Means of Production Trailer

'Means of Production' is a new film from a long time partner-in-crime, paddling friend and generally charming chap... Max Bilbow.

It's coming out the closet in September (the film not Max), and it showcases a new generation of British kayaking talent on all sorts of adventures around the world.

Check out the trailer...



The website...

http://www.mopmovie.co.uk/

All the guys involved are off on their respective adventures this summer getting a few final shots... good luck guys, I can’t wait to see the final film!

The Reward

The ‘golden week’ of rafting is over, and it’s time for us guides to have some adventures of our own.

It is going to be a mission, two of our group (Ryan and Sean) have canyoned the Yamonashi before but it has rarely been done in kayaks. Their tales of smooth granite slides, big drops and crystal clear water were more than enough to inspire us to make it happen.

It took three and a half hours of driving, with the scenery getting progressively more impressive as we approached our destination.

Driving up the valley to find the Yamonashi Canyon

I guess this brown sign says ‘Parking’ in Japanese!

We then had to hike a further two hours with our kayaks up the steep gorge of the Yamonashi River.

We were mildly disturbed by this sign half way along the walk! It made us wonder what the scary looking animal with no head is and what they are saying to warn us about it! We were a long way from anywhere.

We finally arrived at a truly stunning canyon, with turquoise water, smooth rock and a lot of gradient! We wolfed down our lunch (take away sushi!), got all the gear sorted and away we go… It was exciting to have found what I came to Japan to look for.

The highlight of the run was this double drop. We ran the top one and after some debating, we decided that the big one was no go… there was a super tight 8 metre slot into a funny looking kicker that opened out into a 11 metre fall. The only person to do this before landed on his head, not good from 20 metres up!

Half of the crew who didn’t fancy kayaking the river had brought full canyoning gear and this is where they came into their own. This is a BIG drop with an awkward slot at the top and they did it on their arses! Sweet.

Kanami dropping into the slot at the top of the big one.

After a little bit of debating the bizarreness of willingly choosing to ‘swim’ a waterfall that we weren’t prepared to kayak, we thought sod it, and slid into it too! It was amazing fun and way better than any of the elaborate abseil or climbing options that we were considering to get down this drop.

The big downer of the day was Cusho landing one of the drops on a high brace and dislocating his shoulder. The following rescue from the steep sided gorge was difficult and concerning, a sharp reminder of the added consequence of being well into the wilderness.

Fortunately, with a combined work experience of about 60 years of rafting and kayak guiding, the group worked together well and competently to resolve the situation. We helped him put his shoulder back in and get Cusho safely up the near vertical gorge to the path where a couple of people went with him to the hospital.

Sean then live baited Cusho’s boat and paddles from behind the waterfall.


With the situation under control and a with a depleted number we carried on down tonnes more drops and slides until we hit a tight section of the gorge; a portage where we had to make a 7 metre jump with our boats to get around an ugly looking slot drop and then this sweet slider to finish a truly amazing river!

The last slide

Then we had a few hours hike back, and a killer drive home… we ended the day fully exhausted but satisfied and happy that we had all shared something special that day.

The nature of trips like this is that you dont always get what you want, you have no real idea about most of the rivers you paddle and you have no guide book. You go through dissapointments and difficulties, challenging logistics and language barriers, but sooner or later you get rewarded with a special day, made all the better by all the things you had to do to get there.

I was grateful to share this experience with these awesome people!

The team

Thanks to Sean Kinsella and Kanami Anderson for the awesome photos!

Rafting in Japanese

With the crazyness of Tokyo behind us, we headed to Minakami where it was time to suck it up for a week of work to pay for the trip.

Three trips a day, 84 clients a trip...



12 rafts and hardly anyone who speaks a word of English. The result? An absolute GONG SHOW!



One of the quieter trips where I had the luxury of safety kayaking...



I learnt to do my paddle talk and rafting commands in Japanese, and to deal with totally incapable miniature raft clients, but I still haven’t got the slightest clue about Japanese T.V…



Each night after work we would paddle a different river and we found some good white water and had some crazy missions (mostly in the dark which is why there are hardly any pics!)

The gorge below the big drop on Fox Canyon.

We had lots of adventures and misadventures… including swims out of horrible closed in man made weirs, and having to climbing out of a super deep, super steep gorge blocked by a tree strainer (with the assistance of numerous ropes, ladders, bridges and even the bullet train tunnel which we climbed on top of!).

The busy bank holiday 'golden week' came to an end and we hatched a major mission with the other guides to check out a creek that looked like it had some amazing potential for some world class creeking… pics and details coming soon.

Experience Northern Thailand

I am excited to announce a new addition to the LiLi trips… Experience Northern Thailand.

Last year, three of the LiLi team went on an expedition to explore a new area for kayaking. We found a huge variety of white water and the incredible experiences off the water were unforgettable.

This trip is a river running / creeking trip that opens up a relatively unexplored kayaking region to a wide range of paddlers. Incredible scenery, lush tropical rainforest, incredible culture and food… Northern Thailand has it all. Check out this video courtesy of Josh Nielson…



For more info on the trip check the site HERE, or drop me an email… sam@loveitliveit.co.uk

Updates from the weird and wonderful world of Japan are on their way just as soon as technology allows. I find it mildly ironic that in one of the World’s most hi-tech nations, technology became such a problem!