Love it Live it News

2009 World Championships - A Coach's Perspective

2009-09-18T07:21:00.007+01:00

So the World Championships is over and anyone who is interested will no doubt have already seen the results splashed all over the web (if not see here)

I was at the event site in Thun, Switzerland to coach the British team, alongside Ross Montandon, and with the training week over our roles changed significantly. The competition was an exciting challenge for a coach; a healthy combination of top athletes, high pressure and an incredible arena, all for a variety of categories. Ross and I, we found ourselves hanging from the scaffolding under the grandstands where the competitors waited to have their rides; the stamping feet and shouting overhead only intensifying the situation.

Sam coaching under the grandstand

Every paddler was unique in what they needed and wanted from us as the coaching team. Everything from holding a water bottle and a few words of encouragement, advice on what moves we thought they’d scored to full-blown karaoke and danceoffs to distract them from the commentators and keep them relaxed.

The first day of the event was the senior men’s preliminary round, with paddlers from all over the globe showing a high level of competition. In British interest, Sam Anderson and Doug Cooper, at their first World Champs, did themselves proud putting in solid rides, but unfortunately not enough to make it to the quarter finals. Alan Ward, having only just recovered from a neck injury, placed 31st and just missed the cut by only a few points, gutted. Dicky Chrimes and Jon Best, with some huge pam-ams and snappy helixes comfortably made their way into the next round.

Alan Ward getting some air in Thun

Jon Best going for the air screw

The next day was a big one for the GB team, with the juniors, C1 and OC1s all competing for semi-final places. Ben West, Arron Layton and Stu Parry gave it their all with big moves mixed in their smart rides, against an incredible level of competition. The cut to ten was just too tight for our boys, of which Ben scored highest just missing the semi in 11th. The junior ladies followed and both GB girls, Poppy Layton and Islay Crosbie racked up the points to put themselves through to the next round.

Both James and Chris, our OC1s got thru to the semi finals with ease (the cut in the oc1 class was the best 12 of the 12 competitors!). To no one’s surprise Dave Bainbridge stormed his way to the C1 semi, Lee Pyke and Stu Parry, our other c1 representatives, paddled well but unfortunately didn’t make it along side him.

The third day of the event, Thursday, brought the senior women’s prelim round and everyone was excited to see the level of competition stepped up considerably from previous years. LiLi team member, Emily Wall, fresh from training on the Nile, put together some sweet rides to put her through to the quarters in 13th place, joining fellow Brit and training companion, Fiona ‘Flea’ Jarvie in 9th place. Lowri Davies, unluckily, had a green wave to contend with on her first ride, and after a couple of flushes was unable to put together the rides she was capable of and missed the cut.

Emily Wall mid backstab

After the ladies followed the entire squirt boat competition, with GBR well represented. Claire O’Hara was the one to beat throughout the ladies event; no one could get close to her and she ran away with the Gold. A great performance by Emma Runciman placed her just behind her team-mate in 2nd. GBR also claimed 7th with Sara James. In the men’s class, all three boys made it through with solid rides to the final, but it was time for James Reeves to take the title. His smooth style combining mysteries and a text-book flat water routine won him the gold. Pete Cornes and Chris Jones took 4th and 5th respectively, with Chris wowing the crowd with his ‘Snow Angel’ trophy move – a smooth back loop move from stern stall to upside down to bow stall done by sweeping with hand paddles!

Claire O mysterying to find Gold

The quarter-final rounds were next and the standard was incredible. Jon laid down an incredible first ride with one of the best helixes of the competition, but neglected to take my advice afterwards of ‘now do the same again’ (!) and his second ride didn’t quite give him what he needed to go through. Dicky also bowed out with some huge moves but not enough for the semi final cut. Emily stepped it up to take 7th place with a big backstab and Flea, getting more confident on the wave by the day, made it in 9th.

Dicky Chrimes in his new Vertical Element kayak

With tensions mounting, the cuts getting smaller and only 2 rides to get what you needed, semi finals made for a big day.

It was tough day for the GB team; Emily and Flea taking 6th and 8th in the senior women and Poppy in 9th in the juniors all missed out on finals. We also lost James and Chris in the OC1 category. But Dave and Islay (in the c1s and junior ladies respectively) were through and hungry for medals.

