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The Climax Wave

July 1, 2013, 10:37 am
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Mientras estábamos por Idaho nos comentaron que había una ola funcionando en el Main Payette, así que con cuatro indicaciones de unos guías locales nos fuimos para allá. Al cabo de un poco de conducir al lado del río vimos algo de agua blanca y la ola, verde y con espuma arriba… perfecta!


While hanging out in Idaho we heard about the Climax wave on the Main Payette. With a brief description from some local guides on how to get there we drove along the quiet Main Payette till we found some whitewater. After a couple U turns we found it, a really nice looking green wave with foam on top.



Sin nada de sombra alrededor y a más de 30ºC nos metimos al agua cuanto antes. La ola era más complicada de lo que parecía, y más después de tanto timo sin remar un kayak de rodeo, pero muy divertido. Al cabo de unos cuantos rides lo cosa empezó a mejorar y empecé a entender la ola y el nuevo kayak.


With no shade around and over 100ºF we parked and jumped into the water. The wave was really good but trickier than it looked. After a few rides I started to figure it out a bit more but still felt all the time I hadn't been in a play boat, for quite a while!



Esta era la primera vez que probaba el nuevo kayak de Pyranha, la Jed, y me encantó! Súper rápida en la ola y con buenos cantos hace que se mueva muy bien, además el casco el casco desliza muy bien haciendo todos los trucos más fáciles. Los clean blunts son muy fáciles de tirar y sobretodo de planchar, muy buenas sensaciones con este kayak!!


This was also my first opportunity t try out the new Pyranha Jed! I was super stoked on it on the wave, it felt super loose and fast, way more than what I was used to before trying it out, and felt it carved and moves around the wave really well, with ease and precision. The clean blunts were amazing, super easy to throw and land and feeling super good!


Remando solos rápidos nos cansamos así que un último baño y para Banks a buscar una buena sombra donde acampar. Muy buen día surcando una ola increíble!

With no boaters around we were exhausted in no time, so after a swim we drove back to Banks and looked for some shade to camp. Amazing day surfing an amazing wave!

Pics by Alícia Casas
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The Boise River Park

July 9, 2013, 2:43 pm
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The Boise River Park is located right in downtown Boise. The Boise river flows through town next to a big park where people goes surfing, running, kayaking... It's really cool to have something like this in a big city like Boise. 


There are two features that can be totally adjusted regarding the flow and the style of spot they want to paddle on, wave or hole.  



We did a couple sessions together with some surfers and body boarders and was a lot of fun. The wave is small but has some green and nice shoulders where you can throw many moves. It's a small feature but great for learning. 



Idaho River Sports is located just across the pond and they've been a Pyranha dealer since the beginning of times! Check out their website  at www.idahoriversports.com or even better stop by for a surf and check out the shop and great deals!


The Jed felt really fast and loose on such a small wave, making moves a lot easier and snappier, super stoked to have that boat right now!!




The weather was great and we had a great time, hope to make it back some day!

Pics by Ali Casas
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4th Annual Callaghan Race 2013

July 28, 2013, 11:40 pm
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El Callaghan está a unos 14km de Whistler, uno de los pueblos más turísticos de todo Canadá. En invierno es la mecca del ski y el deep poder, y en vernal de las bici y el downhill; sin embargo hay muchas más cosas por hacer en Whistler.

The Callaghan river is about 14km out of Whistler, one of the most touristic/busiest towns I'm BC. Whistler is the ski mecca in the winter and for downhill and mountain bike in the summer, however there are many other things to do in this mountain village.

Darren Albright en 2012




El río Callaghan tiene agua toda la primavera y buena parte del verano, lo que lo hace unos de los mejores clásicos gracias a su proximidad y a la gran calidad de sus rápidos, incluyendo dos cascadas de 15 y 20 pies una detrás de la otra!

The Callaghan flows from early season to mid summer which combined with the proximity to town, the easy shuttle and the amazing waterfalls and white water it has to offer makes it the local run. The run is about 4km, including a 15ft and a 20ft waterfall and many good and technical rapids. The water is clean and has a cool blue/greyish look…

la primera cascada del Callaghan
El fin de semana pasado se celebró la 4th annual Callaghan Race, una carrera para ayudar a dar a conocer el río Callaghan entre los locales ya que la empresa Innergex está en fases de desarrollo de un proyecto para represar el Callaghan.

Another great run in the area is the Upper Cheakamus, a class IV non stop run with a nice waterfall at the put in and many boulder gardens all the way to the take out, pretty sick!
Last weekend was pretty busy in town with the 4th annual Callaghan Race, a race started four years ago to help gain awareness on the Callaghan as it's currently under direct threat for hydro development.


Jules and Corey and the two amazing waterfalls!
El viernes por la tarde se hizo la carrera individual en el Cheakamus, un recorrido de unos diez minutos con una cascada en el put in y rápido tras rápido non stop hasta el take out, muy buen río clase IV y muy continuo. Después de una bajada correcta pero no muy buena ya que solo había hecho el río un par de veces antes además de un par de viajes de rafting por la mañana conseguí quedar primero y en segundo puesto Darren, mi compañero para la carrera del Callaghan!

Due a warm previous week we had pretty good water levels on the Cheak and Callaghan and a good number of motivated boaters from all over the place ready to race and have fun!
A time trial took place on Friday evening on the Upper Cheak and a team race on the Callaghan on Saturday afternoon to round it off! After a solid day at work I had a good run down the Cheakamus and managed to come 1st followed by Darren Albright who was going to be my partner for the team race on the Callaghan.



