Chile!!

Hello from Chile!!!!

I am having the time of my life, and it is only day two. After New England winter, these long summer days are absolute heaven. Not to mention, it is absolutely stunning here. Big mountains on all sides, including a smoking volcano! Cool right? I am half expecting it to blow at any mo

ment! The rivers are cold, but refreshing, and both of the playspots New River Academy has been to have been super fun! Several of our students have thrown 

such huge air loops, I think Steven Wright would be jealous! Well, maybe not quite. But you get the point. 

It is hard being in areas where very few people speak english, but it is definitely an

 experience meeting chilean paddlers. The locals are all really friendly, and the food is delicious. This is a must do trip for sure. I mean come on! The water is clean enough to drink! Not many places like that in the States. Pretty sweet right?

While here with New River Academy, I'll get to paddle the Fuy and the Futaleufu, visit patagonia, hike a volcano, and so much more. Keep watch for more posts on my travels!

-Tracy d'Arbeloff

Jay Panther Wins in Mt. Gabriel

Hello everyone,

It feels good to write with great news...I won the Mt. Gabriel Nor Am!  It is nice to have a win under my belt going into the half way point in the season.  This also puts me in a solid position for the Grand Prix.

The weekend was really very crazy.  The weather dropped down to -40 degrees over the weekend.  The cleaning lady took my cell phone the first day we were there.  Please send me an email back with your phone number because all of my contacts are gone.  There were over 35 World Cup skiers at the Nor Am.  A lot of the coaches were saying that was the toughest contest they have seen in years.  I skied really well all weekend.  I qualified 15th and then skied my finals run over two and a half seconds faster than anybody else skied it all weekend!  I have posted the winning run on YouTube.  The link is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hIOcYPqac8

Coming back to the U.S. on Monday one of our rental cars broke down.  I ended up driving 11 people in a van with 7 seats and all of our gear across the boarder.  The fact that we got through is a miracle.  Then we showed up for our flights 20 minutes before the plane took off and still managed to get on!  It is really nice to be back in Park City but I leave again soon.  We are actually driving to Sun Valley, ID today and then I go to Copper, CO on Monday for the Skier Cross Nor Am!  I will keep you all up to date.  Thank all for your support!  Team Panther finally has a win!!!!

Jay Panther

Winterize your WRSI

A few tips to winterize your WRSI Helmet

First off, no need to spend more money on a bling ski helmet. Your WRSI has you covered!

Brian Fletcher Psyched to be wearing his WRSI

1. TO HOLD YOUR GOGGLES IN PLACE use a small piece of self adhesive Velcro (the rough side) and stick on either side of the WRSI logo on the back of the helmet. This will keep your goggles in place when you wreck or catch massive air!

2. Use thinner pads during the winter months in order to accommodate enough room for a beanie. Or simply order the ear pads from WRSI. This product kicks ass and will hopefully be widely available soon.

3. Wear your helmet. It does you no good if your not using it!

Brian Fletcher getting after it

Have fun out there.....

Dan Caldwell '08 Vid

Well folks I hope everyone is enjoying a happy holiday season and is out somewhere warm kayaking. I'm still in the frozen tundra of Northern BC but threw together some clips from my 2008 season. See you in the spring!

Alzar School in Mexico

Well, we have just one day before our group of US students arrive in Mexico. We have been scouting out the rivers around our main basecamp here in Jalcomulco. They are incredible! Today we paddle the Rio Actopan, which is a continuous Class II-III rollercoaster. You start at a small waterfall, which you can choose to run or not run, then encounter three fun rapids in a tight canyon. At one point, a HUGE waterfall dumps into the river. Plus, the water on this river is exceptionally clear, with a slight blue tinge.

Our hotel here is SWEET, one of the nicest places for the Alzar School yet. Plus, we have the new van, which is a great ride, comfy. Plus, we have been eating excellent food... two 'paletas' each day (awesome popsicles).