Finals day was an amazing spectacle, spectators lined both banks and the length of the bridge just above the wave and the grandstands were jam packed with 1500+ people! All eyes were on the wave and Islay opened the show for the Brits in a tough junior women’s final, eventually placing 4th and doing herself proud in her first ever World level competition. Our last GBR representative was Dave Bainbridge, with two European titles under his belt, he was eager for that of World Champion. After 20 nail-biting minutes that had all the British supporters going, he did it. With his huge clean pan am and backstabs and consistency throughout the event, Dave was a deserving winner.

Dave Bainbridge doing one of many flashbacks on his way to being Champion

The day concluded with the senior men’s class and Nick Troutman was unstoppable laying down an unbelievable ride of 1510 points! It was great to see that the standard was high throughout all the finals, congratulations to all.

From a personal point of view, I can’t pretend that it wasn’t painful to watch everyone else throw down on a nice wave, to feel the excitement and tension and to not have the chance to paddle against and with the best in the World. I have come away more motivated than ever and hungry to get fit and over the injuries that have plagued me for the past year, I’m ready to push myself, and my kayaking, as hard as I can.

Thanks goes to Jen Chrimes for all the paddling photos

LiLi Coaching the GB team

2009-09-01T07:32:00.010+01:00

I am sat on the grandstand overlooking the river, in the stunning town of Thun, Switzerland. The water is turquoise and the wave below me is playing host to the 2009 World Freestyle Kayak Championships.

LiLi team member Emily Wall just threw a big aerial backstab, and also in the eddy is Flea Jarvie, current World Bronze medalist she is working hard to up that medal this year.

We have just been through an intense week of training with the GB team, and I am thoroughly enjoying working with Ross to make up the new GB coaching team.

We have been putting runs together and refining those big moves with the men. The women have been working hard on elevation and air on a tricky wave.

The smooth style and finesse of the GB squirters and the crystal clear water have even inspired me to try my hand at the noble art of sinking and slicing.

It has been an incredible experience as a coach to work with such dedicated and talented kayakers, and rewarding to see such improvement and positive feedback over the last week.

The prelims have now been and gone, and a report on how the GB team have been getting on will follow this post soon.

In the meantime here is a few pics of the incredible town of Thun, and the spectacle of a collection of the world's best kayakers throwing down on the wave!

Doug cooper clean blunting on the wave.

The town overlooking the river

The GB team meal.

The ladies at the opening ceremony.

Love it Live it on the Nile

2009-07-25T08:48:00.009+01:00

The first trip of the summer at Bujagali Falls

The summer season on the Nile has kicked off and it’s keeping the LiLi team busy. We’ve just finished one trip with a great group of guys from the UK, and now it's full steam ahead with the second. Here's some shots from our first trip:

Chris on an evening run of Ribcage

Frazer running the right line of Bujagali Falls

Sam filming Ian for some video coaching

There’s still some spaces left on our autumn ‘Experience the White Nile’ trips, the dates are:

13th September - 26th September

27th September - 10th October

24th October - 6th November

Our packages cater for all abilities and the river has something awesome to offer everyone. We are flexible and we will try and fit in with the dates that you and others on the trip want so please don't hesitate to email us if this date doesn’t suit you.

The ‘finale’ to the summer season in Uganda is the Nile Freestyle Festival, set to take place on the 1st - 3rd November. If you’re interested in honing your playboating skills before the competition, Love it Live it can help. Our coaches are some of the most experience when it comes to the waves of the White Nile, we offer expert one-to-one coaching at competitive rates.

For more check out our website http://www.loveitliveit.co.uk/ and if you'd like further information about anything seen here or for any questions at all, email us on info@loveitliveit.co.uk

And now you can keep up to date with all our adventures and trips via Twitter, follow us at: SamLoveitLiveit.

Team Love it Live it in Norway

2009-07-16T09:29:00.002+01:00

-Photo credits - Dan, Josh Neilson, Sam Sutton, Michele Ramazza and Ian Garcia -

At the start of June I found myself back in the UK on a short visit to see the family and update some Rafting qualifications. It turned out that my courses had been canceled and I had just over 2 weeks with nothing to do. The moment I found out I was talking to Josh Neilson who was stuck in the airport in Italy and a plan was formed. 2 hours later I had a ticket to Norway.

We went to Voss extreme week - paddled and partied hard, had outstandingly good weather and high water and in 2 weeks we hit up some great classics around the Voss area.

In the photo box above is, Lake to Lake Slides, Brandseth, Kittlebreaker, Raundalsalva, Jordelsalva, Double drop on the Taikdale, Raundalsalva x2 and Double drop again...

We ran a bunch more but without photos.

That was a week ago, now I'm back in Uganda Loving it and Living it as ever, a week through the first White Nile trip of the season, everything is going well and stoked to be back on the river!!

