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Extract from July 2008

Message from the "Ed"

Luckily, the Open Weekend passed with fine weather overhead and a great time was had by all, so thanks to all those who attended and also to the organising committee who did a fantastic job. Unfortunately due to my final exams coming up I had to fit some revision in so only spent some of the of weekend down there but the smiling faces and reports of membership forms running out speaks for itself. In the meanwhile there have been various trips away, notably in the half term. Dave Priestley and gang spent some time up in Scotland, while Steve Wapplington and myself headed for the French Alps (see reports below). I've just started my job for the summer so for the busiest chunk will be away so I wish everyone the best for a sweet summers paddling! Please take care and have a fantastic summer.

See you on the water, Joe

Whitewater Safety and Rescue on the River Don

A white water safety and rescue course was organised for Sunday 16th March with local top level BCU coach Matt Keyse from Activities Away. Participants were me, Steve Wapplington, Steve's very competent ex-army friend Jonny, NCC coaching co-ordinator Kev Elliot, and Somnambulistic Nick Tate, aka Nicola State. We also covered river leadership issues as we went along. The cost was £25 per person, which is a bargain when you realise how much you can learn in one day. The put-in was beside the A616 north of Deepcar and the get-out was at Oughtibridge - the HQ of the Sheffield Canoe Club. When I woke up and saw how cold and wet and miserable it was I kept my phone handy waiting for the call to tell me it had been cancelled. I couldn't understand it. I had breakfast, drove to the McDonalds north of Sheffield where we were due to meet and still no call. What is the matter with these people? After a high quality (joke) egg muckmuffin breakfast we went to the start point to get changed. It was bloody freezing. Matt went through our kit to ensure we were not carrying too much excess gear - we didn't need 6 first aid kits, 6 split paddles, 6 shelters etc etc. At least ferrying the cars to the finish in all my gear meant I was able to warm up. We lined up on the river bank and Matt gave us a briefing about the trip in general and peer group organisation in particular.

The Don was a very appetising shade of browny grey. We put in, had a quick warm-up on the water and were on our way towards the first hazard - the weir a few hundred yards from the start, the one they recommend you portage due to the concrete jutting out.

I sat and watched Jonny make a clean decent, Kev have a quick wibble wobble b’doing whoa-there and Nick go one better and capsize. He did roll up again so respect to him although his brand new Sweet helmet had a nice deep scratch on it. You should have left it at home Nick - your head would have healed up for free. I didn't laugh and take the rise though because I suspected I would be next......

The Don is really rather good. Apart from the litter the Don Valley is very pretty and there are enough features to keep you entertained. The main hazards are the rocks. They were just about covered but occasionally you would slam into one of the little (and not so little) buggers. Low brace at the ready at all times.

After surviving though not exactly thriving through a series of hazards and rapids I limbo'd under a fallen tree/strainer and tipped over - doh. As I disappeared beneath the freezing brown water I saw Steve Wappo out of the corner of my eye a few yards away. My bomb-proof roll (another joke) failed me but Steve kindly zoomed in with a bow rescue. We then got out for nearly two hours to examine and practise rescue scenarios on the fallen tree. Apart from not really warming up even though a watery sun appeared occasionally this was an excellent session. If you haven't spent some time with a top coach I strongly recommend you try it. For every situation on the river where you think you know what is going on and what you should be doing at least a dozen things will be pointed out that you hadn't thought of. Not only that but you will constantly receive advice about how you could do something better or safer or more elegantly.

Eventually we got our kit loaded back in the boats and set off down the river again. The grade 3 boulder garden, the most technical feature on this stretch of the Don, was about 200m downstream so it was a good way to warm up. Everyone made it through sunny side up.

The final feature before the getout was the large waterfall/weir before the industrial section. It is around 10 feet high but actually has two steep steps in it. This makes it a lot easier than it looks which is what we want. Things that look impressive and dangerous but aren't really.

Top day with a top coach, learned loads and didn't suffer from the cold or capsize as much as I thought I would. It also shook me out of my sitting by the fire couch potato comfort zone.

The Don is a great place for a club trip although the difficulty is very dependent on the water level. Anything from a very dangerous raging torrent to a walk among the boulders dragging your boat.

Adrian

French Alps 08

Leaving for Dover on Thursday 22^nd May we were unsure of what to expect when we arrived in the Alps with both a huge snowpack and forecast rain for our time away. Driving over the highest pass shortly before arriving in Briancon we found enough snow to have a wee snowball fight and watch snowboarders haul themselves up a near vertical face. With blazing sunshine we were most definitely in the mood for a great time away; plenty of water, cheap cheese and cheap wine!

Soon we arrived in Valloise, a small town which was to be our base for the week in a small apartment normally used during the ski season. Superb location, being only 50 metres from the put to the Gyr, which I’ll talk about later. Keen to get on the water we headed ten minutes down the road to Argentiere la Bessee, home to a fantastic alpine grade three slalom course. With a few members of the group new to alpine whitewater this was a great warmup. Emrys and I even managed to get in a cheeky race down the course, involving us both floating upside down atleast once – no such thing as a friendly race particularly as he was Welsh no.1 Slalom at one point! Pizza and beer followed in typical French fashion.

Saturday, our first proper day and being Emrys’ birthday we thought we’d make it a special one and packed in four rivers that day! The Upper Guisane proved to be a sweet run to begin the day with, mostly grade three rapids and one big grade four, ‘S-bends’. Briancon Gorge was apparently known for its poor water quality but in high water still had glistening grey/blue water.

The get in was fantastic as we slid off a ledge straight into the middle of the first rapid. What followed was great continuous read-and-run water in a superb gorge, only marred by Tricky slipping out of an eddy and running a rapid he didn’t intend on running first. As soon as we finished, chunky French bread and lots of cheese made a great lunch. The first rapid of the Onde was the chunkiest so far, Steve and Tricky jumped on below while the rest of us ran it and met them below. This was one of my favorite rivers of the trip, really continuous grade three with the only problem being the occasional tree to dodge. Sliding into a micro-eddy at the get out we were soon on our way back to base. As mentioned before we were at the get in for the Gyr, a continuous grade 4+(5) blast which I named the ‘Expresso Run’. All the group jumped on, bar Tricky who decided to be group photographer at the get out. The local test is to try and beat the shuttle car to the get out as its only around fifteen minutes in length. This was truly a rollercoaster for paddlers as all rapids were read-and-run, mainly because you didn’t have much choice of stopping! Huge beams from everyone said it all as we sat in the bar at the get out. What followed was a truly horrendous night of studentesque drinking to make sure the birthday boy celebrated in style.