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On 16th Dec 2011, after an online vote at Berghaus I became proud to be given funding for a solo kayak descent trip to Everest.

Everest cries two rivers of tears into Nepal, the Dudh Kosi and Arun Gorges, both remote and challenging white water rivers. It is a matter of respect, personal dreams and hope. A challenge, one man, one mountain – to show that Everest, goddess of the earth, is more than the mountain alone, more than the foot steps; these well-worn tracks cry.

These rivers have seen few descents. In Tibet the Arun is named the Rongbuk as it arcs from the plateau. Its name changes as it crashes from the top of the world carving away from Everest. None except myself have paddled all these rivers and in the spring of 2012 I am setting out again to challenge the raging rapids of the tears of Everest. In the spring it is intended that I will make a solo unsupported descent of these rivers, back to back. A solo duo combination, never attempted, a further notch for the only kayaker to have descended all the rivers that flow from Everest and k2.

For the trip I will be trusting my moves and my life with Lightning gradient paddles. I love these paddles. They offer power and reach like no others that I have used.

For more info on the expedition please click

David Bain 2011

Free Fall Nepal

For many years kayakers in Nepal who had a thirst for waterfalls had no choice but to make a walk from the road head up to the Modi Khola in Nepal and then to the Burundi Khola. Now with the advancement of the road working past the trekkers town of Birithanti these waterfalls are a simple 2hour drive from Pokhara. Although you are in the 'park' and have to buy a trek permit its all worth it. Clear waterfalls, cheeky vistas, cake shops and unique 'Nepal Experience'. This makes a great day trip and for those you sit in Pokhara watching the paragliders; it is a welcome distraction.

Charles Blyth Secures A Place in the GBR Freestyle Squad

Team member Charles Blyth just received the news that he has secured a place on the Great British Freestyle Team as a squad member for the 2012 season. Charles got a place by competing in a series of selection events held at different locations around the country.
Here is a picture of him with a set of the Robson Hells Bells and the brand new Titan Genesis!

Robson Apex Review

The Robson Apex is the brand new touring boat brought to you by Robson Mega Sports. From the moment I saw it I knew this was going to be a very fun boat to paddle. The innovative lines on the rail and the smooth hull profile made for such a slick boat on the water the only thing which made me get off was the end of the river!
Outfitting
The layout of the interior has been well thought out and although simple, it definitely works. After 4 people  massively ranging in weight and size tried it, it was clear that this boat can accommodate the larger paddlers as well as the smaller.
The grab handles of the boat were very user friendly making it less of a pain to transport to the water.
One thing I was really fond of was the skeg system which without fail did what you wanted it to do, unlike other brands touring boats which are vulnerable to falling down once raised.

On The Water
The Apex picked up speed very easily and without effort which was a strong selling point in my view.
This boat is fast, and I mean fast. This would be the perfect boater x boat for whitewater paddlers whilst at the same time be the tool for Touring boaters who want to up their game, and because of the boats user friendliness and speed, up their distance.
One of my favourite things about this boat was the way that the Apex literally glided into eddies. Thanks to its edges and subtle progressive rocker it also boofed upon command. It goes where you want it to go, not the other way round. Considering the length of this boat, I was certainly surprised at this.

Overall I was really happy with the way this boat performed on the water as well as the thought out outfitting. This boat is the perfect accompliment  for almost any paddler whether it be hardcore class V creek boater to the calmer paddlers who love to paddle on a quiet summers evening.
I am now looking forward to taking it on some steeper water to see what other great features this boat has.
See you on the water,
Charles Blyth

More from Nepal

The rivers still flow and the sun sets on our daily adventure. But we know that we have more, each day, each hour a new adventure. The morning sun warms and our smiles our obvious. This season, whilst not finished, has already brought many trips – enough to light our fires. We have played on the Balephi and Bhote Kosi, adventures on the Sun Kosi our classic expedition always bring smiles. Then it was off to the Marsy, Trisuli and more. Lets not forget the waterfalls at Burundi Khola. What a ride, what a blast.

Back to Kathmandu and looking at maps, looking at new adventures, looking for freedom.

Be happy, Daz www.purelandexpeditions.com

Images are from over a decade of Robsons in Nepal...