Happy Paddling.

Will.

The Ultimate Club Trip!

2009-06-05T10:12:00.006+01:00

New for this year, Love it Live it, has introduced the ultimate club trip to the White Nile, Uganda. The exotic location has something for everyone!

LiLi is offering an all-inclusive experience that is perfect for a wide range of abilities and personalities. Non-paddlers can come along and relax in this tropical paradise whilst beginners and intermediates can enjoy the warm water and friendly flows the White Nile has to offer. From the same location, expert paddlers can test themselves on the big volume rapids and world class play features. All this under the watchful eye of the White Nile's most experience and qualified coaches!

It's also a great deal - for the club captain/trip organiser, we well give them a half price trip for 4-6 people in their group. Or if they bring 7+ paddlers from their club we will give them a free trip!

This trip is ideal for mixed ability groups but it's not only for clubs. All types of groups and paddlers are welcome.

For all the details and information on the this package, please email us on: info@loveitliveit.co.uk and we will send you a copy of our Club Trip package PDF file.

Experience Northern Thailand - New Gallery and Full Itinerary online!

2009-05-22T10:43:00.005+01:00

We are now taking booking for our Experience Northern Thailand trip, starting September 14th 2009.

Can you imagine being taken back to your vehicle from the river by elephant? Or paddling past intricate Buddhist temples in the midst of tropical jungle? Or being able to relax at the end of day's paddling with a traditional Thai massage and banquet?!

This is a totally unique paddling destination and our package is like no other.

We have just added an online gallery to give you a taste of what you could experience kayaking in Thailand:

Thailand photo gallery

You can now also view our full itinerary:

Experience Northern Thailand itinerary

This trip is aimed at kayakers with grade four experience and a solid whitewater roll. The best time for paddling in Thailand is the end of the summer however, we have some flexibility with dates so if September 14th doesn't suit you, please contact us and we'll see what we can do.

For more information on the trip, please see the following link:

Full trip details

The Belix (Back Helix)

2009-05-08T14:03:00.006+01:00

Here's a video of a move I had been working on for a while before I was injured! The footage is from Nile Special on the White Nile back in 2007, I finally got around to putting something together to try and show what's going on.

Happy Paddling, Sam

LiLi features in X Sport online magazine

2009-05-05T16:43:00.007+01:00

A new online magazine has recently hit the world wide web; X Sport International. It features news, articles and interviews from various extreme sports around the globe and is completely free!

This month's issue features a rave review of the Love it Live it production 'A Dam Shame' in the 'Stuff From The Web' section. The guys at X Sport aim to highlight the best in online content, we're stoked that the LiLi website made such an impression on them and that they chose the film to review.

Love it Live it will be featured again next month (issue 4) in an article by Will Clark about our first decent mission to Thailand.

Thanks to X Sport International.

Why freestyle kayakers need good helmets.

2009-04-27T20:47:00.003+01:00

A few years ago Max and I decided to have a 'King of the Wave' on the Club Wave in Uganda.

Max won.

Some of you may have seen this before. It was first posted a couple of years ago by Max Bilbow. It's an amazing bit of footage, amazing mostly because I came off without any spinal injury or concussion and partly because it is quite entertaining.

I recently stumbled across it online, and thought it should be shared on the Love it Live it site!

Ivan the Photographer

2009-04-08T09:59:00.014+01:00

I first met Ivan a few years ago, he is a Ugandan teenager who happens to live very close to the Nile Special - probably the best playwave on the Nile.

Along with a few other paddlers (most notably Billy and Carly Harris) I helped train him in videography and photography. We would pay him to video or photograph us on the wave, both skills he picked up with remarkable aptitude considering he had never used a camera before.

Ivan grew up with some serious health issues, until fairly recently was unable to get proper medical attention. His illnesses have now been treated and cured by Soft Power Health, an organisation that Love it Live it donates a percentage of all our income for Uganda trips towards. It was set up by Jessie Stone (doctor and kayaker) to educate and support local communities on health issues. Unfortunately he has been left with a permanent deformity of his chest, limiting him in how much physical labour he was able to do.

Ivan was 16 at this point but hadn't been to school since he was orphaned a number of years ago. Since then he has lived with his uncle and could not afford his school fees. After some discussion we agreed that half of his wages I would keep back and once Ivan had saved enough money we would use it to pay his school fees so that he could rejoin the education system. Kayakers left donations in exchange for the good pictures that Ivan had taken of them, and before long I had enough for his first semester. A great start but not a very long term solution.

