retrospective

No Photos Dos

2012-03-03T20:38:00.002-05:00

13ft+ on James today. Thats 50kcfs of chocolate milk. If you love it, swim it. Many things have happened in almost 2 years since I have posted, but stoke is high. Paddleboarding is fun, expect to see more of it on your home water as well as Retro.

I am sure I will elaborate more on this later, but I swam every rapid today from Cemetery to Southside, and it was great. So the highest clean run of the mighty James on a paddleboard stands from a 10ft+ midnight run last summer with Rand burgess (the camellier) running safety in a raft.

Tomorrow I will jump back on that horse with a higher volume board than i had today and maybe a camera. skytte fiske, right?

keeping it retro since 2013

Virginia Access

2012-02-27T10:44:00.003-05:00

Due to the hush-hush nature of Virginia creeks and access issues, I can only post shuttle photos. Sorry :(

M@x

Hometown Favorites

2012-02-06T12:04:00.003-05:00

It's been a killer week to be a kayaker in the southeast, with lots of the old standby goodies running. I even managed to get out to the Tellico which never happens since it's a 3 hour drive from Asheville. Here's a video with the new go bro, wait i mean go pro, camera. I tried to edit out the brown claws but Sean still snuck one in there on me. Look for the kayak stuffed in the pothole eddy at Hydro a little bit through the video. I have no idea who that guy is but He offered up some great carnage. Other than that there are no crazy big rapids here, but I had fun filming it.

I also put together a little low water Big Creek footage. With the appropriate soundtrack.

Kayaking is seriously fun. Seriously.

Peace,

Nick.

Toxaway

2012-01-27T14:20:00.003-05:00

The other day we hit the Toxaway. It was awesome! And to make things better, it was a first canoe descent of this river. Gorges State Park is an amazing place to paddle, some of the best runs on the East Coast are here. You got to get in there.

Canoe Movie 2: 'Uncharted Waters'...Toxaway from Amongst It on Vimeo.

Costa Rica Pics

2012-01-20T16:16:00.006-05:00

I did a little boating in Costa Rica. It was fun, and warm! Here are some shots from the trip. It was amazing to see the flora in the jungle for the first time; some incredible flowers and plants. We were lucky enough to get on four different types of whitewater and took a lot of video that can be seen on Canoe Movie 2: 'Uncharted Waters'.

Costa Rica - Canoe Movie 2: 'Uncharted Waters'

2012-01-18T13:27:00.003-05:00

Did a short trip to Costa Rica this winter and ran some fun whitewater for the film Canoe Movie 2: 'Uncharted Waters'. Check it out!

Costa Rica-Canoe Movie 2: 'Uncharted Waters' from Amongst It on Vimeo.

Second Half of Travis' Bottoms Video

2012-01-08T15:27:00.002-05:00

Untitled from Travis Overstreet II on Vimeo.

The First Half of Travis' Bottoms Video

2011-12-31T00:45:00.002-05:00

Last Spring, less than a week after the Triple Borwn Crown, Zizza and I both had our PFD's on Bottoms Creek. The run took all day because we were busy taking turns filming almost every major rapid. The following video is the first half of Travis Overstreet's video he has put together, hopefully the second half will come soon.

Jewel of A creek. from Travis Overstreet II on Vimeo.

Difficult Run

2011-12-25T23:29:00.004-05:00

The Potomac has a good number of Reedy-esque creeks that drop into it along the Virginia shore from below Great Falls to D.C. These creeks are very flashy when they run, and mostly resemble rubble bottom drainage ditches until they reach the Potomac, where you can usually find a substantial class lV/V drop that descends the remaining amount of gradient into the river.

One creek that locals frequent is Difficult Run. This creek holds water the best out of the D.C. area creeks (it will run for one or more days on end depending how high it jumps) and actually has a gauge on it. This creek carries most of its gradient in the section below Georgetown Pike to the Potomac, and it requires no shuttle as it has a trail on river left along the entire stretch from the parking lot. The creek is around one mile long and contains four class lll drops each one more difficult than the one before it. But, the icing on the cake on DR is the 5th drop, the Canyon/Gorge drop. This drop has a cave behind the final ledge that I remember swimming into during summer camp (when the creek is actually running most water pushes away from it) I was able to get some DR leftovers the day after the rain at around 230 cfs (low side of medium) I didn't run the final drop as I was there alone but got some laps on the class lll section and took some pictures of the best drops.

Leap of Faith is a 5' ledge with a few ways to run it.

Crux of the Canyon from the top.

Tha Canyon from downstream.

Hunter is teaching me how to sew so I attempted a stitch.

M@x

A couple Enscarpment

2011-12-21T15:28:00.005-05:00

I haven't had a lot of time to paddle lately, but when I have, its been a long the enscarpment. Here are a couple of video screen shots from the Upper Rocky Broad/Rock Creek.

I also got a chance to go on the Whitewater River in the Jocasse Drainage. Its an awesome run with lots of big drops. Be sure to check it out next time your in the area.

I Shot Myself Quatro, Good Water, All Out of Order Post Numba One

2011-12-20T23:36:00.000-05:00

Where to start? The first three weeks of December have been great. The first Saturday was Retro day with good water in the James and a lot of people out. Many people got a couple laps in the sunshine and then enjoyed the delicious food that was being made by Mr. Davis, thanks so much! Retro day transitioned into Retro night with the 4th annual I Shot Myself video night. There was a ton of quality video and pictures submitted that made for a great time at The Camel, ups to Rand Burgess for hosting.

The next two weeks Virginia got good rain letting the creeks run and swelling the James over 15 feet! The water also came just in time for finals, so many a paddler probably sacrificed a fair bit of study time for water time (I know I did). The first week we got good rain I was lucky enough to get out to Nelson County with Matt Adams, I've been experiencing withdrawal. When we left Richmond, the Tye gauge was 800 cfs and rising 400~cfs an hour so it appeared it was really flashing in the county. We arrived in time for Matt to run his first slide on the South Fork of the Rockfish that had a garden hose implanted at the top providing the flow. Afterwards we ran into Bobby E, Michael Wilson, and Emily Powell at the church in Tyro to only find that the North Fork was barely in. Matt put on with us for his first creek ever! The NFT had essentially no hydraulics and was the lowest I would ever suggest going out there for it (800-900 cfs in the Tye River gauge while we were out there) After having portaged Packsaw (the Virginia version of Colonel Dick's on the Green) every time I have run the NFT, I decided to run it. Bobby and Michael also fired it up and it actually goes fairly smoothly (unless you lean away from the rock at the bottom like I did, there's a paddlesnake lurking down there).

Marbles was fun as always but Matt had a crazy vertical pin in the manky boof below on the left. Bobby succeeded in knocking the boat out when he boofed over it relieving us of possibly having to z-drag.

The days after were filled with 15/14/13/12/11 foot action on the James. The fire department even showed up to supervise the surfing at zdam on the 15 foot day and I got "carded" for my first time. After a lil' surf sesh, Massey, Adam Tremper and I ran the lower at the 15.3', the highest flow any of us had ever done it at. HUGE props to Adam for firing up Hollywood and X's at that flow!

The day after that I paddled the lower with Harrison, Kyle Irby, Ben G, Elliott, and Todd Kraft around 14'ish? I had been itching to run the spillway that connects the Belle Isle to the Southside rocks because over about 13 feet it creates a 10 foot waterfall! It's easy to get laps on the spillway so everyone hucked their meat a few times before we ran the rest of the lower.