Pyranha Fest

The annual Pyranha fest  is always a great show and this year was no exception. The robsons stand was set up in prime view of the infamous 'cafe wave' ( where we could witness all of the carnage) and the demo fleet was in constant use the whole of the weekend! There was a great turn out from the team including David Bain, Kev Griffiths, Josh Morrisesy, me ( Charles Blyth) and the infamous god father of the operation: Paul Morrissey! On the Saturday night after a presentation including a raffle with one of the prizes being donated was a Robson Paddle from the new recently launched range which was won by the Burne family..I am sure they will put it to good use :)
On sunday David Bain and Charles Blyth entered the 'pro' boater X race which contained 6 of some of the fastest paddlers around! Charles came in 3rd with Dave slightly behind due to the carnage at the jump in start.
Overall it was a great weekend for Robson Paddles and it is definite that the Robson range is getting good vibes on and off the water!
See you on the river,
Charles

Sick lines, Fast bikes, and a little gravy!

It always starts with a journey

Our trip started in Nottingham, where Tom and I live. A kit list was made and we left at midday on Friday. A quick drive and we arrived in London at the White Water Canoe Centre where Pete Scutt works. After an afternoon in the shop we headed to the local pub beside the Shepperton Slalom Site followed by a curry.

The next morning we were back in the shop watching the rugby, myself very over-excited about the coming week and not really knowing what to do with myself till 4:00. However, the time did eventually come and we began our trip to Dover and the drive to Europe, our destination, Sickline!

We arrived on Sunday afternoon with sore backs from the journey. After a quick inspection of the course we were changed and raring to go. This was the first time I had seen the Wellerbrucke section at race level, and to no surprise it still looked rather big. With help from all the GB guys here I had my line set in my head as well as following Graham, Pete and Tom down.

My first run was pretty clean, and filled me with confidence, I went straight back up for another few runs. We all got off the water buzzing with how we paddled. No huge beat-downs were taken and most of us felt really positive about the course. We then got some food and headed to Crazy Eddies.

Crazy Eddies

Crazy Eddies is possibly one of the coolest most random places I have ever been to. It is an old raft centre, where many raft guides still live. It’s comprised of a central building with a full industrial kitchen, of which only a small electric oven hob combo, and a fridge works. Another room with another walk in style industrial fridge is, again not working, and a table where we eat, chill and most importantly drink tea.

There is also an assortment of old train carriages, which are very Harry Potter style. You can even imagine the dementors coming down the corridor. These carriages have doors to each, converted “bedrooms” which have fold out bunk beds. The window seals are perished and doors squeal but still I really enjoy sleeping there for the quirkiness of the whole place.

Middle Oetz and back to the Venter Ache

In the morning we headed up to run the Middle Oetz with Seth as our guide. It was a really fun run, with nothing too difficult at this water level. It certainly kept you busy though as the rock-gardens were super long and tight. After this we went up the valley to the Venter Ache, my favourite run to date. Unfortunately I had only ever run it in spate, and at normal water levels it wasn’t anything overly special. It was still great to paddle through the deep gorges in the sunshine, and there were enough features to make it enjoyable and a fun run.

We finished the day back on the Race course on the Oetz with a few quick runs down, and an unfortunate snapping of my paddle just above the two largest drops on the course. A bit of C1 down the drops had me on a nice clean line though. Thankfully.

Race Prep is Important.... But so is relaxing

After a having to abandon a plan to run the Risbach we had to decide what to do with the day. The thought of a day just on the race course was not so appealing, therefore we went to the local bike hire, and rented some Giant DH and free-ride bikes. I had not been on a DH bike for a few years, since I sold mine. We got the ski lift up, and had our first run down, a definite walking track. It was super steep and not really wide enough for a bike. We ended up finding some single track road, then nailing it down the mountain roads overtaking cars. The second run down we found some fire road tack where even the open corners seemed tight due to a lack of berms. Towards the end we found a nice little section of DH which really got the adrenaline pumping. A few minor crashes were had within the group but nothing major. The day ended, again with a few runs down the race course.

The reality of racing

So it came to Thursday, as I awoke the race nerves came apparent. It was a strange feeling knowing that this was actually a world champs. We had a short paddle in the morning including a run down the Infamous upper Wellerbrucke, which is one rather scary dirty run. The evening had some nice lines going down from all the GB paddlers. We had a race meal that evening which consisted of numerous pieces of meat and a few potatoes. I got an early night and started psyching myself up for the next day.

Qualification

The prep leading up to the race for me was pretty thorough. I had not done much training on the qualification course due to the top being so technical, a mistake on my part as I had not understood how challenging qualification was going to be. Anyway, with advice from Pete Scutt, Craig Aires and Rob Harris, I thought I knew my lines well. I waited in queue for the start, eagerly awaiting my time to climb down the steep bank to the small eddy by the start beam. I sprinted off the start, and as planned hit the hump of the first drop nailing the boof and landing on the left pile, I sprinted towards champion’s killer. I hit the right boof and landed perfectly and powered through the small gap below. At this point I had thought the hard work was over and it was just keeping to the “easy lines” however through the middle section I made contact with a few rocks which slowed me down significantly. My time had me 3^rd in 1^st qualification.

