Indholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2016 i Kayak Session Magazine

HIWASEE DRIES – TENNESSEE, USA In 1943 the Apalachia Dam was finished and 18 miles of the Hiwassee River’s roaring rapids were silenced: 9 miles under the reservoir and 9 miles de-watered by a giant pipe. The forest slowly overtook the channel below the dam and only rarely has water spilled into the reach paddlers call the Hiwassee Dries. This winter the dam owner had to shut down the powerhouse for maintenance for several months and numerous groups flocked to Tennessee to paddle the nearly forgotten big volume rapids of the Hiwassee. Paddlers logged descents at flows from 1,300 to over 8,000 cfs, and found numerous outstanding surf waves, squirt spots, and rapids. The standout Hollywood Bowl rapid dished out some hits as paddlers ran a complex maze of big…

KS: Joel, you’ve had a brutal couple of years of losing friends and family. First your roommate, colleague and good friend Juanito, and then just a month ago your brother Marc in Japan. Our hearts go out to you and your family. How do you cope with these staggering losses? JK: Thanks, the grieving process is brutal. And I know I’m not alone in the paddling community. There have been way too many amazing people taken from us over the last few years. I feel the best way to honor someone’s life is to keep their dreams alive and pass on their love and their fire to the next generation. KS: Tell us more about the Juanito Grant you guys have created over the last year? JK: The scholarship was…

"LUCKILY WE WERE ABLE TO SLOT TOGETHER THE EPIC PORTAGES LIKE A JIGSAW PUZZLE AND MAKE THEM WORK... FROM THE AIR I WASN’T SO CONFIDENT" BARNY YOUNG The search for first descents often drives people to remote and desolate corners of the world. Places like Papua New Guinea, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar resonate through the kayaking world as current hot spots for expeditions. In this respect, having the West Coast of New Zealand as my backyard is a double-edged sword. It is an incredibly water-rich and dynamic environment; it has also seen motivated crews seeking quality first descents for more than two decades, leaving only the most remote, challenging, and unknown sections undone. I am therefore pushed to search for the few drainages, or partial drainages, left unexplored in order to…

TOM DOLLE French paddler Tom Dolle is undeniably one of the most talented up and comers in the game. After combing through the many YouTube videos he features in, it’s clear to me that if he keeps after it he will be amongst the best all-around paddlers in the world in no time! No stranger to the river, Tom is 15 years old and has already been paddling for six full years. He’s paddled the world famous Class V Wellerbrucke in Austria, and has already thrown down a 1,600 point freestyle ride. Keep an eye on this kid! I just watched your season recap video from last year. Wow! I am super impressed. How long have you been at this whole kayaking thing? I started kayaking at 9 years old,…

BILHARZIA UPDATE In all foreign kayaking related travel these days, there seems to be more and more chance of encountering some interesting disease. This is particularly true with mosquito transmitted infections such as Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses, as well as malaria; but it also applies to other water born infections such as schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, named for the German doctor who discovered it in Napolean’s army in the 1850s. Though schistosomiasis does not effect as many people as malaria worldwide, it is still the third most common tropical disease. It infects 200 million people a year and kills around 200,000 people a year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Schistosomiasis is also found in South America and Southeast Asia, as well as—surprisingly—Corsica. Spring paddlers take note! Schistosomias is a…

SILVERBIRCH CANOES - COVERT When the design team at Silverbirch started working on their new model, they had only one goal: to create the fastest, most manoeuvrable, and most predictable Open Canoe possible. At the core of this philosophy was their stepped rocker profile. The step in the tail ensures a clean release of water from the stern, which not only reduces drag, but also helps to reduce the tendency for the tail to bog down on boily eddy lines or when getting bounced around by large lateral waves. The sidewall profile of the boat is also continually curved. This helps boost secondary stability and is carefully angled to keep the waterline width to a minimum. length: 282cm / 9.3ft - width: 3.5cm / 29.25” - weight: 21.5kg / 47lbs…

A few years ago, I passed by Godafoss in March while on a ski trip, and I thought the winter scenery would be beautiful for a kayaking shot. This year, I convinced Matze Brustmann to run the drop, but had to promise him some powder skiing in exchange for freezing his ass off on the water. Both worked out perfectly. The day after the descent, we had the perfect day at Arctic Heliski. Our guide there was Jon Heidar Runarsson, the former Riotimporteur in Iceland. It is indeed a small world... Photography: Michael Neumann Rider: Matze Brustmann Location: Godafoss, Iceland…

FIRST DESCENT OF THE KURI CHU BHUTAN The tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan’s only international airport is located in the far west of the country, as such, its eastern rivers have received little attention. In 2010, while paddling the Dramgme Chu in eastern Bhutan as part of a raft and kayak group, Phil DeRiemer and Bhutanese kayaker Tinley Thobden floated past the mouth of the unrun Kuri Chu and began making plans. Because of its remote location, it wouldn’t be until November 2015 that they were able to return for an attempt. Accompanied by Ben Morton, Sarah Cunningham, David Lech, and David Focardi the team completed a first descent of a 20-mile section of the river. Surrounded by dry slopes sparsely covered in pine, they entered the Kuri Chu at…

MONGOLIA IS AN OLD SCHOOL PLACE, STILL TRAVERSED LARGELY BY HORSEBACK, STILL HONORING A TIME WHEN GHENGIS KHAN AND HIS DESCENDANTS RULED FROM GERMANY TO THE CHINA SEA. The countryside was green following recent rains, but both vans still trailed curls of dust as they tore along at 80 kilometers per hour. Each driver chose his own road, choosing from the six different dirt tracks that ran parallel down the valley. Two hours passed before we saw our first building, a roadside cafe located at a junction. The place was destitute. An empty vodka bottle sat upright in the dirt out front. A cardboard doormat led us inside. Pat and I and our three Mongolian friends took a seat at a table with a sticky and torn tablecloth. Forty minutes…