It has been a hell of a few weeks to be in Richmond and hopefully the rain keeps coming.

There are plenty of pictures from the above mentioned escapades, some more will hopefully be posted later pending approval by the photographer.

Enjoy the first set of images from the past few weeks!

Brent Mathisen's Shots of Retro Day/Night:

Matt having run his first slide on the South Rock.

Photos from the NFT taken by Michael Wilson and myself:

Bobby and Emily stoked to put on the NFT.

Cave time at Cushion, thats how low it was!

Entrance.

Retrieval.

Glide.

Packsaw.

Marbles.

Photos from the Belle Isle Spillway by Kyle Irby, myself, and Harrison:

Demshitz dreams of this stout brown.

Back to normal: Timmy and Zizza enjoying some 6 foot Grumman.

More to come.

M@x

Canoe Movie 2 'Uncharted Waters' Rock Creek Falls

2011-12-14T11:58:00.002-05:00

Got to hang out with Matt Devoe the other day at Rock Creek Falls. This is one of my favorite drops in the Southeast. Here is a quick teaser of the drop for 'Uncharted Waters'. For more information, head to Canoe Movie 2: 'Uncharted Waters', which plans to release in March 2012, and watch more whitewater canoe action.

Thinking of the Old Days: Statons

2011-12-12T10:46:00.007-05:00

Just came across some old pictures of some of my first exploits in the Nelson Co, VA. I haven't been up there in over three years but it is still my favorite place to kayak. Here are some fuzzy photos of my first trip down Staton's Creek in the Fall of 2004. Still remember log flume being one of the more fun drops around...Good times!

RIP The Fuckin' Pickle

2011-11-15T16:09:00.004-05:00

The Fuckin' Pickle has passed on. On a recent lap on the Green it sustained two gnarly cracks (one almost 8 inches long) that have rendered it out of commission. It's funny that the only cracks in the boat have all been sustained while boating in Western North Carolina. You'd best avoid that area. If you want your boat to survive I would suggest the Potomac River. I have kept The Fuckin' Pickle's named portion as a memorial to be hung on the wall. Its cracked shell will live on to infuse new life into injured boats under the skilled craftsmanship of Shawn Alexander in Richmond. If and when you crack your boat (granted it's not cross-link plastic) Contact Shawn Alexander, A.K.A. Boat Medic on the Coastals forum. Shawn is a local Richmond boater who does incredible work plastic welding. Maybe some of The Fuckin' Pickle's plastic will grant your injured vessel new life.

Max

Retro Video Night Previewness

2011-11-14T00:16:00.002-05:00

The 4th annual I Shot Myself RetroRva video night 12/3/11! Send me your vids brahs and brah-ettes!

Retro Video Night Preview from Max Posner on Vimeo.

Colin Hunt's Horsepasture Video

2011-11-01T15:19:00.002-04:00

If you don't know who Mark Taylor and Colin Hunt are yet, you probably will soon. They are really great kayakers and I was lucky enough to go boating with them a couple of weeks ago on the Horsepasture. Here is a little POV clip Colin put together from one of the holes on the river that day. If you ever get a chance to boat with these two, you will be impressed.

Green Race 2011

2011-11-01T14:20:00.004-04:00

Been gearing up for Green Race and shooting a couple shots for work. This is our last pod cast... Check it out and if you are coming to Green Race, look forward to hanging out! Its been beautiful down in the gorge lately!

It's Green Week!! Final Beta Podcast for 2011 Green Race from Amongst It on Vimeo.

Lord of the Fork Race of the Russell Fork of the Big Sandy

2011-10-24T01:40:00.009-04:00

The calendar date was Saturday, October the twenty-fourth of the year two-thousand and eleven. I had the pleasure of experiencing the beautiful Russell Fork Gorge for my first time bombing a line learning lap with Stephen McGrady, John Quigley, Van Nall, Cooper Sallade and Ryan McAvoy. Our Virginia based crew made a concerted effort to run the gorge passing along line, undercut, and sieve beta whilst making good time to arrive at the takeout around noon. The next lap in the gorge would include my first experience participating in a well known race on hard whitewater.

A little before 4 pm I found myself sitting in the water at Skunk beach. I was semi confident in my loose knowledge of crucial lines through the boulder fields of Maze and Foreplay and proceeded to try and achieve my goal of paddling the race course at a consistent cadence without any major screw ups. Maze went fine and Triple Drop went ok aside from a quick barrel roll for the shoreside spectators in the aerated water generated by the last drop. At El Horrendo instead of trying the race line without any experience I tried to line up the main line from memory but found myself too far left charging hard right across the lip. I ended up falling off the left side of the lip with some right angle. The proceeding experience was one of tiredly rolling up in aerated water in time to have my paddle catch on the bottom, flip again, and then botch two rolls due to being sandwiched between my boat and the river right shoreline. I made my third roll dog tired. Proceeding the time wasting roll fest I started somewhere river center in Foreplay trying to work left to avoid a sieve somewhere in the rapid. I did not take the race line in Climax having not run it and went through the box move proceeding to get shoved against the rocks below the undercut. I finished the race in the eddy below with sore forearms and a definite feeling of accomplishment having competed in a major whitewater race. I ended up finishing second to last in the longboat class and am super stoked on this experience. I look forward to actually training as well as taking actual race lines in future races.

Racing a stretch of whitewater solo that has major consequences and tough moves is something that I had never experienced before the Lord of the Fork race. Being able to experience rivers in the unique mindset that is racing is a great way to challenge yourself and operate out of your comfort zone while running rivers. I highly suggest to anyone who is willing to try a whitewater race or sprint down your favorite stretch of foreign or familiar whitewater; you will discover a lot about yourself and your potential.

Lastly I want to express my gratitude to Jay Ditty and everyone else who put on such a great event. I owe Isaac and Adrienne prizes as the winners which I will get to them sometime in the future. Big props to Cooper and Ryan for also racing only having run the river once!

M@x

Results:

Russell Fork of the Big Sandy

2011-10-03T09:48:00.003-04:00

I missed out on the Gauley releases this year, but couldn't pass up the Russell Fork. Its my favorite release in the Southeast. The rapids are fun and the scenery is even better. Got to meet up with some friends from Richmond, Charlottesville, Lexington KY, and Roanoke. Here's some pics from the run.

Staton's of NC: North Fork of Catawba

2011-09-25T15:32:00.003-04:00

It has been a great weekend to be boating in Western North Carolina. Late in the day Friday, we put on the Horsepasture and today we caught the tail end of water at the North Fork of the Catawba. Both days, 80 degrees. The NF Catawba reminded me a lot of Statons Creek in Virginia...bed rock slides/waterfalls, but maybe a bit steeper. I miss Virginia's creeks a lot, so it was fun to boat something reminiscent. Here are a couple of pics.

Czech it out!

2011-09-22T03:17:00.016-04:00

During my last three summers in Norway there has been one particular group of paddlers that have influenced and inspired me continuously. This fall I was fortunate to ride back with my friend Vojtěch Hejtmánek to Czech Republic and see the country that fosters these amazing people. Our 1800 km drive was not without incident when we ran out of diesel in the early morning hours driving through the German countryside. Luckily, the Esso station was a convenient 700 meters from where our car had halted.