I was back in the UK doing some LiLi work, and an idea came to me. I contacted the local primary school, who happened to be studying third world countries in their geography for one of the classes, and I went in to have a bit of a chat about Ivan.

They instantly latched onto Ivan story, his big grin and amazing photos. The class at Minera Primary School have now raised the necessary funds to put him in boarding school, which I pay for him annually. He just finished his first year back in education, which he passed with flying colours!

Ivan with all his school friends, holding a photo of the class that now sponsor him.

In the holidays he still takes photos down at the wave. He is now better than most kayakers at spotting when the big moves are coming, he understands about lighting, foreground and background and how to take interesting photos. Here are just a few of his amazing photos...

An interesting angle of a different kid giving photography a go!

He is studying hard and wants to become a professional photographer... good luck to him with his studies and ambitions and thanks to the kids who are raising the funds to him in Wales!

Paddlefest meets NSR

2009-04-01T12:36:00.010+01:00

The first Paddlefest took place this past weekend and Love it Live it was there. We had a great time, chatting to people who visited our stand and partying at the National Student Rodeo.

Love it Live it sponsored the NSR and we gave away a free two-week trip to the White Nile in a raffle. Congratulations to Jethro from Leeds; click here to see what he won!

The winning University - Leeds

The event was held at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham, which has had it's slalom course closed all winter for refurbishment. Everyone was keen to try out the 'new course', I stayed around til Monday so I could paddle without the crowds. The changes have created more small features and less slack flows, making the course more like other modern slalom courses.

Cleaning in the top hole

Looping in the new muncher - now with a eddy on surfer's left

Emily

NSR and Paddlefest - Come check out the LiLi stand!

2009-03-19T11:55:00.010Z

Love it Live it is sponsoring this year's National Student Rodeo. Over the weekend we're going to be having a raffle that will be free to enter for any competitor. The winner will receive a FREE LiLi Package Trip to the White Nile in Uganda! The prize is suitable for everyone from beginner through to expert, the Nile has something for everyone!

Check out the links below to see what's up for grabs:

http://www.loveitliveit.co.uk/trips/whitenilebeginner.html

or

http://www.loveitliveit.co.uk/trips/whitenileadvanced.html

Love it Live it has a stand at the Paddlefest, we'll be in the heated marque so come say hi if you're at the event!

http://www.paddlefest.co.uk

See you there!

Sam

LiLi on the 2009 GB Freestyle Team

2009-03-19T11:21:00.005Z

This past weekend the Great Britain Freestyle Team selection event took place down at Hurley Weir on the Thames and I went along to check out the action. The water levels held for a 3-gate competition and a sweet green wave formed in the middle of the feature. Going big was possible but also risky.

Great news is that LiLi guide Emily Wall placed 2nd in the senior women's class; congratulations to her! Em and the rest of the GB Team will be heading over to Switzerland early September for the 2009 Freestyle Kayak World Championships. Good luck to them and well done to everyone who made it.

Emily busting a blunt in her competition ride

Means of Production

2009-02-26T11:19:00.001Z

Means of Production is set for it's worldwide release this April. The film, created by Max Bilbow, features a number of the Love it Live it team. It's ace; check out the trailer below:

Also for an independent review of the film click here

First Descent, Upper Seti - Lower Canyon

2009-01-10T14:33:00.001Z

I'm back in Uganda now, and I've been up at my lodge and away from the world of internet connections and other such modern technology. So apologies for the long wait for photos, but here's the first of a few updates of our last few weeks in Nepal.
I'll start with a good one - the first descent of the lower canyon of the Upper Seti River...

At the end of November 2008 Anton Immler and Will Clark successfully ran the lower canyon on the Upper Upper Seti River in Nepal.

After hiking out of the gorge two months earlier during their first attempt, they returned with lower water levels and a lot more rope and successfully completed the section.

The canyon is totally committing. With no-way to portage the first or third drops (the two big ones) and almost no means of setting up safety on either...

After a 5.30am start and a one and a half hour hike, Will Clark prepares himself for the mission. Having been inside the canyon once already we knew it was going to be hard. With only two members on our team we also knew that we were pushing the limits of safety and were going to have to be pretty careful not to mess anything up...

The view from the top. Will looks into the canyon, this time we carried a lot of rope - kindly lent to us from Charlie at Ganesh Kayak shop in Pokhara.

Will checking out the cave at the bottom of the first waterfall. It was possible to pull someone back out from under there, but really the name of the game on this was to run it clean.

Will climbing back out of the cave.

