of sticky mean looking holes everywhere and it was -15 celsius..We decided to not get too wet and play in some little side channels.. We walked upstream to check out a drop and decided not to run it. I put in right above a class III rapid and noticed the current led into a nice big undercut rock on the right..Told myself I should put in below it but then somehow decided "Hey..I'll still put in here! I'll just paddle away from the undercut.!" Well I missed my seal launch/ferry attempt and plugged the bow of the Villain right in the undercut rock. After a bit of a struggle, I managed to squeeze myself out and went for a gnarly little swim. Lost my paddle and my boat stayed there overnight. Mike was already downstream at the time and just saw me swimming wondering what was going on. The boat was under an overhanging cliff and access was very limited and rappelling gear was needed to get to it.
I called a bunch of fellow paddlers that night and we headed there for noon on Saturday.
It took us about 20 carabiners, 10 pulleys, 400 feet of rope, rappelling gear, 16 guys and 5 hours to get the boat out. Most intense rope work we've ever seen on the river.. Once the boat was out, we noticed how bent it was..We also noticed that if it wasnt for the Jackson Kayak crosslink plastic's strength and Bulkhead system, Both my legs and ankles wouldve broken right away and I most likely wouldve stayed trapped in the boat and died. The plastic held for almost 10 hours before it bent around the Bulkhead. We had attached the tow ropes to the grab loop handles to pull the boat out and they witheld an estimated pressure of over 7000 pounds and didnt move an inch. I will be honest here and say that if it would've been any other creek boat on the market with regular foot peg system, Im pretty sure I would'nt be here today to tell the story. I sent an appreciation letter to the Jackson Kayak guys and they posted it on the front page.. Pardon my frenchyness and hangover from the celebration mistakes!
Here it is: Villain Bulkhead Test = Success!!
Although I am glad to have come out with only a few scratches and bruises, I am bummed out to have scrapped a relatively brand new 1200$ kayak and lost my paddle. I worked real hard for a few months and saved every penny to buy this beast and im out without a boat right before creeking season starts here in Ontario and Quebec.. It wont be anytime soon that I will be able to buy another one but one thing is for sure.. It will most certainly be a Jackson Kayak! Its a hard learned lesson and some of the things I learned this weekend are : Always carry a whistle and a knife on your PFD, Follow your first instinct, Analyze your surroundings and don't care about what other paddlers might think if you walk a rapid.
Here are some pictures :
The boat pinned in the undercut
Paul in the water setting up some pulleys
CJ Rappelling down the cliff to access the boat
Me looking down at CJ
About to go for the final pull
Its out!!!
Its scrap :(
Ouch!!
Smiling on the outside.. crying on the inside! haha
I called a bunch of fellow paddlers that night and we headed there for noon on Saturday.
It took us about 20 carabiners, 10 pulleys, 400 feet of rope, rappelling gear, 16 guys and 5 hours to get the boat out. Most intense rope work we've ever seen on the river.. Once the boat was out, we noticed how bent it was..We also noticed that if it wasnt for the Jackson Kayak crosslink plastic's strength and Bulkhead system, Both my legs and ankles wouldve broken right away and I most likely wouldve stayed trapped in the boat and died. The plastic held for almost 10 hours before it bent around the Bulkhead. We had attached the tow ropes to the grab loop handles to pull the boat out and they witheld an estimated pressure of over 7000 pounds and didnt move an inch. I will be honest here and say that if it would've been any other creek boat on the market with regular foot peg system, Im pretty sure I would'nt be here today to tell the story. I sent an appreciation letter to the Jackson Kayak guys and they posted it on the front page.. Pardon my frenchyness and hangover from the celebration mistakes!
Here it is: Villain Bulkhead Test = Success!!
Although I am glad to have come out with only a few scratches and bruises, I am bummed out to have scrapped a relatively brand new 1200$ kayak and lost my paddle. I worked real hard for a few months and saved every penny to buy this beast and im out without a boat right before creeking season starts here in Ontario and Quebec.. It wont be anytime soon that I will be able to buy another one but one thing is for sure.. It will most certainly be a Jackson Kayak! Its a hard learned lesson and some of the things I learned this weekend are : Always carry a whistle and a knife on your PFD, Follow your first instinct, Analyze your surroundings and don't care about what other paddlers might think if you walk a rapid.
Here are some pictures :
The boat pinned in the undercut
Monday, March 21, 2011
Saturday Mission Fail and Great Chazy River on Sunday = AWESOME!
Good Morning Guys!
Came back last night at around 1:00AM from NY.. Ive only got 2.5 hours of sleep in me and I am at work writing this report, sipping on a nice warm coffee!
Richard, CJ and I drove all the way to the Achigan on Saturday as we saw the levels rise 10cms more than the day before! We though the ice broke and we got there to find it all frozen solid still! So was the Bonniebrook and all the stuff up in the laurentians according to the locals... Thats a no go for at least 2-3 more weeks apparently... Got to the Rouge and Petite Nation and same thing.. Seven Sisters Canyon run can be paddled and Family Wave is in. We headed home as we had our Villains and we were bummed out about the Laurentians situation...
Saturday Morning.. The Great Chazy was at 10-11 feet and the max recommended on American Whitewater is 9 ft. We figured we'd keep an eye on the level and Sunday Morning it was 8ft. On AW, they say that above 6 is Class IV+ V stuff and "keeper holes" at the top, bottom 1rst slide and bottom 2nd slide... To be honest... I dont know who wrote this but we ran it at 7.6ft and we wished we had a bit more water.. We stopped to get gas and one lady told us the Ice had broken overnight on Friday!! We got lucky! We shuttle with a mountain bike..Only 7kms...