We arrived to Prague around 6 am and parked our car at the Troja Kayak Center where we caught a few hours of sleep. We arose to clear skies and a warm summer sun. Young paddlers had already taken to the water and were practicing gate turns in the flats above the course.Taking advantage of our location and the weather, we took a couple of play runs down the course, mindful not to get in the way of those training. I was amazed at the precision and relentlessness of paddlers as they would practice each section of gates over and over. After two play laps, I took down a plastic slalom boat and gained a full appreciation of trying to paddle between gates. I would love to see gates back in Pipeline one day for Richmond boaters to enjoy.

Dawn Patrol

Youth Training

Later that evening, Vojtech, Lucie Sediva, and I made our way through the Czech countryside to Maly Ratmirov for the Hamerak Creek Festival. Every fall, approximately 7 cumecs of cool green water are released from a dam to provide paddlers with a weekend of technical class III+ action on the creek. Paddlers from all over Czech flock to this creek to meet with old friends, share stories of the summer, demo different boats, and of course party.

All day Saturday, a down river race consists of a 300 meter sprint across the lake, a 200 meter portage around the dam, negotiating 22 slalom gates in four main rapids, and a 3 km of class II/flat water to the take out in Jindris. In an attempt to challenge ourselves, Lucie and I took advantage of the available TEST (DEMO) boats and teamed up for a Dynamic Duo run down the creek. We took one run through the major rapids to get a feel for the boat before racing. A cold beer at the Dvorecek takeout calmed the nerves. We were poised to attack the entire stretch.

The race was fantastic! We paddled the gates extremely fast and precise, only missing one in the third rapid. Lucie did a great job up front, commanding the swarms of club boaters to move to the side as we barreled down. The only other mishap came from low hanging branches. On multiple occasions Lucie’s paddle flew back towards my face as she let one hand go when it connected with the flora.

After the race paddlers can either decide to shuttle back to Maly Ratmirov via bus or train. Once back at the camp there is a raffle for participants and the night gives way to partying. As the only American at the party, I had to get creative with why I did not want yet another shot of schnapps. It was interesting how the whole event paralleled another festival back in Wet Virginia the very same weekend. The Czech paddlers again showed an amazing spirit and hospitality; I hope to return again someday.

Crash test dummies.

Not the Gauley, but it will do.

First drop into Hamerak Creek

Focused on the line

Enjoying the sweet nectar.

-Patrick

Chelan Gorge final flow study.

2011-09-21T17:48:00.000-04:00

Come out and support American Whitewater's fight to get recreational releases in the Chelan Gorge. This weekend, the 24th and 25th, will be the final monitored release in the 3 year study. This will provide input for the final decision whether or not to grant kayakers recreational use of the river.

Come enjoy an awesome community and quality whitewater.

Hope to see you on the river.

Gauley River Marathon

2011-09-21T11:40:00.008-04:00

Gauley Fest 2011 has come and gone. It was a fun weekend full of the usuals; paddling, shuttling, camping, drinking, festing, etc. Saturday was my first time marathoning the Gauley from the dam to swiss. It was a tiring day that was well worth the time and effort. There was a big group from Richmond that ended up collaborating in the marathon endeavor. Here are some pirated photos from Pillow and Koontz Flume:

Matt at Pillow.

Cooper splatting Pillow.

Pillow brace.

Zizza charging as usual.

Nick I'n Pillow.

Raftin' Pillow (class V rapid y'all)

Van at Pillow.

Tom at Pillow.

Stefan at Koontz.

Matt at Koontz.

Ryan at Koontz.

Raftin' Koontz.

-M@x

Max on Pummel

2011-09-02T19:13:00.004-04:00

While passing through D.C. for a family wedding...I found Max on this little nug.

Big Creek...Summer time vid

2011-08-06T13:47:00.001-04:00

Dan P made a little video from our run down the Big Creek the other day, check it

RVA THROWS DOWN

2011-07-28T19:35:00.003-04:00

Here is Massey Whorley's RVA Creation focusing on Z-Spot:

RVA SURFS

2011-07-27T19:20:00.003-04:00

Showcase your connection with Richmond using the RVA Creates image generator! This picture was my attempt at showcasing the wonderful connection myself and others have with the James and RVA.

Max

Colorado Canoe Movie 2 Trailer

2011-07-22T12:08:00.002-04:00

Was in Colorado doing some filming with the Knoxville boys, Dooley and Matt. They are rocking the canoes off some big drops! Check out this quick preview for Canoe Movie 2: Uncharted Waters

The Canoe Movie Goes To Colorado from Amongst It on Vimeo.

Summer Big Creek

2011-07-18T14:05:00.003-04:00

Big Creek has been running a lot this summer. We drove out Saturday morning to find it at 2.4 on the bridge gauge. Not too bad for 3 days past the last rain fall. The water must have gotten very high through there recently and has cleaned up the creek considerably, although there is still plenty of wood to be wary of. With the water table up, it should run again often with just a little big of rain.

Canoeing Colorado

2011-07-11T13:37:00.016-04:00

When talking about paddling in Colorado, you usually think kayaking or rafting; not canoeing. However, Dooley and Matt are open boaters that are committed to the cause and took on the continous waters of the state in their Esquif L'edges. They invited me a long for the ride, and we got some great shots of them running some classic waterfalls of the state. As a added bonus, Joey Parent met up with us for a couple of the Durango area runs and showed us a good time at the micro brews of his home away from home.

We had a great trip with multiple laps on many of the waterfalls and creeks we paddled. The weather couldn't have been any better and I can't wait to freefall Colorado in the future!

Dan P Green River Vid

2011-07-01T09:18:00.003-04:00

Dan P has been spending some time in Asheville with me and made another video on the Green, so I thought it would throw it up. Summer time Green!

Canoeing the Green River

2011-06-26T19:20:00.004-04:00

Today was a fun day on the Green, Washington state's Dan P and the boys from Canoe Movie 2 came over from Knoxville to do some boating. It is always fun to see what these canoers are capable of on the river. Here's a couple of shots from the ever elusive Green River Narrows.

California Section finally complete

2011-06-23T07:34:00.005-04:00

Since coming to Norway three years ago to work for Serious Fun, Telemark has been a great destination for a quick afternoon paddle. The highlight of this region is the Austbygdai River with its countless bedrock slides. In the past I have always had to borrow a car and be back for work, which has led to an early exit from this remarkable river. Yesterday with my good friend Vojtech, we finally completed the entire California Section in a little over 3 hours. Thanks to Vojtech, here is some GoPro footage from that trip.

Ausbygde - California section from ROCKS & WATER production on Vimeo.

From the land of Trolls and Waterfalls,

Patrick

Raven Fork

2011-06-22T15:25:00.004-04:00

Summer time Raven Fork=lots of stinging nettles. Had a healthy flow and a lot of fun. Here's a link to a video John shot on his iPhone while in the gorge.

Untitled from Hunter Davis on Vimeo.

Dan P's video of Great Falls

2011-06-21T14:55:00.001-04:00

Zizza and my buddy Dan met up with us last weekend for a couple laps on Great Falls and put together a cool video. Check it out!