After spending an hour or more checking everything out and making sure we had a good plan all that was left to do was to fire it up. Anton ran it first with me standing by to abseil down if anything was to go wrong...

-Anton on the first drop-

Well, everything went well and Anton hit the first drop sweet. After that however it wasn't as simple as me following him down.

With no access into the canyon other than running the falls, Anton then had to scout the next two drops before I could run the first one. The next drop was a horribly undercut little twisty thing, followed by a huge horizon line. Anton paddled down to the horizon line and it was all good. All I could see was him jumping up and down and screaming!! A good sign!!

So after zip-lining all the cameras and ropes accross to Anton I got to hit up the first drop and it was sweet!!

After that we headed down to the horizon line and scouted the second big one. By now it was 2pm - we'd put in at 9.30am, so after a quick stop for food we set up some cool camera shots and fired up this second drop. It was a real nice roll in/roll off style falls with a nice clean pool to land in...

Will inspects the second falls

Will on the Second falls.

Here's a cool montage I put together of Anton on the first and second falls

So after that we found a few more sweet drops - 2 nice clean drops, a nice continuous rapid and unfortunately there were two portages right at the end...

Will on the first of the two smaller drops

A nice fun rapid near the end

Yeah we were pissed! This rapid would have been super sweet and technical apart from this walled in death pit at the bottom!!

So that's it - the first descent of the Upper Seti's lower canyon. It was an awesome mission, and definitly cool with just the two of us - although more people would have made it easier. Since we ran it a few other groups have been down. First off was a French team who had a bit of an epic - one of their group broke his paddles and popped his deck on the second big drop and it sounds like he had a nightmare swim!! Also Anton has been back in there twice now - with Josh Neilson and a solid European team, I know Josh has put some video of it up on You tube so you should check it out!!

Cheers and Beers!

Will.

Photos: Will Clark + Anton Immler

Zambezi Trip Video

2008-11-28T15:10:00.004Z

Here is a short video from the September "Experience the Zambezi" trip :

Thanks to all the guys for an awesome trip, it was great fun showing you all around!

The Modi Khola. An awesome river.

2008-10-22T12:42:00.000+01:00

On Oct 20 Anton and I set off for the Modi Khola. Also on the same mission were a bunch of American guys and an English guy Matt who I knew from the Zambezi earlier in the year.

To get to the Modi you need to take a taxi or minibus for about an hour and a half. From there you unload and along with porters to carry your gear you hike all day to the 'Old Bridge.' After a night in tea house's or a hostel you hike for another hour up to the put-in at the 'New Bridge'.

After taking a separate taxi to the others Anton and I started hiking from Lumle to Langruk. After leaving our porters on the trail to meet back up later we reached Landruk at 1640m by 4pm.

-Early on in the hike looking up the valley-

-A lunch stop at Bitchuk-

-Still looking up the valley, one of the many valleys we had to descend and ascend-

-The view down the valley from Landruk-

-A sketchy looking 5 story Hotel in Landruk-

After we got to Landruk we drank tea and waited for our porters to arrive with our gear. Except they never arrived! We weren't sure why they hadn't made it but with dropping temperatures and only boardies and a t-shirt we had to wrap ourselves up with duvets and were in bed listening to our iPods by 7.15.

-View of the Annapurna range in the evening light-

In the morning we waited for a few hours wondering if the Porters were on the same trail as us, and after waiting to watch a helicopter land next to our hostel to pick up a sick dude we headed up to New Bridge at 9.30am.

-What were they trying to say?

Anyway once on our way news reached us from many hikers that a group of kayakers had already got on the water and there were two kayaks by the river. When we got right down to the river there was a message, presumably for us? Well fuck you guys too!! haha.

Anyway after a quick laugh we set out at about 11am down an incredible section of whitewater. We had to inspect virtually all the rapids from the New Bridge to the Old Bridge.

-Anton Immler heading down one of the many many awesome rapids-

-Will Clark hitting the same rapid-
-Photo Anton Immler-

-Anton Immler heading down the one with a big sucky siphon on the left-

This one was memorable as it was a really tricky line and a major obstacle to avoid. I got pushed towards the siphon above the last drop but managed to spin and ferry out of it again only to loop in the bottom drop. Anton got a better line through the top but looped at the bottom and took a bunch of rock on his pads.

