A famous tourist attraction, the Rheinfalls sits in northern Switzerland. Although kayaking it is illegal, it has been paddled a few times - but never at night! Nookie team rider Ron Fischer had his eye on the nighttime mission for a year and finally made it happen in April 2011.

Chile- Surfing and Creeking

Hey,
Just settling back in Peru after a great time down in Chile over the holidays!
Life in Peru is still sweet, but I thought I'd head down south to check out what all the fuss is about down in Chile.
I got my hands on plenty of Nookie neoprene to shelter me from the icy sea, and took delivery of the fancy new Nookie surf skirt to keep me dry in the heavy surf.

The new deck has a high waist tube and fits really snug onto the cockpit so it was such a great bit of kit to have along!

We got our hands on a hire car and went searching down more southern Chile to find some secret spots and scored some incredible waves.

After scoring heaps of waves on the coast we headed to Pucon for a spot of Creeking before the long journey back up to Peru. to trade in the winter neoprene for boardshorts and warm water!

Check out the lines we returned home to in Peru!!

Dry as a Martini

I spent the first few months to heal and rehabilitate my left arm from my last trip to Chile. Luckily the feeling got better and better and I was pretty fired up to check my arm and my new Lettmann Granate in real conditions. So my inner pressure to get my ass off my office chair rose every day. Finally we decided to drive to Switzerland in April. Yes, you are right. This date is a little bit too early for this area. But, what do you do, if you’re not living near the mountains and near the spots? Yes! You just ignore the weather forecast and the water levels in the internet and try it nevertheless.

After about eight hours of driving or for me better to say, to get chauffeured (thanks for that) by my buddy Thilo Witzke, we arrived at the beautiful Tessin. But what we saw was sobering. All rivers were more or less dry! The Verzasca ran with about 4 m³/s.





Panic Phase I: What now?
We phoned some friends trying to get information where and what is still running. With the hint that the Piemont is running we started our little romantic tour beside the Lago Maggiore. Arrived at the closed camping place in Balmuccio we also had to recognize that the water was gone. We got the information that one week earlier everything was running with a good water level. Shi...!


Panic Phase II: What now again?
We paddled two spots of the Sermenza and a fucking long tour from Mollia to Balmuccia. But to our amazement the waterlevel of the Sesia was for some sections of the gorge even too high.







Panic Phase III: Ideas needed!
Nothing more to run and our plans got more and more abstruse. Drinking the whole day. OK, that was not abstruse. Find a girl and spend the whole day in bed. Borrow a dog and walk around. Or even read a book – puh, crazy! But short before we got loopy, we met a Belgium guy. He gave us the phone number of Severin Häberling. The phone call was a big ease! With a wide smile in our faces we drove to the Aosta valley. Thanks for the coordinates Severin, you saved us from reading books! Arrived in Hône there was already a paddle camp with an own carrousel build up. Well done!

About 15 paddlers grouped around the upper section and the camp side section of the Ayasse. What a damned beautiful river! If you see the character there is no other way, than to fall in love! A bedrock steep creek with awesome slides, drops and waterfalls from 7m to 11m!









Because of the big group we had to pull numbers for running the sections. The fact that this was the last running river in the near we spent the next days for several runs. Just to say - ready for the next trip. Destination: Norway!





Big thanks to Severin for the hint, T.Love and Boby for the great pics.

Alex Rodegro
Nookie Team Rider

Corsica Trip with the Kids

Creek boating was born in Corsica, and it remains as THE paddle destination for european kayakers eager to kickstart the season. Since I started kayaking, I have made the pilgrimage to the island several times, and know it as my own backyard. Because of the low volume rivers, Corsica is perfect for youngsters to get their first experiences in creek boating. Without must push in the water it is easy to avoid obstacles, and even if somebody pinned you can normally simply walk or jump to the person! This year Mariann Saether and I took on a road trip with five boys and one girl, all between 15 and 18 years old. Some were more experienced than the others, but everybody managed to push their skills a little step further, whether it was by successfully running a creek without flipping over or dropping a ten meter waterfall for the first time.

We started on some easy whitewater like the Tavigniano gorge, but also ran middle Rizzanese, Restonica and upper Fium Orbo till the end. The kids, as we humorously called them, (sorry kids I know some of you are already 18!), were very exited! And so were we! For some of them was it was the first creaking road trip abroad, and everybody handled it well. In addition to experiencing the rivers of Corsica, we all enjoyed a different culture, beautiful mountains, good local food and very nice old little villages, where the locals even open up the grocery store after closing hours for us to buy dinner!

To see them gradually paddling better and better, letting down the shoulders on the rocky creeks and enjoying the full experience was very rewarding. In a way it felt like we were simply paying some old dues: Ten years ago we were the ones who got told to do dishes after dinner, boof right or left, clean up camp and drop that waterfall.. Their all very talented kayakers and I'm sure we'll hear more about these names in the future! Thanks to Tora Heggem, Halvor Heggem, Sindre Slalien, Damian Bänziger and Tim Fischer for a cool week on Corsican creeks.