Potomac Great Falls

2011-06-11T18:37:00.003-04:00

After spending some time in Annapolis with Megan and her family, my brother came north to meet me at the center lines and fishladder at Great Falls. Both were really fun and great way to come home after my trip to Colorado.

Creeking.Info Vid

2011-05-28T12:24:00.003-04:00

This is a little video that my buddy Mike Nail made from a day on the West Fork of the Pigeon. Check out Creeking.info for more videos from around the southeast.

West Fork of the Pigeon River from creeking.info on Vimeo.

Home Town James

2011-05-24T19:57:00.004-04:00

Meg and me headed to Richmond last weekend for Harrison and Brook's wedding, along with some family time. With the James at 9 feet, I got three laps in before the reception party debauchery, and ended the weekend with some Davis porch sitting and food munching. Good olde' Richmond never disappoints.

NC Photo Dump

2011-04-25T18:29:00.010-04:00

This Spring has been pretty fun. There has been plenty of water here in NC. I wanted to throw up some pics from when my brother came to town last weekend. We were able to get on the WF of the Pigeon and Overflow Creek in GA. The WF of the Pigeon was amazing and I can't wait to get back on it. 4 Miles of continuous boulder gardens and low angle slides. The water was pristine, tanic color reminiscent of the Northeast. Not to be outdone, the Overflow is a beauty as well with waterfalls dropping in from every direction. I also returned to my new favorite waterfall section outside Brevard as well where Daniel tossed me a couple of pics on some perfect bedrock. Plenty of runs on the Green, Watauga, and the Nanty Cascades have occupied days when there is no rain...as well as hikes with the pup and Megan. Spring has sprung; I think I could have this season year round.

Watauga

2011-04-23T18:10:00.005-04:00

We just got off the mighty Watauga at a low side of good flow. Here's a couple pictures just to remind everyone how incredibly fun that run is!

Chase boogies through the bottom half of Hyrdo.

Hydro is a series of hole and slot moves that funnels down to one big steep hole at the bottom. It's a whole ton of fun and has dished out its fair share of punched lunch tickets...

Alex boofs the crap out of the 90 degree turn boof.

This thing is super fun, a 90 degree midair turn off a cool little drop.

Me firing up Stateline Falls

Crossing into Tennessee you get to run this beauty, Stateline Falls. A great rolling lip boof with a spooky little rock to dodge in the landing. All in all good clean wholesome fun!

Chase ala booty beer

Chase had a little bit of a swim, but he pulled off some successful self rescue and chugged fungal booze like a champ!

All and all the Watauaga is a whole crap ton of fun. Go do it. Lots.

Video of Paul's Creek 3/7/11

2011-04-22T15:00:00.001-04:00

Enjoy the video of our run on Paul's the day of the triple brown crown!

Paul's Creek 3/7/11 from Max Posner on Vimeo.

Max

I Just Now Pissed Myself.

2011-04-18T22:15:00.002-04:00

It was le scary.

Spending time in the Green Gorge

2011-04-05T21:56:00.004-04:00

Since I started working a new gig near the Green, I've spent a lot of time in the gorge hiking and seeing more than just the Narrows. It has also given me the opportunity to boat on lunch break, as well as before and after work. Today, we did a quick trip down one of its tributaries called Big Hungry Creek. After a couple slides and small boulder gardens, Big Hungry carves its way through one of the prettiest micro gorges that I have seen in NC. Although the rapids are not epic, the scenery is. When your done with Big Hungry, you can begin the Narrows. Yet another reason why the Green River Gorge is such an amazing place.

Timber Falls

2011-03-16T22:51:00.002-04:00

Ran Timber Falls today. It was fun.

NC Update

2011-03-14T10:35:00.008-04:00

Damn, the James is and has been looking good. Big levels, sunny skies...perfect. I would like to be there, but its been great down in NC too. I tweaked my left shoulder last sunday, so I have been taking easy, but with all those great shots of VA creeking, I thought I would throw up what I have been up to in NC. Ewalk Beats Hand.

the tweaker

Nelson County Delivers

2011-03-12T07:55:00.009-05:00

Piney Creek Mini Expedition...

Flakes of ice from a nearby waterfall settled on the windshield of the dilapidated Nissan; meanwhile, our group scouted the first rapids of the day. Another nearby tributary had taken residence on the road from the deluge the night before. Water had returned to Nelson County and the Cascades of the South Fork of the Piny was the morning's mission.

The lead in Rapids consisted of some technical moves and fluffy boulder boofs before the creek descended over a series of four slides. Peter and Bosch led the way on their first descent of the run. After a couple of laps, we decided to skip the wood infested upper section and run the continuous whitewater below the confluence of the North and South Fork. Kelly had the line of the day on one particular rapid. He styled the line hitting an Air Jordan with his tongue hanging out at drop one, Followed by a Vietnam fighter pilot launch carrying his speed through drops two and three.

Intensity Face

One more lap

Piney Boogy

Below the Confluence

Style Brah

Under blustery and sunny skies we regained our strength by breaking for lunch at a local market in the hollers of Nelson County. Wide eyed and willing we then ventured up to check the level on the North Fork of the Tye River. The level was primo! With shuttle set we layered our thermals on for an afternoon of boulder drops. Peter, being the only veteran of this run, led the group with a fiery bravado.

The first significant drop, Cushion, requires launching over a nice size hole on river right and quickly traversing to the river left slot to avoid an ill placed log. Despite not boating in months, The Bosch demonstrated poise under pressure and laced a perfect line. Below this drop, we were rewarded by a great autoboof.

Many more major drops followed, with great class IV riddled between. The last significant rapid is known as Marbles. With multiple sieves below the main entrance ramp, this one should be scouted and run with caution. I quickly learned its namesake when I was flicked down the main ramp straight towards the correct slot and then bounced off some great boofs to finish the sequence.

Temperatures were dropping and winds picking up as we paddled down to our car parked at the White Church. Before our arrival, a desperate man at the end of his rope screamed at the world, "I AM DONE WITH HAIRBOATING!!" after rolling over his kayak for the first time. Kelly had sampled some of the best Virgina Creeking and would recover with warm clothes and a cold beer.

Cushion

Bosch Stylin

Auto-Boof!

Entrance

Scouting Marbles

Stutts

-Patrick

Triple Brown Crown

2011-03-09T21:13:00.020-05:00

It's has been an incredible six days (so far) to be based in Richmond. Last Thursday Doug Ammons graced Richmond with his "Wildwater: A Love Story" presentation and it was incredible. That man is a true River God who has done as much and more than any other kayaking great to take the sport to new levels. I gave him a copy of The Collective to look through and he was stoked about it.

