Nookie Team Blog

Chile Part II

2012-01-22T18:43:00.038Z

What kind of feeling is similar to the one, when you’re holding the tickets to Santiago de Chile in your hands? Somehow it’s a little orgasm. Somehow? No, it is! So it was, when the tickets arrived in December 2011. Redemption was the mission! Because my last trip to Chile was a little bit complicated (missed gear at the airport, broken car for several times, injury, etc.). This time should be better.

Of course Thilo Wietzke and I had the same discussions with our boats at the Check-In like nearly every time. “This is not surfboard! What’s the weight?” Knowing that all our shit is in there, I gave the same dumb answers as always: “It’s a surf-kayak. The weight is max. 25 kg.” To demonstrate the featherweight, I lifted one up, acting that it is no problem. But in truth I almost broke my back. The check-in guy nodded and was pleased. The first hurdle was taken. Calmed down we entered the airport lounge. Snacks ‘n beers for free. Not so bad, dude. Not so bad.

Arrived in SCL we had to recognize that… What do you think? Yes, the kayaks didn’t fly with us! WTF! But we were pretty lucky, because we found an airline member who told us, that the stuff will send to our destination at the next day. So we decided to jump on a bus to Pucón without our kayaks. But it was not even lunch time and we had to wait a f*****g whole day at the bus station. Reaction: A short visit on a market and then a lot of beers in ugly pub. Never saw such a nasty toilette before!

Next morning we arrived in Pucón and met Anne Hübner and John Blake. To our surprise everything was arranged: an apartment and a rental car. Did we booked a package trip?! Haha. We just had to hang around till the courier arrived. Waiting at Latitude 39 (of course with some beers) the courier arrived in the evening with our kayaks. Winning! So the next days we got in shape in the area around Pucón.

Upper Palguin

With the right feeling in our asses we headed up north to the Rio Claro, escaping from the rainy days in Pucón. 22 waterfall section + Entre Saltos + Las Siete Tazas - nothing more to say. We had a little action at the Gargante del Diabolo. Always bring a replacement paddle with you! Don’t miss the Rio Laja on the way. It’s a sweet roller-coaster without eddies, length about 4km. Yeah!

Las Siete Tazas

Back in Pucón we were pretty fired up to run the complete Nevado. Together with Nick Murphy we styled the Demshitz drop on a juicy flow. These moments are the one I’m living for! Winning again!

Demshitz Drop

After a couple of days in Pucón with a couple of hangovers we headed south to the Rio Negro, reinforced by the youngsters Daniel Riedmüller and Paul Meylahn. Great scenery and a great river. One of my favorites since that run!

Rio Negro

On the way we hit the Rio Fuy. But sadly there was too much water even for waterfalls on the upper part.

Let's portage...

The next big plan was to run the big Salto del Nilahue. What we found was Mordor. Floating rocks (cause of the active volcano) and a risen brown water level after a stormy night caused an uneasy feeling in our stomachs and our balls shrinked to peas. Back in Pucón we heard that it was quite good to run, even with the floating rocks in it. Shit, next time.

Mordor

The last paddle days in Pucón we ran the park ‘n huck on the Coilaco and of course the 70 footer on the middle Palguin. The balls were big again, but the trip was over…

Rio Coilaco - Park 'n Huck

Middle Palguin

At the return date we spend a great day at the lake in Pucón together with all fellows preparing us with a lot of beers to get tired for the long bus ride to SCL. Winning! So everything was in the flow during the whole trip. Even to pass the check-in with our gear in SCl and the 12 hours flight was quite easy. I had got a 4 seat row for me alone. Quite comfortable. Winning again!

During I’m writing this article I’m getting nervous again! What’s next in 2012? I’ll come up with some ideas, that’s for sure!

Big thanks to Thilo Wietzke, Anne Hübner, John Blake, Nick Murphy, Daniel Riedmüller and Paul Meylahn for these wonderful shots! It was a pleasure to me running all the shit with you!

See you soon!

Alex Rodegro
Nookie Team Rider

Nookie Iceman Review

2012-01-19T18:04:00.005Z

Hi Guys,

So over the Christmas holidays I was fortunate enough to be able to head over to the states for a weeks skiing at Winter Park Resort, Colora

do. Had an absolutely great week out there in the thigh powder. The temperature on the mountain was always well below freez

ing, average day time temperature of -15C! To keep me warm and toasty I bought along my Nookie Iceman! Here is a review of the suit explaining why it is a must have it the kit bag! I explain the key features of the product so if your looking for some more information about the Iceman, check it out.

As I say in the video, I did ski into a tree on the last day and ended up going down in the blood wagon. I actually found this good fun! Ski patrol were great and patched me up. Fortunately when back in the UK the doctors said that my wrist was wrongly diagnosed as broken so now I am better and ready to paddle! :)

See you on the water

Josh

High Level on The Doubs and the Rhone.

2012-01-18T15:19:00.013Z

High Level on The Doubs and the Rhone.

Autumn was very dry in France

We did some kayaking on artificial rivers, a little on the flat, nothing

very interesting.

It lasted long enough to make us lose hope, but early December rain appeared

as salvation: the Doubs became interesting and then the Rhône too.

So I called my friends, we cut class! and many converged towards Rhône/Alpes

and the surrounding area for a fantastic week of sessions.

The Rhône rose up to 1800 m3, it hadn’t been like that for the past three years.

The water level changed, the waters moved, we spent a sick week and took

many pictures, then came the cold, the levels decreased, so we stopped.

But there are heavy snow falls on the Alps, so a wet spring is on the way …

Enjoy.

2012-01-04T15:32:00.000Z

Happy New Year to all you people of the paddle... The Nookie team is at work trawling through the emails and the orders that have piled up over the Christmas break. Well, part of the team is... Some of the team are topping up their tans in far flung corners of the world and trying to decide whether to go for a surf or a beer. Or in my case, in the mountains waiting for the sky to clear so that I can go shoot some video manuals for our new thermals. That's just the way the cookie crumbles I guess ;)

Anyway, as I wrestle with Gopros and laptops and rural internets, I notice this snippet in my inbox, a pic of the lovely Kate Middleton which has belatedly surfaced in the Daily Mail. It seems as good a thing as any to cheer up the first week in January. Enjoy :)

Kate sporting a Nookie Thermalcore 100 top and Nookie 3/4 Neo Strides

Sam Stephenson Promo video

2011-12-30T12:59:00.004Z

Just finished editing together a little promo video using footage from this year.. Enjoy!

Sam Stephenson

west coast tour

2011-12-06T21:44:00.002Z

Hey guys, so I have been hanging out in southern morocco for the past six weeks surfing and preparing for my trip down the entire west coast of africa. Today we finally got the custom roof rack finished and all the spare kit on the roof. We drove the first 200 km and have arrived at a perfect point brake.
I flew home for a few days to organise visas etc for a few of the country's and had enough time to put together short video of me in my projectX with the help of friend Paul Scott. Have a look, I hope you like it.

Doug cooper
P.s more south updates coming (moritainia next)

http://vimeo.com/m/33010589

Just vote for this video and thereby help a charity!

2011-11-16T18:44:00.007Z

I think everybody who has a GoPro does not need the 10.000 Euro as much as e.g. some kids in Uganda....

I just edited some footage from our last trip to Lapland this spring. Excuse my quick and dirty editing, but time was short to get the video online for the contest. After the contest I will cut one properly and publish it in HD! ;-)
Please vote for my new Lapland-Video in this Sportscheck-Video-Contest, because the winner will get 10.000 EURO (= around 13.600 US Dollar) shopping-voucher for this sports-shop “Sportscheck” and if my video wins, we will sell all the products on ebay and donate the money to a charity of your choice! We guess the money will accumulate to around 6.000 - 10.000 US Dollars.

You can vote for the charity the money should go to on my blog:
www.soulboater.blogspot.com

To support this charity-project just like the “Sportscheck”-Fanpage on facebook and vote (i.e. click the button "abstimmen") for my video:
Sports4Charity Video

Two possible charities you can give your vote for on my blog are Soft Power Health or Soft Power Education in Uganda.

Please vote and spread the word!

Thanks a lot for your support!
Markus

A journey across East Africa .

2011-10-20T08:20:00.005Z

A Kigali Sun down (Rwanda)

Arrrrrrgh final few months of uni. wow wee it was going to be a struggle placement was a high secure forensic hospital so for the entire three months I saw little to no sun shine . but essays were handed in and some how I had squeezed enough cash together to buy a ticket to Rwanda for the day after I graduated . With that in mind I bashed my way through the hours and packed my bags again and stuck new NOOKIE stickers on my shiny WAVESPORT Project X .
August the second, 0900 hours boat blagged on to the plane, bashed a sleeping pill, woke up some hours later , walked up and down Cairo airport until my feet hurt , Boarded a plane slept like a log, had a G&T landed drank a beer found a hotel out like a light .

They say Rwanda is the switzerland of East Africa

Morning broke. I had to know what it felt like to stand in a land where a Meer 18 years ago 80,000 people were hacked to death, plus I had been told that the rivers were worth a look.

Looking toward Kassase and Western Nile (the place of Amine )

Kigali was super cool and relaxed , but no water in sight, the drought that had consumed east Africa paid its toll on Rwanda too. So nice to know you Rwanda cheers for all the beers . I got a bus to the Uganda Congo border . It took ages and the man I was squashed next to stank like a pig , but I was back in Africa and didn’t give a shit. Crossing a national park on route I saw elephants and gazelle grazing at the side of the road . I think my stinky companion thought I was mad as I pointed in delight and grappled for my camera . I had to explain to him after that we only had cows and sheep in England. He asked inquisitively weather the lions ate many of the cattle. Laughing I said we had the fox.

Crammed in to the matatu talking about Lions

So the Congo border was a laugh, along with some stunning sights around lake Ungaruba, a crater lake in the Ruwenzori mountains . I wanted to go up there to do some time laps filming for my movie Im making . So a few days went by and a lot of games of cards sat next to a rolling camera . Time to bugger off back to the Nile for a few weeks and then on to Kampala for more filming and coffee.

