Mellte - Late October

So you may have noticed the amount of rain we have been having recently. This has been good to the South Wales rivers (and to the whole of the UK really) in terms of kayaking, however there has been one issue; the rain is coming mid week, and then the weekends are usually drizzly and not providing the swelling torrents that I am after. This isn't an issue for my freeloading (student) chums, but when I am stuck in work on a Wednesday whilst all I receive is boating messages, it makes me a little sad inside. Luckily, not being Amy Winehouse, I'm not gonna drink myself to death trying to numb the pain, but maybe harbouring hatred for all my friend's free time isn't that healthy either.

Luckily this Sunday just been (the 27th) was the weekend I was back in a White Water kayak; I was happier than the children of America were when they read the obituary list for the June 25th 2009. Having been out on the Saturday night, the Sunday morning was seen in with a slight headache. Not being able to boat on Saturday had meant I was chomping at the bit to get out. A cheeky text to Stu (A Procrastinate boater) said that levels were looking low and asking what he thought (later deducing that I may have messaged him in the middle of his breakfast). His attitude seemed similar to mine, tiredness was lowering motivation. Half an hour of non-committal messages the ensued. The information exchanged was about as meaningless as Lib Dem's next election campaign is going to be, so Stu got hold of Fran (Procrastinate's founder) to see what his thoughts on the situation were. With Fran providing the motivation to do it, Stu got hold of Simon (OSBC founder) whilst I got hold of Phil. The plan was set, meet at the Mellte for 10:00.

I picked up Simon, Stu and Fran to set off on our way. I had taken a cheeky shortcut (which in reality ended up being longer, but as a man stuck to the story of it being a shortcut) only to get abuse for the decision. Apparently the scenery of Cardiff is not to the other's taste, but they soon got over this and we met Phil at the Mellte car park in the pouring rain. With Cardiff having been lovely on departure, we were without waterproofs, and getting changed was horrible. Huddled as close to the car as possible, thinking that vehicular proximity would somehow repel rain, we were changed but wet. A quick shuttle saw us at the top:

I took the photo, so wasn't originally in it. However, with the marvels of photoshop, I have subtly added myself back in

With this being Simon's first run of the Mellte, his nerves were apparently running higher than a hipster's turn-ups, and when getting to the 15 ft drop he was now hit with the harsh reality; our get in is straight into a 15ft drop. Phil and I went first, Simon followed with a successful boof, but a bit of a wobble after.

My line 

Phil on the edge

Another group from the South Wales area were also on the water, and we were within seconds of each other for the whole river. We caught them up on the big drop, and whilst people were deciding lines, I decided that one way of seeing the line is to be shown it. Therefore I got in my boat and run a God damn brilliant line. Like, seriously, this line was blooming perfect. A sweet boof on the top, with the line nailed, gave me a huge autoboof which raised my bow high into the air. A majestic landing led to a humbled and dignified 'That's what you get' aimed at the world.

Unfortunately the photographer had a premature flick on the shuttle button for my run

Phil mid drop

Stu also got a sweet line, corkscrewing during the second half to show the ease with which he does things.

The rest of the run was fun, good rapids and solid boating from the five of us. We got to the bottom being elated at our decision to come, and impressed with the boating everyone managed (esp. Simon on a cracking first run on the river).

Hopefully the trend will continue and more boating is to come.

Till then...

Corsica and French Alps video

So it has been about two months since getting back from France, and I have finally got round to finishing the video of the summer's boating. The new venture Trend The Consequences has taken up quite a lot of time recently, however I was working some nights on getting the video together.

I hope you enjoy, and stay tuned into STC, as autumn is coming and hopefully a lot of boating.

Till then...

French Alps 2013- The final in the Saga

Unfortunately everything in this world has to end, and in keeping with this reality, this post is the final in the Alpine Saga.

Wednesday was Stu’s birthday, and we had already decided to head over to the Ubaye Valley to see if the rumours of high water were true. An early morning saw us on the road before half eight, not a sight for anyone to see but a necessity none the less. The drive to the Ubaye took double the normal time due to the simple fact that the three of us are not brilliant navigators or route masters, a few laps of Gap proved this. However, if it wasn't for slightly altered routes and not knowing where you were, Christopher Columbus wouldn't have found America. But then again I can’t see that as a downside!

