White Water Course October 2010

Pure Liquid Kayaking ran a super-successful white water course this October, based on the River Dart in Devon. I couldn't have asked for a better group of paddlers to coach on the river, with every single one of them super-keen and enthusiastic, hungry for new challenges and to improve their skills, and up for every task I set them. It was a total pleasure paddling with; Rob Tew, Ben Hipwell, Nick Richards and Jon Roberts. The course ran over a series of four Saturdays during October, with week one covering the fundamentals and basic skills on the Lower Dart. Progression was rapid to say the least (excuse the pun), especially for Ben who had never paddled on moving water before, and by week two we were on the Loop in low-ish flows utilizing the abundance of quality features there. A successful trip was had by all; running every section, including boofing 'Washing Machine' and eddy-hopping 'Triple Falls'. Week three saw higher water levels, with it lapping the ledge on the 'Loop put-in', so a perfect progression onto stronger flows - we even ran the last Km or so of the Upper Dart to start the day off with more excitement and the new challenge of running drops. The faster flowing water allowed the students to charge harder into and out of eddies, and further improve their river running skills. Right at the end of the day we did a safety and rescue session involving swimming down rapids and using throwlines for rescues. For the final week of the course the levels were slightly low again, but this didn't mean that we weren't going to have fun and further push our skill levels on the river. First up, we found a great little spot for having a go at flat-spinning our kayaks, before embarking on the main focus of the day - hitting as many eddies as we could on every rapid on the river. The guys discovered eddies they never knew existed before as we eddy-hopped our way down even the more challenging sections of water such as 'Lovers Leap' and 'Triple Falls'. We also found plenty of surf waves to play on, and in between all that we looked at leadership - with everyone having a go at leading the rest of the group down. Some of the more exciting elements of the day included a 'boof-fest' at the 'Washing Machine', (where we discovered Ben was a boof-a-holic), and trying our hand at some super-exhilarating pop-outs in the first drop of 'Triple Falls'. All in all, a fantastic day was had by everyone, and at the take-out we had a super-positive debrief and feed back session. From my point of view; I'd had a great month of paddling with and coaching a superb group of paddlers, and their progression throughout the course was phenomenal - with all of them looking super-comfy on the 'Loop' and paddling really smooth and strongly by the end. Well done Guys! Keep at it! And maybe not long before we get you on the 'Upper Dart' eh?! ;) 

Photos courtesy of Rob Tew.

October Climbing Update

For the last few years I have had the aim of one day climbing the classic Berry Head HVS route; Moonraker. After pushing my climbing grades this year and spending a good part of the summer Deep Water Soloing, I finally got to the point where I felt ready to tackle this famous route. On October 17th the conditions came together, and Elisabeth and myself made the decision to turn that dream into a reality. Moonraker is 200 feet of serious and committing climbing, accessed by a traverse in through a huge cave which naturally adds to the excitement and adventure of the route. With swell crashing about in the cave, we ended up with wet feet before we'd even started the climb. The first pitch went well, and I managed to avoid getting too pumped by blasting through the steeper sections. Pitch two was easier climbing, and we stopped on the belay for a small snack while we soaked up the beautiful view in such a unique and awesome setting. There was no turning back now that the tide was coming in - it was a one way ticket! The third pitch was much longer than the other two, but much straighter due to it following a natural crack system. By now I was pretty relaxed and accustomed to being on the route in that environment, and as a result I cruised the final pitch to the top, emerging from the shade into glorious sunshine. I'd finally done it! Woohoo! Fantastic! I was so happy! Elisabeth made it to the top easily too, and we celebrated our achievement together whilst admiring the glorious vista from the summit, and sharing the experiences we'd had on the route. We both agreed it had been a superb day, such an adventure, and much easier than we'd been led to believe. Wicked!

Three days later, and full of confidence from the successful ascent of Moonraker, we headed over to Torquay to climb another classic route; Gargantua, which is graded E1, so a little harder. This line is super-exposed; following a 140 foot arete up the main cliff at Daddyhole, but I was feeling on-form and super relaxed about the whole thing so it didn't really phase me too much. Abseiling into the base of the route gave me a sneaky peak at what was in store, unlike on Moonraker. I led pitches one and two straight through to the second belay in the exposed and bottomless niche, and found the climbing to be absolutely superb with some amazing movements and holds. The first part of the last pitch was a little tricky with delicate moves on small holds, while also being very exposed. Thankfully I reached better holds for the final few overhangs to the top, and I let out a woop of satisfaction on reaching the grassy belay at the summit. The thing with this route was that I enjoyed it much more than Moonraker, mainly because the climbing was much nicer, but also because I enjoyed the actual 'in-the-moment' climbing more than the satisfaction of actually completing it. This could have been because I was so much more relaxed and focused on my climbing?!? At any rate, it was super-fantastic and I loved every minute of it. As a reward we had a rather nice sunset to boot. Magic!