When I’m 64, I hope I am paddling rivers like this, the Kiachnish, just outside Fort William. It’s Simon’s birthday today, and this is how he spent it. The write up in the guide doesn’t really do the river justice, this is an adventure, at 7k it’s a fair stretch of water for the UK, …
Tsarap Chu, Ladakh, India The peace and quiet of the high Himalaya, our put in manages to be in the exact same place as two JCBs, working the roadside verge George Younger, Spade kayaks. a short carry from roadside to river is mind bendingly difficult, laden boats, altitude, shortness of breath, steep banks, dodging the …
My route back to sitting in a kayak has been a recent trip to Nepal. Kayaking pretty much ruled my life between 2003 and 2009, circumstances change and whilst my head tells me I am a kayaker the truth is that the frequency of trips to the rivers had reduced to such an extent that …
A couple of hours drive, just east of Pokhara lies a small valley through which the Madi Khola flows. it’s one of the smaller Himalayan rivers, almost alpine in appearance and is rightly described in the guidebook as a fesity little number and a jewel of a river. The Madi is lower volume than the …
The Stikine has been described by some as the Everest of kayaking, but you cant pay someone to be led down the Stikine, its a right of passage held by less than 100 people who have made the journey since the first descent 30 years ago. Daz made his successful descent on his third visit …
I have seen the debates on forums calling for the re design of the grading system. A lot of the people who contribute to such discussions are experienced paddlers of many years. People who, I would suggest, understand the variances of white water, different conditions and that an alpine grade 4 is somewhat different to …
At 00.02 on the morning of the 17th of September 2011 I received a text from Daz Clarkson, having just completed one of his life ambitions, the Stikine, hats off to him! here's his first thoughts committed to laptop………. "Haunted shadows awake me, a serpent cuts the land. Burning with each beat of my heart. …
by Jason, With their Italy trip down the pan due to this years low water levels in Val Sesia, the boys set their sights on the more obscure and further north, just south of the arctic circle, Iceland. 5 things to know: 1. However long you go for, it won't be long enough. Ten days …
Verdon Gorge It's late evening, warm, dark and I am behind the wheel of Pete's Skoda following two other cars along the D952. It takes forty five minutes to drive the distance we have just paddled that took the same time plus eight hours. I don't want to get left behind, if only because the lead car …
It rains in Costa Rica. a lot. Combine that rainfall with mountains, which are in abundance and it can only mean one thing, rivers, and plenty of them. Forty of them are described in the guidebook, Chasing Jaguars, but there are plenty more, some have been run, some not. We took two weeks out to …