El sábado por al tarde se celebró la carrera por equipos en el Callaghan, así que después de trabajar por la mañana nos dirigimos al río con Darren. 25 equipos y 52 participantes hicieron de esta edición la más grande hasta la fecha! Con Darren hicimos una buena bajada aunque nos separamos bastante al principio lo que hizo que consiguiéramos nuestra mejor bajada, sin embargo suficiente para conseguir el primer puesto. Después nos hicimos otra bajada de despedida y a la fiesta! Un gran fin de semana remando y corriendo dos de los grandes clásicos de Whistler y BC!

foto de grupo en el Cheakamus
After a couple rafting runs on Saturday morning at work the race started in the afternoon with 25 teams and 52 racers, the biggest numbers the event has seen so far! Team after team we al enjoyed the amazing whitewater of the Callaghan from top to bottom while trying t go as fast as possible! We had a good start but didn't managed to stay together all the time what made us a bit slower than we could. Anyway we had a good run and managed to win the race which was good! Stoked after that we all headed to the cabin for the after party! Thanks Sandy!
Overall a great weekend of kayaking in BC paddling two of the best classics around Whistler.

foto de grupo Callaghan Race 2013
Muchas gracias a Steve Arns por organizar el evento y estar activo frente a la amenaza de represa del Callaghan!
Muchas gracias a Darren Albright por correr conmigo y a todos los voluntarios y gente que ayudó a hacer tiempos, resultados, seguridad, transporte, fotos y vídeo... Gran fin de semana que espero se repita año tras año!
Para más información acerca del río Callaghan y como ayudar:  
http://liquidlore.com/callaghan
https://www.facebook.com/SaveTheCallaghan
Para resultados y más información de la carrera:
http://www.liquidlore.blogspot.ca/2013/07/whistler-race-weekend-results.html



podio y trofeo (Marlow, Andraz, Marcos, Gerd, Darren y Mikkel) yeah boyz!
Thanks to Steve Arns for putting this together organizing the event and taking measures to fight back the threats about damming the Callaghan.
Check out https://www.facebook.com/SaveTheCallaghan and learn more about it, you can help!
Thanks to Darren Albright for racing with me and to everyone who volunteered doing timing, results, safety, shooting video, etc It was a great weekend, wish the levels were still good right now!!
You can also check www.liquidlore.com/callaghan for results and more info about the Callaghan race and a lot of beta from many rivers in BC and Canada.
http://www.liquidlore.blogspot.ca/2013/07/whistler-race-weekend-results.html


Photos by Jordan Bastin and others.. (sorry!)
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Kayak the World with SBP ep.2 - Kayak en México!

August 7, 2013, 9:44 pm
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Vídeo de algunos de los mejores ríos y rápidos de México, el paraíso de las cascadas! 


Follow the SBP boys and their mental friends as they travel deep into a waterfall paradise in México. Enjoy some fine paddling from some of the best waterfalls mother nature has to offer, surrounded on all sides by thick jungle and banana fields. 




Para ver el vídeo con su música original (segunda canción) click en el enlace!


Para ver todos los vídeos de la serie:


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Pyranha Jed

August 13, 2013, 1:27 pm
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Jed o Jed Eye es kayak de freestyle/playboat de Pyranha. Hace ya casi dos temporadas que está en el mercado, desde mediados de 2012 sin embargo no había tenido la oportunidad de probarlo hasta ahora.  

Después de varias sesiones en diferentes spots en los estados unidos puedo decir que he probado el kayak en varios tipos de rulo y de ola.  
probando el primer entry
El primer sitio donde la probé fue en Rattlesnake en el White Salmon en Washington. Una ola pequeña y con mucha espuma, sin embargo quedé sorprendido de la velocidad y rapidez del kayak así como la facilidad para empezar maniobras como el clean blunt.
El siguiente spot fue Climax Wave, una ola media y verde en Idaho. El kayak aun se notó más rápido en una ola más grande, muy fácil de surfear y de lanzar trucos como air blunt, pan ams, airscrews… Más fotos y texto: http://kayakgerd.blogspot.ca/2013/07/the-climax-wave_1.html

La ola de Boise era muy pequeña, sin embargo el kayak permitía todo tipo de trucos además de sentirse muy rápido y vivo. Muy fácil de controlar y muy cómodo para pasar horas y horas en el agua hasta no poder más! Más fotos y texto: http://kayakgerd.blogspot.ca/2013/07/the-boise-ww-park_9.html

Llegó la hora de remar en rulo, en los Payette River Games en Idaho, y aunque no pude remar mucho ya que estaba enfermo las pocas sesiones en el agua fueron muy buenas. El kayak se mueve muy bien en el rulo y figuras como el lunar orbit, tricky, puntas… salen mucho más fácil y mejor que con cualquier otro kayak.  Más fotos y texto: http://kayakgerd.blogspot.ca/2013/06/the-payette-river-games-id.html

La Jed fue diseñada por Robert Peerson junto con el equipo de diseñadores de Pyranha y ayuda de todo el Team. Robert era antiguo diseñador para Wave Sport y diseñó grandes modelos como la Project, Project X o la Habitat.

Empecé a remar freestyle con la Pyranha S6, la que fue la piragua de referencia de la época. Esta evolucionó con la S6x y la S6f, y después llegó la 4Twenty con la que remé varios años. Siguiendo a esta diseñaron la Rev. Todas estas piraguas tenías unas líneas similares y seguían los mismos principios de diseño. El siguiente modelo fue la Molan, con un estilo de kayak ya diferente y desmarcado  de las líneas de la 4Twenty y Rev, y finalmente llegó la Jed. SIn duda alguna la Jed es el mejor kayak de freestyle de Pyranha y ahora mismo es de los mejores sino el mejor playboat del mercado.

Su casco hace que sea muy rápida en la ola además de surfear muy bien. Esto nos permite hacer maniobras como los 360 sin esfuerzo. La Jed presenta un diseño de casco muy interesante, y muy efectivo! Su casco plano hace que surfee muy bien y sea muy fácil de controlar. Los cantos hacen que sea muy precisa a la hora de remar permitiendo cambios de dirección, cutbacks, y cambios de casco muy rápidos que nos permiten conseguir mucho aire en los trucos. La parte de la cola presenta una forma en V que nos facilita los cambios de casco para trucos aéreos de ola como airscrews, pan ams, clean blunts...



Tanto la punta como la cola de la Jed son estilizadas y con volumen, sin embargo los cantos /lateras son lo más afilados posible para que entren al agua de la forma más suave y ofreciendo la menor resistencia posible para todo tipo de cartwheels, splits, tricky woo...