On Sunday I knew the rains were coming so I woke up at 6am to check Nelson County levels and nothing was rising more than +5 cfs/hour. I woke up again at 10am and it was maybe +10 cfs/hour. I decided I'd stay in Richmond and that all was lost. This was until the Statons guage started going straight up. I left Richmond at 1pm and met Kyle Irby, Rob Tompkins, and Dave Moffat on their way to the top and ran down with them. There was a heavy flow but it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. I portaged Johnny Wise's hole after seeing Rob (in his Greenboat) and Kyle each immediately start getting sucked back into the vortex after landing. We also portaged Duck and Run and one of the rapids below due to wood (Statons is riddled with it)

Monday Zach, Harrison and I left Richmond a little before 8am for Nelson. We met up with Peter at the Crozet exit and proceeded in trying to find Paul's creek. After taking the Corolla through a creek on most likely someone's private road we found out we were in the wrong spot. We found the right location thanks to some nice locals and hiked in (which was INTENSE) We got up to what we thought was Elbow Grease but was in reality Rochambeau. We portaged the entrance to that since at low water it had pin potential and opted to seal launch into an eddy above it. Sitting in an eddy above any drop on this creek was an absolute experience. It felt like you were about to fall off the mountain side. The rest of the run consisted of portages around various rapids due to wood or not enough water filling in pin spots. One slide we ran that landed next to an overhanging rock did not yield a clean run from anyone of us! Where's Haynie was the signature rapid of the run. We had to tie a tree limb off against the bank to clean up the entrance and we all proceeded to rocket down this monster. At the bottom kicker I completely launched in the air getting at least four feet of air landing next to a rock wall.

We then hiked out and sprinted over to the North Fork of the Tye. The NFT is a sweet 3 mile, low volume, technical run with plenty of eddies, high quality class lll/lV boogie and a few big drops sprinkled in at even intervals. The first big drop is Cushion, a series of three 5-7 foot drops that are fun to link up. The next big one is Entrance, where all of the river squeezes through four car sized boulders. After entrance it's Glide, a no-stress 3 foot boof and then a shitty little boof in between two pin rocks that yielded the most carnage of the day. After this the road winds away from the creek and you need to know where to portage Packsaw, an ugly class V with a fine line and too many consequences. The last big drop and highlight of the Run is Marbles, the river takes you at mach ll next to an overhanging rock where you have to quickly line up to power hard left through a door sized slot to avoid being in an eddy right above an ugly sieve. Then there is Monkey, the sweetest boof on the run and a few more class lll/lV's before the run mellows out.

After taking off Peter departed to drive to Baltimore so the rest of us sprinted up to the beautiful Blue Ridge Park Way over to Statons creek. Zach and I put on Statons a little before sundown and ended up having quite the misadventure getting off of the creek in the dark. Then it was back to Richmond.

This was truly the most intense day of paddling I have ever had and I swear my body and mind are not still fully recovered from it. Here's to kayaking always pushing our limits.

The next day I ran the upper and lower James at 12.4 feet~ safety boating for Rand's raft. I wish Doug Ammons could have been here to paddle the James at Flood stage and see what it's all about.

Nelson (fingers crossed) could go again this Friday through however long the water lasts. I hope to make it the first leg of the Spring Break trip.

Pictures:

Not the way to Paul's

Rochambeau

Easy in-between slides

The slide none of us ran clean.

Chutes and Ladders

Where's Haynie

Cushion Drops

Glide.

Shitty Pinny Rapid

Downstream of the Shitty Pin Rapid

Brown Claw in honor of the triple brown crown!

Posing with a River God!

-Max

North Fork of Blackwater

2011-02-20T10:58:00.006-05:00

This trip was pretty simple. The southeast has no water. However, temperatures in Davis, WV were near 60 degrees on Friday melting a winter's worth of snow pack in the Canaan Valley. So I headed North to meet some friends from PA and Zizza. We went to the North Fork of the Blackwater. It was awesome. Besides for 3 junkier rapids, the NFBW is loaded with lots of low angle slides ending with 5-10 foot boofs. Plus, there is a pretty straightforward drop just under 30 feet and another long slidy/cascading drop that ends in a 18 foot waterfall. I wish I took more pictures of the other rapids, they certainly are worthy. But, this is what I got plus a few from Megan. Good fun, great water and some cold, windy ass nights.

Bosch Checks in Again

2011-02-04T14:01:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaTqmgCbIkc

Check out this little nugget that Bosch sent us from Canyon Creek in Washington! Haha, for all you Bosch Haters!

Enjoying some SE Classics

2011-02-03T15:56:00.009-05:00

My brother and Luke came down south last weekend, only to surprise me with a the gift of Timmy too. It was a long weekend of reminiscing the good old days of Richmond and boozing, but decided to take a day trip over to the Tellico break up the evenings. I have never been there before, and with the Green turned off and nothing else running, it was really our only option. This little gem was more fun than I expected it to be. Timmy took some pics on his phone

After spending a lot of time in the park over the past couple of weeks, it was nice have some rain bring up some runs a little closer to home. To warm things up, I met up with Nick early and did a lap down the North Fork of French Broad. After getting those paddling arms moving, Hickory Nut Gorge and the Rocky Broad was the second destination of the day with Spencer and Phillip. To cool down, the three of us went over to do a nightish run down Wilson Creek. These runs are super fun, low stress, and all beautiful in their own right. Its days like these where you can't complain about living in WNC. Spencer Cooke took some POV photos while on the Rocky Broad, so I thought I would share.

Uganda

2011-01-11T15:24:00.029-05:00

Above Silverback with the UK crew, future dam in the background.

Ida on Kalagala Falls

Dan on Kalagala Falls

Bodas and Boaters after a Silverback lap

Bujagali Falls

Equatorial Life

The source of the Nile River sits in the town of Jinja, Uganda within 100 miles of the equator. There the longest river in the world sits idle until it is released from the Owens Dam on Lake Victoria constructed in 1951. Right now the construction of a third dam downstream of Bujagali Falls will drown countless channels of rapids on the day one section. More costly however would be the dams drowning on the many islands of high biodiversity, relocation of thousands of people, impact on the important fisheries, and the disappearance of a spiritual place for the Busoga people (Internation Rivers, 2011).

Dam in Jinja

Outside of the NRE base there were lots of local shops for art, groceries, bars, resteraunts and food stands. It was pretty much standard everyday to go out to Bujagali Chipatis and get the days fuel for around 1000 Uganda Shillings. These balls of cornflour are mashed down on a griddle and cooked into a flat tourtilla. You then can add your choice of nutella, penut butter, bananas, eggs, tomatos, or avacados

Lwabaga was great for dinners. Large portions of rice and a meat filled you up after a day on the water. The fried talapia is worth the extra effort.

Fresh Produce

Fortunately, I was able to make multiple laps on the Silverback section and enjoy the mysterious tranquility of the Nile River. During my stay at the NRE base near Bujagali Falls I met up with a great group of paddles from the UK. Their passion for low volume creeks and classic long boats would be welcomed here in the Southeast. Over the week we got some pretty good missions in daily to both Day 1 and Day 2 but spent much of our time on the backchannels of the Silverback run.

Callum charging down into Silverback

Jungle Book is the middle channel next to Silverback where the Bujagali dam is going to be completed. The rapid exemplified its name when we were greeted in the forest by 2 meter monitor lizards. After cautiously making our way down to scout Dan desided he would go first and show us one possible line.

Dan entering Jungle Book

Nile River Rodeo

Sandra on Brickyard

Blade Runner

Baby Maker

In just one short week I fell in love with this amazing country while meeting and paddling with great people. The spirit of the Ugandan people was just as remarkable. I hope someday to return to the Nile and paddle more of its countless channels at each fall line. Fore more information about the damming of rivers in Africa and around the world check out International Rivers and Kayak the Nile.