The congo border

Doug air screw

high water made malalu work, a wave i hadn't seen in years

Surf till sun set , the river just keeps rising

Early morning super high Club wave

After three more weeks of surfing and filming on high water Nile , I spent a day in Entebbe at lake Victoria drinking with some south African gold miners from Congo . Then it was time to fly home and do some work , and quite possibly plan a few more trips.

Lake Ungaruba, filming with a beer

So what will become of our adventurer ? Gabon, Mexico, Senegal, or even back to morocco. Looking back its been an epic year , and it couldn’t have been done without all the awesome gear that NOOKIE WAVESPORT and STREAMLYTE have given me . Massive thanks.

Hear is a short flic of the trip.

east africa from douglas cooper on Vimeo.

Article by Team rider Doug Cooper

Revelations of a Curry

2011-10-17T21:14:00.009Z

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The most southerly point of India

“India, not a place I imagined to ever have surf”.
Sitting comfortably in my seat on the plane bound for Thiruvananthapuram the capital of the state of Kerala. “Consider the vast state of poverty mixed with high class Mercedes” were the departing words of my mother as she dropped me off for the thousandth time at the airport. Landing in this eastern country I couldn’t help think, how wonderful it was to leave dissertations and drug calculations aside for a month and concentrate on waves again.
The first thing that struck me was how lush and green the land was, it felt like Uganda but almost greener. Lush banana and coconut trees stood tall around the airport, marking the way out and in to the jungle.

The temperature was crazy hot with humidity so high that it felt like my louse fitting jeans were trying to strangle me in the heat. Three weeks pre monsoon season was the time for big waves so we would just have to put up with the stifling humidity. Danny had done a bit of mad research and had us a driver waiting to take us to a house for the night.

Strapping boats on to the roof was like torture, heat blazed down on us and we were more than happy to get in to the air-conditioned pickup truck. Not very eco of us but looking back it was a saving grace that’s for sure .
Our house was tucked in to the jungle out of sight and only a five min walk from the beach “ perfect”. We settled in and melted in to pools of sweat and discomfort.

HQ

After a few days we were slightly more acclimatized and were beginning to scare ourselves on the local reef. Breaking only a foot from a bank of Muscles and other sharp bits of rick made wave selection quite important.

The reef outside our house

Nookie's team rider beach babe

Later in the week we hooked up with this American guy “J” who had uprooted his entire family for three years to teach them the value of money and to get some good waves. He seemed to have all the local knowledge and was super stoked to share some of the waves that he had found ( for the purposes of keeping India’s waves un crowded I will rename the waves and will not let out their locations ). First off we headed to a super long beach, after about fifteen mins of looking sadly at beach mush suddenly a river mouth appeared, and a set of waves, perfectly formed for getting shaqued up in . Well we rode the pants off that, and were able to hold back a little as the floor was sand rather than reef, but still pretty shallow.

Walk from HQ to the reef

Next up a 5 am start and a long drive out of the jungle across the bustling town of Thiruvananthapuram in to the quiet suburbs ( back in to dense jungle). We arrived at a river. J jumped on his board in to the river and told us we had to float down to the beach. Floating down we passed what looked like a harbor wall, out in to the sea and then paddled round the wall to a quiet bay. “J where are these waves “ “ set will be hear in a min “ a few mins later a perfect left formed off the deserted harbor wall. The face held for ages and Danny and my self could get a good three turns in before we had to think about charging.
The waves lasted until about 11am, but by then it was time to get out of the sun and chill for the evening beach set back at the house beach.

J's secret harbour Left

The river mouth pumping

Another sweet wave

We surfed a fair few waves, reefs and beaches over the month. The culture was incredible, but not as good as the food.
My departing thoughts from India were from an old man whom I met on the jungle road from the beach to the house. He pointed up to the coconut trees and said, “ keep your helmet on, if one of those hit you, no more surfing “

Team rider Doug cooper

GB Freestyle Selection Event

2011-10-13T15:54:00.004Z

Hey this is new Nookie Team Rider Sam Stephenson checking in with my first blog post.. I'm a 17 year-old freestyle paddler on the British Squad who loves paddling and can be found at a different playspot almost every weekend! Last weekend was the British Team Selection Event at HPP - probably the most important competition of the year for me as it decides who gets a spot on the team for the Euros next year. I've spent the past few weekends paddling lots both at Cardiff and Nottingham in preparation for the event, trying to perfect some of the harder moves such as the McNasties and Phonics Monkeys which would give me the high scores I need to place in the top 3 and get my place on the team.

The first half of the competition, held on Saturday, was in the Inlet Gate - a very even, predictable feature in which I'd had lots of practice over the summer. This all paid off as I put together my best ever competition ride, getting McNasties, Space Godzillas and maybe a Phonics too totalling at about 750 points! My following two rides didn't go quite as well, but it was enough to give me 3rd place for the day - just behind James Benns and Bren Orton - who as usual both laid down some seriously impressive runs!

On the Sunday the competition moved to twin-waves, which is a much trickier - less predictable hole compared with the inlet gate, making it harder to do all the moves both ways. This put me in a slightly difficult position - with some of the easier, usually bankable moves like Space Godzillas being much harder to do in this feature - instead I had to resort to going for a Switch McNasty instead, something I hadn't practised much but that would really boost my points if I pulled it off. Luckily I hit my first ride almost perfectly and scored about 600 points, which made up for my slightly lack-lustre second and third rides - this was just enough to put me in third again for the day, closely followed by Tom Goddard in 4th and James and Bren taking the 1-2 again.

Overall this was a really good weekend for me, getting the results I was looking for and setting me up in a good position for the Team selections. I also had lots of fun messing about on the course afterwards, paddling with my little brother and working on a new combo-move, the Splitwheel to McNasty - not working yet but still pretty fun to try!

I also did a bit of filming over the weekend so I'll put a short edit together with that and some other footage from the summer - expect to see that on the Nookie blog fairly soon!

In the meantime though check out this video from Jonny Williams with some of the highlights of the weekend...

Cardiff International Paddlefest 2011

2011-09-14T23:03:00.004Z

Hi Guys,

My name is Josh Wedgwood and I am new to the Nookie Team. A little bit about myself; I am 17 and based in the South West of England. I am on the GBR freestyle kayak squad so you will often find me at playspots across the UK! I do lots of blogging and writing of articles so you will be able to follow my travels here. I am thrilled to be supporting Nookie and helping develop some exciting new products!

Recently Cardiff International White Water Centre held their annual paddlefest… here is a report of the day!

The chance to try all things paddlesport! From the very latest boats, paddles and kit to something new like Stand-Up Paddle Boarding. The day proved to be yet another great day on the water at CIWW!

With a range of cumecs throughout the day, fun events and evening entertainment; over 150 paddlers descended on the artificial white water course on the 3rd September. There were over 15 different retailers including; Wavesport, Nookie and new paddle brand Fire it Up (to name a few) all at the event with demo boats, paddles and great advice. This was a great opportunity for people to have a go in something new or get the low down on the latest products. There was lots of interest for Nookie’s new products including the updated Rivermonster and the Airscrew cag. With no rafts on the course paddlers were allowed to have fun without the worry of getting flattened! Enjoyment was definitely had by all as the many smiles suggested. There was lots of action in the main freestyle hole but also loads of people enjoying themselves paddling round the course working on their skills.

The first event of the day was a favorite for many; the Duckie Demolition Derby! A carnage filled event due to the 20 duckie paddlers and an inflatable dinghy all piling down the course at once… I shall let the pictures do the talking!

Following the Duckie Demolition Derby the next event of the day was the Palm 4x Challenge. Here two adults and one youth paddler join forces with a pro paddler from one of the exhibitors to race down the course as a team. The fastest team down the course wins. Prizes and bragging rights were on offer! The challenge of white water was made more difficult with tasks that had to be completed on the way down. Paddlers had to break into eddies and surf waves without losing too much time! Timing seemed to be the key here, the faster teams managed to avoid getting in each other’s way allowing all paddlers to get down the course as speedy as possible. I was competing for Team Wavesport as the pro paddler. Somehow all of our plans came together to produce the fastest run of the day!

Straight after the team challenge all the pro paddlers were entered for a head to head BoaterX race. With no rules, heats and semis to get through before the final there was plenty of carnage! Slalom poles were placed in the river that paddlers had to go round or get disqualified… as an extra challenge; duckies were ready to spring, popping decks and getting in the way! Any tactics went out the window as paddlers clashed paddles and bashed into each other fighting for position. I had lots of speed and always managed to get a good start and avoid most of the chaos! Due to this I reached the final against; Pete Simon, Aaron Buckingham, Cheesy and Tom Parker. With 5 of us racing down the course there was even less space! I was third going down the first drop with Aaron and Tom in front. Due to duckie intervention I managed to pass Tom near the end and finish second! Cheesy, despite being a strong candidate for the win, boofed onto a duckie and quickly got sunk so finished last!

The final event of the day was the Paddlefest Raft Race. Lots of people got involved with this, creating teams of 6 to compete in time trail, slalom and endurance racing. Spectators enjoyed the sight of rafts chasing each other down the course while listening to the great live bands that were playing on stage… the party atmosphere continued well into the night!
The Cardiff International Paddlefest 2011 was a great event… a massive thanks must go to all the organizers and retails that turned up to support and make the day fun! Keep checking the CIWW website for information on next year’s event, if this time is anything to go by… it is not to be missed!

See you on the water!

