Team Riot

New Riot Kayaks Team Site

2008-08-11T11:48:00.001-07:00

Hi folks,

We have a brand new Riot Kayaks Team web site at TeamRiotKayaks.com Please go there from here on out to see all our team member's bios, the latest news blogs, words from the company President and info about our boat designs and their designers. This blog is no longer in use and will self destruct in T minus ten seconds.

Raundalen

2008-08-01T02:57:00.000-07:00

Raundalen

This year we have spent a lot of time on the Raundalen river. It’s my favorite by far, and with loads of snow in the mountains we have had good levels this year. So good levels and a disapproval of a proposed dam calls for a celebration of this river. This summer we have also really fallen in love with the Thunder. It’s partly because we have started to explore some of our creek runs at higher flows and partly because some of the best play spots are located in these gorges. Both good reason to choose the Thunder which is my favorite at big water/creeking/river running/play……when it’s all mixed up and you want to have the cake and eat it too.

This was also why I took the Thunder when I went to Futa last winter. I needed a boat to go on the big rapids and waves and that would get me safe down some of the waterfalls we found on our way to Futa.

Well, we were out to take some pictures for you, when the whole river suddenly went brown….we got up and just ahead of us the river was blocked by a huge landslide. Sadly this landslide might have destroyed my favorite rapid…time will show.

Here are some pics from the river of me, Eirik and Silje.

Foto: Jarand Naa and Mark Basso

Riot Kayaks at FibArk

2008-07-06T14:21:00.001-07:00

My brother Eli and I both made the trip out to Salida, Colorado once again this year to participate in the FibArk Festival on the Arkansas River. This year, who-ever-the-people-are-that-decide-things decided to make the competition here freestyle nationals and the qualifiers for the world cup.

Anyway, Since I turned 19 this January, I had to compete in the Pro class. Eli is 17 and competed in the Junior class.

The competition was a little tough because the water was so high. With all the extra snow Colorado has had this year, the extra flow made the Salida hole a little bit flushy. All the same, more water is never a bad thing. In prelims my first ride was sweet but my second one was a bust. Oh well, I hit a paddle twirl loop after the buzzer. I ended up in 12th at nationals. (I was 14th over all but there were two Canadians in the top 10).

Eli did well in prelims and advanced to semi finals where he secured his place as the 8th best junior freestyle kayaker in the nation.

Despite the best efforts of the freestyle competitors, the Hooligan race (people floating down the river in whatever they can find) still took the spotlight as the most fun event of the festival. My favorite float was a guy riding through the hole on a floating exercise bike. The part where he ran into the bridge was especially sweet...

Anyway, here is a short video and some pictures of the event. All pictures by Karen Van Dusen. There is also a little bit of footage from the Pueblo hitewater park. The park is sweet at all levels and I would encourage anyone who finds themselves in the area to check it out.

David Looping

Eli in the Hole

Eli had some nice spray on that loop.

Thats it for now. Eli and I will be paddling around the NW for a while.

David

Rusher Photo in Newsweek

2008-07-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

OK... so I'm new to the whole blog thing and I'm really good at taking photos on my trips and then letting them sit on my hard drives. I'm going to try to remedy that but just so everyone knows I'm a little behind. Don't worry, ill keep it within the last year or so! The other thing that hinders my posts is the all the writing... I'm a better kayaker and photographer than a writer. So... I'm hoping to stick to the "a picture is worth a thousand words" theory for now and at lest start putting up some small trip reports, session photos and other random Riot related stuff!

with all that said... I had a small photo of me published in Newsweek Magazine. The photo was shot in Laos by Trask McFarland and it accompanied a review on the Vio helmet cam that we used down there (http://www.vio-pov.com/). Its not everyday i can tell my mom to go get a copy of Newsweek and see a photo of me! Supposedly there was a Japanese version we never got our hands on... anyways, kind of cool...

matt

Coming Home

2008-06-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

A long, long time ago a little company called Riot took a chance on sponsoring a no-name kayaker who had no money, no real prospects, and no paddling resume to speak of. Actually, in the beginning I owed Riot a boat because I demolished a demo boat on Eagle Creek.

I realize that no matter what I say, people will write this off as a completely biased review. For those neigh-sayers, skip to the video for proof that the boats actually perform. For everyone else that's curious about how the boats perform, read on.

Astro 54: I'll be honest, at first I looked at the Astro's kick rocker and assumed the boat was going to be a pig on the wave. Usually the more rocker on a boat the slower it's going to be on the big wave. I had seen Fisher paddle the Astro 58, but that man could Air Blunt a dugout canoe.