We ran the Upper Ubaye, which was a nice bimble, but at the top we met a German chap called Stefan who asked to come with us. He was an Open Boater who talked very little English. So much so that most of our conversations on the river consisted of smiling and saying ‘Very Nice’ in the most Borat like voice imaginable. Stefan's boat control was a sight to behold; Stu, Jonny and I were bewildered by some of the moves he pulled off. We then paddled the Bachelard. Asking Stefan to join us was difficult, but it meant that we had a driver to help us with the shuttle, therefore we didn’t need to bike it; my inability to speak German was trumped by my shear determination to not have to get on the bike again. The Bachelard was sweet as a nut. It provided good boating and more content for Stefan and myself to say ‘Very Nice’.

Wednesday evening was another fire to see out Stu's 21^st, and once again Jonny King got lucky. Apparently fire is his aphrodisiac! Hopefully the wood we collected was the only thing burning that evening though, at least for Jonny's sake.

Thursday was spent at the slalom course in Argentiere with some members of Cardiff Uni. A few runs gave us a pleasant day to chill out. That evening was the club meal out, and I had one of the best steaks I have ever tasted in my life. It was huge, peppery and cooked to perfection. If I could remember the name of the restaurant I would post it for people to go to if they are ever in Guillestre.

The best steak of my life

Stu and I pretty f**king happy with our choice

Friday is home day, and the morning was spent on the lowest Briancon Gorge I have been on. A bumpy ride down and the afternoon was spent packing ready for the drive home.

Saturday morning was military in our ability to get up, have a freezing cold shower and get on the road. The drive was easy, with Stu and I knocking France out in 12 hours and getting on an earlier ferry than what we had booked. Cardiff Uni were moments behind us and missed it. Too bad for them I guess. Getting back to Cardiff at 0130 we had a short nights sleep before a morning of unpacking, a pub lunch and a early night before work.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable time in France this year. Doing some high runs, some banter with the Uni club and a steak to die for made for a great two weeks. I hope people enjoyed the blog posts, there is going to be an STC video out of the Corsica and French Alps in one, so keep eyes peeled for that.

French Alps 2013 - Numero Twa

Sunday was a day that Jonny, Stu and I paddled as a three, as we wanted to check out the Guil. We had heard that it was running high, and the drive up confirmed this. A morning paddle on the Upper gave a good warm up, and Stu did the cycle from the bottom to get back to the car at the top. By the time he got back to us, you could tell it had taken a bit out of him. So we stopped for lunch before attempting to find a section of river that none of us had paddled before; the ‘Bouchet’.

The get on was easy to find, and I said that I would take the car and bike to the get off and cycle back up to the top so the shuttle was done before we got on. Now, I have been attending spin classes over the last few months, and one of the many things I have learnt is that if you point your toes down and shift your hips forward you can engage your quads. However Sunday’s cycle up a shallow gradient taught me two things:

1.  My quads don’t like being engaged at all. In fact they want to remain bachelors forever and never have to go through the painful ordeal of being utilised again.
2. In spin class, it is a lot easier to make the most of the recovery time, as you can cheat and not pedal much. However this is not so easy on a cycle up a ‘hill’ (I used this term lightly), as when you stop peddling, you either fall over or start going backwards!

The Bouchet was a quality little section of river, not really covered by the guide book. The start was a nice steep section of small drops, flowing into a continuous grade 3 river ending with a fast section of white water. Worth a run if the levels in the Alps are high enough.

On Monday we went to look at the Durance Gorge. I told the lads that last year, when I did the Durance Gorge in high, it was a 12 on the gauge; therefore we agreed that anything below a 10 would be a goer. However upon rocking up it was lapping between a 10 and 11. We thought that we were good enough to take it on regardless. Once changed I had a cheeky peak at my guide book to find that I had written that the previous year we had taken it on at a 9 on the gauge and this was tasty (A little later we checked previous blog posts about the trip and I had stated we walked away from a 12, and ran it on an intimidating 9). Apparently my memory for things like this is as useful as ‘Fire Exit’ signs at a dyslexia convention.