Josh Wedgwood

Nord Norge

2011-08-16T07:27:00.051Z

The last two weeks, Mariann and I have been on a road trip to “northern Norway“. As you probably know, Norway is a very loong and big country! The area called “north“ surprisingly starts even before you are halfway through it. Anyway... after passing Trondheim, you see fewer villages, cars and people. The landscape is more remote than the south, with big forests, beautiful lakes and rivers. Now it‘s time to lean back, set the cruise control and enjoy a long drive northwards.

me running Laksforsen...one of the biggest rapids in europe

After an eight hours drive from Otta we arrived in Hatfielldal, where we met up with Benjamin Hjort to paddle the rivers in the area. Since waterlevels are very low at this time of year, we could run every section of whitewater on the Susna river. Including one complete descent of a yet unrun canyon.

where is acces to the river?...the blond lady asked the farmer...

Mariann after the crux of the lower Susna canyon

Later we met Simon Westgarth, Jakub Sedivy, Dag Sandvik, Nini and Erika to paddle some more sections on the Vefsna and Fiplingdalserva. Good times!

Jakub Sedivy on the Fiplingdalen

Fiplingdalselva

Mariann and I wanted to see some more of the country and drove along the coast further north. Due to the fiords, Norways coastline is more than 20‘000km long and amazingly beautiful. The mountains become bigger, with higher cliffs and snow capped. Out in the sea you see thousands of islands and once in a while you get a glimps of the second biggest glacier of Norway, called Svartisen. Right there, just a bit north of the arctic circle,in a fiord, right by the sea with the view of impressive mountains and amazing sunsets,... Mariann bought a piece of land.

not kidding... this is the morning view from the property...

We spent one day chilling in the sun and driving around to see the area. The next day we climbed a random peak you can see from the property. 833 meters high, with a beautiful view of Svartisen and the sea.

chill time after 800 meter ascent... view of Svartisen

Then it was time to get back in the kayak and after a short scouting mission of some possible first descents we want to do next year, we met up again with the boys/girls and paddled the Rana and Løndalselva, in addition to the Mjoelkelva with it‘s incredible triple combo.

granit paradise on the Løndalselva

amazing canyon on the lower Vefsna

Befoe we got back in the van to drive all the way south again, I got a hold of all the balls I have and ran the infamous Laksforsen, one of the biggest drops in Europe. And one of the best rapids I‘ve ever run!...I look forward to do it again next year, then hopefuly without having the bootie beer afterwards..... Since running Rheinfall in the spring, this was the second time this year I got ripped out of the kayak upon impact. Think i need to work on my outfitting :)

Ha de bra!

Air or Beer?

2011-08-08T10:03:00.005Z

The last two weeks have been a lot of fun out in Peru! Holland has been a great addition to the antics out here, pushing things in the waves and keeping us entertained off the water. Huanchaco was the perfect place to end the trip, with consistent waves and long rides. It always has been... BUT this time with the help of Marc we found a new section which has been right under my nose for the past year and a half! The last section down by the pier, way down from the point is fast, steep and serves up air on a plate! Holland's little game was this; who ever hits the biggest air doesn't pay for their beer for the evening and despite doing my best to take him down, I have to admit my wallet is now empty- check him flying!

Huge thanks to Huanchaco for living up to expectations and of course for Chicama for waking up for us last week, let’s not forget the great food at Otra Casa and their massive breakfasts. With one last bus journey left we splashed out and booked ourselves onto Excluciva for the most luxurious 8 hour ride in Peru, check out Marc in his pimping chair!

Nathan Eades

Is the new Nookie Deck the most bomb proof on this planet?

2011-08-04T08:46:00.003Z

Following some epic waves at Chicama surfing countless Kilometres, we headed up to Lobitos 8 hours north to score some waves at a heavy barrelling break named Pasinas. Marc Holland was hunting the barrel and took some heavy curtains right on his lap, his deck didn't budge an inch! Lobitos was busy with the Peruvian holidays co-insiding with the middle of our tour so we hit the water at 5am before the biggest crowd I have seen in my life entered the water at 6.30 am. Having got what we came for, we headed to Mancorra for cocktails and sunshine, before taking another 8 hour bus ride back down to Trujillo and onto Huanchaco. Huanchaco has a lovely set up; loads of great places to eat, constant waves and a chilled vibe in the water... We'll be here for the remainder of the week surfing waves and sipping back cold cervezas. Holland took some solid waves on the head today and again his deck didn't even flinch...Following the punishment I gave it in Chile along with Holland's constant abuse out here, we are starting to think that this may just be the best surf deck of all time!

Nathan Eades & Marc Holland

Nathan Eades & Marc Holland working their asses off!

2011-07-28T14:21:00.003Z

Having a great surf trip so far. Marc Holland arrrived in Peru last week and we quickly headed North to catch an incredible swell at Chicama. We have been here for 3 days now and are all absolutely worn out from surfing long, long rides! Time to leave for the tour to continue, we're off further north to surf another of Peru's classics; Lobitos!

Nathan 'Yellowboy' Eades
Nookie Team Rider

Ron Fischers Year of Comps so far.....

2011-07-11T14:22:00.008Z

After all the blogs and trip reports I have written of my travels this past year to southern Patagonia and Corsica, it‘s time to tell the tales from the kayak competitions I‘ve attended this year.

In March 2011 I spend almost a month on the most beautiful river I‘ve ever paddled, the mighty Futaleufu. Since this river and many others in Chile are threatened by dams, locals and paddlers are organizing a festival for people from all over the world who share the love for the river. It is called the Futa Fest, and is a three day event with lots of action, chill-time, mate-drinking and asados. The first day saw a fun boatercross happening through the rapids called Toro and Mundaca. After winning the first heat, I took my first swim this season, in the Mundaca hole, in front of
150 people watching! woopwoop! Local hero Santiago Carlin took the gold medal home tothe town of Futaleufu. The next day the competitors all teamed up at the start line for the downriver race, the more prestigious competition of the event: A 10 km class 4 big volume run. People were in all sorts of floating crafts: T-canyons,Frankensteins, playboats, creekboats, Kendos, Stuntbats, Dancers and beyond. After a very slow start, I managed to still finish the race as number one, after a bit more than 24 minutes of paddling. Due to more than a few months spent in my kayak this past year, my muscles have gotten accustomed to long days or distances on the water, allowing me to sneak up from behind to pass the leading field a little while before the finishline :) My girlfriend Mariann Saether from Norway won the women‘s category, so all around Happy days...

This is just after the start. I'm still 3rd last...

Val Sesia Sweet Rumble River Festival had it‘s premiere edition the last weekend of May. Around 40
kayakers met up in Campertogno Italy, enjoying a great weekend together. Egua-Freeride Team race and a Boatercross were all being held on Saturday! The Egua-Freeride was a totally new kind of kayak competition. A mix of downriver freestyle moves and extreme race! In the early morning everyone showed up for a one hour freestyle session down the first slide on the Egua river. Straight boof, paddle-spin, free-wheel, back-wheel, kick-flip, some bumm-slides and flying-exit‘s were being shown. The top three moves of everyone counted max 20
points each. Afterwards we cruised down to the last four drops of the creek and raced each other and the clock! The winner got another 20 points, the second 18, 17, 16,.... In the end I won the first edition of Egua-Freeride... woopwoop! Next race up was the Team Race on the Sesia river. Funny enough I pinned between two rocks and went for my second bootie beer of the season: Thanks to Boby Frieser and Jakub Sedivy for rescueing me!

In the middle of June one of the biggest Kayak events worldwide got held for the third time in the livley city of Ivrea, Italy. The TEVA extreme outdoor games always attracts the top kayakers of Europe and also from the rest of the world. The Downriver extreme race, King of the Falls, Slalom, Sprint and Boater-X are the disciplines. The first two are held on the mighty Chiusella, a small and steep creek running through beautiful valley. 60 of the world‘s best

kayakers lined up for the Time-trials of the downriver. Only the top 20 are thus allowed to race on the King of Falls section, one of the most difficult, spectacular and dangerous race sections in the world. After I landed a 6th place in the downriver, I managed to place first in the King of Falls and was really happy about it! The next three disciplines were held on an artificial slalom course in the town of Ivrea. I had less luck with racing here, but at least I did not swim for the third time on the third competition.. ;-)

King of the falls!

Right now, I‘m on my way home from the Extreme sport week in Voss, Norway, an outdoor-multi-sports event. It is the biggest of its kind in the world, and gathers athletes from all over the world for a week of spectacular performance. Base-jumper, paragliders, mountainbikers, longboarders, climbers, parachuters, skiers, rafters, and kayakers competed during the day then went to awesome music concerts organized by the festival at night. The Kayak race on the blue waters of the river Brandseth is also one of the most prestigious worldwide, as it is recognized as a hard course to be fast on, even if it has less consequenses than races like the Green Race and the King of Falls race in Italy. Two runs of around 1‘40 minutes is the name of the game, both counting. On my first run I didn‘t find the good flow down the whole run, but still placed 3rd with a time of 1‘40‘15, two seconds behind Michele Ramazza and just a bit behind Sam Sutton, the current World Champion. My second run went much better, I found the flow through every rapid except one big mistake after the waterfall that cost at least a couple of seconds. My time: 1‘38‘05. Not fast enough. Dag Sandvik snuck up from behind, having the fastest run of the day with 1‘34‘.. and came in 2nd in the end! Congratulations! Michele then claimed the 1st spot, Sam 3rd and me 4th. Mariann won with a 17 seconds lead to the second girl in the womens category after a good first run, with a time of 1‘45, which put her tenth in the Men´s. Though with some mistakes in the second run, she ended up 14th in the men‘s in the end. Congrats!

I‘m surprised how well I did so far in competitions this year. It makes me excited for the rest of them this year... the Sjoa-Festival, the Sickline race and probably the Green race. Bring it on!

Roadtrip to North America - Flo Fischer

2011-07-06T08:09:00.004Z

Part 1: It never rains in southern California...

"It never rains in southern California!“ Everyone of us is repeating this world known phrase all the time. You can feel in the voice that this is a joke. While I was preparing for my four month visit of California and British Columbia I imagined pictures of blue sky and extremely hot sun. Many guys who have been here before reported of a single rainy day per month and extremely hot temperatures. But this time many things are different. Since about two weeks it’s raining all day long, sometimes you can see the sun, but only for a few minutes. Another problem is the huge snowpack on top of the mountains which drains the rivers with a lot of water.