So to give the boat a real test I shoved it into the back on my trusty Subaru and headed up to Skookumchuck for some big wave testing.

Once I had the Astro out on the wave I absolutely fell in love with it. It's surprisingly fast. I'm not saying it's a rocket ship, but I was really surprised that I could stay on the wave even when it completely greened out. It also holds speed so you have a better chance of doing combo moves - like bread and butters or KY's - without getting dragged off the wave.

The big flat area under the seat also makes for a really large landing pad for big blunts and airscrews. I had a lot of fun doing past verts and landing in a green grind without catching my edge and getting completely destroyed. The biggest down side to the Astro is that with the bow rocker you really have to pump the boat to do Flashbacks.

In all I was really stoked with how the boat handles on a big wave, and I only thing I regret is leaving Skook.

Magnum 72:
The plan was originally go to Skook for a few days and then go creeking in the Squamish area. Unfortunately we were banking on cold weather keeping the snow melt to a minimum. What we got were warm sunny days at Skook, and nothing but ridiculously high water for the rest of the trip.

Shut down on Plan A, we switched to Plan B which involved paddling anything remotely doable so I could finally get some time in my Magnum. I ended up paddling Icicle Creek, and another creek that I can't remember in, Washington with my nomadic friend Morgan Koons.

The Magnum handled everything like Muhamed Ali; "Float like a butterfly, and punch through everything that stands in your way." Even without properly outfitting the boat I was stoked with how nimble it was on the water. It turned easy and still held it's line through a hole. I didn't get a proper chance to run the Magnum through it's paces so I'll just reiterate what Spencer said to me. "This things the sh!t"

I'll post more when I get the chance to take the Magnum back out on the water, but for now it feels good to be home.

Check out the video of Skook at Rapid Transit.

Enjoy,
Karl

The Backwheel in a Riot Magnum

2008-06-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Backwheel. The Backwards Freewheel. A Reverse Freewheel. The Switchwheel...No actually the Switchwheel might be a splitwheel freewheeled, now that I think about it. Yes, that's what a Switchwheel would be. This is a Backwheel.

My good buddy BK, as in Bryan Kirk, not Booger King, took these outrageous shots of me last summer (N. Hemisphere summer that is.) The stage is set at Pummel Falls on the Potomac River at last year's Po-toe-Mac-n-Cheese Fest. (No baked potatoes smothered and covered with Mac-n-Cheese were actually served at the Fest, although it was quite a good time!) I received them recently, and thought some of you cowboys and cowgirls out there might be keen on viewing them. So before we begin I'll say THANKS to Bryan for being hot on the trigger, as well as shooting them down under to me! Chur bro!

It is a common misconception about the Backwheel that it is what you do when you are scared and don't want to look as you go off a waterfall. That is what freewheeling is for. If you think about it, when you freewheel, you look down at the lip as you go off, and then look upstream...you never have to look down! Backwheeling is quite different.

This Backwheel was done out of anger, spontinuity, and curiosity. When I got back up to the top after hucking, Bryan was like..."Bro I got a picture of you doing that where you can see the whites of your eyes!" If people on the bank can't see the whites of your eyes while you are backwheeling drops, you probably aren't going to land them. Spot yer landing ya'll!!!

Patience is an invaluable tool while kayaking. The Backwheel requires much patience. At this point though, fluidity kicks in, your body un-winds and you raise the roof because just for a split second all is good and well in life.

Take that, rewind it back, the Magnum got the beat to make yo booty go CLAP!

Mc Coy Creek Wa.

2008-06-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

Its true, the best creeking in Oregon is in Washington!

McCoy Creeks is a bitty trib of the Cispus near Randle Washing. Bennet calls for 150-600 cfs at 5-15% of the Cispus at Randle. We had about 3K there giving us a calculated 150-450cfs but I swear it was more than that. Its been a banner snow pack year in the Northwest so getting with almost all the water coming from up top our own visual estimates were more along the 600cfs range. You can look at the photos and make up your own mind though.

McCoy is a fairly rarely run and often over looked high quality creek that is probably over shadowed by close by runs, the Upper Upper Cispus , the Ohanepecosh and the Clear Fork of the Cowlitz. While it may not have the draw of the other better known runs, its packed with fun ledges and some big slides and combo drops. There’s even a good sized waterfall just to round out the experience.