I can safely say that the Gorge was high, and was still daunting. I took the lead for the whole thing, which was brilliant. The run was cracking, the holes were big, the water was fast, but we took everything on in style. Not a place I would want to be in again anytime soon, but enjoyed it none the less.

The evening comprised of a big ass bonfire and people getting fairly leathered. Jonny king had an awesome night away from the comfort of Stu and I, being that he didn’t return to the tent that evening. However this is not the forum for such sordid affairs!

Long Exposure

Jonny's cheeky face in the morning

Tuesday was a hangover day. We spent the morning recovering from headaches and sore tummy’s. Driving up the Gyr, Stu looked as though he was going to die. On arrival we saw that the Gyr was apparently the only river that was running low in the area. This made me very grumpy for the rest of the day, and a run on the Lower Guisane in the evening did not help matters. The water was now running at a level that was washing everything out; too high for things to be technical and interesting, but not as high as they were the first time we ran it to make it a hole filled killing machine. However the group down after us had a swimmer, and this added a little bit of excitement to the day. At the get off we just saw a boat drift past. A quick scramble and we sent a vehicle off to chase it. About a 45 minute wait and the boat’s owner walked into sight. Apparently he got spanked harder that a gimp at an S&M party. Luckily the lads down river were able to get the boat, but we found that an Ambulance and a rescue team had been sent in search for the body. When they found us they were extremely nice, and we were amazed at the speed at which they were on the ball, seeing as they had already been searching for a while.

The evening was spent just recovering from last night’s affairs, and the disappointing day. Keep ypur eyes peeled for the last post of the French Alps 2013 tour, hopefully coming to you sooner than this took to publish.

French Alps 2013 (No.2)

Oh sh*t, it’s another STC post about France, and we’re bringing you some banging info this time. Since the last post, Cardiff Uni had their initiation, and it was great fun. Initiation was on Thursday, and the day started with a 3am thunderstorm. This fed the rivers more than Honey Boo Boo’s redneck mother feds her unfortunate daughter.

Honey Boo Boo and her Mom :-(

So when we arrived at the Lower Claree, we saw it was bank full and a complete no go, later finding out that the authorities had closed the Durance and no paddling was to take place. So in this situation there is only one thing to cheer up a group of paddlers: McDonalds. It was here a decision was made to chill out for the rest of the day and head back to the campsite ready for initiation. One of the group (Blake May – LAD) was particularly awesome, as he dressed up in cycling gear, a homemade helmet and cycled through Exeter Uni’s camp singing God Save Our Queen (saying it was his own choice may be stretching the truth a little though):

Blake impersonating the puppet from Saw

The evening started with the world’s greatest Biryani, which was prepared by yours truly, Stu and Jonny. Then the fun started with a dance off by the fresher’s showing that they really have a random imagination. They were given a song to prepare a dance to, and being a typical gym song for a group of chubbos to synchronise their fat jiggles to, I was imagining some sort of gym based workout routine. This didn’t occur; there were zombies, paddles and bullets from elbows. It was as though they had passed ideas through a crack addict, who threw up on the 28 days later script and then they took what they could read and added a small amount of Little Mix in. The night ended with Jonny being invited back to an Exeter paddler’s tent for fun time. The fact that this chap also though Jonny was giving some signs off made everyone’s evening, but Jonny declined this poor guy’s advances. Apparently Jonny is slightly classier than a one night stand, and good on him.

Friday started with a fair few hungover looking people. Stu, Jonny and I decided a rest morning was in order. Luckily the day was deliciously sunny.

The Campsite (Rab wave)

The day was spent playing volleyball. Next year’s president (Huw) and I were a force to be reckoned with. Being the current volleyball champs at the time, we went into a game against Stu and Jonny. They had just won their last game and were feeling confident. However they were now up against Cardiff Uni’s Volleyball gods, and they felt our wrath. With the first game scoring 11-4, Huw and I thought we would give them a better chance in the second game. Unfortunately we are just too good to be giving points away and once again won with a score around the 11-5 mark.