-Will Clark on the bottom drop of 'the rapid with a siphon in it'-
-Photo Anton Immler-

-Will Clark, mid move-
-Photo Anton Immler-

-Will Clark about to grind the rock and avoid the gnarly hole on the right-
-Photo Anton Immler-

-Stoked after that one, that last rapid was the only one I was a bit intimidated by-
-Photo Anton Immler-

After a while we caught the American guys just before the Old Bridge and heard that they'd stayed at a different place on the other side of the river the previous night, along with our porters who we apparently worried about where we were.

-I think this is the one that kicked you out to the right a bit-
-Photo Anton Immler-

-Will Clark pulls it through another sweet rapid-
-Photo Anton Immler-

The river was truly awesome, there was just so many sweet drops one after another, we portaged one bit on the lower section where there was a big landslide and as we walked around the American group caught back up, they were having a good look so hopefully one or two of them ran it as it was a pretty cool long section of technical paddling. Other than that we ran everything the river had and by the time we carried out to the road just after the dam at 4pm we were shattered.

-Some of the local kids from the tiny village by the road where we took out-

All that was left to do was flag down a bus load the boats and ourselves on the roof and head back to Pokhara.

-The view from the roof-

It was pretty dark when we got back and pretty cold from being on the roof of the bus, and it was fairly hectic making sure a power line didn't take your head off on the approach to Pokhara. But it was a sweet mission.

Next another rest day and see if what I think is a spider bite on my leg gets better or worse. It's also my birthday tomorrow so the rest day might turn into two or three if we get drunk.

After that a couple more rivers then back to Kathmandu to pick up Anna Bruno and add another member to Team Uganda.

Happy paddling everyone.

First Descent Epic in Nepal...

2008-10-19T11:11:00.002+01:00

Yesterday Anton and I got up early and drove to Khadarjung on the upper Seti. From here we hike upstream for about three and a half hours on the premise that the river just got steeper and steeper so there should be some sweet whitewater in store for us. With the road to Khadarjung only being completed last year it's only recently that this upper, upper section has become easily accessable and from talking to Charlie - the owner of one of the kayak shops here, we're the first people to check it out.

-Some of the bridges were super sketchy on the hike up-

-Our porters are heroes, no way could we have done it without them-

-The view from one of the small villages on the way up-

-Just before we put in, Anton at another dodgy bridge-

-Another fully sketchy bridge just upstream of where we put in-

We hiked upstream from 9am until about 12.30. We went uphill, downhill accross the river about 4 times and through about four tiny villages - with only footpaths connecting them to the outside world. On the way we tried to get a look at as much of the river as we could. Everything looked sweet apart from one section which we couldn't see - where the river went around a big cliff and out of sight.

We wanted to carry on hiking but were aware of the time and trying to do the whole section in one day meant we couldn't check out the very upper reaches of the river.

So we put onto the water and headed down through mostly pretty cruisy grade 3 whitewater with the odd harder rapid, until we hit the canyon that we had been unable to scout on the way up.

What happened here was that the whole river went into a narrow canyon which unlike the rest of the river was mostly bedrock - which makes access on either side allmost impossible. We tried to get a look into it from above, but all we could see was that it was really steep, and pretty hard to get out of.

Well, Anton and I had to know what was in there so we went in anyway. It was definitly a case of 'must make' eddys and some pretty gnarly ferry gliding with each of us backing each other up with throwbags - there was no option to miss an eddy!!

-After ferrying accros the canyon first Will Clark inspects downstream-

After I'd had an initial look Anton joined me accross on the otherside of the canyon and we climbed our way as far down as we could go.

-Will Clark climbing down inside the Canyon-

-We reckon this was about 40 foot, but in these levels gnarly as hell-

This waterfall that we found was truely amazing especially when you consider that there are only a few runnable falls in Nepal. In this water level it was pretty full on - with big undercuts and crazy boils at the bottom, running into an unknown corkscrew drop then to another invisible horizon line - with virtually no way to get back out and no safety if it all goes tits up!!

But it will go, so we're gonna check it out when the water drops in another few weeks!!

We had a full on mission to get back out of the canyon - with even scarier ferry glides, and once out it took us an hour to trek around the side and get back into the river. As I put back on I had two leeches on me - this is the first place I've ever had leeches - they're strong buggers hey!!

Once back on we had an awesome section of good quality hard whitewater...

-Anton Immler on one of the most fun drops (I ran this one over the right)-

-Anton on the bottom half of 'the dodgy one'-

-Will Clark on the top half of 'the dodgy one' - neither me nor Anton hit the line we wanted on this one-

-Anton on a cool slot drop, it was getting pretty late in the day by now-

So we were finding amazing whitewater on this upper section - but the problem was we'd used too much time in the canyon and then walking back out and around it. So by the time we came down to Khadarjung - the normal start of the Upper Seti, it was 5pm. It gets dark here at about 6pm. And I'd say most people give themselves 2-3 hours for the section. We were both tired but all I said to Anton was 'Go hard and I'll keep up'. Anton did a solo mission in an hour the other day so I knew we stood a chance.