El equipamiento interior es muy cómodo y funcional. Reposapiés de espuma para que no se mueva, asiento y musleras fálcies de acomodar y calzar, riñonera ajustable con carracas y tabiques duros para que el casco mantenga su forma y no se aboye. 


En el rulo o en agua plana la Jed es el kayak más fácil de rotar gracias a sus puntas afiladas y distribución de volumen, lo que nos permite hacer tricky woos, superclean cartwheels y demás sin mucho esfuerzo. A la hora de hacer loops tanto la punta como la cola nos ayudan a pinchar y a pasar el loop a la hora de plancharlo, y el volumen en el centro del kayak y rodillas nos permite coger mucho aire. 


Colores para 2013
Características


Dimensiones y peso palista

Pyranha nos ha sorprendió el verano pasado con la Jed en carbono, y este año ya la hemos podido ver en las diferentes competiciones y eventos. La construcción y diseño de la piragua son increíbles, realmente han echo un gran trabajo. La versión full carbon tan solo pesa 7kg, y es de las mas sólida, duras y resistentes que he visto! Tuve la oportunidad de probarla por un par de entradas en Skook y la verdad es que es increíble! Muy rápida, muy ligera y transmite las mejores sensaciones. Es un placer navegar con un kayak así de ligero y cómodo! 

Pyranha JED Carbono

versión full carbon, 7kg!!
Aquí tenéis un vídeo de varios miembros del Team Pyranha remando con la la Carbon Jed en Garb, HPP... 

Y también en Skook! 

En definitiva creo que la Jed es una gran piragua, muy fácil de utilizar con la que podremos aprender y progresar de forma rápida y que además nos permitirá seguir avanzando y evolucionando ya que permite todo tipo de trucos mejor que cualquier otra piragua que haya probado antes. Así que muy contento al poder remar con este kayak cada día!


Para más información:
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Skookumchuck Narrows

September 9, 2013, 8:38 am
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Skookumchuck wave is located really close to Egmont at the Skookumchuck Narrows National Park. To get to Skook you take the ferry from Horse Shoe Bay to Gibsons and drive along the coast until you reach Egmont. It's a really scenic and beautiful drive.



Skook is considered one of the best and smoothest waves in the world, and it definitely is! 



Since I started watching kayaking videos I've always dreamed about Skook. At first I didn't know it was a tidal wave or where it was, and definitely never thought I'd ever go there. Fortunately things change and this year I was fortunate enough to go for a few days. Skook was as sick as I always thought it would and I'd like to be there right now!


Watching the wave build up and form is amazing, it goes from nothing to one of the most perfect waves in the world, and the scenery is amazing. There's all kind of sea creatures, specially purple stars. We also saw a black bear and a seal, stoked!

We had three days of amazing weather and an awesome time with the Demshitz (Dave, Bren, Mike, Craig and Matt), and friends from the Gorge Rush and Matty B with Marcos, Benny, Tait and Mat! We all had  great time sharing the wave and watching each other. After the long afternoon and evening spent at the wave we would cook a big meal and pass out, so good!


The Jed did awesome on the wave and I was impressed by its looseness and speed. I surfed for hours every day just to wake up super sore and tired the next day and keep going. It was definitely lot of fun!



Dave, Bren, Craig… they were all paddling the carbon Jed which is the lightest, stiffest and raddest carbon boat I've seen and paddled in my life. The boat is only 7 kg and it's amazingly fast and loose. Unfortunately I only got a couple rides on it but definitely enough to feel the power and potential of this boat!


Matty B with the RED Epic
Tait Trautman taking some killer shots









Overall we had an awesome time paddling the best boats and the best wave, perfect combination!

Pics by Alicia Casas
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Pyranha Burn III

October 24, 2013, 4:32 pm
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Más velocidad, más control y mejor dirección


La tercera generación de la Burn es el último modelo de Pyranha en su larga tradición de kayaks de aguas bravas. Los palistas confían y disfrutan del casco juguetón, los cantos precisos y el diseño de la Burn para todo, desde el aprendizaje a las aguas bravas más extremas clase V.

La nueva Burn mejora todos  los puntos anteriores para proporcionar más velocidad, mejor control y precisión en aguas bravas y boofear sin esfuerzo. La combinación de estabilidad y precisión hacen de la Burn el kayak adecuado para todo tipo de aguas bravas, ya seas un novato remando en clase II o un experto corriendo todo tipo de rápidos y cascadas.


“La Burn no necesita introducción, usada por ambos palistas amateurs y kayakistas profesionales como su kayak de día a día este es el último modelo de una evolución que empezó hace más de 20 años con la H2, H3 y las dos generaciones de Burn que siguieron. La nueva Burn es el kayak de referencia para river running y creek para 2014”.
Graham Mackereth MD Pyranha






Puntos clave
  •  Más longitud – Más velocidad y mejor dirección/control
  • Cantos más pronunciados – Mejor control y precisión en el río y a la hora de jugar
  • Cola rediseñada – Canto donde lo necesitas y menor resistencia
  • Más Rocker – Vuela por encima de rulos y olas y boofea cuando lo necesitas
  • Bañera rediseñada – Más seca, menos implosiones de cubre y más cómoda a la hora de cargar
  • Distribución de volumen – inspira confianza a los palistas
  • Asas de aluminio 2014 - nuevas más fuertes y resistentes asas con inserts para un kayak más seco
  • Asiento Connect 2014 - Más largo y ergonómicamente más cómodo y fácilmente ajustable proporciona la mejor posición de paleo



Primer prototipo final durante el OR en Utah, USA


Colores para 2014
Además os presentamos tres colores en edición especial para este 2014! Avenger, Zion y Daredevil. 


Características Técnicas

La Burn III presentará 4 tallas; S, M, L, XL. De esta forma cualquier palista encontrará la talla perfecta para su peso. De momento os dejamos las dimensiones de la talla M y las demás se darán a conocer en breve.
TEST
Después de probar la Burn el el tramo del Adidas Sick-line en Austria y en el Noguera en Sort, dos ríos muy diferentes, he de decir que estoy muy contento con el resultado y el diseño final del kayak.