Saturday started with the Gyronde, which we paddled with members of the Uni club. This was a nice little run, and was slightly higher than the last time we ran it. The afternoon was spent with two runs of the Briançon Gorge, which was quality. Nice high level for a tasty and interesting afternoon paddle. The slide at the start was a good laugh, with some nice photos taken:

Me hitting the Briancon Gorge Slide

Volleyball pro partner (Huw) hitting up the slide

Be sure to keep your eyes open for another post, this time with some more boating as levels seem to be dropping a little.

Till then...

French Alps

Welcome again to another Stuff The Consequences blog post. It has been a while, but this is the first of a few posts about Stu, Jonny and my (Rob H.) kayaking trip to Briançon area of the French Alps.

The drive down to the south of France was uneventful; Jonny drove through the UK to Dover, whilst Stu and I took all of the driving in France. Although it seemed to take forever, we got to the campsite to where Cardiff Uni set up at half one in the morning. Driving to the campsite, we caught glimpses of the rivers, and at midnight they were all stonking.

The first Day’s boating (Monday) consisted of the Briançon Gorge and the Upper Durance with the club. The Gorge was pumping. There was more water than I have ever seen, I’m pretty sure that if Noah had been around he would be screaming about the need for an Ark. The Upper Durance was also fast as I have seen, and the Uni did well with the run. The evening was spent with a lot of testosterone, as the fresher lads were wrestling to show who was the greatest. The unfortunate reality was that none of them were, because I’m the f**king greatest! A few beers and a good meal down, we headed to bed ready for the following day.

Tuesday was spent on the Upper Guisane and the Gyronde. The Guisane was rapid, and with a few swims down everyone made it to the bottom in one piece. Then a few of us headed to the Gyronde to check it out and see if the club would be OK on it. The answer was a clear and resounding NO. The run was too fast, and there is a weir about ¾ down that would have been a fresher eater, without anywhere to stop above. So the next day’s boating was to be decided by higher ups. Luckily not being a Uni student any more means that I do not need to deal with the politics of running the club, and just come in as an awesome boater; my speciality. There is one thing I have omitted thus far about today’s events, and that is about the ‘nature poo’ that Jonny had. On his return from this toilet break, he told Stu where he had gone so that Stu could find the place which had best cover. However Stu returned to say that when he bordered the fence that Jonny had climbed, a Gent was there tending to his garden. Yes, that is right. Jonny defecated in some poor man’s garden. He later went on to say he thought it weird that there were gnomes and porcelain toadstools in a wild rosebush!!!! I hate to think of other things Jonny has done in his lifetime that he never realised.

Wednesday was our day to go out and hit up the harder stuff together, along with Duncan and Simon. Heading to Briancon Gorge for a warm up, we found this:

Briancon Gorge Slide

Apparently the gate being open isn’t that unusual at this level, but not something I have seen before. Not knowing what would be coming up inside the gorge, I would be more willing to play a game of pick the prostitute without Aids to ride bareback. Luckily the decision was to go do the Lower Guisane, and this was quality. The holes/stoppers were nice and big, with Stu taking a unexpected surf, and I took a back loop in another. At the bottom there were smiling faces on everyone. Tomorrow is Initiation for the Cardiff Uni Freshers, and hopefully there will be some stories to tell.

Appologies if this first post seems ruched, but I wanted something early to set the scene for everyone. There will be another shortly to give you an update.

Till then…

A year from Pro-Crastinate

Happy New Year to all the Stuff The Consequences readers, visitors and friends. We hope you had a brilliant Christmas and New Year.

2012 has seen a wicked year from Stuff The Consequences and also the boys from Pro-Crastinate. Fran Smith, Pro-Crastinate's founder, has created a review of the year, showing some of the highlights from 2012. This is a cool little edit, and shows some sweet boating from STC's closest friends. Let's hope that 2013 brings some cracking water, with an Easter and a Summer trip between Pro-Crastinate and Stuff The Consequences in the planning stages.

For more videos from the Pro-Crastinate crew you can check out their Vimeo page by clicking on the image on the right;

Otherwise you can go onto their website and check out everything they get up to.