Anyway long story short we nearly made it in the light, but as it got progressivly more dark we were still on the river. At one point we had to run a canyon on the lower section - I guess it's graded 4 as there's a big hole at the bottom. By the time we ran it I was having to stay within 3 feet of Anton or else I couldn't see him and all I had to go on were shades of gray. Light gray = whitewater or big hole, dark gray = green water or maybe a rock, really dark gray person outline = Anton!!

Excuse my French but it was fucked up!! Haha, anyway it was pretty cool after we'd made it all the way down, it was so dark we could see the whole milky way!!

-Anton and Will minutes after taking out-

Luckily for us our Taxi driver was out looking for us and only 2 minutes after climbing off the river we were picked up and heading back to Pokhara for some food beer and sleep!

We're both hurting today so we're just chilling out and planning the next mission. We'll go back and do the upper upper Seti again soon but we'll take 2 days and I'll bring a torch!!

Go hard everyone!

Will Clark.

LiLi on the Zambezi

2008-10-02T07:35:00.012+01:00

We moved from the banks of the White Nile to Livingstone and the mighty Zambezi River. After a few weeks of fun boating for Will (and lots of physio exercises for me!) our first LiLi Zambezi trip of the year got under way. Jarrod Taylor (Kayak the Nile head guide), a seasoned Zambezi kayak guide, joined us and six guys from the UK for some fun on the river. All the guys got stuck in to the amazing variety of whitewater that the Zambezi has to offer and it was great fun showing them around. Below are some images from the trip:

A quick dip at sunset right on the lip of Victoria Falls; a great way to start the trip! – photo: John Dempsey

Rauri, Duncan, Alex, Jarrod, Will and John enjoying the view of the minus rapids at the base of the falls – photo: Myles Saunders

Great food cooked on a fire on day three of the multiday – photo: Will Clark

A new perspective on the Upper Moemba rapid on the multiday trip – photo: Will Clark

Enjoying an insight into Zambian culture on the scenic drive back from the multiday – photo: Rauri Kay

The guys trying their hand at rafting – photo: Bundu Adventures

Checking out a herd of elephants on the walking safari – photo: John Dempsey

Myles Saunders and Duncan McManus mastering their blunts on the beautiful wave on rapid number 2 – photo: Jarrod Taylor

The stunning Victoria Falls – the most impressive ‘get in’ anywhere in the world!? Photo: Will Clark

We got some pretty good video too; here's a still frame from a head cam shot on rapid number 5, there's a trip video coming soon!

Living it up in Uganda.

2008-08-04T08:31:00.014+01:00

It has been a while since the last update and a month or two of LiLi Uganda trips have passed. It has been great for both Will and me to get stuck into the coaching, to get to know a load of new people and to show them around this awesome country.

Photo’s speak louder than words (particularly when you are uploading on a Ugandan internet connection!), below are a range of photos of the trips and the guys who enjoyed the river here!

Dan Rea-Dickens tearing it up on Nile Special at the end of his trip.

Black and white, with a touch of ginger... the Dickens family making some friends.

Joe hanging out at Sipi falls... can you spot him?

Will doing what he does best.

A perfect spot for some coaching

Thank goodness it all flushes...

Looking good! Adam, Jared and Dan dressing like they mean it.

Del givin it some...

It is time to leave one home away from home and head to the next... Zambia. It's going to be fun! Fingers crossed for my shoulder to be fixed so that I can be more than a 'mum / shuttle bunny / logistics geek / photographer' for the up coming trips.

The last six weeks have brought experiences and lessons for me...

- I now know how it feels to spend 6 weeks in a world class kayak destination injured and without paddling and I don't wish it on anyone to have to do the same!

On the brightside...
- I now know what all the different tendons are called in the Shoulder (though I havent got a clue how to spell them).
- It has given Will plenty of chance to get involved with the love it live it adventure.
- If possible, it will make me appreciate our amazing sport all the more when I am back to it!

Shoulders aside, this summer has been awesome... the Love it Live it dream is happening for real, and with Will running all the coaching and all sorts of people loving the trips, its not just happening for me.

Zambia here we come!

(thanks to Will, Matt and Scout for the Pics)

Widowmaker, Nile Special and all the rest...