On May 20th I arrived at the San Francisco International Airport. All my luggage and my boat arrived as well and are in best conditions – I’m happy! Me and another friend started immediately to look for a used car to buy. After some trouble and three days later we packed our kayaks on top of our own car.

Our first trip was to scout the South Silver River east of Sacramento. It’s an amazing river with lots of huge slides and drops. The next day we started to scout if the waterlevel is good for that mission. It’s a pity, there was way too much water in there so we discussed what to do next.

So we went back to Placerville to check some online gauges and a few hours later we found ourselves on an evening run at the South Fork American River. The waterlevel is quite high as well, so it’s an amazing big water run, perfect to get ready for the coming weeks. The upper part which we run the coming days was amazing technical whitewater with many drops and slides. We did this part as a two day trip because we took so much time with taking photos.

Next mission was the South Fork of the Yuba River, which is also a very nice and interesting river, not far from the American River. This is a perfect mix between big water rapids and some technical drops. At the take-out we met a group of kayakers around the local guy Charlie Center. These guys told us that the South Branch of the Middle Fork Feather has a perfect waterlevel and they are going there tonight. They invited us to follow them.

We knew only one thing about the South Branch: This is a "must-do“ for every kayaker in California. After three hour of driving, we found ourselves at the put-in to spend the night there. The next morning Charlie introduced us in what’s coming the next 3,5 miles. We prepared our boats on a gravel bar. Everybody was keen to go. As I took my paddle to push my boat into the water I asked myself many questions: Will the rain make the shore that slippery that it’s not possible to scout? What about "99 Problems“, a difficult 40-footer, Charlie talked about? Just around the first corner it started with some small drops and boulder strewn rapids. A first 15-footer was the beginning of the steep and interesting section of the South Branch. We looked downstream and the only thing you could see was one horizon line after the other. We hucked down uncountable drops between 10 and 25 feet until we reached "99 Problems“. This is a little bit uncommon 40-footer with a difficult lead-in rapid which is waiting for some more descents. Still pumped with adrenalin we reached the must-do portage. After a little bit scary shore-launch we reached almost the end. There is just one drop left. A perfect shaped 50-footer is waiting to get hucked.

After one hour of steep hike out it was clear. This is one of my top favorite rivers worldwide.

The weather forecast is getting better. Just three more days until there should be perfect weather, sun and high temperatures. So we checked some more waterlevels and two days later we found ourselves on the next must-do. The Dry Meadow Creek. After one day in the sun at the seven teacups we returned to our cars with more then 200 Pictures on each camera.

Let’s see what’s going on: The waterlevels are rising but there are still some classic runs with perfect levels, like the upper/middle cosumnes.

Florian Fischer
Nookie Team Rider

Just Norway

2011-06-24T19:38:00.024Z

Norway - just this one word causes sequences of images in every ambitious paddler’s head. So it wasn’t very surprising that we (Philip Baues, Thilo Schmitt, Thilo Wietzke) couldn’t expect to get on the plane after overloading our kayaks after the weight control. Thanks for the little hint by the nice check-in lady: “I can’t see what happens behind the next corner, before you drop off the kayaks.” Sweet!

“Everything is pretty full on!” This was our welcoming with a big smile by Benjamin Hjort. And a local “full on” is a scary “full on”. Just to mention that it was absurd to see, that, if there was the idea to run the tunnel-drop, you should keep your head down, not to smash it against the tunnel! Really not runnable!

Numedaslagen, enough water...

Guided by Benj we went to the region around Voss and checked most of the classics and even some rare ones like the Hemsil. Like Benji told us, we were the lucky fellows. It isn't running often!

It's better to melt this one on the Jordal, even if the boil pretends to be soft - it isn't!

Lake to lake. Nothing more to say... (count 1 of the boats)

Days of rain brought us a running Teigdalen – my own little mission: First try - we hiked out directly after the confluence after Philip lost his boat and paddle during scouting. Second try on a good flow – I hiked out at the same spot, after I had recognize that I really felt uncomfortable with my too small creek-boat. The group went further and found the lost gear nearly without any scratches and got rewarded on top with a perfect flow on the double drop. Third try – I cracked my second big rental boat directly before the entrance fall. Sh...!

This beautiful slide was the end of my runs for three times! Argh!

the confluence

Absolutely pissed off, knowing I can’t run the whole river again, I boofed the entrance fall and ran the next two slides with a sinking boat. And then? Yes, I hiked out again at the confluence… Picked up by Philip, who ruined his back with a hard boof of a 10m waterfall a few days before, we drove down. After a quick provisional repair I headed up and joined my buddies at the top of the double drop.

Bring your balls...

...don't fuck up the boof...

...and be ready for melting!

Finally I stouted the “DD” on a perfect line. So there is no way around coming back to Voss running the complete section. Nothing more to say than thanks to Benji for his great hospitality!

Searching for the next destination...

Our little résumé: a scary upside down slide at local flow on the Brandset + one clinched back after boofing a 10m waterfall + one burst knee during scouting + two smashed boats + two lost paddles + a few swims + a lot of fun!

Alex Rodegro
Nookie Team Rider

Great Weekend @ Tryweryn Festival 2011

2011-06-20T09:01:00.005Z

Nookie had a great time at the Tryweryn Festival 2011. There were some great events, lots of paddling, a preview of Simon Tapley's latest film, some beers and of course, the Nookie Photo Competition.

Here are the winning photos:

(Each winner received a £50 voucher to spend on Nookie Gear)

WINNER: Nookie Lifestyle

Simon Adams

WINNER : Carnage!

Alex McGregor

WINNER: Event

Evie Walker

Sunday was great fun with the 8 Ball Race, and King of the Wave...

8 Ball

King of the Wave

And we met a dog called Hazel (no, not our designer), but we'd quite like to add her to Team Nookie : )

Hazel - with her new Nookie adornment

Thanks to all the organisers and paddlers that made it such a great weekend... see you next year!

Come and enter the Nookie Photo Competition @ Tryweryn Festival 18-19 June

2011-06-15T10:45:00.006Z

The weekend is fast approaching, and with it comes the Tryweryn Festival 2011. http://www.ukrafting.co.uk/eventsfestivals.htm

This year Nookie are hosting a photo competition on the Saturday.

Open to anybody with a camera... why not come and join in?

TO ENTER:

Bring your photos from the day's events on Saturday to the Nookie team before 6pm, we will be located in the RECEPTION at the Canolfan Tryweryn White Water Centre. (We can accept most formats of digital card/format.)

We will ask for your details and clarify which category you are entering your particular photos for.

CATEGORIES:

• EVENT •

This category covers photos submitted for any of the events during the day, including the TopoDuo Rolling Battle, Big Dog River Jam, Wild Water Racing Classic and the Robson Relay Race.

• NOOKIE LIFESTYLE •

Bring us some photos from the day that you think sum up the lifestyle of the event.

• CARNAGE! •

Pretty self-explanatory. If you get a great picture of a race tussle, or a Topo battle or anything else that makes you go 'oooh'... enter it in this category!

WINNERS:

The winners for each category will be announced and the photos displayed at the Saturday Evening Event at the Old School House, Bala.

The winner of each category will receive a £50 voucher to spend on Nookie Paddle Sports Equipment.

GREEN, ANYONE?

2011-06-02T13:20:00.000Z

Nookie Assassin Suit 10/11

I have to say I wasn't sure about the lurid green, but to everyone there comes (at least once) a time to admit that @hazelwilson was right. Not only has our Assassin suit been a massive hit, but furthermore, rather similarly green stuff has been popping up all over the place, and the dayglo is-it-green-or-yellow-really appears to be the latest trend in the high street as well :)

Here's the new Animal Assassin. We like...

It's probably not a predictable surfing destination for kayakers, but we immensely enjoyed this article in Nylon Mag this week, largely because it made us feel even better, if that was possible, about choosing that green.

Our completely-swamped-by-demand UK production facility (we think that sounds swankier than "factory") has been a sea of green for a while now. Everywhere I look, there's bright green fabric. It's shattered the myth that kayakers will only buy conservative colours, as sales and customer feedback continue to indicate that boaters want a highly visible colour but not necessarily the traditional safety yellow or orange. We are also super-happy that the green doesn't seem to fade or get stained badly, which has been a worry in the past.

Nookie Assassin Shell 2011

Since we try to be the other sort of green and minimise waste, we are now using up the leftover green fabric in the construction of an all-new limited edition Assassin drytop, and I really want one, because it is cooo-ooool... It has an all new easy-on/off inner waist tunnel, power-uppable outer cuffs and a bomber glued and blindstitched neck cover with extra-comfy edge technology. And as if it wasn't already hi-viz enough, or bling enough, the logos are retro-reflective silver :)

Nookie Assassin Shell - Back View

Please note this is a full-latex drytop, unlike the Zone shell which features neoprene glideskin seals for extra comfort and for those with latex sensitivity.

Btw we're having a giggle at the moment at the companies who advertise their neoprene necks as "for those with latex allergies" and then go on in the next sentence to say "Natural latex gaskets at wrists". Duh...

So, just to clarify, if you have a latex allergy or just hate latex, buy a Zone... if you don't have, perhaps you will like this new Assassin or the Assault or Airscrew at nookie.co.uk

Enjoy... all of the above >>>>>>>>>

2011-05-26T05:28:00.006Z

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

2011-05-17T00:57:00.010Z

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

2011-05-15T16:48:00.040Z

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

2011-05-03T20:06:00.004Z

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.

