Project X 56 on the Gauley

Here is a short video of me trying out the Project X 56 on the Gauley River. The new boat is incredible!! I usually paddle a project 52 and the difference in the new design blew me away. Keep checking back for a full product review on cksblog.com in the near future!!

Haley and Mike attacks the Z-DAM

Motivation: New Zealand

This is your calling. Pull the trigger. Just Do It. No time like the present. Carpe diem. Rage-ing. And one of my favorites, "If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do." Last year, I was sitting in your shoes. I had searched kayak.com for months looking at flights. During a dreary eyed graveyard shift in the ICU, I bought one. I was on my way to Enzed. It was time for an escape from the frozen Colorado winter and into a summer kayaking wonderland. Here's Jordy, a local Hokitika huckster, waiting to get it started:

First, we need to discuss the rules of the road or in this case, airways. Rule #1: Always be early and waiting for the helicopter, not the other way around.

Rule #2: Never, ever, for any reason walk around the backside of the helicopter. As you cannot see below, the tail rotor is spinning so fast it is invisible to the human eye. It will remove any appendage more efficiently than a buzz saw. Always be able to see the pilot.

Rule #3: Enjoy legendary Bruce Dando airlines - it's the only way serious boaters fly!
Flying up the Arahura River:

Committed.

To help kayakers get to this point in their journey, may I make a recommendation of some important gear? Bring a serious paddle that won't break when you're in a deep gorges or thick wilderness. There is a reason all of the NZ boaters rock Werner Paddles. One of the most damaging things for a paddle is travel through the airport. Take a proper bag for protection. Finally, bring a serious lifejacket for unexpected out-of-boat adventuring!

Rule #4: Kayaking on the West Coast of New Zealand is no joke. It seems like a beautiful short journey up a river valley in a helicopter. In reality, when the bird takes off you are now miles up a true wilderness run in extremely dense bush. Getting out without a kayak would likely involve an overnight stay in the jungle. Pack emergency gear, first aid, food and breakdown paddles accordingly. The one bonus? You don't need to worry about water so much:

(Photo: Jordy Searle)

The rivers are still clean enough to drink straight from the crystal blue.

Time to get'er done! Here's me warming up with a boof on the Styx river:

(Photo: Jordy Searle)

The Styx and Arahura are a good introduction to West Coast kayaking. They both rate a solid IV+/V- with options to let the hair down on a couple solid V drops in the Arahura.

One of my favorite winter activities is backcountry hut skiing in the Colorado wilderness. One of my favorite summer activities is multi-day kayaking in the Sierras and Rockies. New Zealand has combined the two! On the West Coast, there are a handful of huts located perfectly for multi-day hut trip helicopter assisted kayaking! First order of business...have Barnabas Young negotiate a ride:

Airborne!

If you time it right, you can lay treats just as the Ratas are blooming. These bright red flowers bloom at the top of the trees at a certain altitude, similar to the changing aspens in Colorado. Unfortunately, they are endangered by the infestation of opossums from Australia. There are no natural predators in New Zealand, so the possums have taken over. The blooms vary in intensity from year to year, but I caught a great one.

(Photo: Barny Young)

It was pretty impressive putting in on the Perth above the Ratas and kayaking down through them. Absolutely stunning.

(Photo: Barny Young)

After a long day of hard-man kayaking, there's nothing better than rolling into a kiwi hut where the goon and grub had already been dropped via chopper.

(Scone hut on the Upper Perth River)

After the uber-classic two day Perth mission, we continued charging hard. Here's a couple shots of Jordy laying it down on the Kokatahi:

Apparently they lay browns off the stouts even in New Zealand:

One of the unbelievable scenes from the West Coast are the deep bedrock gorges that most rivers seem to cut through. They get super tight. Some contain extremely difficult class V+ and some contain easy class III, but they are all pure bliss. Here's Jordy assessing:

And me wilderness hucking:

(Photo: Jordy Searle)

I think it's important to notice the huge cave in the picture above. It's actually a bit hard to miss, I suppose. However, when kayaking in New Zealand, you have to remember that every single drop has a huge cave/sieve lurking. It is definitely some of the scariest kayaking I've done. Also some of the most beautiful and rewarding. After feeling good on the Kokatahi, the crew stepped it up to the Waitaha. I was boating with some serious locals, but here on Niki's Drop we all took the sneak - I took the far far right sneak, but here's New Orleans educated doctor turned ex-pat ER doc, Justin, hucking. Proof that ladies like Niki Kelly can slay whitewater with the very best of 'em.

(Photo: Niki's drop with the meat in the background by Kev England)

The Waitaha contains a sieve so big you can boat through it. The Cave Drop:

And I even managed to put on a smile in between the the grip:

(Photo: Kev England)

People say everything's bigger in Texas, but that's because they haven't been to the tiny island of New Zealand. Check out this epic scenery!