Casey, Rick, Jame, Richard and I met the bridge over the Cispus on FR 23 at 9:45AM. Rick and I met up in the morning, the other three had camped up there the night before for a shake down cruise in his new EuroVan.

Put on grins

Rick and I had done this one once, about a year before the other three were new to the run. McCoy Cr on Oregon Kayaking.
It looked a bit higher than last time and there were few eddies in sight. There was a nervous pause at the put in and a brief hesitant conversation then ended with us putting on happily but nervously but that could have had something to do with the miners with guns and a stuck pickup truck down the put in path.

As it turned out Rick and I had forgotten most of the run which is a real shame considering the number of quality drops that are in there. I was constantly anticipating the pothole drop around every bend fearing wood in the narrow channel allowing you to skirt the pothole.

Richard finishing up the drop with the pothole. We all ran left.

Rain forced me to put the camera away after a few misty photos of the first big slide. We all ran down the right skirting the pocket hole on the left. The next major drop is a tight double drop with a log filled bouldery s-turn lead in. The line is clear but the potential for carnage is obvious.

Richard below the tight double drop.

The next big drop is Chinook Falls, or as the Bennet Guide calls it. BUD (Backwards and Upside Down). The lead in to Chinook lurks around a tight right hand turn that currently has wood most of the way across guarding the normal scout eddy. It’s a little bit of a scramble to make it, but there are other eddies available before being committed to this 50ft + three tiered slide.

Chinook starts with a twisty, boily lead in to a 6-8 ledge that you want to boof with left angle. The right side is ugly and will probably result in a quick and unexpected trip down the center of the last slide, into a nasty hole.. that is, if you make it through the crack there. Out of the 5 of us, we had on walker. The 4 that ran it, nobody had exactly a clean line of this ledge. The eddy between the last two drops is swift.

Me on the entrance to Chinook from an earlier trip. Photo by Rick Cooley

James halfway through Chinook Falls workin to stay in the eddy

The last part of the drop is a wide slide, clean down the right and nasty down the middle to left. There’s some video floating around of a Portland boater getting sucked back into that hole. It seemed to flush more at our flows though, and a good thing too as James, who didn’t quite make the line, gutted the bottom hole but came out upright and just fine.

Richard finishing up the bottom slide of Chinook Falls

After bombing down through some fun and clean ledges you eventually make it to the big runnable falls. The book calls it 20ft. They also suggest a portage.
Silly books. The falls is super fun and we had runs down the right for a plug and doen the middle for a boof. I recommend strong left to center momentum as the left wall hooks in and the current will push you into it. I ended up again the wall rolling and getting pulled back in. Not fun when a 40' un-runnable drop is just downstream.

The right line at the 20ft falls. Photo by Rick Cooley.

Richard really hit the boof on the '20ft' falls.

The big portage was next up and though I've heard of a better way, we instead went up and around and roped the boats down a couple hundred feet before 'schwacking down to river level. Once down there and after a short breather, Rick paddled across and looked upstream at the clear path down to the river.

Shortly after that, the confluence of Yellowjacket and a mile or so of read and run class IV followed by a couple more miles of annoying class II.

Unfortunately, my shoulder was too sore in the morning to paddle on Sunday but we spent the better part of it driving around anyway. We found out that the road to the Super Slides run on the Cispus still has plenty of snow miles from the take out and that the put in for Smith Creek is REALLY steep.

Check out more photos here.

Till next time!

Magnum 80 video

2008-06-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

For those who were interested, here is a video of Riot's new, big creeker, the Magnum 80. Perhaps this will give you an idea of how the boat performs. All the footage is of Daniel Windham on the Green.

View and/or Download video in much higher quality HERE.

New Videos on Rapid Transit Video!

2008-06-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

Hey this is Andy Gates from Rapid Transit Video, I have posted two new videos under my library. Here is a link to my library on Rapid Transit Video.

The first video is a kayaking instructional video, showing how to loop, called Bag-0-Tricks. This is the first of many instructional videos. If you have any suggestions on new tricks for me to instruct just leave a comment and I will try to get to it as soon as possible.

The second video I have posted is of Spencer Cooke, Alan Young, Jason Aytes, and myself, paddling Eternity hole on the Tuck., 1/4 mile hole on the Noli., Green river play, and Wilson's creek.

Heres a link to my library at Rapid Transit Video.

Remember to check out all the libraries while your there.