Short trip to Indonesia - Ron Fischer

2011-03-20T20:43:00.013Z

In December 2010 I spent some time in Indonesia. After an exhausting Nepal trip, I simply needed some rest: Three lazy weeks in Indonesia, surfing it up in Bali and a bit of paddling in Java would be perfect. To surf was an experience worth while, as well as seeing the people and the culture. Though, after just one week I had had enough of laying in the sun, living a somewhat boring beach life, only waiting for good waves to come around. Hence I booked a ticket to Jakarta on the island of Java. Paddling was back on the agenda. Surprised? I believe not.

A fellow kayaker, Benjamin Herbrügger from Germany, is studying in Denpasar, the main city in Bali. Since he had already studied for almost half a year in Indonesia, it wasn't his first time kayaking in Java. Benjamin has very good friends and important contacts to get to the river. Lucky me, as it meant that for once I had nothing to organize. Together with Benjamin's father Gerd, who joined the trip as well, we could simply follow the locals and enjoy our trip.

Once we arrived in Jakarta, the biggest city and capital of Indonesia, we got picked up at the airport. The driver, a river guide from the local raft company called "Arus Liar" (wild waters), drove us two and a half hours to their raft base on the Citarik river. We arrived late at night, tired from the travel, but happy to be right there. Instantly upon arrival we stumbled to our bamboo bungalow situated right by the river and slept like little kids come home.

A typical Indonesian breakfast the next morning was served to our bungalow. Chicken, rice and vegetables. The exact same items as in the nepali food, but differently prepared and just much better. Delicious.

Since there weren't many foreigner kayakers paddling in Java, everyone wanted to paddle with us. Two rafts full of guides and locals and three local kayakers went on the Citarik river with us that day. We had a great time, paddling in warm water wearing only a t-shirt, gazing at lazy palm trees bending over the river and slowly passing the local people working hard in the rice fields. Watching their daily life from my kayak, I felt grateful for being able and allowed to enjoy the life I am living, although they seemed happier and more content than a lot of people in Europe.

At take out we got picked up by a big pickup truck owned by Arus Liar. Amazingly enough, all the people and equipment fit on it and it made for a fun ride back to the base. Once again we got really good, local food served for dinner before I showed them photos of my last travels to Pakistan, Nepal, Colombia and Chile. They were exited to see photos and hear stories from other countries, cultures and people, and of course they liked to see photos of running big waterfalls and paddling big rivers like Rio Baker. Only a few of the local people spoke english. Sweena, a 19 year old powerful and well educated woman translated my stories for the crowd.

The next day we paddled another river two hours away from the base. Again, it proved to be beautiful whitewater, only class three to four, but flowing through amazing canyons surrounded by palm trees. We had another amazing time on the water, the only negative thing being the bad water quality in the rivers all over Indonesia. It is a problem that is increasing, and I hope the local authorities soon will take the problem seriously.

The same evening we were invited for dinner by the family of the best local kayaker. It was amazing to be there. The family and most of the people in Java are muslims. This was the second muslim country after Pakistan that I have visited, and again, I was amazed about the friendly and open-hearted people I met. As a guest you're always welcome and your safety and comfort is their duty to look after. After dinner we watched the final soccer game of the Australia/Asia cup: Indonesia against the Philippines. Indonesia won! A great experience to share with the locals, even with a TV with really bad signals. It didn´t matter at all, as the enthusiasm I saw from everyone around me made me cheer for Indonesia as if I myself held an indonesian passport!

The next morning we had to say good by to all the nice people, promising to come back one year. Benjamin and Gerd flew to Thailand for a couple days of beach holiday, I went back for one week of surfing in Bali before heading to the next stop; the promised land of Patagonia.

Ron Fischer
Nookie Team Rider

NSR 2011 - Assassin Drysuit Giveaway drawn

2011-03-14T10:57:00.003Z

At this year's National Student Rodeo in Nottingham, Nookie held a bit of a comp to win an ASSASSIN DRYSUIT. Back in the office on Friday we devised the very technical method of Dan lobbing all the entries into the air and Hazel catching one (this was what we thought was going to be the most challenging aspect). However first attempt she did it and we are really stoked to announce that the winner is one Dave Martin. Congratulations Dave, we look forward to you receiving this fantastic drysuit (even if we do say so ourselves).

See you all at next years NSR!

Local Young Paddler - Ben

2011-02-07T19:40:00.009Z

Hi I'm Ben, aged 11 and I am a keen young paddler. My local river is the Dart (500 metres from my house), which I paddle whenever there's enough water and I can drag Dad out. I first paddled the Lower Dart when I was four and the Loop when I was nine. I have also paddled in France (Tarn, Dordogne, Allier and Ardeche). I paddle a red Jackson 1.5 and use a pair of shortened Werners.

Years of being a bit cold using a wetsuit and leaky "dry" cag ended at christmas when I got a Nookie Assassin drysuit. It's a small, but fits well and Dad says it has room for growth! It is very comfortable and keeps me lovely and warm and dry - proof below after some throw-line practice.

Recent paddling trips have included the Teign and Barle. I love playing in small holes, surfing small waves and practicing my tail squirts.

Looking forward to many more warm dry paddling trips.

Ben

Buri Gandaki - Solo Mission

2011-01-27T14:49:00.004Z

It's almost one month ago since my last blog update. One month of good times! After our big swiss expedition on the upper Arun river, my friends went back home to cold switzerland, but my trip was of course not finished. I had ten days left in Nepal and decided to go for a solo mission. Thuli Bheri seams to be one of the best multi-day trip on the planet. Two years ago I tried to catch a plane up to the put-in, but bad weather conditions made it impossible. Unfortunately this year the same happened! My time run out and there was no plane flying up to Dolpa area. This can always happen in mountain areas like the Himalaya, but because of hundreds of other great river it's easy to get a plan B. I have paddled many of the Classics in Nepal and as always I like to explore unknown or rarely paddled river. Buri Gandaki is described in Nepal's guide book, but I haven't heard of many kayakers or rafters that went there. Why? I don't know. It's close from Kathmandu, the description tells about a beautiful valley and great whitewater. Let's check it out thought.

The Bus ride from Pokhara to Arughat took me almost two days. From there I drove three more hours with a Jeep till the end of the road at Soti Khola where I slept in a local guest house. Really basic as usually in Nepal. Dhal Bhat to eat and dirty room with wooden planked bed to sleep. Next morning it took me a while to find a Porter to carry my Kayak up the valley to the put-in.

After a couple of hours, a motivated and small Nepali showed up. I showed him the technique how I would carry the kayak, with straps as a backpack on my shoulders. But he didn't liked it, took his own strap, fixed it somehow on the kayak, the strap over his head and let's go. He went really fast and it looked kind of crazy this 1.50meter tall guy with a 2.50m Kayak.... on his foot he had sandals! The whole day he took maybe five short brakes and the rest he was almost running, the best Porter I've ever had!

This first day we hiked up till Mochikhola. The trek was amazing! There are on both sides hugh canyon walls, more then 1000meter high and sometimes I could see far behind the Ganesh Himal with it's 7500 meter high peaks. The river was mostly a couple hundret meters below the trail and looked great but really challenging. In Mochikhola I slept in a super nice guesthouse. Normally, during october are here up to 150 Tourists, Trekkers every day. End november I was the only one! I eat some spaghettis for dinner and went to bed at 6 o'clock! Next morning we went up early and hiked further up the valley. The river and the valley became more and more beautiful as further we hiked. After Dovan the river gets more gradient and became just serious class 6. I decided to put- in below that and paddle the same day back to Mochikhola. This day was the best day of the whole Nepal trip! Such a amazing hike, local people and some of the best class five kayaking I've done in Nepal.

The next day started on easy whitewater for a couple of kilometer till it dropped down on a huge landslide. The portage took me one hour, but afterwards I paddled the whole day just great whitewater. At the end of that day I was super tired. I've paddled almost 70 kilometers, 3 bigger portages, 10 km on class 5, 20km class 4 and the rest class 3. I found a beach to setup a camp, make fire, cook dinner and sleep. The last day I finished down after the confluence with the Trisuli river where the Himalayan Whitewater Challenging was going on. Two years ago I have won this cool event, but this times I arrived to late to compete. I met some friends, drank a beer with them and took the bus back to Kathmandu.

Thats the end of my Nepal trip 2010, but just the beginning of five month trip around the world. Next stop was Indonesia. Two weeks of surfing on Bali and a couple days kayaking on Java. The kayaking on Java was really cool! We hooked up with some local kayakers and raftguides, paddled a couple of really nice rivers with palm trees on the side, 30 degrees water temperature,..... . Not my last time there!

Now I'm down south in Patagonia, running big rivers, surfing big waves, fire big campfires.... Update coming soon!

Ron : )

Chile - a different way

2011-01-24T19:40:00.031Z

Back home from my trip to Chile after an unfortunate series of problems

- airport-traffic-control strike for two days
- broken car on the way to the airport
- lost baggage and lost boat & paddles for three days
- several stops at the mechanics

After all I had to realize that one of my three weeks was wasted. But there was plenty of time to enjoy these amazing rivers. Equipped with the new and fantastic sample of the commend Assault I was ready to head to Pucon with an awesome side trip to the Rio Claro that I had to check.

Directly after the run I put out my list of misfortune and added one more point:
- another visit at a mechanic, but now including an overnight in his front yard (dumping ground)

After we arrived in our residential timber cottage with our own gay combat-dog (poor Maxi), a hot-tub on the terrace, with a view over the Lago Villarica and the volcano (thanks for that Maxi) we were ready to run the classics.

As nearly all of you know these amazing rivers - it was fantastic! After some training runs on the upper Palguin there was no way around the Upper Palguin Race. But directly after the start my competitor jumped full tilt off the ramp on my left arm. Meant the end of the race after one meter. That was just another point of my lovely list.

- demolished left arm

But some painkillers and lots of beers helped me to proceed next days. Ah, and another point of the list:

- a little car accident

And what is the best way to cool down your mood directly after a crash and before the date at the police station. Yeah - park `n huck the 70 footer on the middle. Lunch, get the direction, throw the paddle, lean forward and wait for the impact and thinking why I don`t play chess!