Este es un pequeño vídeo que he hecho de la nueva Pyranha Burn III. Tuve la oportunidad de probarla en el tramo de la Sick-Line en Áustria y en el Noguera en Sort. Las sensaciones dentro del agua fueron muy buenas, el kayak es muy rápido y es muy fácil de manejar/mantener en la línea, su casco hace que sea muy rápido a la ora de girar/maniobrar y sus cantos hacen que sea muy precioso en líneas estrechas o haciendo contras y chicanes, no derrapa nada! Estoy muy contento con este kayak y espero tener la L muy pronto!!


Pyranha Burn III 2014 from SB Productions on Vimeo.

Para más información:
www.pyranha.com

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Beautiful BC!

November 23, 2013, 6:14 pm
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Hace ya un tiempo del verano en BC, pero quería compartir estas foto de todos los buenos momentos en el agua. BC ha sido increíble, trabajando un poco con el rafting y remando mucho en los ríos de al lado; Cheakamus, Callaghan, Ashlu, Fear Canyon… y muchos más a los que no pude ir… Aquí están las fotos de este verano remando por Whistler-Squamish con muy buenos amigos!

So good to paddle again with Aniol after a few months, ready for ultra low water Callaghan, still fun!
It's been a while since BC, however it feels good to think about it now. Summer in BC was great, a bit of work and lots of paddling. Cheakamus, Callaghan, Ashlu, Fear Canyon… and a lot more I couldn't go to. This are just a few pics from the summer, super good times paddling around Whistler-Squamish with great friends!
 High ass water Ashlu Box! Better go somewhere else!

Some cute friends


My last run down 50/50 with all the boys after our Stikine trip, amazing last day in Canada paddling the Box with all my friends!

The amazing waterfall of the Callaghan, so soft and smooth!

 Having fun at the Upper Cheak put in drop


Sin duda BC estuvo buy bien y me gustaría volver el año que viene, veremos sue pasa. Aún hay muchos ríos por hacer y descubrir! Gracias a todos por el viaje!

Needles to say BC was great and I'd be stoked to go back next summer and paddle all the rivers I missed this time! Thank y'all for the good times!

Thanks for the pics: Ryan Lucas, Jordan Bastin and Alícia Casas

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Otoño... Stikine+Sickline+Green race

November 27, 2013, 11:05 am
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Después de dos semanas remando el Stikine llegó la hora de volver para casa, casi después de un año para arriba y para abajo del continente Americano (México - Chile - México - Canadá - USA - Canadá). El Stikine ha sido uno de los mejores momentos de este viaje, haciendo 4 descensos de unos 100km y con más de 100 rápidos de agua grande en cada uno… sin duda uno de los mejores ríos del mundo rodeado de un paisaje espectacular, paredes verticales y por suerte buen tiempo y caudales estables y buenos amigos! Gracias Stikine!

About to drop into the Stikine with the Adidas Sick-Line Team! Good times!!!
After two weeks on the Stikine with the rest of the Sick-Line crew I finally flew home after almost a year of travels up and down the American continent. The Stikine is one of the best rivers I've ever paddled, almost 100km, 100 big water rapids, 3 to a few hours on the river, you choose, best scenery, amazing canyon, great friends and amazing times! Definitely hard to beat and this season up there was awesome with stable flows and amazingly nice weather! Thank you for the good times!

Going right at the Wall 2 for my first time!
Una semana por Sort y enseguida tocó ir para la Sick-Line en Austria, la carrera más difícil e importante del año. La sick-line es una carrera muy corta(de menos de un minuto) por lo que no puedes cometer ningún fallo, ya que sino los otros 150 participantes te pasan dejando fuera de las finales. hay mucho nivel y muchos palmistas rápidos, sobretodo palistas de slalom de toda Europa.


I spent a few days home and soon enough I headed north for the most important and harder race of the season, the Adidas Sick-Line in Oetz, Austria. On its 5th edition now the event is in my opinion one of the hardest without a doubt. There are a lot of paddlers (about 150) and a lot of really good paddlers from all over the place plus some of the best slalom teams in the world (germany, czech republic, slovenia, slovakia… the course is really short and explosive (under a minute) and if you do one mistake you loose a lot of time and there's no place to recover, the race is over.

This year I felt like I didn't have much time to prepare for it as i was on the Stikine, however being in the water for most of the year without any injury made quite a difference with my previous editions. I finally reached the super final again and after a not great final run I ended up 6th, just behind team mate Sam Sutton. Props to Egor for taking third! I was happy with the result and hope I can do better next year. 


Siguiente, la Green Race en Carolina del Norte, EUA. Primera vez para mi aunque es una de las carreras más famosas del mundo. Río muy técnico con muchas piedras y además con long boats, pero muy divertido.


Next was the Green Race in North Carolina, USA. The weekend prior to the race I attended the Russell Fork race in Kentucky, just a few hours out of Asheville. I paddled the river once and the raced it, was interesting to see how much I could remember and trying to go as fast as possible while deciding where to go at the same time, definitely an interesting experience! I ended up 5th after I got lost and dropped into an eddy/hole that flipped me… All good though, training for the Green race was on. 


La carrera no me fué nada bien y no conseguí remar cómodo el día de la carrera. Tanto en long como en short boat no estuve fino y fallé muchas lineas que me hicieron perder mucho tiempo. Al final 4º en ambas categorías. Sin duda habrá que volver el año que viene mejor preparado.


With dam releases being on certain days the locals have sue advantage on that river, I managed to learn the lines pretty quick but there are many tricks and little rocks that are hard to master. Race day came and unfortunately I didn't paddled my best, I had to roll once and lost a bunch of time in the slides. I then did short boat and that didn't work too well, it was hard to adapt and that was my second short boat run ever… I lost some time here and there and got stuck on the slides again… at the end I came 4th on both classes but some good seconds from the firsts spots. 


Anyway I'm happy I made it and got to discover the south east kayaking community over there and experience the Green race, famous for being one of the oldest racing events in kayaking history. I hope I'll be back next year for more and improve some lines down the Green. Congrats to Pat Keller for throwing down an amazing long boat run taking first place! See you next year!