2012 A Year In Plastic from Procrastinate Productions on Vimeo.

River Usk

So finally, something else to post about. It has been a long time since I have been in a river kayak, polo once again has been taking over. However Cardiff Uni Kayakers (CUK) has saved the day by running the beloved Usk. Now this isn't a difficult river, but for the freshers of the club it gives a good little ride.

So Sunday morning I picked up Procrastinate's Stu Sheath and Duncan Sinclair, as well as CUK committee Gimp, George Williams, with some banging beats being blasted out. Testosterone levels were running high, as both Stu and I had been shooting the day before. (I mean the manly kind of shooting with guns as opposed to the dirty gyppos that you see shooting up) So we were on a manly high, and to fuel our manliness we went for breakfast. I enjoyed this start to the day, a relaxing breakfast should be eaten before every club trip!

We got to the Usk at around 11:15 and managed to get the van un-packed in a reasonable time. Once again I was placed with the mighty Will Bevan of CUK, and we are swiftly becoming a dynamic duo of power. You may be thinking Batman and Robin? NO, neither of us are Robin. He is a chump that can't take the heat. We're basically Batman and Batman, you can see a photo of the two of us standing next to each other below:

Will and I

OK, so I'm not actually saying that we are both Batman, Although if we were, then I would be the one on the left!!

Down to our group, we had an quality bunch this weekend:

The group

Jumping onto the water, we had no troubles, the girls were rocking it, and Jordan was holding it tight for the blokes too.

So, Mill Falls being the tasty section on the Usk this is really where we're gonna get down to the nitty gritty. To be fair, Holly swam further up, but the less said about that the better. *Note to self - take that comment out to save Holly the embarrassment* *Second note to self - Actually don't* 

Mill Falls Eddy

We got out to have a cheeky gander at the section before we ran it, and you could see a couple faces drop at the idea of it, but this wasn't gonna stop us. Watching others get down to the bottom gave us the excitement to get down. Everyone nailed it, well actually we did have someone beach themselves on a rock half way down, but she managed to sort herself out and get tot he bottom. No swims!

Then it was just was simple paddle to the get off and time to get warm. Next week is the CUK North Wales trip, and this should really see some excitement and hopefully some banter to discuss. Watch this space.

Tawe; Back in a boat (and someone out of a boat)

It’s been a while since I have had the chance to update this blog. I have been to Cardiff White Water Centre a couple times, but not worth blogging about as it was just some playboating after I had been rafting during the day. Otherwise I have been playing polo, resenting the fact that it is taking up more time. If you wanna read about the polo side of the Stuff The Consequences be sure to check out Polo The Consequences blog.

However on Monday evening I managed to get a quick evening run on the Tawe with Procrastinate's Max Emery, Jonny King and Stu Sheath. It was an evening run because both Stu and I are working, so that students like Jonny and Max can continue to freeload through life.

The weather on Monday morning was horrible, which was promising for the water levels, but made the idea of going outside less appealing. An early decision was to attempt to run the Nant Clydach a few times so that the shorter daylight hours wouldn’t pose a problem. However the weather brightened up in the afternoon and it was clear that the Clydach wasn’t going to be on.

The choice was then left between the Mellte and Tawe; basically we knew that both of these runs could be done in time if we were on the ball. With the afternoon being mostly rain free, both runs were looking lower than originally thought. However as none of us have been in a boat for a while, the decision was made to just go have a look and jump on something.

Getting to the Mellte with Max and Jonny, the gauge was reading just below 6. This wasn’t ideal, and I was surprised as the water was as brown as fluids ejected in the art of Klismaphilia, but this must have just been because of the earlier rise in levels washing the banks. Stu turned up just after 17:00, and with sunset due for 18:53, the idea of walking out of the Mellte in the dark seemed unpleasing should it come to that, so we headed over to the Tawe. We knew there would be water, that we could have a little play and be off the water before it was too dark.

The gauge at the get on we use read around 0.45, which was higher than we last run it, but then that was scrapey low. We ran the shuttle and got ready to get on. Jonny, being the amazingly intellectual guy he is, didn’t bring a dry-cag with him. Obviously the cold evening wasn’t enough of a deterrent to get some warm clothing. He did contact Max 10 minutes before we were set to leave saying he was cag-less and there was one somewhere in Max’s garage, but no more detail than that. However, being the amazing handy chap I am, I had a spare that I lent him. Obviously his scrawny body was far too feeble to fill my cag, with the neck seal being as tight as a collapsed Squish Mitten, but at least it would provide some wind resistance.