Here's a departing shot of Barny hucking a beauty:

(Photo: Jordy Searle)

So, if you're looking for a bit of adventure, some serious kayaking and the best fish'n chips on the planet then look up a little place called Hokitika. It's on the map, but you might have to look a little harder. If you need ideas or just want an arm chair fix, check out Jordy and Barny's blog: gradientandwater.blogspot.com. Did I mention you could get a beach vacation out of the deal too?

Projet X 48 on the Gauley River

CaliBurnFest 2010

Info @: www.caliproduct.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147011418669207

Cali Burn Fest 09 from Daniel Brasuell on Vimeo.

Fist of Boof Presents - Boof Kwon Do, The Art of the Over Vertical Boof Stroke

Presents

The Art of the Over Vertical Boof Stroke

Do you want your boof to have three O’s? Sure you do. Well, let the sensei tell you a little secret. To booof, you need to wind up with all of the force you can muster and then unleash it like a roundhouse kick to the face with the stars and stripes pants for looking at Starla. Forget about it. You think anybody thinks I'm a failure because I go home to Starla at night? Forget about it!

Just like at Rex Kwon Do, at the Fist of Boof Dojo, we teach you to discipline your image. You think I got where I am today because I dressed like Peter Pan over here? Forget about it! Now, to accomplish both the goals of adding an O to your boof and of looking good while doing it, today we are going to discuss the over vertical boof stroke. This is a technique I developed over two seasons of fighting in the Octagon. It’s called Boof Kwon Do! I need a volunteer. O.K. You'll do. Bow to your sensei. Bow to your sensei!

Here we have our volunteer Jim Janney showing us the over vertical boof stroke on the Upper Little Wind River in Wyoming on a rapid dubbed Windscraper.

1. Come in hot and in control.
2. Tighten those torso muscles and wind up, reaching your paddle as far forward as you can.
3. 
   


4. With your elbows at ninety degrees, push your top hand across your body at eye level, and as far out past your boat as you can, while maintaining your torso clench and wind up. Your top hand should be reaching slightly further from the side of your boat than your bottom hand.
5. 
   


6. Dig your blade in, feel the resistance and unleash your round house torso rotation, using your body torque, not your arms, to pull your blade back through the water to your hips.
7. Bring those knees up to your chest like you’ve been doing your nightly crunches below a framed picture of Starla.
8. 
   


9. Feel the thickness of the water and the purchase as you remove the blade from the water and finish your torso rotation. Your shoulders should finish parallel to the edge of your boat.
10. 
    


11. Uncork a torso rotation back to the opposite side of your boat as you dig in for a stroke upon landing.
12. Now you’re prepared to defend yourself with the strength of a grizzly, the reflexes of a puma, and the wisdom of a man.

- Sensei Stafford

The Astral Green Jacket Rescue PFD

I've been using the Astral Green Jacket rescue PFD for two seasons now. I use it for everyday paddling as well as teaching River Rescue courses. The thing I love the most about it is the way it fits. It's comfortable and it doesn't get in the way of my range of motion. It's also been very durable, which is really important to me. When teaching rescue, I am constantly swimming out into the river and pulling myself up onto rocks. The jacket gets a lot of abrasion from the rocks, and mine is still going strong after two full seasons. The front pocket is slightly worn, but that's it. I know rescue vests are more expensive then others, but this one makes up for it in the long run.



• Pros:
- Fit: easy to put on and really comfortable. Doesn't impede paddling movement at all.
- Durability: I'm pretty hard on my gear, and this jacket gets a thumbs up.
- Pockets for the tether keep the tether out of the way. Available on both sides too. I use the other one to hold a couple of biners.
- large front pocket for stuff
• Cons:
- I love the tether pockets, but the zippers tend to open sometimes. I have to keep checking to be sure they stay zipped.
- when using the throw rope that fits behind the front pocket, it was too bulky and got in the way of paddling and rolling. It's a great idea, but it didn't work for me. Plenty of people use them and don't have the same problem, so maybe it's me.

• The Verdict: I will never buy a different PFD until Astral comes out with one even better. I hate it when my jacket messes with my range of motion. The Astral is comfortable, bouyant, and durable, and it has useful features.

Fun Times in NY State

It rained cats and dogs in upstate NY a couple of weeks ago and the Black River skyrocketed up 9,000 cfs. Returning to Buffalo after paddling a low water Hole Brothers only a couple of days prior, I was reluctant to travel all the way back to Watertown, NY. But, the trip was well worth it. The wave is dynamic, super fun, eddy accessible, and has just enough line to let yourself catch your breath before heading back out.