ROCK ISLAND FALLS Size: 20 ft Location: Rock Island State Park, TN Legality: Legal. Dangers: Potential wood at the approach, shallow areas in the landing, ‘sieve city’ rapid downsream.At high flows (›15,000-20,000 cfs) the wide ledge turns into a deadly hole. Rain Needed: Runs several days after each 1+ inch rain, a week after bigger ones unless the lake is filling up. River Level Gauge: Online gauge https://www.tva.gov/Environment/Lake-Levels/Great-Falls, look for 4200-11,000cs First Descent: Clay Wright 1992 The Rock Island Falls has several great lines, with ‘The Spout’being the most commonly run.Due to its ease, safety and high number of runnable days each year, Rock Island Falls is one of the best and easiest places for people to get an intro to waterfall running and practice technique. It has also more…

IT IS INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO PREDICT THE IDEAL KAYAKING SEASON IN CZECH REPUBLIC. The Czech Republic is approximately the size of Scotland, with twice as many people. The highest mountain in the Czech Republic is 1600 m (5200 ft), and the average annual flow of all rivers in our country does not exceed the average annual flow of the Stikine River in British Columbia. If we connected all the kayaking stretches in Czech Republic with a difficulty of class III and above, we would hardly reach the length of your average overnight trip in the Himalaya. Admittedly, this doesn’t sound like the makings of a high quality kayaking destination. Yet, the Czech Republic is not only the heart of Europe in geographical terms, it is a cornerstone in Europe’s kayaking…

HOT TIPS FOR BIG WATER Kayaking in big volume can be tricky – the water can easily push you around and the line you pictured yourself running can quickly fade away into braces, rolls and missed ferries. After a few weeks on the Rio Futaleufu, Chile, I have realized that three factors help me a lot in big water: A refined and constant change of body positioning, staying with the stroke, and not pulling the forward stroke too far back. Check it out. REFINE THE POSITION OF THE BODY As a beginner or intermediate paddler it is normal to be told to be more aggressive, and often to lean farther forward. In many scenarios this can be helpful, but to maintain a static forward position is about as useless as…

THE 2016 WHITEWATER SESSIONS - DURANCE VALLEY JUNE 16 - 19, 2016, FRANCE With a playspot at camp and over ten rivers to run within 30 minutes, the 2016 Whitewater Sessions promises to be an event for whitewater lovers of all skill levels, ages and styles. Held this year in the Durance Valley, the Whitewater Sessions is a new gathering for kayakers, whitewater sup paddlers, class 5, beginners, clubs, groups, and individuals based on the same principle as the late Corsica Kayak Session festival: a free gathering during which everyone chooses their own programs and schedule! If you want to discover the whitewater paradise that is the Durance and its many tributaries, or you want to come back to a favorite place... this is the right event for you. There…

GANGA KAYAK FESTIVAL - FEB 2016, RISHIKESH, INDIA GKF is an annually held event on the river Ganges in February in northern India. The 4th edition of GKF was a great success! This year, GKF introduced the first open International rafting championship in India on the River Ganges. There were over 120 national and international athletes competing in a variety of raft and kayak races to battle for the titles. The champions of the event were: Sprint – Rishi Rana (India), Boater X – Sohan Rana (India), Giant slalom - Pramod Magar (Nepal), Overall Women - Goma Sunuwar (Nepal), Junior’s – Daman Singh (India), Best Debut – Manish Thapa (India), Mass boater X – Balam Rana (India), Best Indian Female Paddler – Sunita Chauhan. The Best Indian paddler of the…

“I have spent a lot of time, energy and money on the hunt for big, runnable waterfalls. Days spent pouring over Google Earth images, expensive plane tickets, and hours traveling to remote jungle canyons have allowed access to many amazing, clean drops. But, this spring, Dane Jackson and I realized that everything we have been searching for also exists right in our Tennessee backyard, or at least within an easy couple hours’ drive. The Internet still served us well and we scoured the web for all the best big waterfalls to run in the Southeast. Once we identified our top targets, we had to simply wait and hope for rain. Luckily it was a wet spring in the Southern Appalachians, enabling us to good taste of what the Cumberland Plateau…

I WILL CONTINUE TO MINIMIZE RISK AND EMBRACE A CULTURE OF RISK MANAGEMENT… BUT I WON’T ELIMINATE RISK IF IT MEANS ELIMINATING THE THINGS THAT PUT MEANING INTO MY LIFE. As the principal of World Class Academy, organizer of the Little White Salmon Race, and author of the first guidebook for Colombia Whitewater, at the age of 29, Aaron “Capo” Rettig is already establishing himself as a significant contributor in the international kayaking community. Spending his senior year at World Class Kayak Academy in 2002-2003, Capo experienced the power of blending education with travel and a passion for adventure sports. His life has been devoted to that model ever since. Locally, Capo demonstrates his enthusiasm and commitment to the community in his efforts to organize and promote the LW Race…

“GET STRONGER EVERY TIME YOU HAVE A PADDLE IN YOUR HAND” Sometimes whitewater isn’t in the cards, and we may find ourselves out for the day in a rec boat, SUP, or fishing boat. One little known fact about your body is that it has a really good memory. What I mean by that is that your body just needs a regular nudge in the right direction and giving it that nudge will assure that it moves towards fitness, and away from atrophy. There are many things you can do during a day on the water to remind your body to be ready for some hard whitewater kayaking. Getting to and from the water Just about all of us tend to make each step of every activity as easy as…

The Salween River is threatened by hydropower projects, but at the moment, its roadside access and high quality,big volume whitewater are a dream for paddlers.…