Until next time,

Andy Gates

Raven's Update

2008-06-03T21:27:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's time for another Raven's fork update. A few weeks back we got enough rain for the ultra-classic Raven's to run at a good level. The team: Will Lyons, the sickest creekboating c1-er I've met... Clayton Gaar, an up and coming young jedi who attends UNCA with me. I'm sure you'll see some cool footage from him this fall, as he's out in california right now. Lastly, the infamous Saunders Southecorvo. Saunders and I started kayaking together 5 years ago. It's been cool progressing together from the flatwater of the french broad to the raven's fork 5 years later. Saunders paddles the Riot Magnum as well and loves it almost as much as he loves fried chicken. Anyways, here are some pics of the Magnum in action:

Yours truly at Mike Tyson's (photo Will Lyons)

Getting cuddly with the cave at Headless (photo Clayton Gaar)

Wet Willlllyyy (photo Clayton Gaar)

Saunders keeping it steady on Mike T. (photo Will Lyons)

Saunders: BIG BOOF at Cave. (photo Clayton Gaar)

Thanks to Will and Clayton for shooting pics. Hope to get out there again soon.

-Nathan

South Silver Goodness

2008-06-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

After a heat wave and some high levels, flows have dropped off a bit here the the northern Sierra. No worries though, because when most runs are too low South Silver is perfect! My old paddling parter Tim Robinson recently returned from a two year hiatus in Australia, and was all too happy to brush the black widows out of his familiar Magnum and join me for a run down a 700' per mile whitewater theme park.

Tim Robinson and Ben Zuppo demonstrate their blue angel style of paddling

What happens when you run Boof, Boof, Slide without a Magnum

And Boof, Boof, Slide with a Magnum

Tim Robinson running Skyscraper

Yours truly running Skyscraper. Photos courtesy of Ben Zuppo.

After Skyscraper and Off Ramp we were all happy and relieved. Most everyone's lines were really good, and while the rapid isn't really that difficult, being a little off line can turn bad here rather quickly.

But even with that notable challenge behind us, several impressive rapids like Ankle Breaker and Plastic Surgery were still waiting for us downstream.

Tim Robinson on one of the drops above Ankle Breaker

Tim fires up Plastic Surgery

Yours truly on Plastic Surgery for the crowd. Photos courtesy of Ben Zuppo.

Fun times for all! It sure is nice to have a gem like this in my back yard.

Thanks to Joe Bosquin for the good beta, Ben Zuppo for helping out with pics, and the Sacramento paddling community for setting lots of safety.

How Tim likes to unwinds after a good day of paddling:

Yours truly (junior) testing out some new outfitting

Thanks for stopping in, see you on the water!

Dan Glauser

Riot welcomes two new Team Paddlers

2008-05-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

Riot Kayaks is proud to announce the addition of two new team paddlers, Patrick Camblin and Karl Moser. Patrick, hailing from Eastern Canada and Karl from the Western US are both extremely accomplished and well known kayakers who Riot welcomes to our family.

Patrick Camblin:

(Patrick styles a fairly handsome hat)

Accredited with: Pioneering combo moves, Being a Buseater local and Traveling the world with a kayak...

Other accolades: Winner of the IR Big Gun Show, Lyon River Festival, Quebec Cup, Buseater Invitational & voted by peers as 'Playa of the Year' (Best freestyle kayaker)

(Patrick, sailin' on in his new Astro)

Other Sponsors: Red Bull, Tribe, h20, Levelsix, Smith, Astral, Snapdragon

(And again, flying in the Astro)

Patrick gave us some words regarding his recent career decision: "I've had 7 amazing years with the good folks over at Liquidlogic. A big thanks to Shane and everyone there for all of their help and support over the years... But times change and people need to move on... Riot is a company from my backyard that i've always admired for their innovations and consistently great boats. I'm stoked to join their already stellar team..."

Patrick's links:
www.triberiders.ca
www.younggunproductions.com

Karl Moser:

(Karl in Africa)

Most folks know Karl through his former association with the Epicocity Project where he co-produced popular kayaking DVDs, Bigger Than Rodeo, Mission Epicocity and the most recent, play-boating instructional video, Amplify. Karl has moved on now to become the head coach at the World Class Kayak Academy. Additionally Karl is organizing other worldly efforts including benefits for kayaking clubs and environmental knowledge growth in countries such as Uganda and China. He has also become a highlighted video producer on Rapid Transit's web site where he plans to broadcast some of his upcoming kayak adventures on video.

