Indholdsfortegnelse for Fall 2022 i Kayak Session Magazine

EDITO Galway Fest. Big Fork. NFC. King of the Alps. ExtremsportVeko. ICF Freestyle Worlds. Event season is upon us. For many, the calendars are full this spring and summer, well into fall, and people are stoked. It is a trend that speaks to a strong future for whitewater, as the health of the event circuit speaks to the health of the industry as a whole. This year saw the Big Fork Whitewater Festival in Montana celebrate 40+ years and the birth of the Salza Rodeo in Wildalpen, Austria. In Idaho, the North Fork Championship completed its first decade with record numbers of racers, while in Italy, the King of the Alps race did the same. Next month is the 16th Devils Extreme Race. This longevity is no mean feat. It…

UPPER MIDDLES CONSUMNES, CALIFORNIA, USA, MAY 2022 As most kayakers know, when the snow starts to melt, and the rivers come alive in California, you go, and when the forests start to burn—you don't. California's Caldor Fire in the summer of 2021, which burned through three counties and across 221,835 acres, had, unfortunately, taken its toll through the Upper Middle Cosumnes, one of the state's many gems. When spring of 2022 rolled around, and the beloved UMC (Upper Middle Consumnes) came into runnable flows, the question of whether or not the section was ruined needed to be answered. California locals Abel Daugherty and Gavin Reiser decided to go and see for themselves if the natural kayaking skatepark that is UMC would still be one of the best creeks in the…

Under The Greek Sun Instead of waiting for the snow to melt in the more "typical" European kayaking destinations this March or April, jump on the ferry and head over to Greece. Whether you crave discovery through a road trip or the ease of staying at a riverside campground (complete with shuttle!), Greece has Whitewater for you. Christain Zicke takes us through beautiful canyons and deep gorges with friendly, accessible Class ll-IV Whitewater, and of course, on a tasting menu of local delicacies. It's the middle of March, and the sun is shining over the snowy Erymanthos Mountains when the "Hellenic Spirit" reaches Patras, the most important port on the Peloponnese Peninsula in southwest Greece. Soon, you'll be released into a unique Whitewater destination—one of the most interesting in Europe,…

KS: After a hiatus from competitive freestyle, you just returned from an impressive performance at the World Championships at age 58—crazy. What's the secret? EJ: How to be competitive in freestyle or slalom kayaking? You need physical and technical training, mental game training, and competition experience. If the question is how to succeed at 58, it is the same, plus you have to ignore anyone telling you that your age is a negative factor. KS: You also won the masters competition and are now the Master World Champion. What does that mean to you? EJ: Being back among old friends in an eddy, in a World Championships, is amazing. Of course, I want to be the best of the best and throw down the highest scoring ride of anyone at…

P2S, LYON, FRANCE, SEPTEMBER 28TH-OCTOBER 1ST, 2022 The Paddle Sports Show is quickly approaching! Don't miss out again. More than just a trade show, The Paddle Sports Show is a time for the industry to come together, see what's new and what's happening, meet up with old friends, and of course, party. Organized by the Kayak Session Publishing Crew, the vision is to create an ecosystem of events and happenings, giving even more reasons to come and exhibit or visit for distributors, paddle enthusiasts, dealers, athletes, and manufacturers. The show will be held on the banks of the River Rhone, the perfect location for the on-water demo day. A film festival, a trade show, a symposium with talks and awards, and more—the new annual international paddlesports industry rendezvous is waiting…

Holme Pierrepont Whitewater Course. You've probably been hearing and seeing a fair bit of it on your social feeds lately as the World Freestyle Champs have just wrapped up, but there is a lot more to this Whitewater park. We decided to dig into the place and uncover its past, present, and future. Holme Pierrepont sits on the edge of a city within a country park, offering a whole bunch of activities for locals, day-trippers, or destination paddlers looking for a few days of Whitewater paddling in the summer months of the UK (a rare prospect indeed!). It is safe to say that "HPP" is established as the home of freestyle paddling in the UK, a status that has evolved since the rodeo days of the early 90s. During the…

NRS RIVER WARRIORS Dusted with snow, scorched by the sun, or swollen with snowmelt, the Tara River has many moods. In every season and every mood, there is a Montenegrin man who can be found near the Tara. Miljko Bulaji's life has been interlaced with the river since her beauty and power first seduced him as a high school student. Known as "Gigo" to friends, he's one of a handful of Whitewater kayakers from Montenegro. For him, the Tara is both his sanctuary and his school. The Tara lured Gigo out of the city and taught him about the natural riches of his home. Now, he's giving back to his beloved river and the incredibly rich and healthy ecosystems of Montenegro by protecting them while also helping locals and visitors…