The next days followed with some more little park `n huck actions and a few river runs, I had to recognize that my left arm needs more and more a time-out, not only because my list extended:

- boat cracked twice

Finally it was the right decision to end the trip without more heroics. Strange, that I missed the earthquake… That would have round my list!

Just to say: Preparing my arm for Chile - Part II

Thanks to Seppi and Maxi for these wonderful pics!

Alex Rodegro
Nookie Team Rider

2011-01-12T07:05:00.006Z

I love Mexico because...

I like going to new places and meeting new people, and of course I take my boat along with me and explore new rivers. My autumn adventure in 2010 took me to Mexico, it's a paddlers paradise; awesome rivers, warm water, friendly people, spectacular landscape, cold cervezas, Tequila, yummy food, the list goes on and on.

My journey started from Zurich, then to Barcelona to Mexico City and finally to Veracruz, it all went well 'til I landed in Mexico City on 20th November, Revolution day! Maniana maniana was the name of the game and all 'planes outta Mexico City were delayed and many cancelled. After 8 hours of waiting and wheeling and dealing I was on a plane to Veracruz.

I had arranged to meet up with open canoeing legend Jim Coffey in Veracruz and then drive out to Jalcomulco, Jim has spent the last 15Winters in Mexico so knows his way around pretty good, after a 2.5hour drive we where in the middle of a crazy street party in Jalco, free food, free beer and fiesta!

I only had a short time in Mexico so the aim of the game was as much paddling as possible, Jim took this mission statement almost too seriously and we were on the road heading out to the Filo Bobos at 7am the next morning! I hardy ever get to go canoeing with other ww open boaters so this was a special trip for me, don't get me wrong I love going on the river with all my kayaking buddies but to go paddling with another dedicated open boater is kinda special, it was almost bizarre to realise how many similarities we had in our paddling styles even though we had learnt to paddle on different continents.

We paddled loads sections of many cool rivers, some I have forgotten the name of and some I never knew the name of, but 2 rivers really stand out as favourites, the Rio de Oro and the Rio Alseseca.

The Rio de Oro, I had been really looking forward to this river, white water all the way to the beach! The river did not disappoint, sweet rapids, a nice double drop combo, 12meters then 9meters and then cruisy rapids all the way to the beach. We had hoped to reach the beach for sunset but a perforated ear drum and suspected broken ribs kinda slowed us down and we had to paddle the last rapids in the dark. Class 2 can be quite a challenge in the pitch black!

The Rio Alseseca is one of Mexicos most famous rivers, with several sections to choose from, full of clean drops and slides it really is a paddlers dream. To prove how small the World is we met 2friends from Germany, Anne and Seppi, at the upper put in and paddled with them down the upper section. Having already decided the Rio de Oro was my favourite river I now had to issue joint honours to the Alseseca it is also awesome, no beach at the take out but incredible rapids and not too much hiking!

Top tips for paddling in Mexico

Good shoes, I did lots of hiking to and from rivers and there is lots of dancing in Mexico.

Hang out with the locals on the beach after paddling the Rio de Oro and go fishing with the locals.

Visit the Taco Man and the Juice Ladies in Jalcomulco, the best breakfast and dinner you can can get.

Contact Jim Coffey at Esprit to organise your logistics, he is a legend!

Mexico is a superb November/December paddling destination for all levels of paddler, there are loads of class 2 cruisy runs and for the hardcore among us there are some BIG drop to hit up.

Stay safe and see you on the river in the Spring melt
James

Ron Fischer - An Unbelievable Nepal Expedition

2010-11-24T13:27:00.006Z

It's now four weeks ago since we arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal. Luke Wielatt, Simon Hirter, Toro Rogenmoser and Ruedi Raschle, we all look back to a very intense time on and beside the river. Our plan was to paddle on the Barun river as much as possible and then paddle down the Arun from 20km further up then the normal put in of the upper gorges.

The idea to fly in to Tumblingtar failed because of the monsoon that had destroyed the airstrip there. We quickly changed the plan: instead of taking a 20 hour bus ride to the east, we just kayaked this part. First a warm up run on the classic Bothe Kosi, then we put in one day Jeep ride further up then the normal start on the Tamba Kosi. It took us three days to reach the confluence with the Sun Kosi. Three days of great kayaking! One day enjoyable class 5, another day awesome class 4. This is one of my favorite runs in Nepal.

We always found some really nice beaches to set up a camp, cooking dinner, playing cards and drinking tea. For the 180km down the Sun Kosi we spend four days. Most of it was flat, but between some really cool and big rapids, surrounded by beautifully valley with only a few villages and local people.

In Dharan, a big city at the take out, we went out for a proper dinner, filled up our stock of Snickers and Red Bull and headed with the local bus north to Hile and further by Jeep to Tumblingtar. We stopped one day in the local lodge, trying to find porters for the following hike and a Jeep that brings us further up to the end of the road. But it was Nepali festival, like Xmas for us and nobody was willing to work and make some money.

A day later we caught a Landrover, together with a Israeli mountaineer, his and our porters... we ended up with 16 people in the Offroader for the next seven hours. For my legs was no space in the car, so I spend the whole ride standing on the roof ladder or running in front. The road was washed out by the monsoon and in a very bad shape. Late afternoon we arrived on a pass, the end of the road. We shouldered our gear, the porters our kayaks and walked till the night came in. We found a little guesthouse to spend the night, but it was not really a guest house. There were two beds for our five porters and a wooden floor for us and the Kayaks. Nepali people always cook on fire inside their house without a chimney. Smoke is everywhere, burns in your eyes and the gear smells like it's been smoked.

These are the experiences every one should have in Nepal. Forget the Tourist bus, forget Thamel or Pokhara, forget hotel or guesthouses like we expect it, forget European food! If you want to suffer Nepal, eat two times a day Dahl Baht!

The next three days we hiked up the valley till we came to the Barun confluence. Our hope to hike up the Barun along the river, broke down as we saw the river coming out of a absolutely inaccessible narrow canyon. We took one day rest before putting in on the Arun.

From the trail we hiked up to Barun Bazar, we saw the river for a few times and knew that it will be full on kayaking. When we paddled out of the eddy, we quickly realized that current was much stronger then we expected. A deep riverbed that build crazy seams, boils and whirlpools everywhere. The main rapids were most runnable in the main water, but if you do any little mistake you're fucked up. The Arun was so continuous, that we run most of it class 5 shore line. One 5+ rapid led into a class -5 and back to 5+. Just to paddle to the other riverside was harder then most of the kayaking any of us have ever done. After this first day we were super tired and ready to sleep. The weather this days was uncommon for Nepal with rain every night, but we had no tent. We had to find big rocks to sleep under and it wasn't easy to find firewood to cook dinner.

Anyway, the next day the river showed us the same face as at the beginning. After two hours we run a easy chicken line Toro and I have scouted before. Simon get pushed from the current to much to the right side and stuck on a rock.... the boat straight up to the sky and water flows over his head. The good luck for us- the rock he struck was just a three meter jump from the shore away, so Luke got there to pull him out of the boat. He was also able to save his camera bag and sleeping bag out of the kayak before it got pushed completely under water without any chance to get it out again. All of us were super happy Simon was ok, but to loose the boat here in this remote area is the biggest shit that can happen. Simon also lost his shoes and my Teva Flipflops Size 9 were not a big help for the three day hike out! He's got shoe size 14! There was no other way...

We kept on paddling for a few rapids on this super difficult whitewater and then the river started to become easy and enjoyable for the rest of the day.

This night we slept just below the standard put in of the upper Arun gorges. From here we had one day of great class 5 paddling with some 4 in-between and on second day continuous class 4 for 40 kilometers. A great river, challenging, mentally demanding, in some awesome canyons far away from civilization. We took out in Tumblingtar where we met the next morning Simon again. Happy everyone was ok. The airstrip was still not fixed, but now the planes were using the big grass field beside. We flew back to Kathmandu and after the Steakhouse had a big smile in the face!

my friends left Nepal already and flew back home. I'm trying to go to Thuli Bheri, but the weather is still very bad and there are no planes flying this days..... So let's see whats coming next.......... for sure in December kayaking and surfing in Indonesia and the three months paddling in Patagonia....

For those who understand German ;) can follow my trip around the world on www.kanumagazin.de, 4-paddler.com, ronfischer.ch or facebook. English reports will follow in about two-three weeks for the blogs!

http://www.ronfischer.ch/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=26

http://www.kanumagazin.de/donron

http://4-paddlers.com/61/index.html

Attached is the Coverpage of new Hydro Magazin, check it out! Also check out the new Kayak Session Magazine. Report about Ticino with pictures and double page photo of me paddling on Rein da Medel.

Living the whitewater lifestyle, traveling around the globe, paddle some of the best rivers and explore remote areas, cultures and rivers, always with the focus to do this on the highest possible level of whitewater kayaking. Thanks to all of you for making this possible!

ride on

Don Ron

British Open Surf Kayak Championships - 29th – 31st October, 2010.

2010-11-10T10:37:00.007Z

Portrush, Northern Ireland

The weekend of 29^th– 31^st October saw the North Coast of Northern Ireland alive with Surf Kayaks as the NI Surf Kayak Club hosted the 2010 British Surf Kayak Open.

With competitors travelling from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Channel Islands the hope was that the waves would make an appearance and allow the competition to begin.

As the Home Internationals had been taking place during the week in Portrush, the majority of the competitors were already close by, so this allowed the organisers to pull the start of the competition forward a day to make the most of the swell.

Heats started at noon on Friday with the Ladies High Performance heats on the water in 2-3 ft offshore conditions. Unfortunately for all the spectators and anybody else not on the water, the heavens opened and the rain continued for most of the day.

At the end of Friday nearly all of the Round 1 heats were finished and everyone was ready for the pre event get together in a local restaurant. Unfortunately for some of the competitors, it was an early start as the organisers had called the first heat on the water at 8.15 am the following day.