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Vídeo del Gran Cañón del Stikine

December 6, 2013, 10:24 am
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For years the Stikine has been considered the Everest of kayaking. The remoteness and difficulty of it’s rapids makes any of the most hardcore kayakers scared. Follow the Serrasolses brothers as they embark on an epic journey for the 2nd full descent of this whitewater gem.
Cameras:
Gerd Serrasolses
Aniol Serrasolses
Olaf Obsommer & Jared Meehan - Adidas Sick-Line
Ben Stookesberry - Clear H20 Films

Big thanks to Clear H20 Films and Adidas for all the additional footage !
Paddlers: Gerd & Aniol Serrasolses, Sam Sutton, Barney Young, Jules Domine, Ben Stookesberry, Chris Korbulic, Jared Meehan.
Shot on:
Sony FS 700
Canon 7D
Go Pro 3 Black edition

Music:
1. Forgotten dreams
2. Ventanas al mañana – Iluminate feat Cafres
3. Tourtist acid – Placid Acid

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Campeón AWP World Series 2013

December 16, 2013, 1:19 am
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Gerd Serrasolses Solà , palista del Club Piragüismo Salt- Ter de Salt (Girona ) se ha proclamado Campeón de la Copa del Mundo de Kayak Extremo ( AWP World Series ) gracias al resultado conseguido durante la última prueba de la Copa del Mundo en los Green River Narrows en Carolina del Norte, Estados Unidos.


El palista catalán ha conseguido una cuarta posición en la última prueba de la temporada, un resultado que le ha permitido asegurarse el título y convertirse en Campeón de la Copa del Mundo de este 2013.

Antes de afrontar la última prueba tres palistas estaban empatados en primer lugar, el neozelandés Sam Sutton, el francés Eric Deguil y el Catalán Gerd Serrasolses. La Green race era la prueba definitiva, la clasificación general de la Copa del Mundo dependía del resultado de la competición lo que hacía esta carrera muy importante y emocionante.


I'm super stoked about taking my first AWP World Series Title for 2013! The AWP World Series is the World Cup of Extreme Kayak Racing, a series of 6 events (3 in Europe and 3 in north America) that determine the overall winner at the end of the season. The AWP World Series have been put together for the last few years to create a world cup racing circuit with the best events in the world and try to promote kayaking and extreme racing. It's really cool to see so many fast paddlers on all the events and it creates great competition. I think the future of this side of the sport is really interesting and has some great potential.


Serrasolses consiguió un 4 º puesto que le permitió sumar los puntos necesarios para proclamarse campeón justo por delante de Deguil que terminó 5º. Finalmente la clasificación general terminó de la siguiente manera : 1. Serrasolses , 2. Deguil , 3. Sutton .

"Esta última carrera ha sido bastante complicada ya que todo el mundo tenía algo más de presión al estar en juego la clasificación general y el Green River es un río muy técnico, con muchos rápidos y donde la ventaja de ser local es un factor muy importante a tener en cuenta" .

"Aunque la última competición no ha salido del todo como esperaba estoy muy contento de haber conseguido este nuevo título gracias a una muy buena temporada donde he estado muy regular en todas las competiciones" .


Las carreras de kayak extremo consisten en descender con el menor tiempo posible para un tramo determinado de río que presenta rápidos y saltos de agua de alta dificultad y a menudo peligrosidad.
La Copa del Mundo de Kayak Extremo consta de 6 pruebas, tres en América del Norte y tres en Europa. Más de 600 palistas de todo el mundo han tomado parte en esta temporada de competiciones .

Europa
- Outdoor Mix Festival en Briançon , Francia
- Ekstremesports Veko en Voss , Noruega
- Adidas Sick - Line en Oetz , Austria

EEUU
- The Little White race en White Salmon , Washington
- The North Fork Championship a Banks , Idaho
- The Green race en Hendersonville , NC

Gerd Serrasolses ha finalizado su mejor temporada de competición consiguiendo ser muy regular con muchos podios y un 6 º puesto como peor resultado.


The events for 2013 were:

Europe
- Outdoor Mix Festival in France
- EkstremeSports Veko in Voss, Norway
- Adidas Sick-Line in Oetz, Austria

USA
- The Little White race, Washington
- The North Fork Championship, Idaho
- The Green race, Hendersonville, NC

Right before the last event (the green race) Eric Deguil, Sam Sutton and myself we tied for first place what meant that the Green race would be the tie breaker and determine the 2013 World Cup Champion. I was feeling quite a bit of pressure, the race is really big (over 100 competitors) and it's the most important race in north america. Being at it's 18th edition they've been going for almost 20 years! 
The race wasn't great for me and I didn't get to paddle well on race day however I managed to come ahead of frenchman Eric Deguil what gave me the overall World Cup victory.


I was really happy about it and however I started the year just getting back from an injury in February I'm just amazed at how much good white water surrounded by great friends I've paddled this year. I want to thank all my friends who've helped me out borrowing gear, offering shelter and going paddling with me. It's been an awesome season and I'm looking forward to 2014. Thank y'all!



Pics by: Jacob Boling, Mike Leeds, Alícia Casas, Tait Trautman, Heather Herbeck

Artículo también en la web de Oxígeno, Red Bull y TV3.
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NZ living - South Island

January 13, 2014, 11:03 am
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Hace ya casi dos meses que estoy en Nueva Zelanda y el tiempo está volando. Es muy bonito y hace buen tiempo y siempre se puede remar después de trabajar, de hecho no hay tiempo para nada más.


I've been in New Zealand for over two months now, and time is flying here. It's nice and warm, super beautiful, there's paddling every day and long days working and paddling keep you so busy!


Volé a mediados de noviembre directamente a Queenstown, donde me encontré con Dylan, JV, Shannon, Willz y Brendan. Lo primero que hice después de no se cuantas horas de vuelo pero muchas fue remar el río Nevis cerca de Queenstown que sigue siendo uno de mis favoritos. Muy continuo y muy divertido, con movimientos técnicos, pendiente, rocas y rápidos muy interesantes durante horas. Un río increíble con buen tiempo y buenos amigos.


