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

Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival (much delayed post)

In late March, myself, little bro Kye, and girlfriend Emilee went on a month long roadtrip that started on Haida Gwaii BC. We left with one destination in mind: the 24th Annual Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival. After some stops on our way down thru BC, including some tasty whitewater in good ol’ Terrace BC, and a few days snowboarding at Sun Peaks Resorts in Kamloops, we crossed the border and began making our way down the Coast.


(surfing at home in BC)

As training for the trip, we spent the few months previous living at home on Haida Gwaii BC, enjoying big waves but super cold water. Our first notable surf stop on the trip was a place called Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast. This was our first chance to get some surfing in since leaving Haida Gwaii and I think it is important to mention that this was the first time we had squeezed into our surf boats since at home during a blizzard in full swing and half a foot of snow on the beach. Needless to say, it felt great to suit up and head out! After a few nice rides, I managed to take the full impact of a solid 10 footer right onto my deck, which promptly imploded, leaving me quite a ways out, all alone and with a long uncomfortable swim to the beach. Day #1. Welcome to Oregon.

Unfortunately, we were on a bit of a tight schedule so had to blast the rest of the Oregon Coast,and then a bunch of the California Coast, in order to arrive in time for the competition in Santa Cruz.I will definitely be going back to spend some time on that coastline…. Unbelievably beautiful, and full of beaches with fantastic surf potential.

I had planned to pick up a new boat in San Francisco, had arranged it with the company (who will remain nameless) more than a month in advance, but upon arrival learned that my boat was in fact in Salt Lake City (approx. 16 hrs out of the way). After much cursing, we located a guy in San Fran who was willing to lend us a boat, which was of huge help. The boat turned out to be a bit of a tub and we didn’t end up using it, but huge props to Les from San Fran, all the same!

We arrived in Santa Cruz on the night of the 24th, and the competition was to start on the 26th. The next day was spent in a huge scramble of trying to gather/borrow/buy gear to use while competing. Again, the kayak company of the boat I was to pick up will remain nameless….. The night before the comp, a BBQ was put on and much fun was had by all. The next morning we woke up to this...

(Note the kayaker in bottom left hand corner of above photo)

The Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival is held every year in (duh) Santa Cruz California, and is the largest annual kayak surf competition in the World. I was competing in the Plastic Pro Challenge, and Kye was competing in the Intermediate High Performance Class. My division consisted of 3 heats, one per day with the Finals held on day 3 (Sunday), and Kye’s division had 2 heats, one on Saturday and the Finals on Sunday.

(myself surfing in 1st heat, day one)

My first heat went well despite it being my first competition, being in an unfamiliar boat, and competing against some very good kayakers. At the end of the day, I was surprised to find myself sitting in 1st place.

Day 2, after some confusion with heat times I managed to miss my 2nd heat all together. I was choked, but did well enough on day one that I still qualified for the finals on Sunday, despite surfing only one of my two heats. Kye on the other hand was ripp rarin’ to go and surfed well, coming in 1st in his heat, and 2nd in his division.


(kye going strong)

Finals on day 3 went very well for both myself and Kye. I had a bad start to mine, and got rag-dolled by three boomers right off the bat, but managed to shake them off, get a few nice ones and ended up with a silver medal. Current world junior freestyle champ Jason Craig took gold, and Jackson paddler Ruth Gordon got the bronze. Kye killed in his Final Heat, and got came away with the Gold Medal, beating out guys more than twice his age. Mad props to the little fella!


(myself about to get hammered in the finals)

After Santa Cruz, Kye flew home and myself and Emilee decided to drive down into Mexico to find some surf. Ended up breaking down in a small dusty town and spend a full week twiddling our thumbs and dreaming of surf. When we finally got going again, we opted to bail, and drove back to the states, were we ended up in Salt Lake City for some snowboarding before cruising back to Canada. Until next time…….