The level was OK, and running down to the drop it was nice to have a play and be back in a boat. We had a few runs of the drop, as it was the most fun part of the river, and worked on our technique. On my first go, I came up to the lip at about 30 degrees, and my mind stopped. I didn't have a clue which side to boof stroke on, I was more muddled than a dyslexic staring at a Scrabble board, and I just penciled over. Luckily after that attempt, my mind got back into gear and I got the stroke on the others.

Max was keen for a Hammer over the edge, and decided to give it a go. Unfortunately he messed it up and pencilled the drop, ended up caught under the drop and swam. Luckily we saw two Swansea based paddlers there, and one of them was in the pool at the time and managed to get his boat to Max and pull him out. This was good, as both Jonny and I were at the top of the drop unable to do much. Max’s paddle exited before he did, and Stu managed to pull his boat out after. It was a noble attempt, crap but noble, and to be fair to him he had balls to give it a bash and commit to it. I was gonna give it a go, but getting to the lip, I froze and didn’t manage to get a stroke in, so also pencilled the drop. Luckily I managed to stay out of the towback, and there were no more swims recorded. A couple more runs and it was getting dark, so we continued on to the end. It was sweet to get back onto a river after so long, and hopefully with the winter months coming, more boating and blogging is to be had.

Have put a little edit together of us messing around on the drop, hope you enjoy. Unfortunately my GoPro fogged up as I didn’t have any Anti-Fog inserts

    

Life of Mole

So I have finally put the videos of my French Alps swim together. This is when I was running the Tunnel down section of the Middle Guil. I haven't swam for so long that I forgot how tiring is was, and watching the footage over again reminded me of how tired I was, just looking at little bits where I can't do simple things shows this.

The reason for the video coming now is that I am aware that I haven't blogged for a while, and thought I needed some more hits. Now that Polo The Consequences (PTC) has kicked off and the umbrella corporation of Stuff The Consequences is growing, much faster than any other similar companies, David James Ltd. springs to mind, I thought that I should keep the momentum going.

The video comprises of my GoPro HD Hero 2 point of view as well as my Canon IXUS 230HS used by Rif. As I say, its pretty raw, but just to show what happened. The title, 'Life of Mole' was conjured up when we were sitting in the Gite watching the video over.

Hopefully over then next few weeks I should be purchasing a new entry level DSLR camera, and will be able to take more photos and videos for the blog, as well as the PTC blog that Andy Francis is leading.

  

La Bachelard Video

This is a video of the Bachelard, one of the rivers we got on when we spent a day in the Ubaye Valley. As explained in one of the update posts whilst we were in France, this river was really nice and the day was beautiful. It's unfortunate that it is all head-cam footage, we didn't get out to film from the bank, which is a shame as this would have been perfect for getting out the boat.

I originally thought I would put all of the French stuff in one video, but this river stood out, and it is probably the best footage of everything I managed to record, so I hope you enjoy it. And apologies for the length of time between coming back and outputting this video, I have been lazy and not worked on it whilst being back.

It comes in HD 720p if that is not your preset:

This was recorded on my GoPro Hero 2 and edited on Adobe Premiere Elements 9.

      

French Alps update

Day 5

Today we went to the Ubaye to have a look at what the levels were like over there. The weather was cracking, first day off pure sun.

Looking at the race course the levels were looking high, and just out of interest we went to look at Fresquière, which was off its tits! So we went to hit up the race course and it was properly going. It was brilliant fun! Fast and bouncy, we had some good little sections with Phil and I taking the lead on different parts, nothing hard with the knowledge of read and run that makes river seam dreamy. Morgs wasn’t feeling overly comfortable, but we all got down and had a good laugh. However this was a reasonably pushy level, where the stoppers and pour overs had to be treated with respect, as I found out having dropped into one, and needing to battle in order to avoid being pulled back into it.