I flew mid november straight into Queenstown, where I met up with Dylan, JV, Shannon, Willz and Brendan. We paddled the Nevis river near Queenstown which is still one of my favorites, just super continuous, lots of fun and technical moves, good drops, good water, steep and really long. Such a good run with nice weather and good friends to show me the lines.


Después de eso nos fuimos al sur de Fiordland para explorar algunas cascadas nueva s y primeros descensos. El paisaje es increíble, y aunque no remamos mucho vimos unos paisajes magníficos. Después regresamos hasta Queenstown/Wanaka hicimos algunas bajadas más en el Nevis y nos fuimos hasta Christchurch y volamos a la isla norte.


After that we drove south to Fiordland to explore some unpadded rivers and waterfalls. The scenery over there is amazing, and however we didn't get to paddle much we got to see some amazing places. After a few days hanging out south we drove back up to Queenstown/Wanaka for a few more laps on the super fun Nevis. It was already lower but still really nice. After that we drove to Christchurch and flew to the North Island.


Ahora estoy viviendo en Okere Falls donde trabajo y remo todos los días en el Kaituna. El agua está caliente, cañones y paisajes increíbles, buenos amigos y gente para remar todos los días, un gran sitio para pasar el verano. Súper feliz de estar aquí trabajando y remando todos los días.


Right now I'm living in Okere Falls where I work and kayak everyday on the Kaituna. Warm water, amazing canyons and scenery, great friends and people to paddle with and super fun white water, overall a greta place to spend the summer. Super happy to be here and having lots of fun just hanging out and paddling daily.


Photos by Justin Venable

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NZ living - Okere Falls

February 25, 2014, 6:31 pm
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Being based in Okere Falls at the banks of the Kaituna for the summer is awesome. Amazingly beautiful location, super good folks to paddle with and an amazing local run to lap and lap everyday. Besides surf within 20 minutes drive and amazing mountain bike trails in Rotorua.


Time's been flying between laps on the Kaituna and Wairoa, some surf trips to Gisborne and the East Cape, Waihi… and of course some work too!


Lots of events happened on the river this season already, first of was the 6 hours Enduro team race which I had to miss due an injury on my ribs while kayaking another river early December. Next up was the Xmas @ Kaituna event held just before Christmas; progressive BoaterX with 4 different courses while going down the river, 8Ball race, beach ball team race and blow up toys float. This was a super fun event and I was stoked to be back in my boat after a few weeks off due injury and really happy after taking the boaterX and the 8Ball race with some lucky rounds! The swim/float down the river with another 30 persons was sick! Cheers Brendan and Lou for organizing it!!


On Jan 11th we had the Andy Duff Memorial, where you get to race down the river in play boats, creek boats, tandem, swimming and rafting. It was a super fun afternoon and very exhausting, specially the swimming, but really cool. Thanks Douglas for organizing that year after year! A week after that was the Okere Falls Champions a multi sport race organized by Jamie Sutton. You start sprinting to your bike and biking for a couple k's around the lake, then running a bit and swimming on the lake and down the slalom course, after that you jump on your kayak felling dizzy and with no power at all and try to make it down the river as fast as possible, carry your boat up a bit and run up the road to the Okere Falls Store where you have to skull a beer, which after doing all that is probably the last thing you want to do… Anyway a really fun race which includes 4 different sports and takes about 30 minutes of going all out. Mad props to Tim for crushing everyone on that one! Ben Robson was second and I was happy with third place!


Next up was the first round of the NZ Extreme Racing Series, with the Kaituna Time Trial and the Wairoa Extreme Race. The Kaituna's been really low for the last couple weeks, at about low 200's, so the race was really physical with some nice and long flat stretches but still fun and fast rapids. Mike killed the time trial with a 7'16" and I was third after local legend Kenny Mutton.
We also raced long boats and after a nice lap with the Hurricane I got first place which I was stoked about! We finished the afternoon with a three person team relay that was really fun as well!
On Sunday we had the Wairoa race with a 5 minutes time trial to start with and a head2head down the 'Roller coaster' rapid. I managed to get second on the time trial behind Mike who again did a great time trial run but unfortunately I got knocked out on the earlier rounds. Overall a great weekend that wouldn't have been possible without the time and effort of Brendan, Lou and Tyler, thanks guys!!
Here's a link to full results of both events and a little write up by Brendan: http://nzextremewhitewater.com


All and all summer's been great so far, lots of good kayaking with friends and having fun on the water, the best way to get ready for next spring!

I just want to thank everyone in Okere Falls for being one of the best/coolest kayaking communities out there and helping us out with everything! Super happy and stoked to have made it this way for the winter and hopefully I can come back next year!

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South Island and the PNW

April 6, 2014, 4:36 pm
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For the last 15 days of our stay in NZ we decided to go down to the South Island to paddle on the West Coast and do a couple fun races. Unfortunately things didn't go as planned with me getting hurt on the first race.


The day after we arrived was the Citroen race, an awesome BoaterX down a big volume rapid called Citroen on the Kawerau river in Queenstown. A really fun rapid with a cool entrance around a big boulder in the middle followed by some big crashing waves and diagonals, and the walk is not too bad! I got there Saturday morning and did a couple laps before the event to get to know the rapid a bit, then we started the boaterX. I did a few rounds and after a few heats advanced to the final. 


Unfortunately though as I pushed off the ramp and landed in the water another competitor landed on me so the bow of his boat hit my hip really hard. That moment I paralyzed and screamed like never before, so much pain! I tried to paddle but I had no power and the pain was really high, but I was floating fast into to rapid so I had to do something… I paddled/floated down the rapid and eventually ended up at the bottom where I got out of my boat. I couldn't walk but I did float down to the take out. Thanks Brad for carrying my stuff and driving me around! 


I had to rest for the next three weeks, the pain eventually decreased being able to walk and move around but not able to do any king of effort or sport, and to this day my hip still gets sore after an hour in my boat.

I'm now finally back on the Pacific North West, specifically White Salmon in the Washington/Oregon border by the Columbia river. The Gorge is an amazing place, extremely beautiful and wild it offers many awesome runs really close by, and the amount of kayakers in town is huge, so there's always someone keen to go for a lap!


