Mokihinui
Date: 15/10/2012 - 16/10/2012
Location: Mokihinui river north branch
Weather: clear
Group: Greg Lee, Rata Lovell-Smith, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Chris Harvey, Sara Dwyer, Tui Krall, Jacob Schrama, Jake Willet, Zak Shaw and Myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 2 days
Flow: Medium - High
Incidents: one swim from Tui one from Sara and two from Jacob
The trip of the year! all year we have been talking about finishing the year on the Mokihinui i have been looking forward to this and it did not disappoint. Flying out early on Monday morning and putting on around 10 am. the first few rapids were slightly spaced out which gave us a little time to warm up before things tightened up and got bigger. taking our time and looking at some things before we hit them. One drop had a lead in where you crossed over a nasty drop unfortunately Tui missed her line and went down and was worked in between a hole and a rock she eventually swam and caught her ankle on the way out. later on we found out there was ligament damage. we carried on and at one rapid jacob got worked in a large hydraulic and after about 2 minuets he swam out very disappointed. once at the hut we set up and light a fire on the bank. drank some whiskey and wine with our back country meals before getting some much needed sleep. day two started with a large rapid with a huge curler. running blind i dropped in and the curler ate me and looped me and i rolled up in the pool below. Jacob had the same fate only he couldn't manage to roll back up and swam again. the second day had much more flat water and there was lots of paddling to do with the odd grade 3 rapid thrown in and one more grade 4 where Sara rolled and ended up on the chompy side of the rapid and swam out the bottom. once at the take out we were very stoked with the two days we had just done. What a way to finish our two years together on the coast.
Sunday, 16 December 2012
Kayak - 9 mile
9 mile
Date: 14/10/2012
Location: 9 Mile Creek
Weather: raining
Group: Rata Lovell-smith, Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Jake Willet, Jacob Schrama, Dan Morgan and myself
Grade: 3
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: flood
After two years of trying to catch nine mile slide at a good flow we finally got it in the last week of living on the coast. After a bunch of debating whether or not it would be going we loaded up boats and had a look. we were stoked to see it going at a great flow. gearing up as fast as we could in the torrential rain and putting on. the first run was slightly chaotic. minimal eddys and unknown where the large slides where with some solid class three through the rest of the run made for some fun. the first slide was a hard one to style. it went down in to a large hole which loved to back loop everyone who didn't get in that late right boof. the second slide came up almost directly after. this one was the big one about 100 m long dropping roughly 30 m in to a rock ledge which caused a giant kicker of water it was intimidating to say the least. We each had our turn and once at the bottom we raced up and ran it again and again and again. A great run to get something different in and look forward to trying it again some time.
An video I made from some of the footage from the day. Thanks to Owen and Jake for the footage
http://vimeo.com/51592629
Date: 14/10/2012
Location: 9 Mile Creek
Weather: raining
Group: Rata Lovell-smith, Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Jake Willet, Jacob Schrama, Dan Morgan and myself
Grade: 3
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: flood
After two years of trying to catch nine mile slide at a good flow we finally got it in the last week of living on the coast. After a bunch of debating whether or not it would be going we loaded up boats and had a look. we were stoked to see it going at a great flow. gearing up as fast as we could in the torrential rain and putting on. the first run was slightly chaotic. minimal eddys and unknown where the large slides where with some solid class three through the rest of the run made for some fun. the first slide was a hard one to style. it went down in to a large hole which loved to back loop everyone who didn't get in that late right boof. the second slide came up almost directly after. this one was the big one about 100 m long dropping roughly 30 m in to a rock ledge which caused a giant kicker of water it was intimidating to say the least. We each had our turn and once at the bottom we raced up and ran it again and again and again. A great run to get something different in and look forward to trying it again some time.