-Patrick

Maryland Lines

2011-01-07T19:01:00.007-05:00

Today Daniel and I met up to get on MD lines with a level of 3.05~ We probably took 45 minutes to get down them due to scouting and picture taking, but it was a real nice change from Virginia lines. Maryland lines consist of Pummel, a 15 footer that you do your best to boof, Z-Turn which is a series of braces down a slide, and the left line of Horseshoe which you do your best to boof. After getting down Maryland we carried up to bomb the Virginia side and I flipped at the very bottom of S-Turn to receive a good clocking and a beating to my right shoulder. Ibuprofen and a hot shower work wonders, just glad my drysuit zipper is intact.

Pummel.

Z-Turn.

Horseshoe.

Max

To the Plateau

2011-01-04T10:41:00.005-05:00

Usually, time is limited and getting over to Tenn. has not really been an option. But since we spent some time in the Smokies having fun the other day, I thought it would be nice to check out some of the other whitewater options in the state. Crooked Fork was holding water and was only 3 hours from Asheville, so we hit the road. Two days in Tennessee, one with boulder gardens....and the other with waterfalls. Great place.

Back to Smokies

2011-01-02T22:12:00.007-05:00

Every time I go to the Smokies, I always leave impressed with the quality of whitewater out there. The water is pristine and is continuously falling. Today we went over to the Ramsey Cascades and Tremont sections. Tons of great small boofs... you should go there now

And Fail...

2010-12-30T15:26:00.004-05:00

My Christmas holiday was a little rough this year. Two laps on the green, one swim and one subluxed shoulder. Since I'm a little laid up I threw together this footage of the Green Run where I swam. It also has some footage of my one truly epic kayaking skill, killing a booty beer with extreme prejudice. I mean, if you're going to suck at kayaking, you might as well be awesome at sucking at kayaking right?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

X-Mas Great Fallsexy Times

2010-12-25T19:09:00.006-05:00

Today was a fun X-mas morning enjoying bone-chilling falls runs. Daniel and I met up with Joe (didn't get your last name) to get on Virginia lines with overcast skies and 35 degree air temps. I had a not-so-fun piton off the dam and we made our way down to U-Hole where my fingers went numb taking the first few out-of-focus shots. We then boogied down through S-Turn and scouted The Spout.

Because of ice and other factors the Little Falls gauge seems to be reading lower than the actual river level. On a day when the river level was posted around 3.13 you could feel that the river was at least 3.2. The Potomac River gauge at Little Falls dam is around seven miles downstream the river from Great Falls so a tenth of an inch makes a huge difference upstream at the falls.

Potomac River near Washington DC (Little Falls)

The Spout was looking mean so I opted to try the race line today. I didn't hit it well, pulled a landing-leaning-sideways-to-flip and got promptly spit away from the curtain by the current to execute an eskimo roll. The normal line here can be a toss-up at higher flows. Today Joe got the heads and Daniel got the tails. After gathering Daniel's gear, Joe and another local headed up the flake for another run and Daniel and I bombed down the Fishladder to end the run with less plastic on our boats.

Boofs for Jesus.

Boofs for Jehovah.

G-stroking S-turn.

Rodeo ain't dead.

Fuckin' Pickle.

Nice line, Joe. The heads.

The tails.

Max

Chilly Day at Little Falls

2010-12-22T19:09:00.011-05:00

Today I met up with Daniel Kreykes and Leigh (Flea) Knudson in Brookmont a few miles outta DC to run Little Falls. LF is a fun class lll run with no need for shuttle due to the C&O Canal. We put in at the Feeder Canal where all the Slalom folks practice, made our way down Z Channel and had a fun run down Little Falls. On our way back up the feeder to get back to the cars Daniel and I decided to fire up Great Falls of the Feeder Canal. GF of the Feeder is a man made dam with a junky run out of dam debris to the river. Long story short we ended up having to execute z-drags, two person wading and vector pulls to get poor Grape Escape 4 off of some rocks. TGFDrySuits. Afterwards I traveled to two nourishment institutions of the DC area: Elevation Burger and Robeks Juice.

Flea all suited up.

Brookmont: slalom boats all over the place.

The Grape Escape 4

The Feeder Canal, a slalom course a few-hundred yards from Brookmont backyards.

Z Channel exit boof.

Slot on the VA side of LF.

Flea entering LF.

The Maryland side of LF is a fun series of holes and wave trains.

VA LF GNAR

Going for the eddy.

Wall check.

Big houses overlooking the Po.

Setting up for Great Falls of the Feeder.

Sequence.

Grape Escape can't escape.

Better than Five Guys.

The best smoothies in DC.

Max

Patrick's Summer Norway Cut

2010-12-15T08:43:00.002-05:00

Norway is awesome. Its been about 5 years since I went, but Patrick Griffin has been making the most of his time over seas. This is a cut he made from this year's 2010 summer. Looks awsome!

Norway Summer 2010 from Patrick griffin on Vimeo.

The Bosch's award winning film

2010-12-12T18:35:00.003-05:00

This year's "I Shot Myself" was awesome. Lot's of paddling, lots of partying, and of course...lots of short, homemade videos. If you didn't get a chance to get out on the 4th, here is an example of what was played at the show. This is Trevor Bosch's video, he wanted me to put up for all to see. Enjoy!

Surf the James

2010-12-07T08:31:00.002-05:00

What an awesome weekend. "I Shot Myself" was huge this year. Ton lots of great local paddling videos made by great people. The James will always be home and will always be my favorite river. With the water flowing well, here are a couple of surf waves that you could enjoy on a trip down the James, especially if you are really good.

Front Surf the James from Hunter Davis on Vimeo.

Gragg Prong Footage...

2010-12-05T11:36:00.002-05:00

I'm missing out on "I shot myself" this weekend, so I threw this edit of the low water craziness on the Gragg Prong together. Enjoy...

Gragg Prong from Nick Ianniello on Vimeo.

Gragg Prong

2010-12-01T19:27:00.004-05:00

Although the early morning was cold with flurries and wind, the sun was shinning. It felt good to catch the Gragg Prong with a little leftover water from the rainstorm yesterday and not be sloshing around on wet bedrock in the cold rain like yesterday. We enjoyed the day and took a couple extra pics while paddling.

~Hunter

Upper West Fork of Pigeon and Upper Upper Davidson

2010-11-30T21:14:00.003-05:00

Its raining. A lot. Nick and I decided to head up to the top of the West Fork of the Pigeon watershed in aims of checking out the big 60 foot double drop slide that runs so rarely. The wilderness surrounding the upper reaches of the WFP is incredible; high elevation, fur tree forests with super clean water. Its an awesome place to both hike and paddle. Afterwards, with a little more daylight, we then cruised to hike into the upper portions of the Davidson River. I was surprised at the size of some of the rapids about a mile into the hike in. Again, the water was pristine, but at a lower elevation, the forests were littered with giant hemlocks. The day was a classic gloomy and rainy eastern boating scene, but plenty of good whitewater

Big slide on U WFP(top half is out of picture)

Nick on the bottom half of this slide

Testing out a backpack setup on Upper portions of the Davidson

running out of daylight

Goodbye Summer Green...

2010-11-18T11:17:00.004-05:00

Despite a pretty subpar rainy season so far in North Carolina we finally got some rain, which means hopefully the fall/winter boating season is finally here. But with the beginning of the fall boating season comes the end of summer Green River laps in nothing but a t-shirt. So to kick off my first post to this blog and simultaneously bid farewell to my summer training grounds for a little while, here's some obligatory Green River Narrows helmet cam footage. Try not to pee your pants with excitement about these seldom video-documented rapids.