CJ and Richard ran the first Dam Slide at the put in and we eddy hopped our wat down and scouted from there.. CJ stopped and the first hole as he eddied out left and had scouting access.. He gave me thumps up and it was good to go.. I knew the line from the videos I saw... The reactionary caught me and I went in the hole sideways a bit.. Mysterymoved for a second and popped into the river left eddy...back paddled to get out and I was fine.. Richard opted to punch right in.. and CJ took the same line as me and avoided the hole..This is by NO MEANS as class IV+ hole at these levels... Class IV at the most IMO.
We then ran the first slide and it was a Blast!!!! 2kms of pushy water and holes to avoid.. Its really shallow and you have to be on your game. Going upside down would rape your face!! Few holes to "punch" or avoid... The bottom holes on both slides looked gnarly but were easily avoided or punched on the left side and perhaps the right also...
Then you get a bit of flats and awesome Ruins scenery! Some class II+ III Boogie and then a 2-3 ft Ledge / Pourover and you might want to stay river right... I knew it was there and sticky...but somehow I wasnt paying attention.. didnt "boof" hard enough and landed right in...I sidesurfed a bit..flipped.. I rolled up quick and back paddled to the side and got out! Wouldnt be a problem to swim as its a big pool below...
We got to the 12-15 footer, scouted it..picked our points and CJ headed first..Was a bit off line on the right..went in the towback a bit and eddied out just fine.. Richard was kinda too much left and landed on rocks... I was right on the line, couldve boofed better, rolled and got pinned against the ledge were the guys had set up safety.. in my mind..I was under the curtain..tried to roll twice and couldnt...felt myself being pushed/rocked and thought "No way im getting out of here" so I swam out to the below river right eddy... The guys saw I was fine..and I that I couldve rolled on my offside... laughed a bit and got my paddle in the river left eddy! They ran laps twice after that and I filmed/took pics!
PS: Holy Crap a Villain L is heavy when filled up...Even with float bags!!
Awesome Day! Here are some go pro stills!
About to Run The Shit!!
The hole
Into the hole
1rst Slide
Ruins and Ice
2nd slide
Some Sticky Pourover fun!
The Horizon Line
Boof!!
Richard on the Falls
The Brown Claw!
The Swim!
Enjoy!
Came back last night at around 1:00AM from NY.. Ive only got 2.5 hours of sleep in me and I am at work writing this report, sipping on a nice warm coffee!
Richard, CJ and I drove all the way to the Achigan on Saturday as we saw the levels rise 10cms more than the day before! We though the ice broke and we got there to find it all frozen solid still! So was the Bonniebrook and all the stuff up in the laurentians according to the locals... Thats a no go for at least 2-3 more weeks apparently... Got to the Rouge and Petite Nation and same thing.. Seven Sisters Canyon run can be paddled and Family Wave is in. We headed home as we had our Villains and we were bummed out about the Laurentians situation...
Saturday Morning.. The Great Chazy was at 10-11 feet and the max recommended on American Whitewater is 9 ft. We figured we'd keep an eye on the level and Sunday Morning it was 8ft. On AW, they say that above 6 is Class IV+ V stuff and "keeper holes" at the top, bottom 1rst slide and bottom 2nd slide... To be honest... I dont know who wrote this but we ran it at 7.6ft and we wished we had a bit more water.. We stopped to get gas and one lady told us the Ice had broken overnight on Friday!! We got lucky! We shuttle with a mountain bike..Only 7kms...
CJ and Richard ran the first Dam Slide at the put in and we eddy hopped our wat down and scouted from there.. CJ stopped and the first hole as he eddied out left and had scouting access.. He gave me thumps up and it was good to go.. I knew the line from the videos I saw... The reactionary caught me and I went in the hole sideways a bit.. Mysterymoved for a second and popped into the river left eddy...back paddled to get out and I was fine.. Richard opted to punch right in.. and CJ took the same line as me and avoided the hole..This is by NO MEANS as class IV+ hole at these levels... Class IV at the most IMO.
We then ran the first slide and it was a Blast!!!! 2kms of pushy water and holes to avoid.. Its really shallow and you have to be on your game. Going upside down would rape your face!! Few holes to "punch" or avoid... The bottom holes on both slides looked gnarly but were easily avoided or punched on the left side and perhaps the right also...
Then you get a bit of flats and awesome Ruins scenery! Some class II+ III Boogie and then a 2-3 ft Ledge / Pourover and you might want to stay river right... I knew it was there and sticky...but somehow I wasnt paying attention.. didnt "boof" hard enough and landed right in...I sidesurfed a bit..flipped.. I rolled up quick and back paddled to the side and got out! Wouldnt be a problem to swim as its a big pool below...
We got to the 12-15 footer, scouted it..picked our points and CJ headed first..Was a bit off line on the right..went in the towback a bit and eddied out just fine.. Richard was kinda too much left and landed on rocks... I was right on the line, couldve boofed better, rolled and got pinned against the ledge were the guys had set up safety.. in my mind..I was under the curtain..tried to roll twice and couldnt...felt myself being pushed/rocked and thought "No way im getting out of here" so I swam out to the below river right eddy... The guys saw I was fine..and I that I couldve rolled on my offside... laughed a bit and got my paddle in the river left eddy! They ran laps twice after that and I filmed/took pics!
PS: Holy Crap a Villain L is heavy when filled up...Even with float bags!!
Awesome Day! Here are some go pro stills!
About to Run The Shit!!
The hole
Enjoy!
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