PYRANHA I RIPPER 2 Pyranha has had plenty of time looking over and paddling the original to identify the exact tweaks necessary to take it to the next level - Ripper 2 is more agile, tailees with less effort in more locations, and stays much drier downriver and on a wave. It's a no brainer. LENGTH: 274 CM/8'11 | WIDTH: 62 CM/24.4 | WEIGHT: 20 KG/44 LB | MAX. CAP.: 90 KG/198.4 LB | MATERIAL: MZ3 (HDPE) | COLORS: FIRE ANT . SMOKING GECKO | SIZES: S . M . L PYRANHA.COM NRS - MEN'S JAKL DRYSUIT The NRS Men's Jakl Drysuit is a beefed-up drysuit for extreme Whitewater expedition kayakers. Combining GORE-TEX PRO construction with Cordura® reinforcements throughout, the Jakl provides superior warmth and waterproofness while handling the most…

OH BE JOYFUL RACE, CRESTED BUTTE, COLORADO, USA, JUNE 2022 The Oh Be Joyful Steep Creek Race had kayakers racing waterfalls for the second year in a row in Crested Butte, Colorado. This is the first time in at least a decade that the race has happened officially for more than one consecutive year. The plan is to continue the momentum and go for three in a row in 2023. Levels were on the low-side of medium as a late snow storm shut the CB creeks down over Memorial Day weekend. Fortunately, some sunny days later that week turned the water back on. Many racers said it was not too pushy but still filled-in and fluffy. There was no carnage, no swims, and only a handful of flips; everyone had…

ALL IT TAKES IS A WILLINGNESS TO REPEATEDLY CHECK RAPIDS AT DIFFERENT WATER LEVELS AND THEN GO FOR IT WHEN THE DAY IS RIGHT The two most substantial tributaries to the St. Lawrence River collectively drain 228,000 km2 of terrain. Individually these river systems are full of history, ancient hunting and fishing territory, trade and travel routes, culture, exploration, large-scale industry, colonialism, and the highest high-quality wave per cumec density on the planet. The Ottawa River system, including Petawawa, Coulounge, Gatineau, and Rouge rivers, and the Saguenay River system, including the Mistassini, Mistassibi, Ashuapmuchuan, Lac St-Jean, Grande et Petite Descharge, and Saguenay rivers, flows through the ancestral lands of the Algonquin (Ottawa) and Nitassinan (Lac-St-Jean region). As Europeans found their way to Canadian shores, the landscape's natural features became exports…

The Inlet Gate: The Inlet Gate is what it says! It's the first feature of the course where the adjustable flow control gate is. Originally it was often a green wave that the boats of the early 90s would surf throwdowns for hours. Now, it is a uniform, closed-in retentive wave, but an extremely friendly one, ideal for learning or synchronized freestyle throwdowns. Twin Waves: Subtle changes have produced a feature deemed worthy of hosting the World Championships! It's a small, relatively friendly hole retentive enough to throw any ever-increasing combos possible (and near impossible for most mortals). Jaws: Just below Twin Waves, this sweet little wave has enough pile to offer a bit of retention and is the best genuine wave feature on the course. Old School or New…

Rivers know no human-defined boundaries. They trickle, meander, flow, and thunder through whatever the topography and geology allow. We draw shapes on maps to help define the land surrounding our rivers. Yet across the United States, federal and state laws indicate that rivers and the water they convey are a public good that citizens have the right to access, float, and enjoy, regardless of the lines we draw on paper. American Whitewater is dedicated to upholding these laws and standing up for the public's right to access our public lands and rivers. Without public access, how can we enjoy our waterways, and without people enjoying our waterways, who will step up to protect them? Since 1954, we've sought to improve citizens' knowledge about our lawful rights to access our nation's…

The next era. The next generation. A decade of progression. These were some of the themes leading into the tenth edition of the North Fork Championship, and they each proved correct after the biggest NFC to date. On June 16-18,2022, paddlers from all over the world flocked to Banks, Idaho, and the confluence of the mighty North Fork of the Payette and the joyful South Fork. Paddlers came in full force, bringing in a record number of racers in the Kokatat Qualifier, with numbers falling just short of 200 talented kayakers. For the main event, the infamous gates of Jacob's Ladder combined with what the Voorhees called a "perfect race flow" for a flowy, crowd-pleasing, and challenging course. 2400 cfs rushed through the NF, making the newly famous "Quaker" boot…