Green River Headcam Edit from Nick Ianniello on Vimeo.

Smokies Day 2

2010-11-17T20:34:00.004-05:00

The Sinks section of the Little is something I have always wanted to do, but never made the effort to drive over to that section of the Smokies. With crystal clear water and some beautiful rock formations along the river, the sinks is probably one of the best class III /IV rivers around.

West Prong of the Little Pigeon

2010-11-16T20:32:00.005-05:00

The West Prong is awesome. Miles of continuous boulder gardens flowing through the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The water is clean and forests are beautiful. Pictures really don't give this creek justice. There are really no big drops, but no pools either. Its pretty tuff, especially if you don't have a guide to show you down. Can't wait to get back into the Smokies!

Gearing Up for the event

2010-11-15T13:58:00.005-05:00

Looking forward to the 3rd annual "I Shot Myself" video night on December 4th @ the Camel. Here's a shitty teaser for the event. Its time to start getting in those submissions to Ben. We have some great prizes for anybody who enters a video! Local RVA videos for local RVA boaters

3rd annual Whitewater Video Night Richmond, VA from Hunter Davis on Vimeo.

Great Falls

2010-11-06T23:10:00.002-04:00

Despite breaking my boat welds on the damn at the top of Great Falls, I still managed to have a great time paddling up on the Potomac this weekend. Here's a little video of the good times.

VA Lines from Hunter Davis on Vimeo.

LINE OF THE MONTH

2010-11-02T23:42:00.005-04:00

Line, after line, after line, after line...Richmond is full of Lines and we want to reward those who are slicing up the coolest lines on the James. This limited edition competition is excepting pictures and video footage on the James River ONLY and the month of November ONLY! Each submission should have a detailed explanation of why your line is the best line. The winner will receive their gift of appreciation at the I SHOT MYSELF event. Get at it and email me what you got before December 1st.

3rd Annual "I SHOT MYSELF"

2010-11-02T22:58:00.003-04:00

Another year has come and gone! The time is here to start getting your footy from 2010 together and enter it into this year's "I SHOT MYSELF" video night. In case you don't know, we hold a night where local paddler's can show their work on a big screen to other boaters in Richmond, VA. The date is December 4 at the Camel. Show up at 6 PM, eat food, drink, talk boating, and watch boaters you know doing cool things. Remember, this event encourages all levels of whitewater enthusiasts to enter videos. You will be rewarded for your effort. All submissions should be in DVD format on cd to Mr. Ben Moore. This flier has all the info you need to know.

Work Sucks

2010-10-27T21:31:00.004-04:00

Work fing sucks. Everything ran today, but I couldn't get away to paddle until after work. I opted for this short paddle right before dark. Meg took some pics.

Top of the main drop

In the middle of the teacups towards the bottom of the drop

finishing it up

my dog's brown

RF for RLP

2010-10-11T20:45:00.004-04:00

Me and Nick thought we would do a quick Southeast update for our buddy Brenton P at River Left Productions Here's a quick couple of picks and a little video. Check out his website!

Croy goes deep!

Me and Nick thought we would do a quick Southeast update for our buddy Brenton P at River Left Productions Here's a quick couple of picks and a little video

Southeast Update for Brenton from Hunter Davis on Vimeo.

The Russell Fork of the Big Sandy River and its Rendevous

2010-10-03T21:57:00.011-04:00

Rendevous at the Russell Fork is the shit. Or should I just say Breaks Interstate Park is the shit. I love this gorge, it has powerful whitewater and gorgeous scenery. This year Megan and I hung out on the rim after arriving late on Saturday. If you have paddled the canyon and never hung around up top, then I would suggest it. The view from the rim provides such a badass perspective of the river and it's cliffs that line it. After enjoying the evening and sunset, we headed to the festival. Many beers were enjoyed by the gimungo bonfire. This beast was flammin' well over 15ft. All was well untill the moonshine came out; subsequently, paddling sunday was a little sloppier than trips past. I'd also like to point out that my last release weekend run here resulted in a broken boat. Somehow it happened again making this run a bit sluggish feeling. Let the welding begin! My camera died right above the boogie of Climax, so I apologize for not showing the whole run, but enjoy what I got.

Russell Fork from Hunter Davis on Vimeo.

Here are a couple of pics that Megan took a long the trip

And remember, when your in Breaks Interstate Park, DO NOT:

VA Bottoms Creek

2010-10-03T20:07:00.006-04:00

With predictions on Thursday evening looking good for Bottoms on Friday, I had to head north for some flows. We didn't get any of the rain in Asheville that VA got from the storm rolling up the coast. So I hit the streets early. Reeeeal early. Arriving in Shawsville, VA around 8am, pumped to do some home state boating. While rolling through the Kettles rapid, all of us noticed that the water actually seemed to be gone. What a surprise...a little welcome home, classic VA skunking for the Hunny Deacon. Our group decided not to proceed with the rock sledding adventure due to a lack of funds to buy new equipment.

AW Gauley Fest 2010

2010-09-29T13:13:00.013-04:00

Gauley Fest post, better late than never. This year was the first time I went up on Thursday night, driving with Erica and Matt Marinello, two new paddlers who have been shredding it. There was a strong showing from RVA this year meaning plenty of campfire shit talking and drinking was enjoyed all weekend.

Friday I was put to work safety boating for the first annual VCU Couples Cruise. This was a romantic run down the UG, and my heart was made warm the whole way down. I enjoyed watching the amazing chemistry reacting between Ben and Greg and Margo and Sam. I hit my first pillow splat and enjoyed running the UG for the first time in a long boat.

Saturday was my first down the NRG. The river was right around -1.75 but I was still shocked by how beautiful the gorge is. Even with the flow not the boating norm, it was still a great class lll run and the first new river that Erica, Matt and Sam got to paddle besides the James. Good lines were had by all until we miss judged a simple rapid and Ben/Matt each swam out of an undercut. Asides from that there were plenty of bow rescues and a couple more swims but everyone rocked it.

The festival was crazy as always and by the end of the night the only way everyone could find excitement was by standing in a huge circle next to a huge bonfire throwing camp chairs into it.

Sunday I was all set to get one last run down the UG but when I found out the flow was cut due to the body recovery I opted to head home early to do schoolwork.

Thanks to AW for another awesome festival and for the tireless work they do to help us enjoy the nations rivers and creeks.

Here is the evidence:

Couples' Cruise at Pillow

Pillow Splat

Upper Railroad

The NRG is beautiful

Lower Railroad

The Yellow Boat Club

Seal Launch

Lower Keeney

What is owed

Sherlock and Watson

Beautiful Blue Ridge

6 inches of Green with Max and Zizza

2010-09-25T19:06:00.006-04:00

Max and Zizza came down to do some boating on the Green. I took out Max's slr and took a couple of random shots...here they are.

Perfect brow sandwhich

Max's shuttle ride

Beaver Hunter

2010-09-13T19:13:00.005-04:00

The Eagle section of the Beaver is a super fun, super short section of whitewater in NY. There's a couple of fun slides and a nice pourover all packed in a distance of about 200 yards. Even more notable is the abundance of beavers lining the shore salivating at your awesomeness. Check out the hairy Beeeav.

Eagle Section of the Beaver from Hunter Davis on Vimeo.