Ubaye racecourse head-cam shot

The plan was then to try and find the Bachalard to have a little go on it after lunch. Arriving at the get off, we had our sandwiches, and then drove to the top. The 'get in' is down this little path against the bridge which is kind of savage, but worth it to do the run. Sliding down the bank on my ass, like a dog with worms sliding on the carpet, I reach the river side and what a sight, clear water and beautifully clean rock. The first half of the river reminded me of Corsica, little boof strokes needed and lots of edge changes. I recommend anyone to give this a go, as it is a tremendous run, however the guidebook suggests that it only runs one month a year, so we could have just been lucky because we came out in the early season. The scenery is also one to be taken in as you're heading down, and easy to do so, because the river has nothing too demanding on it.

Bacharlard head-cam shot

The day ended with us having a beer in Ubaye village and heading over yo Guillestre for more drinks and some food. With a couple beers in our system, conversation ranged from the UK's education system to the government and its structuret. Apparently after a few drinks, a group of five men can solve all of the world’s problems. Unluckily though, the thoughts were forgotten by the following morning. Just to clear things up, as we are all manly men, the conversation did also included birds, boobs and killing bears, three subjects I can safely say we are all expert in.

Day 6

Today started cold as anything, and this was a slight downer. But our plan was to head to the Durance Gorge hoping levels had fallen. The gauge was showing 9, yet this still looked higher than a gangster rapper on his day off, and the nerves were running wild. Morgan, Phil and I kitted up and headed on down. The holes were meaty and the lines were hard to see from the boat, but luckily Phil and I took an even amount of leading, as being switched on for the amount of time needed to run the whole thing would have been too much. Both Phil and I were feeling the nerves, and as the portage was getting closer it was getting more and more nerve racking. So you can picture it, imagine racking your nerves in the most rickety rack ever, causing more nerves to show themselves and filling the rickety rack fuller, making it stress and strain under the weight, causing an exponential growth of nerves during the nerve racking experience, that is how nerve racking it was! Now the portage get out has seemed to have changed from what I remember, as there used to be a tree over the river. I took a few snaps to give you guys a look at the get out to aid you finding it. My advice is that when you see a rock slide on river right, get out and look, because it is most likely the start of the portage.

 View upstream from eddy

 Downstream from eddy

 view of eddy (you can see the rock slide on the bank)

View of opposite wall

Hopefully these photos will be helpful for those wishing to do the Durance gorge, and need a small reminder of what the start of the portage may look like.

The portage was hellish as ever, making each footstep challenging. Getting back on after a little bit of a rest, the river didn’t let up, the holes were still strong and to hit the lines still required strong strokes. Nearing the slot Phil and I had our eyes peeled. Luckily the big river right eddy was still there and relatively obvious, so a quick walk around saw us at the right hand bend into the hole and shoot. Morgan wasn’t feeling it and walked around. I ran it first, feeling nervous but psyched, finding the line relatively easily, with Morgan on a throwline round the corner. Then Phil ran it, and again got through without much effort. Going down to the chicane the river let up a little, and on arrival, Phil was leading and chose to go over the drop/rock slide river left, which made me immensely happy as I followed with glee. Then we were out, smiles all around, feeling good about the run, and glad to be out safe and in tact. A committing gorge to be in, but worth the nerves and the effort all the same.

A good break and lunch followed, getting our breath back. Rif and I went to do a blast of Briançon Gorge. It was a little lower than before, but a fun read and run all the same. The evening then consisted of a BBQ and a few drinks, cards and lier dice.

French Alps first couple days boating

Day 3

So today was the first day of boating and excitement was running through the crew. A lethargic morning after a nice evenings sleep, led to us reaching the get on for the Onde. Noticing that it was at the highest level any of us have seen, there was minimal questioning to just jumping on, but hey ho you can’t allow logic to get in the way of a good time boating. So Phil, Morgan and I got into our kit as fast as a prostitute having been paid, and virtually as soon as we were on, we seemed to be at the bottom, smashing the section out in less than 8 minutes. Not much of a warm up, but we all seemed to be a little bit flaky. So down to the pub it was for a cheeky drink to steady the nerves before heading to the Lower Guisane to get the remaining few cobwebs out of our systems. This was again at a very interesting level, yet this seemed to cause a lot of the rapids to wash out, just making the run very continuous and some of the usual easy sections a bit more tasty. Luckily at the get off we were met by a wonderful sight, another group of English cars. Now this wasn’t a wonderful sight because there were English people about, I have no time for them, but on inspecting the cars we saw this…

This is the sort of sight I would like at the end of every river, but unfortunately having been in Cardiff Uni Kayakers it never seemed to materialise… Welsh magazines are not quite the same!

