Jason Smith's The Ed

The Hat...

Of shame! All donned by Steve, Jim and myself last night. We will be hitting the Super-Marche later tonight to purchase the required swim beers! Harsh but fair.

Posted by Jay

3-1 we lose!

Spent today running and shooting on the Guisane and things went a little sideways. The Upper was scenic and the sun blazed, but the lower was a different story. Water levels were high, and when we reached the second large sloping weir, even though I'd usually walk this, I decided it was good to go. Safety was deployed and I lined up the drop. Hit it spot on, straight down the green tounge and hit the first hole hard and on line, went deep on the second hole and came out in a semi-tail squirt and rocketed in to the eddy and under an over-hanging rock. Tagged it and came out on to a well placed line from Colin. No harm done, but dignity dented. A few miles later it was Black Dog and Jimbo's turn. On a left hand bend came a few meaty holes and a noticable steepening of the gradient. The dog flipped and ended up head ruddering a vicious looking boulder choke and log. Jim got stranded on the log and lost his blades and ended up in the drink. By now I was pegging it down the bank on river right and Colin was out and on river left. The Dog self-rescued but took a bang on the noggin'. Colin bagged JIm with a great throw and everyone was out of the water. Steve and Jim took the walk of shame, having lost their boats and paddles and Colin and I carried on as a pair to see if we could find them. Some sporty but fun paddling followed and the river Gods smiles as we found, and werte able to recover both boats. All eneed well, but we made Black dog do the hospital thing just to make sure due to the head knock. Sweet helmets rock!
(pic shows my un-lucky pin)

Posted by Jay

Make like a fish

Swim technique and throw-line work this afternoon, Wiggs and the Blackdog where on swim duty and did a sterling job swimming repeatedly down the slalom course. Pretty handy practice as it turns out, and all the throw-line and swimming we've done over the last day would prove to come in very handy, as the next few posts will prove.

Posted by Jason Smith

Everest

Testing a whole bunch of "Big Boy' boats out here, one of which is the Pyranha Everest. Designed as an expedition boat, we're finding a pretty useful tool on the tight stuff too. It's surprisingly quick and agile for a big boat and handles like a much smaller boat while keeping you on top of things, even when loaded. We'll be bringing you a full test report real soon, but it's ticking a lot of boxes so far. Visit www.pyranha.com for your nearest demo

Posted by Jay

Who's Line is it?

Scorching hot day here in the Alps and the water levels are holding well. This morning was all about throw-lines. Testing, measuring, and technique. The test-teamers worked their arses off to get the shots for our forthcoming throw-line group test and technique articles. After a few hours of setting up shots and posing in the sun they were more than happy when I said it was time to do the swimming in whitewater and receiving a throw-line/being rescued images. Off to the Onde late this afternoon, so cracking on.

Posted by Jason Smith

Himalayan Hero - Mega-Store Bash

Popped in to see the guys at Brookbank Canoes on the way to the PFAKS at the Tryweryn at the weekend. They've recently moved in to their massive new Mega-Store in Stockport and they told me that they'll be throwing an official opening party on Thursday the 19th of June with a presentation by Himalayan explorer Daz Clarkson. For more info go to www.brookbankcanoes.co.uk/news-and-events/news/brookbank-stcokport-new-store-open-evening

Posted by Jason Smith