Big storms early spring made the levels rise from low to extremely high after a really dry winter, and now we have perfect water levels on all drainages! 


My favorite one is the Little White Salmon, only 15 minutes away offers the best amount of white water per lap; super fun moves, drinkable water and amazing old rain forest.
There are a lot of paddlers here this Spring including my brother so we are always going to the Ldub, it's really good!
So all in all life's real good! Stoked to be where I am and doing what I love. Thanks y'all!

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My White Water Grand Prix

June 1, 2014, 6:29 pm
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For the first two weeks of May I went to Canada to paddle and compete at the White Water Grand Prix in Ontario and Quebec. The WWGP is a 6 stage competition (3 freestyle and 3 racing events) over 15 days on some of the biggest white water!

I had been racing and doing quite a bit of creeking before the event, but I hadn't sat on a play boat for a while and specially for a big and cold wave like the ones they have in Canada, so I was pretty nervous about the freestyle events.


It all started really good with Stage 1 - Big Trick Contest on Gladiator, Ottawa. We had an awesome sunny day with a nice wave and lots of positive energy. I felt good in the wave and managed to land a few big tricks that later on would give me a 5th place finish, I was pretty happy with it!

We then moved on with Stage 2 - BoaterX at the Rouge river. We had a time trial and then the boaterX. I made onto semis and then got unfairly disqualified at the finish line unable to made it into the finals. I was pretty disappointed with this result as the decision was wrong and I lost a bunch of points that would later affect on the overall ranking.


Stage 3 was the Time Trial on the Shawinigan river, we gad three runs and the two best counted. The race was super short (under 1 minute), I had an ok first run, a bad second and a good third. Not stoked with my racing but luckily it was enough for a 4th place finish.


Stage 4 was on Black Mass on the Mistassini, a really big, fast and dynamic wave that allows for a lot of moves but it's pretty tricky. However I did some good tricks during training I didn't manage to put a ride together for the competition which put me in 15th place, another result I'm disappointed with due the fact that I didn't throw any trick…


Stage 5 was the Freestyle Showdown also on the Mistassini river, we surfed an amazing wave that allowed for every trick and awesome rides. I couldn't have the ride I wanted but I was able to put some tricks together and came away with a 9th place.


Last Stage 6 was the Giant Slalom on the Base Caché river close to Quebec city. We had two runs, I had a 1.20 on my first and a 1.17 on my second that would have given me the win if it wasn't because I touched one of the only 4 gates there were on the course… Bummed about that for sue but it was over!



At the end a 5th place overall which I'm happy with but I want to think that I could have paddled a lot better, specially on the races. The Grand Prix is a tricky event with lots of great paddlers, constant changes and some difficulties, so I'm happy I was able to improve my 7th place finish from 2011. I'm hoping I can paddle the way I want on the next edition!


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The last few months...

November 7, 2014, 4:01 pm
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The last few months have been non-stop, ending with a crazy unfortunate trip to Chile to finish it off!



I spent July working as a raft guide in Whistler and paddling on the Cheak and Callaghan daily waiting for the Stikine to come in, which did and really early! August 2nd and we were getting ready to drive north for our first run of the season! We got there to find great water levels and amazing weather! We had an awesome season opening 3 day trip, another 3 day trip and a one day that was great. Overall we had great weather, some nice/high flows on our second trip and lowish on the others which still make it an amazing run! 

We shot a lot of footage during our trips with Nomade (Tino and Lore) and Eric Parker Photography for a Red Bull project with my brother Aniol. There's a lot of amazing footage and I can't wait to watch the edit they are putting together, coming out real soon!


After that we drove south to Revelstoke to try to get some waterfalls but the ran wasn't enough so we only paddled Sutherland at a very low flow but it was still great.
We then drove back to Whistler, paddled the Ashlu a bunch with great flows and time to go home came by!


Landed in Spain mid september, hang out for a week painting my grandmas house and paddling in Sort and left to Sickline.



Sickline was great, there was 7 of us from Sort so the drive went by pretty fast. Once there it's a great life, wake up, eat, kayak and sleep. It was great to sleep on nice beds and cook in a kitchen after so many months of traveling and camping!
The race started really good for me, winning the qualification and quarter finals, made the super final in second place as lucky loser after Sam knocked me out on semis but my final run wasn't good enough and ended up taking 4th. Started off and hit a rock, what made me make more mistakes and  not have a nice rhythm, felt slow throughout all the course and yeah I was almost 2 seconds slower… Hope to learn from this year and be more prepared next year!!


Right after Sick-Line we flew back to BC to finish the Red Bull project as we needed Fall lows water flows. Everything went great and went back home.


I spent some time paddling in Sort, went surfing in France and the Basque Country, got sick for a week and flew to Chile which took a bit lover than expected as I had to spend a couple days in Panamá as they didn't want to let my boat in the plane once there… 


Anyways summer and fall were great, lots of kayak in amazing places like the Stikine, Revelstoke, Sick-Line… overall an awesome time a bit busier than expected but sweet times. Now I'm hanging out in Chile where I'll be all winter long escaping the cold and enjoying the great rivers and places this country has to offer.

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Chile Trip part 1

December 2, 2014, 6:19 am
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On late November I started a three day journey to Chile. Departing from Bracelona to New York and to Panamá for a couple days layover as my boat wasn't allowed in the plane after making it all the way there… a day of paperwork and 400$ less and my boat was on its way via Cargo with the same airline… thanks Copa Airlines!



Anyways made it to Chile and went straight to the río Maipo just outside of Santiago where my good Astorga friends live and fight against the Alto Maipo Project the Government and private corporations are trying to put on their river and land. The plan is to divert the river and all it's tributaries into 70 km of pipes to produce energy for the copper mines in the north. This means drying a whole region with multiple valleys and rivers and taking all of the drinking water for Santiago polluting its waters and mixing them with residual waters from gold mines and others to be purified later on… I really hope that the Government and politicians that rule Chile can see further than their own pockets and decide what's best for Chile and for its people, NO ALTO MAIPO! Learn more about the Alto Maipo Project here: https://www.facebook.com/NoAlProyectoAltoMaipo



After settling down and paddling the Maipo for a few days we started the drive south with a first stop at the río Claro. The Claro is one of the most amazing rivers in the world, clean water and the most beautiful lava canyon you can imagine with all kind of drops and rapids, it truly is a kayakers dream. 