One of the most exciting developments is that we are going to have not one, but TWO local students join us for the trip. They are named Mayan and Marisol. Kristin and I met with them yesterday and they are SO cool. They are both 15 and are excited to share Mexico with our students from the US. We can't wait. Their tuition is covered thanks to all the generous donations to the Jean Bierle Scholarship Initiative, so a big THANK YOU to those who helped with that!

You would all be happy to know that Pebbles (the Alzar School puppy) is adapting very well on her first trip out of the US... She made the drive down easily, napping most of the way. We were awed by how well she did in the car. And, she has finally discovered that she can swim and loves it. Today we played fetch in the river and she was having a blast. She still needs to work on her technique a little before hitting the main current, but she is now leaping into the river instead of reluctantly treading out, which is great. She also really enjoys all the new sites, sounds, and especially smells. Today on my jog with her, she chased after a burro for a little bit, and later tried to eat a gecko.

New Zealand

Hello from New Zealand!

New River Academy's trip started off on the Kaituna River. This was a completely epic run, with a fun double drop and a 20 footer on it and numerous other little drops. The run leads into the Kaituna

 hole, which is an unbelievable playspot. It was actually at this hole that a couple HUGE students created the move "phonix m

onkey" a few years back. The area itself was gorgeous. Picture rich rolling green hills 100 yds from lush jungle. The river put in was only around 3/4 of a mile from where we were staying, and the hole only around 1 1/2 miles from us, easy walking distance. It was a perfect set up.

We spent time at the River Valley Lodge on the Rangitiki River. Wh

ile we were there, the river flooded and a cool wave came in. New River Academy knocked off school early in order to play on it. 

We did lots of other runs on other rivers around New Zealand. We even got time in the ocean! There are rough riptides and it is so tiring

 fighting them for hours. But New Zealand coast has sweet waves for sure!

  We got to run Maruia Falls, which are on the South Island of New Zealand. The falls are 35 feet tall, and super

 fun. It is a park and huck, so there is no pressure. We had some interesting runs, including 3 hail marys (which were amazing), numerous free wheels, and even a sort of panam. We also had our fair share of interesting lines as well. No pain no gain though right?

New Zealand

 is an amazing trip, definitaly one I'll never forget.

Happy Holidays!

Tracy d'Arbeloff

,


So its been two sweet months for my friends and I at the White Nile. We have been hopping from different spots absorbing all the river has to offer. We first started at the upper section, by the notorious Nile River Outfitters. This upper part of the river has proved to be a great river running training grounds with big drops, big holes, big haystack waves, big reactionary waves, and elusive but extremely sharp rocks.

The lower section, From where the pictures are from, is 45 km down river at the Nile special and it's brother Club wave. This seems to be where we have been spending most of our time. We stay just downstream at the Hairy Lemon and paddle to the waves twice daily. The Hairy lemon is sort of a kayaking camp. You eat marginal food, surf 2-3 hrs, eat, rest, surf another 2-3 hours, eat, drink and talk with our new international kayak friends, go to sleep, and do it all over the next day. It some of the most fun I have had kayaking. Paddling with people from all over the globe. All with different customs and styles, but all sharing the love of Nile and kayaking.

Inspired by lots of beer and Nile river legend Sam Ward's tales of creeking we took a side trip, to the Sippi Falls region of Uganda. Their Sam showed us his treat, a not too challenging, but fun and beautiful first desent of upper Sippi river. Yes, we got to go creek boating in Uganda!
In all of my kayaking endeavors and some not in the kayak, (motorcycle taxis, Boda Boda's, = not safe. Helmets are sweet!) WRSI gear has been there. We used it creeking with the Hail Mairy and the comfy fit of the helmet let me forget I have it on every day for up to six hours. I can not even begin to say how necessary the simple built in visor is with the equatorial sun, super intence. Thanks WRSI, looking forword to letting you know how the trip finishes, We are trying to see if it is economicaly possible for us to go to the Zambize.... till then, Cheers from Todd and the Montana boys!