2008-06-19T18:32:00.008+01:00

It has been five whole months since I have been on the red mud banks of the White Nile. I’ve missed the river, the people and the amazing lifestyle that this place offers.

It was exciting to be reunited with my carbon kevlar boat, fortunately it still remembers how to fly!

Here are a few shots that Ivan shot during a session on the wave yesterday…

After being reunited with an old boat, I was introduced to a new one!

I brought a shiny new Pyranha Burn out to Africa with me for various missions we have planned in upcoming months, but I couldn’t leave it sitting in its bag for long. Pringle, Davey and Tom were keen for a Widowmaker mission...

The burn looking very small dropping into its first ever rapid

As well as boating and general antics I have been running numerous coaching courses… big volume down river techniques and some Nile Special freestyle courses. Its great to get back into it all. The first LiLi trip of the summer has just started and all is well... bring on the rest of the summer!

Typhoons, big water and the end of another trip.

2008-06-14T13:46:00.018+01:00

After paddling with the rafts one day, it started raining...

It rained A LOT.

The peripheral of a Typhoon had hit us and the rivers were going up fast.
The official gauge for the main river that morning said 28 cumecs as we went to bed it was on 500 and going up fast.

I am generally of the opinion that alarms shouldn’t be set for anything where the first number is less than a seven unless you have an early flight to somewhere very interesting. However, I am incredibly persuadable when getting up to kayak rivers in spate.

7am : We are already at the rafting base and the boats are loaded... the crystal clear water of the previous day is gone, what is left is something resembling liquid chocolate.

We head to the main river for some big volume play, with the hope that the rivers would drop enough to allow us a river we had scoped out the previous day.

The Yoshino river was totally different from the previous day. Many of the rapids would have not been out of place on the Nile or Zambezi!

We found some pretty cool playwaves on a few of the rapids, it was good to be back on a wave and playboating. However, the surfing was cut short by me snapping another damn paddle! It seems to be happening way to much to me recently, an expensive pass time.

After finishing the river, it was back to Yoshiko's place for a quick feed and to check the levels of numerous creeks.

Shitoshi enjoying some lunch on his front porch.

In the afternoon we headed to the creek we had checked out the previous day. A very alpine section with some continuous boulder garden stuff. It was a great few km of white water ending in an S bend rapid leading into a tight line through boulders and a small drop.

A good day of white water, ending in the train station and travel back to Osaka. Many hours in trainstations, buses and airports left me to reflect on a good trip.

If your determined to find it, Japan has some amazing paddling. Perhaps these photos will go a little way to convincing that there is awesome creeking to be had in Japan...

Teru dropping a big one in Shikoku

The big drop on Fox Canyon

So, the end of another trip, packed full of adventure experiences and paddling...

Thanks again to Teru and Shitoshi for the cool photos, for showing me around and putting me up!

New Places...

2008-06-03T00:16:00.005+01:00

The time had come to travel a good distance across Japan to visit an entirely different area - Shikoku Island.

The journey itself turned out to be an incredible experience full of weird and wonderful things. Space age ‘Bullet trains’ that go at 250 kmph made the journey shorter than it should have been. We chose to stop in Kyoto and Osaka, to check out some of Japan's older cities. Two unique places, full of rich culture and history where the contrasts between old and new are everywhere...

These places were full of character and quirky things, we could have easily stayed for longer but time was pressing and we were on a mission for rural Japan. Check out this statue that was outside one of the restaurants.

We couldn't resist going in, when we did, it got even better. Not only was the food out of this world, but every table had Japanese models (manikins!) who sit next to you whilst you eat.

Trying my luck with the ladies… the conversation was a bit limited.

The walls were full of crude drawings like this one… if anyone can translate this I would be very interested to know what it says!

The whole place was completely crazy. We got back on the bullet train, after numerous take away sushi's, connecting trains and a night of sleep we woke up to the pristine beauty of Shikoku!

The view from the bunkhouse at dawn

Teru, local legend and head guide at Happy Raft met up with us and we got on for a paddle with the rafts on the Yoshino River.

Stunning river

Stunning setting

… and much better rafting than Minakami.

We had a few days on this river, a beautiful place and I really enjoyed sharing experiences with fun people. It was great to paddle and hang out with guides happy to be on the river, loving what they do and giving their all to share those experiences with the clients!

Thanks to Teru, Kanami and Happy Raft for all the photos and fun!

Means of Production Trailer

2008-05-29T21:21:00.005+01:00

'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

2008-05-26T22:26:00.012+01:00

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!