After recently placing well in the Best in the West comp in Montana Karl gave us a few words regarding his new Astro 54: "Paddling was sick yesterday! The more time I spend in the Astro the better it paddles. I think it makes me look pretty." (Maybe Karl said that about his photo, not the boat...? Anyway, the photo of you in the boat make's you look pretty Karl!) He went on to further explain that the Astro, "loops big and McNasties well. Now I can't wait to see what she can do at Skook. I'll send you some pics when I get back." So, expect to see a report from Karl when he arrives back from Skook. The guy is amazing on a wave so we will expect some nice action.

(Karl clean-split sequence via Astro at Best in the West comp)

Other Sponsors: NRS, Astral Buoyancy, AT Paddles, Shred Ready, H2o Audio

(Karl loops huge in Astro)

(Karl unwinds a powerful McNasty, courtesty Astro)

Karl's links:
http://worldclassacademy.com/
http://rapidtransitvideo.com/producers/moser.php

Once again, welcome to these two guys to the Riot team. We will no doubt see great things from both of you.

Waitaha River

2008-05-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! Just wanted to share a trip report I recently wrote about my first day of Heli-kayaking in New Zealand! You can find the write-up on my website, Downstream Movement. Below is a sample of the visuals taken by Kev England. (Cheers for that Bro!!!)

I ride my bike by a florist every morning on the way to school. They have a chalk board outside that has a couple quotes written on it each day. Today it read..."Sometimes taking the risk is the safest thing to do." Who would've thought a florist could be so inspirational!

The Magnum has proved over and over again to be THE boat of choice to take into the shit. As if it has a "boof on command button," the thing just jumps out of the water. I think salmon were tested in the prototype process.

Again the trip report full of deep thoughts, LOTS more pics, and plenty of entertaining stories can be found at...Downstream Movement. Video footy of the day is featured in my South Island Video at...Rapid Transit Video.

And like a Buttermeleon, I'm OUT!

-Cooper Lambla

Magnum in 3-D!

2008-05-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hello ladies and germs!
Hope all is going well in the kayaking world. I just finished up a semester of school, and have something exciting to show for it. A 3-D animation!

I imported photos of the Riot Magnum into the program and recreated it as a 3-D model. In addition I made a landscape, waterfall, and kayaker. Here's the video:

A wide angle of the scene

Homeboy close-up

To see more stills from this project and others surf to http://ridetheflow.blogspot.com/

good lines good times

Nathan

High Water Ottawa

2008-05-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, the New river Academy headed up to the Ottawa river in search of some big waves. We were hoping to get there right in time for Mini Bus, but instead we got up there and found the water was too high for Mini Bus. This was ok because there was still an epic wave in, Big Bus. This wave is huge! I have been on some big waves, but this one is still intimidating. With a great righty shoulder, going big isn’t too hard. The only hard part of this wave is that it is so fast that getting back up to the top can take some work, but once you do you're in luck for getting some big air.
3 pictures here

going for the panam © Michelle Yates

airscrewing © Michelle Yates

The water began to drop so big bus was getting a little trashy and mini bus wasn’t in yet. We found another wave that was quite as big but was great for working on every move from spins to combs.

Riot's Zach Mitchell going big on a Pistol flip © Michelle Yates

Getting a blunt © Michelle Yates

The on the last day we were up on the Ottawa the water level still was going up and a high water mini bus level came in. this wave even at this supposedly off level was still amazing. Giving up some of the biggest air I’ve ever had or seen. This wave introduces a new challenge however, the tow rope. The entire group had some trouble to start with using the tow rope but eventually people started to get it down to where they could get out every time instead of just face planting on the eddy line every try.
The Ottawa is one of the best play rivers in the world and coming back at high water after only seeing it at low water just proves to me how good it really is. Hopefully I will be able to get up to the Ottawa again sometime when mini bus is in.

See you on the river

Eli Spiegel

Big Magnum is out there + Alabama Video report...

2008-04-25T12:47:00.001-07:00

I have a couple pieces of news to report. 1st, the Magnum 80. There are some boats on the water and the big guys are loving this boat!
Here is Daniel Windham, 6'2", 180 lbs, dropping into Go Left on the Green in his Magnum 80. (photo Andy Gates)

Same guy, same specs, at Nieces Pieces (photo Andy Gates)

Same guy, different day, different rapid. (photo Chris Gallaway)

Big guys, even 300 lb guys, fit in this boat. Should I have phrased that as 300 lbs of guy fit in this boat? Well, at least two 150 lb guys fit in this boat, just to give you an idea of its capacity. That little short person in front of us was even impressed.