Second qualification was very much the same again hitting the same rock. I rushed up after my times to watch the other GB competitors. Tom Wakeling, one of the fastest GB paddlers unfortunately backlooped on champion’s killer therefore this year did not have the chance to race in the final. Congrats to Pete and Anton who also made it through along with myself.

Finals day!

The moment I had been waiting for, sitting at the top of a 6 meter seal slide looking down upon the swirling waters below. A cameraman was placed just where I wanted to be at the top of the slide, which meant I had to just hope that I would be ok sliding further right. The light went green and I shifted my weight over the edge, the boat began to slowly tilt, then speed down the rock towards the small yellow plank. I shot off down the river as my hull boofed nicely off the flat surface below. I knew this was the first key part to my race. I then picked up the pace through the first section flowing with the S around a rock then a hole, a quick boof and I was on to the flat section in the middle of the course. I sprinted towards the compulsory left channel. I hit it with a nice line and then paddled for the middle route where you come all too near to the undercut that has claimed so many peoples runs. I got the double boof and then sprinted towards the second to last drop. I hit the hump and again, as in quals landed on the flow and gripped it. On approach to champion’s killer I was just praying that it went to plan. Unfortunately it did not and I backlooped. I finished 8 seconds behind the Russian I was against, who went on to win the quarter final stage.

I finished 34^th, very happy with my performance in the race. I can’t wait after another hard years training to go out again and hopefully get a better seeding!

Thanks for reading,

David

p.s. The party was Epic!

TITAN test pictures

Matt Cooke. mattcookekayak.com Lightning Team Rider. Blog update

Hi,  my name is Matt Cooke and I have been paddling with Robson paddles for the last 10 years or so.  recently, I have switched to Lightning blades since the merge.  I have used hundreds of paddles in my paddling career and have found myself with a set of paddles that really suit my paddling style and volume of usage.  I have two sets of free ride crank paddles and use one set for freestyle and a slightly longer set with my magnum.  Up to now, I can't fault my paddles.  They are strong, smooth and light.  From what I have seen, the paddles take a licking and keep on ticking.  I have not seen a set break yet through paddling.     I have made a small pro mo on youtube and face book from some sessions in Wales and Canada.  These paddles seem to be becoming more and more popular in the pro kayaker scene proving their worth on the world stage.  see you all on the river.  peace,  Cookie :-)

Road Trip

Road Trip

So you may have noticed over the last 6 months, there has been a distinct lack of blogs on my creek and big water paddling. This was because I was focusing purely on my racing at this year’s Junior European Championships. However within 3 days after the Europeans, Joe Morley and I had started the drive out to Europe, with 4 plastic boats on the roof.  Our plan was to drive out straight to Prague for a few days of Freestyle paddling on the 2008 Freestyle world cup site, also home to many international slalom competitions.

All packed up and ready to go

Creeking In Czech

On arrival to Prague a BBQ was quickly set up, at 11:30pm and steak was readily consumed after the 14 hour+ drive out. In the morning I woke early, as usual after a late night, so took a look at the river. My heart sunk after seeing the level far too high for the slalom course, leaving the channel backed up and washed out, no use for paddling at all. I quickly made the plan that we were not staying in Prague, I was having serious withdrawal symptoms from paddling. Unfortunately I did not know many Czech non slalom paddlers, but a quick look on the Pyranha Team website gave me a few names. After speaking with Katerina Migdauova she said our best bet was to head up to North Czech with herself, and a few mates. On arival to a small town called Jizerske Hory, the landscape becoming ever more mountainous and seeing swollen rivers below us really got my heart pumping, excited to run some real water.  We parked in a small carpark filled fully with paddlers cars and brightly coloured boats.  We followed the group up the valley, after a reasonably long steep drive, we went over a brow of a hill to see a huge bowl like valley, filled with small wooden houses, it reminded me of a western film as the cowboys look upon the Indian settlement.  We paddled this small tributary which joined the main river about a km down. The river was very steep, very rocky and incredibly good fun. The top was tight narrow and gnarly which really put me on my toes after not paddling a creek boat on steep water for many months. The river then opened out following the confluence of 2 other rivers to give some bigger , deeper technical rapids.

  nice technical rapid on our first river

We then decided to paddle the Kamenica, a river which I would describe as a steeper wider bigger Washburn. This river was exceedingly good fun, continuous rapids all the way down.  It ended with a 15-20 foot weir, one that the locals were wary of due to the shallow landing and strong tow-back. After a careful inspection, and giving Joe first the camera, then the throw-line I was psyched to run the drop. I got some run on the boat, and looked for my line, a strong boof off the lip landed me flat at the bottom, with lots of speed to clear the tow-back.