Saturday started with the Ladies HP Semis on the water, followed by the Reps for the Open HP and the heats continued all day in consistent 3 ft offshore conditions, and the arrival of the sun allowed everyone an opportunity to dry off after a few days in the rain.

Come 12.30 pm all of the heats had been run, leaving only the finals with the plan to run the Ladies and Masters before finishing with the Juniors and Open IC & HP finals.

All of the finals were hotly contested and showed that the level of surfing in the UK is world class.

The last heat of the day was the Nookie sponsored Open HP final and the final four are well known names in the Surf Kayak world, North Coast local, Jonny Bingham coming head to head with Glyn Brackenbury, Dessie Mc Glinchey and Philip Watson. The explosive final ended with Jonny Bingham showing that local knowledge pays off with a well earned 1^st place.

In the Open IC category Nookie Team Rider, Chris Hobson showed that the move from Northern Ireland to England hasn’t affected his surfing as he impressed the judges with big end manoeuvres to beat Jonny Bingham, Philip Watson and Sam Davenport.

The organisers of the competition would like to thanks all the competitors and spectators who travelled to the event and all our sponsors, especially Nookie who once again provided great prizes and support for the event.

Gerry McGahey
NIsurfkayak.com & Event Organiser

Photos: www.nisurfkayak.com

Matt Kenna in Canada

2010-11-03T11:17:00.003Z

So, after hours and hours of sifting through footage and photo's and try to find the right track the Canada video is made and online here:

Choppervision/LP Canada Tour- Summer 2010 from matt kenna on Vimeo.

Mark Childerhouse, Joe Bradley and I spent a month over in Canada this summer and were treated, after waiting for three years, to lower summer water levels. Now, although most people may think low levels are bad it means that Big Joe and pyramid wave on the lachine rapids are in. We spent the majority of our time in Montreal surfing the lachine rapids and enjoying the Canadian sun with occasional trip over to the Ottawa to see our friends working there and have a go on a bad Garb. Although garb was bad, we paddled babyface for a few days and concentrated on the harder tricks on small waves such as pistol flips, pan ams and air screws, and by the end were hitting them consistently. Anyway, check the video and the photo's and hopefully there will be a few more over the website in the next few month :) ohhhhh and be sure to check out the new Boardies and Absolute Deck, I had them delivered and they are amazing, especially the new deck! And as I write this, I have just got in from HPP in my Assassin Drysuit and am totally bone dry!! Enjoy your winter boating more with one of the new Nookie Drysuits too!!

Sweet,catch ya on the water, go big! Matt Kenna

Nor(th)way!

2010-09-16T15:10:00.004Z

It was the middle of May. I was so damn sick of watching all the whitewater rivers on the internet, just with the feeling to break out again for another trip. Even though that the year till May wasn`t so bad for me as a normal employee. A few days in Austria, about one week in Galicia / Portugal and one week in Switzerland. But at this time I knew that I was caught in Germany during the Teva Race and the Straight Down Striit. Believe me, my mood rised in July after booking the flight to Oslo, where my buddy Thilo and I met the Norwegian locals and their friends. The plan was to run as much classics as possible in ten days. So we were pretty fired up. Arrived at the airport of Oslo our plans changed quickly after getting in contact with the Norwegians, Canadians and Dutchies.

The new route was simply to describe in two words: Go North!

We followed the interesting mission to head up to the artic circle and leave the well known rivers of the popular whitewater guidebook in the south to check out some little-known (only by Norwegians, Finnish and Russians) and maybe unknown river-sections.

The north is not a five star hotel facility. Everything depends of the mood of the weather. But if you hit the right time frame, the north will blow your mind. It is the combination of the surrounding, the loneliness, the midnight sun with 24h of daylight and of course rivers, rivers, rivers. Ah - and fucking huge mosquitoes! Just have a look from your way to the valleys right and left and you can find more and more fantastic whitewater.

In those ten days we only scratched the surface. There are plenty of rivers left to discover. It was just the beginning. You will find beautiful sections with huge slides, falls with drop and pool characters, some are fair some are tricky embedded in gorges or open landscapes. Maybe you get rewarded with a trip in a gorge, eagles gliding above your head yelling at each other. So take your time and go up north! One thing is left to say, watch out for your back and don’t miss the right lines of the slides. Your back will give you thanks.

Big thanks to Mariann Saether for helping me out with these wonderful photos. (After my loss of technical equipment.)

Alex Rodegro

Nookie Team Rider

Big Glitter Day?

2010-09-02T09:50:00.004Z

Once a year the strange underwater folk of our paddling community all gather in themiddle of our fine country to crown the king of concrete!

The sun always shines on an August bank holiday, so it’s a perfect time for squirt boaters from all over the UK to show off they’re glittery composite boats. OK, so this year it was raining and blustery but the sun came out long enough for us to get together to crown the 2010 King of Concrete. The formula is quite simple, he who sinks the most walks away with the crown…

This sounds odd, by sinking I mean mystery move. A mystery move is a special move you can do in an ultra low volume kayak called a squirt boat. You can key into the currents in white water and sink with the flow. It’s harder than it sounds!

Saturday was a little shaky (especially on my part!) with the locals moaning about some bubbles going missing? But some got on with it anyway West Country bumpkin Mav showed off his new glow in the dark boat by hitting a 10 second mystery in the top pool! For all the Old Skool squirt guy’s this is great news – yes the top pool is back on form, as long as you can find the bubbles – apparently?

But being squirt boaters the rest of the day was sacked off for some mystery based fun and general laziness

So determined to actually get the competiton nailed on Sunday and with our competition heads on we headed off to the pub & a curry. I think we were all safely tucked up in bed by 2am?

Sunday, an early 1pm start bought the start of the competition, 6 rides in the new Pyramid pool, 3 with the flow, 3 cutting back. Mystery move times totalled together = longest time under water wins!

Chris Jones, showed off his local boy skills to take the crown totalling 58 seconds in 6 rides! Tom Bailey bagged the longest ride 13.4 seconds.

We had a load of fun, if you want to have a go or just want to dust off that old squirt boat it’ll all be happening again next year, same place, same weekend…

Thanks to Chris Jones for organising the event. Thanks to UK freestyle / BCU for supplying us with a trophy (Chris hasn’t sent me a picture of it yet, but has assured me it has pride of place above his loo!) and a huge Thank You to the guy’s at Nookie for supplying the prizes – although the squirt guy’s weren’t too sure what to do with the bag marked ATTENTION KAYAK PADDLES, there was a nice mesh pocket for the hand paddles but it wasn’t quite big enough for a squirt boat?

Ben

A letter that was emailed to us this morning.....

2010-08-04T09:59:00.002Z

Hi All, Several weeks ago we purchased two cockpit covers. While on a paddling trip one parted company with our kayak, never to be seen again. You were kind enough to replace this FOC, we then purchased a third, and have been very happy with them. I thought you might be interested in our recent experience with them on our annual pilgrimage to the Alps.
We set off for the Alps on the 23rd July sharing a car with friends to help spread the costs. We loaded our kit into the kayaks to save space and fitted the cockpit covers, we loaned our third cover to our travelling companion. It was an uneventful but tiring trip, until we got to the south of France, we missed our normal turn off into the Alps and ended up going a route we had not used before. This was a dramatic but stunning climb up 2500 meters almost single track road with not a lot between us and the valley below. During our journey we had made several brief stops to ensure our kayaks remained secure on the roof rack. So what happened next came as a bit of a shock. At 2500mtrs we passed through a small tunnel on the other side of the tunnel there was what can only be described as a bomb crater which we could not see, as we hit the crater the car flexed and the front section of the roof rack came away from its fixing points. Our kayaks over took the car complete with roof rack front section, in the process taking the windscreen wipers, denting the bonnet and front wing, They then veered off to the right and tumbled down the side of the mountain on the cockpit covers, we could only see the valley floor at this stage and were assuming the worst. At some point the load flipped over and the roof rack momentarily act as an anchor before parting company with the kayaks which carried on down the mountain. Very hesitantly we disembarked the car fearing the worst to try and locate our kayaks and all our kit; we found the lot more that 150 meters down the side of the mountain. We scrambled down to inspect the damage and recover our prized positions. Once on level ground it became apparent that our investment in Nookie cockpit covers was a sound one. All our kit had been retained in the now badly beaten and heavily gouged kayaks. Our cockpit covers are no longer fit for purpose, but they were put through we think a fairly severe battering (test) and performed way above what we would have expected. Well done Nookie superb product, well worth the money. Once we have saved up the money to repair the damage to the car we will defiantly replace the cockpit covers. Now not only tested by your EVO, but also tested with a high altitude drop of more than 150meters down rock strewn slopes after a projectile release at 50KPH from the roof of a car. What else could you ask for? Thanks guys great product that does what it says on the tin. Look out for our future order for our replacements. Kindest Regards Robert and William

More info about the Cockpit Covers at this link

Boulters Rodeo 2010

2010-07-30T09:44:00.007Z

Senior Men Pro Category

1st Sam Anderson ( Team Jackson )
2nd Matty Nicholas ( Dawg International Pro Team )
3rd Doug Cooper ( Nookie Team Rider )

The top three places were separated by a mear 13 points between each rider, probably the most intense final I have ever taken part in.

I will let the pictures do the talking

The rodeo couldn’t have been such a success without the help of KayakoJacko Coaching , Sam Ward , Nookie Paddle Sports Equipment , Square Rock ,DJC Electrical (sound system) Pyranha and Wavesport. A huge special thanks to Adrian Cooper for co -organising the weekend.

Doug Cooper

Nookie Team Rider

Road Trippin'

2010-06-08T07:39:00.016Z

I left Monkey Island with very little plan, but a van loaded with kayaks, coffee, Team Rider Tim Copplestone and Pete H. This was the beginning of Nookie Creek Dayz II. The sun was shining when we arrived in Versam to meet Team Riders James Weir and Lilli Winter. We cruised down the beautiful Vorderrhein before heading to Ticino.

