Ron Fischer - An Unbelievable Nepal Expedition

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.

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

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!

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?

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.....

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