Jeremy Laucks clean browning

Craig Kleckner's ridiculous back Pan Am

Here's a little video Jeremy Laucks made of the Molan in action.

Crystal Gorge 2010

A few weeks ago after being in Salt Lake City for the outdoor retailer show, Evan Garcia, Candace Sanders and myself made the drive back to my hometown of Carbondale, CO. The saying home is where the heart is is true, being home was great, and Evan and I were stoked to find that Crystal Gorge, one of the best kayaking runs in CO was in fact running. We loaded up the flatbed ranch truck and drove up into the beautiful mountains of Colorado. Marble,CO has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Here are some amazing photos that Candace shot of another great day in the good old CO.

Looking down into the town of Marble,CO.

Evan and I above the lower gorge.

Me on Zute Chute.

EG steezin out a nice boof stomp.

Evan and I chillin in the Gorge. This is one of my favorite places of all time. The inner crystal gorge is a magical place, its very narrow and incredibly beautiful down there.

Clearly Evan feels the same way.

After Eg ran, I proceeded to gloriously catch an edge and eat shit. Made for a great photo!

Evan looking onto MIller Falls, a set of stacked frothing stout waterfalls just below the inner gorge, they have yet to be fired up.

On the drive back home we were lucky enough to hit Penny hot springs, a nice natural hot springs right on the river. Check out this sweet video from the day.

Crystal Gorge 2010 W/LiquidLogic from Fred Norquist on Vimeo.

Interior BC

Recently Ive been paddling quite a bit actually. One of the better trips was a few weeks ago to Revelstoke, BC area. We left Bellingham around 9pm, and started the 7 hour drive to Revelstoke. We arrived at a makeshift campsite at around 4am. We slept, woke up and rallied the rest of the drive into Revelstoke. After meeting up with our friends Joey and Blair, we found that the Pingston was too low. After much debate we headed to one of the cleanest 60ish footers around, Sutherland falls.
And it was a good flow.



Blair Trotman ran first and had a great line.


I ran next, and did somewhat of a boof to stomp. It didn't hurt at all surprisingly, probably one of the softest landings ever, even though it didnt look like it.

I was fired up, so i ran back up and ran it again.



This time I had a decent line, plugging but twisting a bit at the end. It hurt much more.

Todd ran next having by far the best line of the day. Unfortunately his paddle caught the water wrong and his shoulder was dislocated on impact. We got him back to the car, got his gear off, and relocated his shoulder. We headed back to Revy to recuperate, spent the night at Joey's house, and awoke in the morning with St Leon creek on our minds.
Me, Todd and Chris on the Ferry to St. Leon Creek.

St. Leon creek has some amazing drops. The put-in is just down hill from a natural hot springs with a lot of nudity, and pachuly oil. We put in and came upon a sweet triple drop. An 8 footer to 5 foot boof with a nasty hole, to a sweet slide. I did probably the biggest aerial brown i have ever done on the top 8 footer. It was nice!
Brown!!! The first stage of the triple.
The second stage of the triple.

Me starting the fun slide. This triple drop was very fun!

Chris at the end of the sweet slide. It mellows out in-between the drops with some fun boogie water, then all of the sudden we came upon a huge horizon line. A very fast, fun slide awaits. Probably around 80 feet long and maybe 60 ft tall. It was very fun.

Me on the slide. Speeding into the pool. After the slide comes a sweet mini gorge that unfortunately was choked with wood. We portaged, and the gorge ended in a sweet 30ish footer.

The last falls, a super great, clean waterfall. Gotta love BC.
Chris chillin out with a beautiful look back up St. Leon Creek.

After St Leon we proceeded to meet up with a bunch of Mt. Bikers, and had a pretty fun night filled with lots of beer drinkings and hot springs.

I didnt feel great in the morning so i took a little nap in GnarCar. Chris thought it would be funny to take a picture.

We finally gained motivation to go kayaking. We arrived at the Kuskanax river, a sweet class 4 ish section with some great waterfalls.

Kuskanax river with some beautiful classic BC gorge scenery.

After the Kuskanax we hiked up and ran sweet park and huck 20ftr right on the side of the road called Gardener creek.
The top drop on gardener.
The last falls on gardener.

...and from the bottom.
Check out the sweet little video I put together from the trip.\

Interior BC/ Sutherland Falls from Fred Norquist on Vimeo.

This ended up being one of the most fun paddling trips of the year for me. We were able to find some stuff that none of us had done before, and all in all it was a great trip. We are bummed about Todd's shoulder he is having surgery in september and no doubt after that he will be back out killing it as usual. Heal up buddy.
Until Next time.
All photos by Chris Tretwold and Todd Gillman