Final drop on the Kamenice

My experience of the rivers in Czech was very positive, and I would definitely encourage people to go paddle their more often and get it on the map!

Wild Water Racing World Champs

The next place on our trip was Opava, Home to the 2011 wild water racing junior world championships. A week was spent there, learning the lines and racing. The river was exceedingly flat, favouring the bigger stronger paddlers, however GB fought hard and came out with some reasonable results! It was a great week and it was especially great to meet up with friends which I had met over the previous 2 years. It was especially to see the amount of paddlers that were not just wild water paddlers, Haley Popp, a fellow NRS team paddler raced well, along with her brother Bryson who raced in C2 class as well as many slalomists who competed in wild water alongside their slalom paddling.

Team race in Czech

 

Time for the main event

On arrival in Austria life was once again balanced. My slalom and wild water paddling had been the priority, but now it was just me and the rivers, able to choose what to paddle, what lines to take, and ultimately how hard I wanted to push myself. Many rivers were paddled during the ten days we were in Austria but I will only speak about the highlights. We started the trip with a medium level run of the Inn Shoot and Landeck gorge.

Inn Shoot and Landeck Gorge

The Inn Shoot is one of the best bits of water to date that I have paddled. It is a continuous 3km run with large waves and huge holes. Joe had told me about this run, saying it was a lot of fun, so it was on the hit list for both of us. Joe made a call to Oz Rowdon, a slalom paddler he had paddled with in Austria last year with, and we were set to go. We got to the get in, and started a decent towards the gorge. My heart was pumping., egerly awaiting to see what the river looked like at water level, not 100 feet up! The whole run was non stop paddling, powering threw the edges of holes and fighting over waves to see what the next section would bring. The river flattened off after this until Landeck gorge approached giving a nice short ending rapid.

Lower Venter Ache- My favourite run to date!

The Lower Ventre Ache was quite simply amazing. Large (very large) continuous rapids for 6km. Joe and I had paddled the top half earlier in the week, and were determined to paddle the rest. We headed up to the get in and met with a group of Czech Guys. The river was high still due to glacial melt, way over the guide books high water recommendation however the Czech Guys had ran it once that morning so, despite it being a higher level Joe and I decided to give it a go.

The river is fast, and narrow, a little wider than Trywern. The river had continuous high peaky waves and large holes, some of which went across the whole river.  The gorges were seriously steep with no exit, intimidating when in the middle of them was some of the biggest water I had seen. The river was still rising sharply when we got off the water, but one more run seemed like a good idea. The river was bigger still and so fast we did 3 breakouts on the whole 6km.

First rapid on the Venter Ache this starts on exit of the get in eddy

Lower Oetz

The lower Oetz is the classic run, in low water it is a run much like the Tay, in high waters it just keeps getting bigger with large standing waves and munchy holes to punch. The highlights of the Oetz for me, have to be the standing play wave below the “extreme danger weir” which had me doing clean spins and surfing all day, and the rapid on the following corner, where there is literally a wall of water standing in front of you which you have no choice but to punch threw.

just  a fuzzy screan shot - new photo comming soon :P

Brandenburger Ache

I had been pretty excited about this run all week. Joe had been bigging it up for the past 6 months, so I was anxious to see it for myself. Getting on to the river, after briefly looking at the first gorge from a foot wide path, literally cut in to the cliff, left a lot of unknowns, especially how big the water was going to be down there. The first gorge was steep fast with small drops all the way down, ending with a curl off a wall in to a deep recirculating hole which had me quickly flipped and rolling. The best thing about this river was the length, 16km ish I think was the section we paddled, the even better thing is the river doesn’t really slow for a great distance before you are in the next over hanging gorge working your way down the next rapid. It was quite an exhilarating experience paddling threw a gorge not much more than 3 meters wide with cliffs towering above, and indeed over your head. About half way down there was one shot portage, due to a drop with a tree in the hole, however the portage was so steep and tricky at the time it almost seemed safer to run the rapid. The last section was again in a gorge and had a small drop with a nasty hole at the bottom, which saw a few of the team having to bounce off a wall or fight their way out of the hole.

A flat part of the Brandenburger-a relitivly rare sight

And thus ends the post, I had the time off my life paddling out in the alps, something I plan to do again as soon as possible. The experience I have gained from my time out there, has made me much more confident and I am now really looking forward to Sickline in a month or two’s time!

