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.

 Phil taking the Right Line.

Me in a bad place.

  Dan on the Buffer drop.

Greg Going for the Boof.