An video I made from some of the footage from the day. Thanks to Owen and Jake for the footage
http://vimeo.com/51592629
Kayak - Tech week
Tech Adventure Boating week (TPP)
Date: 24/09/2012 - 28/09/2012
Location: Arnold River, Arahura River Cesspool Gorge, Totara river, Kakapotahi river and Lake Brunner
Weather: Heavy rain on Tuesday night and some of Wednesday otherwise fine.
Group: Phil Palzer, Greg Lee, Jacob Scharma, Rata Lovell-Smith, Daniel Morgan, Tui Krall, Ben Searle, Chris Harvey and Myself as students and Zak Shaw, Keith Riley, Dave Ritchie and Phil Johnston where our tutors.
Grade: 2/4/3/4/2
Duration: 5 days
Flow: Low we were on Low level flood runs like the Totara and Kakapotahi after the rain
Incidents: Dan injured his back on the first day on the Arnold and was out for the next three days. One swim from Ben on the Totara.
A Perfect week to finish off our time at TPP. We have been looking forward to this for the whole year and it did not disappoint. day one Rata, Phil, Greg and I went over our rescues on a Kayak 1 level will Phil Johnston to see how we stacked up. it was clear that we still needed a lot of work on the them to be up to the standard. Day two we went down to Hokitika and based ourselves at the Ruatapu Kayak School (AKA Keiths house). We spent the day on the Arahura walking to the half way point of Cesspool Gorge. From there we abseiled down with all our gear and put on at the end of the first rapid. paddling out we worked on our timing of strokes and boofing hitting as many drops as we could on the way down. after a night of rain we got up and headed off the the Totara River. I had only been there once at a very low flow before and it was quite different much pushier and bigger very sweet day on the river. day four we put on the lower Kakapotahi Jacob and Tui ran the main drop for the first time they both had good lines. today we were with Dave and he went over rescues and role modeling good technique throughout the day. on Friday we were back in Greymouth and spent the morning at lake Brunner completing our all in rescue and a few teaching progressions. the afternoon was all about rescue from assisted ferry glides to unconscious swimmers to throw bagging. along with just having a paddle around. A great way to spend the last day off our TPP time.
Date: 24/09/2012 - 28/09/2012
Location: Arnold River, Arahura River Cesspool Gorge, Totara river, Kakapotahi river and Lake Brunner
Weather: Heavy rain on Tuesday night and some of Wednesday otherwise fine.
Group: Phil Palzer, Greg Lee, Jacob Scharma, Rata Lovell-Smith, Daniel Morgan, Tui Krall, Ben Searle, Chris Harvey and Myself as students and Zak Shaw, Keith Riley, Dave Ritchie and Phil Johnston where our tutors.
Grade: 2/4/3/4/2
Duration: 5 days
Flow: Low we were on Low level flood runs like the Totara and Kakapotahi after the rain
Incidents: Dan injured his back on the first day on the Arnold and was out for the next three days. One swim from Ben on the Totara.
A Perfect week to finish off our time at TPP. We have been looking forward to this for the whole year and it did not disappoint. day one Rata, Phil, Greg and I went over our rescues on a Kayak 1 level will Phil Johnston to see how we stacked up. it was clear that we still needed a lot of work on the them to be up to the standard. Day two we went down to Hokitika and based ourselves at the Ruatapu Kayak School (AKA Keiths house). We spent the day on the Arahura walking to the half way point of Cesspool Gorge. From there we abseiled down with all our gear and put on at the end of the first rapid. paddling out we worked on our timing of strokes and boofing hitting as many drops as we could on the way down. after a night of rain we got up and headed off the the Totara River. I had only been there once at a very low flow before and it was quite different much pushier and bigger very sweet day on the river. day four we put on the lower Kakapotahi Jacob and Tui ran the main drop for the first time they both had good lines. today we were with Dave and he went over rescues and role modeling good technique throughout the day. on Friday we were back in Greymouth and spent the morning at lake Brunner completing our all in rescue and a few teaching progressions. the afternoon was all about rescue from assisted ferry glides to unconscious swimmers to throw bagging. along with just having a paddle around. A great way to spend the last day off our TPP time.