Yes, this is a little bit embarrassing but you gotta prove your point somehow. The Magnum 80 and the new Thunder 76 have a LG cockpit, lots of thigh room, a larger, more accommodating seat... as you can see. We haven't actually tried paddling like this yet but we plan to. We are having the custom spray skirt tunnel made at IR as we speak.

Some video of the Magnum 80 is coming soon as well. I am out at the Green once, twice, maybe three times a week and will have the Magnums and Thunders on my vehicle if anyone is in the neighborhood and wants to use a demo boat.

Now, this is the 2nd part of my news. Alabama, it's a wet, cold, frozen place in the first weekend of March. At least it was this year. Andy Gates and I went down to NAWFest and froze our arses off.
Cooking breakfast on the frosty, winter landscape (photo Adam Motes)

Snow and ice doesn't generally make me want to go play boating and I tried to refrain as much as possible. I did, however, manage to shoot some video of the event and some more on the Little River Canyon the following day. Please enjoy the video at the Rapid Transit Library.
Chris Wing and I thumbed it up. (photo Isaac Ludwig... I think.)

Ooh, while I'm here, one more little tidbit. IR has title sponsored the Mustache Growing contest and it starts June 1st, runs through July 31st. Grand prize is a drysuit! You heard it. All you have to do is grow a stache for two months and you may win a drysuit. Many hi-dollar consolation prizes exist as well. Go to http://TheMustacheKing.com to sign up now. It's free and all you have to do is be capable of taking photos and posting them to a blog... oh, and growing facial hair.

Later,

Spencer Cooke, Team Riot

NZ: South Island Video Update

2008-04-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings, my peoples of this ball of muck we call earth!!! I'd like to invite you to share the people, scenery, rivers and good times of a land far, far away in a wee place we like to call New Zealand. In particular the South Island of New Zealand...

Yours truely dropping into the tasty goodness of Nevis Bluff on the Kawarau River.

What you are about to witness is the second installment in a series of video journals hosted by Rapid Transit Video, that document my travels down here in NZ. The aim of these videos is to share the best kayaking New Zealand has to offer. In this South Island flick we travel to Hokitika...the Heli-Whitewater-Boat-Ridin' Capital of the World, as well as Fiordland...one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been, and finish in Queenstown on the mighty Kawarau River...which contains the best high volume rapid ridin' on the South Island. (And is actually where I paddled again today!!!)

Enjoy...
NZ SOUTH ISLAND VIDEO HERE!!!
You may also view this and other Rapid Transit videos at the free video podcast. Either use the Podcast link on the RT web site or go to iTunes and search for Rapid Transit.

I'd like to thank all the rockin cats who I've paddled with, who have been patient and let me point my video camera at them! As well as everyone who have let me/ us crash on their floor, given rides or just provided hospitality! Cheers!!! Also big ups to Spencer Cooke who has been a tremendous help in every way, including editing the footy. And CHEERS to New Zealand for being such an awesome place!

Keep an eye on my blog, Downstream Movement, which will continue to be updated with pictures and stories from the trip, including all the rivers and good times shown in the video.

Until next time, this has been the captian speaking, reminding you to fasten you seal belts when riding in dragonflys.

Peace,

-Cooper Lambla

Canyon Creek Race and Northwest Creeking Comp

2008-04-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

The Peanut gallery at the the starting line

This past Saturday marked the first NW Creeking Competition in its new incarnation. Past years have seen low turnouts and lower water levels for the Canyon Creek Extreme Race but the combination of new ‘management’ and a significantly earlier race date was a grand success.

Joe Stumpfel, I and 80 some-odd of our closest paddling friends, came out in force on April 12th 2008. As some of you may have heard from me before, Canyon Creek levels are measured against the ‘unit’ (he). Its runnable very low and very high but flows within 4 or 5 inches of the unit are pretty standard happy flows. Past years flows have been more like 12 inches under. This year lots of racers we caught by surprise with the higher flows and found themselves rodeo-ing when they should be racing.

Luke S, the guy who made it all happen

You may also notice the Ol’ Joseph was in a K1 instead of a C1… I don’t get it either.

I volunteered as a starter right between Prelude and Thrasher. Prelude is one of the sticker spots on the river and I and the other starters watched or rescued 10 or so swimmers all while watching from above as another smaller handful of paddles swam out of the first drop as well! I heard personally from about 5 people who swam on their morning practice runs!