As Rif was after a warm up, we headed to the sunshine run to get him back on the river after a 2 year gap, and headed on down. The river was high, so flowing fast to mine and Morgan’s relief and we were down to the Rabioux in not terribly long. The second wave in the Rab wave train was surfable, but surging at the same time, allowing somewhat of a good surf. Finishing the run lead to another short trip to the pub for one more drink and a discussion of the future, i.e. to have lasagne or bolognaise for supper.

Day 4

Today started like no other, Morgan waking me up saying that he’s seen a shadow of a person in the room. Now I’m usually one to enjoy a horror movie, but when you’re in a new place, and on bottom bunk, so obviously first of the two to have a shiv plunged in his side a few times before the crazed maniac moves to the top bunk, it didn’t allow me to fall back into my deep slumber too easily. Then when waking up, it was cold, and we feared the worst, rain! We headed to the local Ed, and to my fortune there was France’s number one beverage;

The beautiful Lait Chocolaté

With a smile on my face and some chocolaty goodness in my heart, we had a plan to go look and Durance Gorge, and on arrival the gauge was showing around 11/12 and the get on looked as such…

Durance Gorge gauge

Durance Gorge get in

And a decision was to go look at Briançon gorge and come back later. Arriving at the Gorge get it, as we’ve seen this holiday before, it was high and consensus was to have a look at the final weir before getting on.

Briancon Gorge slide

The run was cracking, good clean fun and running time less that 16 minutes, bouncy waves and stoppers gave us smiling faces. This was a brilliant level for it. With Rif getting on at the bottom for a quick blast of the Upper Durance, we paddled it fast and got to the get off and the Durance gorge gauge was still up there, so contingency was to do the tunnel down of the middle Guil. Again this was looking big and we got on, this is where it went a little hairy.

Now I haven’t swam for a while, and a stopper bigger than I like to remember tipped me over. A few attempts to roll got me thinking this isn’t going to happen, but I thought I’ll give it one more go and with all my might…  Nothing happened, time to pull the deck. As I said before it has been a while since I have been swimming, and it was in no way pleasant. I felt as though a Russian prostitute was standing over me, giving me the water-boarding treatment, having had 10 days non-stop custom and not showered (or douched as the French would say) since!

In the water

Now out of my boat, I grabbed my paddle and boat and thought I don’t want to let them go, they’re too precious. But after about 50m of being sunk by stoppers the boat had to go, and I got myself to the bank with my paddle. A quick scramble up the bank and onto the road, John luckily picked me up and down to the bottom it was. No boat in the reservoir and no boat seen come past, it was a waiting game. But then Morgan, closely followed by Phil, rocked up without seeing it during their run. So I trekked up the road to have a look, with no luck. Once the boys were changed they came to find me, and with a quick update, they drove to the top to have a look, and about 15mins later Phil was back down to say they had seen it. ‘Thank God’ was my initial thought, but then he told me it was well and truly pinned, and I didn’t like that. On seeing it the boat from the road, it didn’t look good, a shear drop down and the river surrounding it. Kitting back up, we walked downstream, onto the bank at river level and it looked better, a cheeky walk up the side of the river could get us to the boat. Rif got to the rock that the boat was pinned to and a line on the boat. Then he said that the tree pinning the boat could be dislodged without too much trouble, and we got prepared, with not too much work it was free, and was in an eddy. She didn’t look battered at all, only missing the drain bung, and I gave a sigh of relief. (not to worry the is some footage that I will try and put up at some point.)

Phil and Morgan took the cycle home, whilst Rif, John and I got in the van to get back to the gite. Then it was another fun evening of food, beers and cards.

Hope that tickled the minds of a few of you, and will update on the next few days as soon as I can.