Leaving For Chile!!

Thursday I head out for Chile to catch spring water. I am unbelievably excited. New River Academy is starting out on the Maipo, seeing the Fuy, the Siete Tazas (including the intro waterfalls), and The Trancura, and so many more rivers. Last year, we had reallly low water. The Fuy was almost too shallow in spots to run. Anyways, I am busy packing and getting gear laid out. I have no idea what the weather will really be like. Hope It is not to extreme, because I am packing sort of...in the middle of hot and cold. Fingers crossed.

I'll be posting shots of all the sick rivers we run, so keep a look out!!

-Tracy d'Arbeloff

Grand Canyon Surf

I was lucky enough to go on my first Grand Canyon Trip this month. I showed up for my ride with 2 boards and a kayak. The driver said "1 craft per person" So I brought the board. It was the best decision I made. I was able to run every rapid and we found some incredible waves and had some long 8 minute surfs. People on the trip said it was the 1st full decent since Laird hiked out at Phantom (above the largest rapids). I don't really care though, it was just FUN.

And Prom Night ruled as well. The girls burned their Prom Dresses when the party crescendo'd.

The Lesson: If you get invited on the Grand...... GO!

Jay Panther

Hello, I hope that your fall is going great as mine has been awesome. I just got done training at the water ramps in Park City last week. The training was really productive despite 40 degree water and having to shovel snow off the ramp several days. I have been working on my California Roll (3 off-axis rotations/D-Spin 1080) and am very excited to bring it to the mogul course. I can hardly wait until we head to A-Basin, Colorado at the end of this month to get on snow and start my season. I am in Vegas for a few days working out and mentally preparing for the season. I am really excited to watch my brother, Shane, play his senior soccer season. Shane has lead his team to one of the top spots in the state and is personally among the state leaders in goals and assists. I am sure he will continue to play well as he looks forward to figuring out where he will play in college. There is also some news regarding the reality TV show. They meant with five stations, including MTV, VH1, and CW last Tuesday. Now we sit and wait to see if anyone calls with any interest. Keep your fingers crossed and I will keep you updated on any news that comes in. Think snow! Love Jay Panther

Fall

Hey Everyone! Sorry for slacking off so bad with blog posts. I really will try to do them more often. Right now I am in the New River Academy Van driving back to West Virginia from the Ottawa River in Canada. The past couple days on the Ottawa River were awesome- Garb came in. That was definitely fun, and everyone was throwing down huge. Even when garb was not in, Baby Face and Corner wave were awesome, and at great levels. You could go big on both. The weather was a bit chilly, but always warmed up enough for the afternoon paddle session.

So now it is back to beautiful West Virginia, home to Fayetteville, and New RIver Academy’s base camp: David Hughes’ house. We are just in time for Gauley season. Although unfortunately we missed the festival. Hey, I got to surf Garb instead, so I am not too broken up about it. I think during the week we will be surfing Fleet Flicker, which is a fun hole on the New River. Should be a kick. And a lot warmer weather!!!

-Tracy d'Arbeloff

New York whitewater

I went to New York Labor Day weekend for some classic Adirondack releases. The Raquette and Beaver are a stout 5 hour drive from New England, but well worth it. These shots are all from the Beaver. The first one is one of the slides on the Eagle section, a steep but relatively easy half mile section. The other two are from the slide above the put in for the Moshier section, which only runs once a year. Photos by Kenny Unser.

OR Activities

Check out the 2010 WRSI Online Catalog:

http://wrsisafety.com/catalog.asp

The river was fun for a little River Blading.

vermont, new hampshire and quebec

This summer I ran more creeks and rivers than expected. New England is usually pretty dry in June and July, but we had consistent rain until August. The Middlebury Gorge is my favorite backyard run. It features the birth canal, an intense, sheer walled minigorge. It does not take much rain to run. Here is Greg Hanlon after the Fallopian Tube, the entrance drop. The scenic shot is from the Quebec's Taurea, which I was lucky enough to run again last week.

These pictures are from some of New Englands finest steep creeks. The first two are Greg and myself on the classic Upper Pemi, hidden deep at the bottom of Franconia Notch. The last one was taken of me running mushroom on the Big Branch on my 30th birthday. Pics of me taken by Greg Hanlon, and Nick Gottlieb, respectivly.