Richard hitting the boof at Thrasher

Well we couldn’t have asked for a better day and the even turn out exceeded anyone’s expectations. A big thanks to Luke Spencer of Next Adventure for making the whole thing come alive, to Shannon Crosswhite for doing a great job as volunteer coordinator and to all the racers, volunteers and spectators who came out to hang and made the day what it was.

Results are posted at Paddler Magazine

Don’t read to much into my place! 1: it was my first race and I didn’t want to blow my wad 2: since I was a starter, I ended up coming down after the R2s which was well after they were expecting any kayakers SO, I think my time was a little bit made up. No worries though, it was just a good day on the river with friends, in the sun, with great water. Pretty ok in my book! I’ll take the whole thing next year.

Riot C1-er Joe Stumpel, cross training.

Check out some more photos here

Hope to see ya’ll on the river soon.

EJ

Photo by michaellongphoto.com

ThisRiverLife

Clemson, SC Video Premiere and Demo...

2008-04-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

What up all!

Spencer Cooke, Andy Gates, and I will be traveling to Clemson University next Tuesday evening. We will be hosting a premiere of Spencer's video, Night of the Living Donkey, as well as hanging out at the pool session with a fleet of Riot boats to try out. For you larger paddlers, we will have the Thunder 76 and Magnum 80, Riot's newest toys at this demo...

Check out the trailer for NoTLD here.

The whole event will take place in the Fike Recreation Center on campus... the movie will start at 8:00 pm, with some complementary pizza and Red Bull provided, and then we will move downstairs to the pool as soon as it's over(around 9:15ish) for the pool session and demo.

This event is open to the public as well as to Clemson students, so hope everyone can make it out!

For more information about the event please contact Andy Jordan at:
aojorda@clemson.edu

Good lines!
Chris Gragtmans

Cooper Labmla New Zealand video #1 on Rapid Transit

2008-04-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Cooper Lambla reports with his Magnum and Astro from down under with a video journal entry on the Rapid Transit web site. Take a look at http://RapidTransitVideo.com

More coming soon from Cooper. Stay tuned. See Cooper's blog follow his year abroad in detail. Downstream Movement

2007 skook stuff

2008-03-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

HELLO everyone!

Dru and i had a wicked season on the sunshine coast last year. we got a ton of footage and only lost half of it...this video is made up of what was left over. Quality is not so great this time but its a crazy one! Our camera crew was laine and shana, they're the stars of the show!!

Highlights of '07 were watching the sea lions endlessly devourer fish in the eddy, insane phosphorescence under a full moon, trying to keep the surfers the fu*k away, tracking down stolen kayaks, surfing at first light Christmas day (we were the only ones there?), and just having a great time with everyone coming and going.

Sister Natalie and I. She is in the video too.. and she'll be at skooks a lot this summer :)

Micah and dru. Scary ride down the face.

thanks for checking in....you style it out there....ya hear!!!

ms. emily

Spring Break

2008-03-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

boofing cave man pic by Joey Jarrell

Well maybe not that wild, but definitely wet. After givin' her all semester with school and keeping good grades, I was in definite need of a break. Luckily I was able to do some kayaking locally and then got to travel up to Western NC and sample some of their finest. I managed to catch our local classics Johnnies and LRC at good flow. Then I came down with a bad cold and was out of commission for a few days, but recovered in time to meet up with some some friends in NC to get on Big Creek and the Raven Fork.

The Raven Fork is by far an incredible place, and I feel very privileged to have kayaked there. Enjoy the pics:

shot of Headless by Ryan Moore

pic by Joey Jarrell

Launching at Mortal Combat pic by Joey Jarrell

Sam watching me at Mike Tyson's Punchout(I'm the little yellow dot at the top of the picture) pic by Joey Jarrell

It's so easy a caveman can do it!!! pic by Ryan Moore

And here's the video thanks to Ryran:

http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=822819&server=www.vimeo.com&fullscreen=1&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color="> http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=822819&server=www.vimeo.com&fullscreen=1&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=" />
The Raven Fork from r.moore on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/822819

Now it's back to the books!!!