Kayak - Styx
Styx (P)
Date:06/09/2012
Location: Styx River
Weather: Clear
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Jacob Scharma, Rata Lovell-Smith, Taylor, Sara Dwyer, Astraea Miller, Grace Slee and Myself.
Grade: 4+/ 5
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: Medium
Incidents: Missed my line on the main drop and went up against a undercut rock. I managed to get out of it still in my boat. Dan missed his line and flipped over on a shallow area got scraped and ended up on a bank upside down holding himself up he had to get out of his boat with assistance. On a rapid in the lower section Grace and Astraea both flipped in the shallows and swam quick clean up.
After the sick day on the Styx last week decided it would be awesome to head back up there. Zak Shaw had warned us that week of the carnage that occurs on that river.Unfortunately he was right. on the top rapid I came off the third drop and by boat was instantly swept left, trying to avoid the wall i rode up hard onto the rock and slid into the hole. I was back looped and my boat pressed up against the undercut side of the rock. I tried to roll up but failed a few rolls before finally flushing off the rock and rolled back up. as we carried on down Dan and I ran a long continuous grade 4 rapid with a few nasty sections both of us missing our lines but Dan went upside down and scraped down the rapid stopping upside down on a gravel bank. Quickly we all ran to help with a huge dive into a difficult swim from Greg and Phil sprinting across the river. they both managed to get to him and get him out of his boat. we spent some time at the next drop running it 4 or 5 times each the next rapid consisted of two smaller drops. I went first and nailed my line but on the last drop i hit a rock solidly on take off and put a nasty 15 cm crack under the seat which wasn't noticed until later. once we met up with Astraea and Grace we set off down the first rapid the two both flipped and swam but we cleaned it up quickly and they were back in their boats quick. There was a lot of learning taken from today and next time we are up there we will be more aware.
Thanks to Rata Lovell-Smith for the photos.
Date:06/09/2012
Location: Styx River
Weather: Clear
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Jacob Scharma, Rata Lovell-Smith, Taylor, Sara Dwyer, Astraea Miller, Grace Slee and Myself.
Grade: 4+/ 5
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: Medium
Incidents: Missed my line on the main drop and went up against a undercut rock. I managed to get out of it still in my boat. Dan missed his line and flipped over on a shallow area got scraped and ended up on a bank upside down holding himself up he had to get out of his boat with assistance. On a rapid in the lower section Grace and Astraea both flipped in the shallows and swam quick clean up.
After the sick day on the Styx last week decided it would be awesome to head back up there. Zak Shaw had warned us that week of the carnage that occurs on that river.Unfortunately he was right. on the top rapid I came off the third drop and by boat was instantly swept left, trying to avoid the wall i rode up hard onto the rock and slid into the hole. I was back looped and my boat pressed up against the undercut side of the rock. I tried to roll up but failed a few rolls before finally flushing off the rock and rolled back up. as we carried on down Dan and I ran a long continuous grade 4 rapid with a few nasty sections both of us missing our lines but Dan went upside down and scraped down the rapid stopping upside down on a gravel bank. Quickly we all ran to help with a huge dive into a difficult swim from Greg and Phil sprinting across the river. they both managed to get to him and get him out of his boat. we spent some time at the next drop running it 4 or 5 times each the next rapid consisted of two smaller drops. I went first and nailed my line but on the last drop i hit a rock solidly on take off and put a nasty 15 cm crack under the seat which wasn't noticed until later. once we met up with Astraea and Grace we set off down the first rapid the two both flipped and swam but we cleaned it up quickly and they were back in their boats quick. There was a lot of learning taken from today and next time we are up there we will be more aware.
Thanks to Rata Lovell-Smith for the photos.
Phil taking the Right Line.
Me in a bad place.
Dan on the Buffer drop.
Greg Going for the Boof.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)