Big South, it's up North

The Big South, this creek is just good plane fun.



Gordon Klco about to slide into Weird Creek

The plan was for Casey Tango, Gordon Klco and myself to leave Buena Vista go to Denver pick up the rest of the posse and head to Fort Collins for the evening. We got to Denver and where immediately over taken by Hunter Pettit and Paul Siratovich, there idea was to hang out in the BIG city and having some beers. The next thing I knew I was waking up on the coach and we were pilling back in the van to head to the Big South. I always forget how long of a drive it is but it was kind of nice to let the hang over slowly fade as we made it further and further up the Poudre canyon. As we finally arrive at the take out we were greeted by  Taylor Brandt. We rearrange boats piled 6 deep into a toyota pickup and head to the put in. The damn was releasing a full 200 cfs and Weird Creek was a little intense with a solid flow and a good hangover. The constant splashes to the face quickly did there job and I was feeling good. The run starts off with a hand full of great boofs and some tight lines, as I watched the paddlers come through I new we had a solid crew and were going to have some great lines.

The group had a quick pace as we arrived to Cool World there was no hesitation every one had quick scouts and beautiful lines.



 Casey Tango stylin a Cool world line




 another good boof in Cool World



Gordon getting a nice boof

We continued to blast through the rapids and get to Peterson Lake in the middle of the run, my shoulder started to feel sore and my butt went totally to sleep as I paddled through the flats. As we arrived to the top of Prime Time Gorge  Taylor announced that his boat was leaking like a sieve. We spent a couple minutes getting out the bitchathane and patching up the crack. I ate some food, and got the blood supply back to my butt.

After the great calm it is kind of hard to get back in the class 5 mind set but after the first couple boofs of Prime Time I was right back on my game. Next up the always looming Double Trouble, this thing is just threatening. Some walked but the majority of us fired it up and with a bunch of clean lines.

A couple clean lines at Double Trouble

We cruised on down to Slideways where two front-range jackson kayakers had been left by there boats a quick chuckle and we were off. We finished off the run with a short walk back to the parking lot.

It was 7pm we had ran 12 miles of great white water in 4 hours what a great pace, and what a great place to spend an afternoon.



A random Moose sighting on the way out of Rockie Mountain National Park






Chris Baer signing off from the Big South

Summer 2010

With the creeks being dry, I have spent a lot of time play boating at the NOC Wave. The Wave will be host to the 2013 ICF World Championships. It is a little shallow, but an amazing hole. I can't wait to see how the hole will develop as 2013 nears. Just saw the 2011 WRSI helmets and can not wait until their arrival. Attached are a few photos from the NOC Wave. Hope you enjoy, Ty Caldwell

(Paul just finished our homegrown video, so be on the look out! )

BC bigwater and getting others into paddling...sort of

Well after a bit of playing around on the Ottawa I'm back in BC for another summer of guiding and creeking. Since the creeks in Revelstoke are all low water runs I decided to visit the clearwater for some fun big water action on the clearwater.



I've also been working really hard at getting others into paddling and enjoying the sport that has given me so much which is why I was especially proud when I finally got my little hound Pete out on the water with me. Even though is was flatwater and we were never more than a few feet from shore he was pretty chill and seemed to enjoy himself. Up until now he really has had no interest in water at all so this is a pretty big deal. Now all I need is a little WRSI helmet so we can start running moving water!

Well the water is dropping so stay tuned for some creeking action from beautiful British Columbia.

Later,

Dan Caldwell

Little South East Update

Recently here we have been getting back into some playboating in the SE and with the Hometown Throwdown Series nearby for a weekend I was able to enter and snag some footage so check out the video at the bottom and wound up placing 3rd in K1B. Also had the opportunity to get out to the Giant Slalom on the Green where I placed 26th. However with the lack of water and raft guiding work abundant right now I have been in my boat a little less sadly enough however here are some pics from a midnight eternity session with some of the SE boys and also a video from the day we lucked out and had 12 inches at the Green and a day session at eternity. All in all it has been a good spring/summer so far with lots of boating and shinnanigans.

European Freestyle Championships

Lienz is a small town in the south of Austria set at the foot of The Alps and at the confluence of two rivers., the Isel and the Drow and home to a beatiful hole and (so I'm told) Austria's best wave. It's no suprise, then, I suppose, that it was selected as the location for this years European Freestyle championships, 16th-19th of June. After weeks of training in the feature for some, and days for others the event kicked off on the on the evening of the 15th with a spectacular opening party in Lienz's 'Schloss Bruck'

Next morning, the comp was off to a start and Junior men were up first. I was in the first heat.

Mid loop. Unfortunately only a training ride.
I felt that my first ride went reasonably well but unfortunatly, my second ride was dissterous and ultimately I didn't score high enough to make it past the prelims and finished 22nd overall. Still, fantastic experience and well run. Many thanks to the ECA for organising such a fantastic event.

Daniel.

Jay Panther

Hello,

It has been a while since my last update as I took the spring off from skiing but summer has begun and so has training. I spent April and May in Santa Monica, CA playing beach volleyball and working for a friend landscaping her property. I entered a two-man volleyball tournament and we got third so I earned my semi-professional B card from the California Beach Volleyball Association! I really enjoyed being able to compete outside ski season so I plan on doing more tournaments in September and October. I also got to watch my little brother graduate from Palo Verde High School in Las Vegas with my Mom and Dad in the beginning of June. Shane is now heading to the University of Las Vegas, Nevada on a full soccer and academic scholarship! I could not be more proud of my brother!

I spent two weeks in Park City and did a lot of water ramping. I had a blast working my mogul tricks but I also played on the bigger jumps(see attached video). I have been in Mt. Hood, OR now for a week and the skiing is great(see attached picture). I am coaching and training with the Stratton Mogul Team. We went surfing on Friday and I put in a solid five hours in the water, funtastic!

I am heading home to Louisville on the tenth for some much needed family time. I head back to Park City for a week on the third of August and then I am off to Australia for three weeks! I have never been to Australia and it is the the one place I have always wanted to visit. The ski training is great because it is the their winter, and supposedly they love American accents.

Please add me as a friend on Facebook and enjoy my newest skiing compilation on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anqApxTk250

Happy Fourth of July!

Jay Panther