NY Beaver Fest

2010-09-11T15:31:00.014-04:00

This past weekend Zizza convinced me to head up to the Beaver Fest in upstate New York. I haven't paddled in the upstate since we took a Bottom Moose trip a couple of years ago and water is low here, so the long drive seemed like a great idea. On the way we hit up Ohiopyle Falls in Penns. Once we got to New York, we paddled two sections of the Beaver and the Raquette. The trip took over 2,000 miles of driving in the dark, but lots of great whitewater in the day. I can't wait to get back up to this area of the country to paddle.

~Hunter

Broken Boat

2010-08-08T22:05:00.007-04:00

With many of these...

Spencer's cell phone pic

Come many of these...

Megan's sweet camera pic

That's all I got. Lately the only thing running is the Green...but thats ok.

Hunter

det er slik oss gjaer det i skjaak, for faan

2010-07-31T17:31:00.012-04:00

heres the rawness

almost live completely uncut. climbing around in a canyon today. keeping it skjaaking.

eddi the icelandic flying squirrel and his exciting acrobatics

the man who set off the volcano

see, i used to go to this camp that facilitated judged belly flop competitions when i was a kid. i am fairly certain my parents were unaware that this type of activity went on at the camps they sent me to every summer. and i am also fairly certain they would have approved heartily had they been made aware.

each cabin comprised a team that would compete at various events to acquire points for the cabin. at the end of the day the cabin with the most points won and got to jump up and down on their dinner table screaming or something.

for this event, a couple counselors sat in the life guard stands around the diving well with some olympic figure skating style scorecards. the cabins lined up to be informed that their bellyflops would be judged on creativity, style, and pain. standing in that line, i knew the winning combo must be a forward flip into a planked out back flop. swan dive execution. i steeled myself and attempted to convince my nervous system not to pay attention. up on the platform i barely remembered in time that i need to write a postcard home to my mom before the mail went out today.

so, because of the many postcards i never wrote home, the penultimate backflop combo was never realized. until today. eddi, the man responsible for the price of wool and horsehair in iceland, took off a 10 meter+ drop like he had wings. tucked into his flip, came untucked early and landed flat on his back on glass. three 10s went up somewhere in a parallel existence. and eddi even graced them over there with his presence for a moment or two to celebrate his perfect score before sjur swam him back into shore.

but this video has nothing to do with that specific incedent.

this is just some darn tootin fun before insulting the eta at coop. con-cussion!

keeping it retro since 2011

A little Playboating

2010-06-13T21:29:00.004-04:00

I haven't done anything new in a while...the summer is here and most of my paddling has been on the Green and even a couple of Chatooga runs. I would like to give a shout out to the Chatooga, its the shit. But today I needed to give back a little time to some playboating. I haven't done really any playboating since I moved here a year ago so Megan and myself flew out to NOC. We did some trail running, played on Nantahala Falls, and surfed the NOC wave. Then we cruised over to the eternity hole on the Tuck. It kind of reminded me a mini Z Spot back in the RVA, but not as good. I really enjoyed both spots, but I found out that I really really suck at playboating. Today was fun, but a clear reminder that I miss playing and would like to get back into the game.

Zizza on the Local Run

2010-06-01T20:22:00.005-04:00

Merry Memorial Day fellas...hope everybody had a great weekend! We got some good rains here in the southeast, so there was plenty of water to be had. Zizza was in here in Asheville, so I really wanted to get him over to my favorite close river, Lower Rocky Broad. It runs often and has been a staple for me since I have moved here. Took a little POV video and thought I would get it up to show what its all about. Lots of busy boogy and plenty of small boofs. Look out for sieves, they are everywhere!

Here is some pics that I found in Megan's stash from a couple of weeks ago. She knows how to capture a boof stroke, even from far away and hidden in the trees

Video Dump

2010-05-23T23:33:00.002-04:00

Here's a bunch of videos done either by Josh Evans or myself. Posted in chronological order for your viewing pleasure.

SLOT-O-RAMA from Max Posner on Vimeo.

Conception Huck-Fest from Max Posner on Vimeo.

Piney Creek Expedition from Max Posner on Vimeo.

North Carolina 10/23/09-10/25/09 from Max Posner on Vimeo.

Spring Break 2010...Brah from Max Posner on Vimeo.

great falls - center lines april 2010 from Josh Evans on Vimeo.

Spring. Richmond. James. If You Ever Get Sick of It You're Nuts.

2010-05-07T00:06:00.006-04:00

Springtime in Richmond is the ultimate display of perfect spring weather. Yeah there was a week of high 80's low 90's at the beginning but we needed it to thaw this city from that long winter. The ultimate place to experience springtime in Richmond? The James. Raft, canoe, kayak, inner tube, whatever your chosen craft get out there and take a break from the pavement.

Team Panda Fuck Yeah. Gotta do sit-ups to work off the beer belly.

The other type of eagle on the James besides the Bald Eagle? The Ben Moore Spread Eagle. (endangered)

On the way down the Pipeline Sequence.

Surfin' RVA in the USA

More surf.

Shitty crew. They all abandoned ship leaving only the captain.

Perfect times for man boating in the long boat.

Trying to deposit Kevin in the hole.

Turd Ferguson.

Another Turd Ferguson.

Proof of my first EVER Pirouette. Loops will never be as bad ass.

New England water in NC

2010-05-04T21:15:00.005-04:00

Willie...savor the flavor after this one

Monday was an interesting day with interesting decisions on where to go. Everything in TN seemed to be way too high and a lot of things in NC seemed to be on the lower side (or spiking). I wanted to do something new, and the East Forth of the Tuck seemed to be rising into the right levels. The shuttle is pretty long, about 40 minutes each way. From there, we hiked into Panthertown Valley to a feeder stream called Greenland Creek. Upon reaching the creek, I was amazed at the color of the water. It is pristine with a tea like color. Very similar to New England streams. Once you arrive at the confluence of Greenland and Panthertown Creek, plan on riding some fun, long slides for a bit. At first we were loving the East Fork of the Tuck. There are plenty of long bedrock slides, including a fast 50 footer, but then the stream changed a bit in character. From bedrock to boulder gardens. The gardens were descent, but FULL of wood and sticky granite. Every portage was beastly, and once you enter Devil's Elbow Gorge, there is no way out but through the bottom. If you plan on going in there, prepare for lots of undercuts full of wood. I am glad I paddled this stream, but don't think I will be going back soon.

Tea

Best slide on the run

The bottom 1/6 of this slide.

Dace sliding

Dace punching the stickiest hole

More sliding

Sliding around wood...story of the day

Feeder stream in Devil's Elbow Gorge

Boulder Gardens/Undercuts

Willie on the typical boulder garden drop

Russell Fork

2010-05-01T20:49:00.005-04:00

Levels were not holding out for Cheat Fest, so I decided to head to the Russell Fork Gorge today. I haven't been there in almost two years and I really don't understand why. The Russell Fork is super fun, beautiful, and has great lines at a ton of levels. Today it was somewhere between 660-700 cfs. Matt Delong is a local and knows the run as well as anybody and showed me all the goods. We ended up not running the main lines at Tower and Fist because he advised me that lines were smaller than when I have been there at release levels. Good times

Matt disappearing

El Horrendo

tons of these little boofs

Climax

nice