Tim and Hazel

In Lavertezzo we paddled the classic Middle Verzasca following the effortless lines and cheeky wink of Team Rider Ron Fischer. The boys then continued to take on Lucifer on the Lower Versasca.

After a camp fire and some beers we woke up next to the stunning Rovarno River. The boys hiked in with boats and kit and I followed. We finally arrived at the get in and I had to walk back out on my own for 45 minutes. I felt a little like Hansel and Gretel. By all accounts the boys had a mission on a great river with a few crazy portages including abseiling with their kayaks on their shoulder.

Next day we hit the Ribo, and as always the Ribo Falls was sweet.

Tim hucking Ribo Falls

Our next mission was to drive to Elm for the Straight Down Striit. While the boys were being manly with chainsaws I went for my first paddle of the Striit.

Hazel and Tim getting to run the Striit for the first time

James checking the lines on the Striit

The competition was great with a few surprising upsets in the head to head. Ron Fischer came second to Jakobus Stänglein.

Ron racing one of his many competitors

Team Riderz Ron Fischer and James Weir sharing a little Nookie Love

The party was fantastic with music from The Clowns. In the morning to shake the hangovers and the rain we drove south. We arrived in the Valsesia region of Italy.

We went straight for a park and play on the Solba Slides.

Pete and Tim on Solba Slides

We then went for a quick huck on Landwasser Falls before paddling the Mastelleno.

Hazel on Landwasser Falls

The Valsesia region has so many beautiful rivers to paddle, so we spent a few days making our way round all of them. I think the Sesia has got to be one of my favourite sunshine runs.

During the week Ron and Pete ran the renowned Mollia Rapid. It was definitely a challenge worth watching.

Ron in the middle of the Mollia Rapid

Ron, Sesia.

It was a great road trip and of course, I'm now busy planning the next : )

2010-06-06T06:05:00.008Z

StraightDownStriit and the Nookie FotoKontest

Hidden at the top of quiet valley in Switzerland there is a crazy little creek that is home to one of the best boater cross races and party's on the European kayaking calendar, its name is Straight Down Striit. SDS was born in 2007 when a small group of friends including Team Rider Ron Fischer got together and had a race, it was the start of something crazy. In 2008 Nookie was asked to sponsor the event, to relive the highlights of 2008 look here.

This year SDS was back bigger and badder than ever and so was the Nookie FotoKontest, congratulations to the winners who all took home 100CHF prize money for their winning fotos.

Winner of the lifestyle category Florian

Winner of the fun category David

Winner of the creek race category Sveta

And some more fotos of the Team Riders in action because they are easier than words on a Sunday morning!

Tim Copplestone boofing out on the second drop

James Weir charging in the timetrail

Event organiser Silvan taking it easy, good work fella.

Alex Keller being cheered on by Bobby

Tim Copplestone deep in the action

Nookie product designer Hazel Wilson checking out the race course

Ron Fischer, Team Rider, event organiser and Silver medal winner in the boater cross

Big props to Silvan, Ron, Luc and Lukas for organising an awesome event and to Nookie, Teva and Red Bull for putting their money where their mouth is, see you for the next one.

***Check out cool party photos from Daniel Bally here***

Paddle hard, stay safe

James

Boardies are here!

2010-05-17T09:32:00.005Z

The NEW Nookie Boardies have arrived today just in time for the lovely sunny day we're having in Cornwall.

Light weight and quick drying the Team Riderz have travelled all over the world in them already.

Features include a zipped security pocket, velcro waist closure with traditional lace tie and Nookie's velcro system that locks into Nookie 3/4 Strides.

The cool black and white shorts with bright green trim are the landslide result of your votes. Thanks, we love 'em too.

Great for the river, beach or pub.

Unveiling the Nookie Absolute Deck

2010-04-22T11:38:00.002Z

Nookie today release their first images of the NEW Absolute Deck. You may have seen the decks on the rivers around the world being tested by our fine Team Riderz, and here is your first view of the spraydeck to be released in the summer.
More information will be released over the following weeks about the technical specs, colourways etc so be sure to keep your eye on all that is Nookie :)

Dan

More Deck Testing with Doug Cooper

2010-04-15T09:40:00.004Z

Arriving home to find a package from Nookie, I quickly scrapped my ideas of a rest day. Straight to Hurley with the new sexy proto deck and a new Airhead for the summer. First impressions were "WOW this deck is bright, but I LOVE IT"

Second impressions "Wooooooooo look at me go in my new deck"
Here are a few cheeky shots from Matty Kenna of me checking out the new deck .

I know you all want one........

Doug

Summer season warm up

2010-04-13T15:31:00.004Z

Alright I don't want to whine. My winter season wasn't that bad. I had a great trip to Colombia and Chile for three months. But then February and March were a grey time. But then, April begins, the evenings became longer and the sun got more and more power, but still no water in the Alps because it's still too cold. Perfect time to go to French island Corsica.

I love Corsica! This year I went for my sixth time there. From my home it's just a six hour drive to the ferry which takes another four. Temperatures are normally at least ten degrees Celsius plus compared to home and it's warm enought to camp outside, enjoy campfire, french wine and friends. Corsica has great local food like cheese and dry meat, this together with a local sweet white wine is just a perfect little lunch after some creekboating.

It's every season the same. After a few cold months at home, lot's of work and some snowboarding, then it's time to get back in the boat and do what I love most and hopefully most of you too. When I start to watch the same kayak movie ten times and read some articles in Kayak Session Magazine more then once, that means I haven't been in the kayak for two months and thats a too long time!

Corsica is the place where modern Creekboating grew up. Kayakers go there since more then thirty years and it's unbelievablel how they ran these small and narrow creeks with their four meter fiberclass kayaks.

Corsica is definitely one of my favourite kayak regions. Its close to my home, always a super fun roadtrip, perfect warm-up for the season and it hides just a incredible amount of great rivers in a very small place. I like!
This year a very special hightlight happened to me. My almost ten years younger/taller brother Tim joined us on the trip and got addicted to the sport! Let's see how long it takes till he shows me the good line....:)

Thanks to Tim Fischer & Arnd Schaeftlein for all the photos

Ron 'The Don' Fischer

Nookie Team Rider

New toys @ Hurley - Part 1

2010-03-25T11:29:00.003Z

In the recent years the infamous Hurley Weir has been on what is a funny three gates, meaning the middle wave is good but nowhere near the potential beast it can be. As of late we have been treated to the weir being on a very impressive level, with MASSIVE, GREEN, CURLING shoulders and a nice deep pit, well for Hurley anyway! This was aptly named the Brazilian by Doug Cooper, as the wave has a clean, smooth runway with a small tuft on top! Luckily enough I've been privileged enough to have the Wavesport Carbon Project on it and have been working on the consistency of my moves and making sure they score every time for competitions this year! Anyway, Team Wavesport Rider Mark Childerhouse has just got a pretty sweet new SLR and we have been toying around with his MASSIVE......lense and here's the results and photos!

Ive also recently brought an HD Cam so keep your eyes peeled next week for a cool new vid!Enjoy,

Keep Safe and Go Big,

Matt K

Steve Ugg Product Testing

2010-03-22T13:05:00.003Z

The previous 12 hrs had precipitated 30mm of rain and so on Saturday March 20 we downed tools and set off to the river Erme, Ivybridge, Devon, UK.

The product testing was of a prototype new whitewater spraydeck and was also combined with a test of the new production model Bigdog Drop Zone kayak. The deck was being evaluated for implosion resistance and water tightness aswell as ease of fitting during a river trip. So far the performance results are very positive. The Drop Zone angled & changed direction smoothly in the technical turns. The bow gave a good sense of confidence whilst punching holes & landing drops. The Drop Zone is an ideal size for Mr Uggs weight, +- 80Kg.

Leo Carpene on Hawaii-sur-Rhone - Dec 2009

2010-03-11T16:21:00.001Z

Back to Lyon – kayak freestyle from Dkayaking on Vimeo.

Team Rider Ron Fischer nominated in "Rider Of The Year" Awards

2010-02-16T14:11:00.003Z

Nookie Team Rider Ron "The Don" Fischer has been nominated in this years "Rider Of The Year" Awards.

Photo Credit - Daniel Herzig

To check out more on the awards and Ron follow this link

Canoe Kayak Magazine Dry Cag Review - Assault wins CKUK Recommendation

2010-02-08T15:02:00.003Z

Issue number 107 of Canoe Kayak Magazine saw the CKUK test team check out seven of the leading dry cags to find out which one's best for keeping you dry this winter.....and guess what?... The Nookie Assault won the CKUK Recommendation.

The Magazine stated "The fit on the Assault is excellent and our testers felt it was the best fitting cag in the test. It's a very close fit and there is no spare material anywhere to flap about and catch water, but it gives suberb freedom of movement without riding up. The waist tube sits just right and there's no bunching. It's clear that Nookie have put a lot of thought in to the shape of the Assault. The team also really liked the Xtetra4 fabric. It feels really light to wear compared to other cags, but seemed to be more than a match for the cold of a UK winter. Combined with the cut this makes the Assault really nice to wear. The elbow protection sits exactly where it needs to be and the other neat little touch was the spray-deck clips. Our decks always end up riding down a bit, and this simple feature makes that a thing of the past."

The CKUK team felt "the flat gunmetal grey looks very cool" but they'd have preferred it if the Assault was in a brighter colour, which is a valid point and one we considered when designing this shell. We (at Nookie) wanted a more stealth design for this cag and that the on-river visability would be bought through with the lid, Buoyancy Aid, and retro-reflective piping. There are many many bright colourful shells out there and our market research has proved there are many paddlers looking for something just a little bit cooler, whilst not compromising on safety.

To read the whole review please grab yourself a copy of Issue 107 or visit the website at www.canoekayak.co.uk