-Charlie Mix

winter boating in germany and austria

2008-03-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

hi everybody!

it's snowing again!
the word is that it's been the coldest eastern in a hundred years or so around here. AAAHHH!
but there still is hope!
actually we've been out quite a lot!
i've been creeking, playboating, partying, so i won't complain at all!
due to the winter i haven't paddled my magnum for almost four months, and i almost forgot how good it feels! this boat is simply the most predictable and sporty creeker i can imagine.
and the astro is: well, the astro! going huge, stable, comfy...

oh wait, do you wanna hear more?
no?
really?
if i have some pics?

well...

yes!

you're welcome!

we spent a night in that car!

rissbach - photo jensklatt

more rissbach - photo jens

roemerfall - photo mathias raabe

same drop, same photographer

washing machine, augsburg, loop paddleswitch
photo micha schomann

dto

dto no PS

winterboating!
jensklatt

hmm, hope that was enough for now! full stories are to be found on bootfahrer.blogspot.com
guess i'll go back to the washing machine asap! good to go boating every day again!

peace,
sven

New Vid...

2008-03-24T12:31:00.001-07:00

Watch Wintertime Creeking Video.

What up all!

So I've been paddling and filming a good bit recently, and finally had the opportunity to sit down and put the footage together. This video includes headcam footage of Big Hungry Creek, the Green at 400%, Raven Fork, as well as other footage of the Horsepasture, Toxaway, and the Valles River in Mexico.

Pat Keller going large south of the border.

Watch the video HERE.

I would like to give a special thank you in this post to the artists that are gracious enough to supply us with such sick music. They are mentioned at the end of the video, but here is the info about each of these artists:

Statistics
"Another Day"
www.jadetree.com

Big Dro & Zinndeadly ft. Mystic
"Choose One"
http://zinndeadly.com

I'm pretty fired up about this video, because it sums up in about 8 minutes some of my all-time favourite places to go kayaking. Of particular note on the video are the 2nd and 3rd descents of the left line of the Micos waterfall in Mexico by Pat Keller and Lawrance Simpson(after first d'ing it 2 days earlier). That drop is a sicko twisting slide into about 55 feet of freefall. Very cool. Also, the footage of the Green at 24 inches or 400% is also the same day that Pat and I ran Gorilla at the highest flow I've ever attempted it. For reference, check out the wave that is usually the whale tail rock...

And it's kind of eerie when you just boof right over the top of the Frankenstein Rock.

Anyways, incredible day out there, and my headcam fell off in Go Left, but allowed for us to go for a soul-boating descent of the monkey without any cameras or outside influences involved. I may be wrong, but to my knowledge it's the highest that rapid has been run. It was a really awesome experience.

Well, hope you enjoy the video, and see you on the river sometime soon!

Peace.
Chris Gragtmans

God Jul from Sweden!!!

2008-03-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

This past Christmas I traveled to Sweden (with no plans to go kayaking) to visit my girlfriend and her family in their home town of Orebro, a charming little city about a two hours drive south of the capital of Stockholm.

The Strompis Wave

I was hanging out at local coffee shop next to Orebro's castle along the banks of the Svartan River, and noticed a nice looking wave. I began to wonder if there were any other kayakers in the town, so that night my lovely girlfriend Idamaria got on the internet, found and contacted a local kayaking club, and made plans for me to go paddling the next day with a borrowed Riot Orbit and gear.

The next morning I found my self gearing up next to a castle about to drop into the freezing-ass cold "Strompis Wave" or "Castle Wave" as my non Swedish speaking self called it. It was definitely the coldest weather and water I've ever paddled in. With an air temperature around negative 6 degrees Celsius and the water not too much warmer, every time I flipped I felt like I was going to puke because the brain freeze was so intense. The locals were all laughing at me and seemed unaffected by the cold, but were highly entertained by this southern boy's reactions to it.

McNastying my way to a brain freeze

The wave it self was really good and gave up cartwheels, blunts, and McNasties on both sides, but was a little shallow for loops. The coolest thing about the wave is that it's dam controlled and the club has a key to the dam to adjust the water flow. I'm told there are plans this spring to improve upon the wave by adding an under water ramp that will allow operators to control the size and shape of the wave, and it will also create another feature behind the current one. They hope to have the feature tweaked out enough to host the Euro National Championships sometime in the next couple of years.

Strompis showing how dynamic it can be

Sweden as a whole is a very charming place with nice people, incredible food, good beer, and some of the best espresso I've ever tasted. I highly recommend to people looking for a kayaking location off the beaten path of Europe. A big thanks goes to Dan Lindberg, a very talented professional photographer and president of the Orebro kayaking club and the rest of the highly dedicated club members for lending me a boat and gear and for showing me their local spot. I look forward to going back in the near future!!!

Urban kayaking: European style

For more information on kayaking in Orebro, visit the Orebro kayaking club's website: http://www.extreme.nu/kajak/

*photos are credit of Dan Lindberg

See ya on the water,

-Charlie Mix