Upper Pitzbach

The Upper Pitsbazh was also a good run, a technical rocky 8km made us on our toes. It also had a nice little boof half way down…

Small Boof on the Pitzbach

Thanks

 I would firstly like to thank Joe for joining me on the trip, he was great to have along and made things run smoothly.  I would also like to thank NRS, Lightning Paddles and Pyranha as my gear really did serve me extremely well throughout the trip. In addition to this I would like to thank White Water Canoe Centre, Nelo kayaks and GoPro for their continued support. I will also thank Desperate Measures on behalf of Joe for supporting him.

Over and out,

David Bain

Worth the wait...

It's been a while since any good swell... but when it came it brought us some great waves! This great North Devon break needs really specific conditions to work. Everything lined up and there were some awesome waves to be had, including some barrels!

Hopefully the summer swell will be here to stay!

Philip Watson

After a very busy few months moving from my home town of Chester, to Nottingham. Moving schools and training hard in the UK, France and Bosnia I have a free minute to write a post.

BOSNIA PRE EUROPEANS

The time has come where the Junior and U23 GB teams have returned to Bosnia. Thankfully the river is staying at a consistent level now, not like in our training camp, where the water rose each day from 25 cumecs to 200, which was challenging to say the least with gates having to be risen every 5 minutes.

The course has been altered very little since I was last here, and although it is not the most technical river out there, I am still thoroughly looking forward to racing, which starts with my individual and team qualification races on Thursday.

And yes, it’s a little hot, 40+ deg c :O :O :O

PADDLING MY NEW PYRANHA VARUN AND CARBON FREERIDE BLADES AT HPP

As my training started to dip for racing, and "hot" weather visiting the UK I decided it was about time to get comfortable in my Varun, before I get on larger rivers in central Europe in 3 weeks time. I really enjoyed paddling the boat down river, its a lot faster than other play boats of its type, yet also carves nicely on a wave as well as it being playful in a hole. It really is ace for all round paddling, which is exactly what I intend to do in Austria, Slovinia and Switzerland.

The carbon blades were also great; I am still using the Freeride blade design, which as I said in a previous review are nice strong, powerful blades. The carbon blades are quite a lot lighter, making them more similar to my slalom blades.

David Bain

Living a dream

I couldn't wait. A small VHS tape had arrived in the post. I was still at college - parked outside my parents house my Mums mini metro had my Dancer kayak on the roof, a dayglow ribbed pfd hung on the washing line.



I placed the VHS into the top loading tape player and watched in wonder as Shaun Baker and friends descended the Prysor, Gamlan and Llanberis Falls. Now almost 20 years later, I live at the back of the Cresta-Prysor. The Gamlan just a short drive away is enjoyed when the rain falls and time allows. But still the mighty falls at Llanberis have taunted me. On 27th May 2011 after a brief chat on social network sites we, Dave and myself, drove up the steep lane that parallels the falls.

Awaiting us we saw water levels on the high side of good, camera crews in position and blue bird sky.

Stories and articles about kayaking drops can fall short of getting to the feelings and depth of emotion. The calculated risk, the dynamic assessments we make, these cannot be from the heart. It is my personal view that the heart matters. For me, for the ride - this inner being more than anything is why we push ourselves.

The place of magic - the place of bijou- is on the edge, the thin chance - the moment that is passed before it arrives. The moment that you have planned for in the sleepless nights. The moment of no return, no second thoughts - no second chances. For those that have the ability to think in this way our natural world will hold spells beyond belief, it will hold you in its charm and welcome you for the ride.



For my part, the cusp of the real, is the point where the use of meditative breathing slows the pulse and empties the mind. This is the point I live for - the point that matters most.





To see the film please click the Vimeo link.


http://vimeo.com/24362707

Images by Pete@chargingarc.com & Chris Headleand@xsportmap.

The straight facts are simple. Whilst not without risk this descent was a calculated affair. It was a graph of probability and possibility. Years of kayaking had brought us to this point. We were not some guys on a whim, cast adrift in chance. We would not have been able to tackle the fall if we did not understand the subtle ebb and flow.

For my part the equipment was important, A creek boat and full face helmet were standard affair. Elbow pads, paddles, dry top and wetsuit vest top are perhaps obvious. But once in the boat the most important features for me were the paddled shorts and the Z2 Chaco sandal. The latter thick sole acting as further cushioning if I needed it. I chose gear that I knew would work not because of some team deal or spot light promotion and for the gear that never fails, I think all those involved. Pyranha, Lightning Paddles. Sweet Protection. Chaco and Nookie.