The last time I was there was in 2007 together with Chris Korbulic on what we thought was the first descent of the 'Garganta del Diablo', my favorite section. It took us a long day to scout as much as we could from the canyon rim, and I think we only saw the 20% of it? Anyway we put on the next day hoping everything would be fine and we discovered one of the most awesome places on earth. It was such an awesome  feeling to go back and remember everything from that tip… We got there late afternoon and put on straight away. 


The water was low but we paddled some of the best white water ever so we war so stroked!! The next day we ran the 'Cocina and 22 saltos'into Garganta and finished off with the 7 tazas. Such an awesome day of kayaking surrounded by the most polished and smooth basalt walls you'll ever find, its amazing, you have to be in there to understand it and  experience it by yourself. After another day of some more paddling we started to long drive south to Pucón. 


The levels in Pucón were still good when we got there so we rushed on paddling the Nevados, Trancura, Palguin and Puesco at good flows. All this runs are really close to town and it's easy to paddle three rivers in one day so within a couple days I was already pretty sore but so stoked to be down there after so much time since I paddled any of this runs, for me it's like a rediscovery trip as the last time was 7 years ago and a lot has changed since then, the rivers, the rapids, the gear and myself so its an awesome personal experience to live it all again. After a few days of great weather levels started to drop and we decided it was time to head south.



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Rey del Río in México

December 8, 2014, 3:21 pm
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We just got back from the Rey del Río in México, an event organized by Altius and River Roots founded by the Mexican Government and the Board of tourism of México. 


I was stoked to meet team mates Sam Sutton and Egor who had also flown in for the event. With another 25 of the best kayakers in the world, good organization, huge prize money and waterfalls it was going to be an awesome weekend!


We flew in to Villahermosa (Tabasco) and drove to Palenque (Chiapas) where there are awesome Maya ruins. From there we drove to the río Tulijá commonly known as the Agua Azul due to the turquoise blue color of its water because of the minerals it contains. 


We did a few training runs on Friday and a time trial to seed everyone for the boaterX. Saturday started early with the first rounds of the boaterX. The course was really narrow with only one deep line so it was really hard to pass anyone, the time trial played a huge role on the boaterX as choosing your starting position meant a lot. In the end I didn't make the final (top 4) but I did manage to win the losers heat and ended up 5th. Not a good result but that's all I could do with the seeding I had (6th). Congrats to Pat, Dane and Egor and Isaac for going fast and taking the top spots.





Here's a sick video by RiverRoots from the BoaterX event on Saturday:  



On Sunday we all headed downstream to a set of three waterfalls, a 30ft, 50ft and 40ft. Every paddler had one run and he was judge on his technique, style, progression… There were sick lines, tricks off the waterfalls and all sorts of cool stuff. 
Personally I didn't have a good run and even broke my paddle on the second drop… Anyways it was a fun day. In the end I ended 7th 1 point from Sam. Pat Keller took the win followed by Rush and my bro Aniol.


Overall it was a great event, well organized and the media that Jared, Matt and Polly took is amazing so looking forward to see all the great footage they shot. This is a great step for kayaking to attract some main stream media and portrait our sport in great way.


After the event my bro, Benny and I drove north east for 8h or so to Tlapacoyan, Veracruz. We stayed at Aventured and had a great time going paddling every day. Big Bananas, Jalacingo, Tomata… There's a lot of quality white water and a lot of fruit too so it's a great place to hang out and spend some time.


After a week it was time for me to head back to the city and fly back to Chile where there are a lot of river waiting, so stoked I made it out to México, learned a lot and hope to do a lot better next year! Now it's time to paddle some rivers, head south and eat empanadas.

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Year Review 2014

February 5, 2015, 11:11 am
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I guess you are normally supposed to do this before the year actually ends but I was busy traveling in southern Chile so I didn't have time then. Here it is anyway!

2014 was a great year, super fun and almost 100% injury free with lots of kayaking on my favorite destinations! So stoked to be living this life right now, focusing on traveling, kayaking and trying to enjoy life to the fullest!

I spent the winter in Okere Falls, New Zealand where I did lots of paddling on the Kaituna, slept in a bed every night and had tons of fun hanging out, learning to surf and taking part on the different kiwi events. Went to the South Island in February but got injured on the Citroen BoaterX and couldn't paddle any of the West Coast classics. I guess I'll just have to go back!

Early March we flew to Vancouver, bought a 22 year old Astro van and started the drive south to the Gorge, WA. Settled down at Todd's trailer and paddled non stop. We had nice weather and great levels on the Little White and White Salmon, it was a great season with lots of boating with amazing friends on my favorite spot in the world. Spring went by really fast and we left to the White Water Grand Prix in Quebec for a couple weeks in May.
We found big waves and lots of ice! It was good times with lots of freestyle and some good boating around Quebec and a 5th place finish with some bad luck and pretty average performances on most of the stages.


After Canada it was time for some races on the NW! First off we went to the Big Fork event in Montana, organized by my friend Jonny Meyers it was a great weekend with 3 different races (downriver, slalom and GS) for the overall. I was so stoked to take first and bring home some cash! 
One of my personal most important races of the season was next, the Little White Salmon race! After some good training thisyear I was feeling really good, the 9r prototype was working really well and I was stoked. Race day didn't go too well though, never felt good during the 15 minutes race, had a numb leg and went too hard at the start having nothing left for the end… Not feeling good about my downriver race run I was fired up to do well on the Spirit slalom. Training run was great, race run I go off and miss gate 1! Ahhhh  anyways it was a great weekend and finishing second wasn't that bad! Stoked for Evan to take his second title and can't wait for another chance next year!

After Ldub race is Idaho bound! We drove to Banks to paddle the North Fork everyday and get ready for the NFC III. On Thursday we had the Expert Lower 3 race, a 10 minutes race down some class III-IV where its pretty hard to go fast as there are lots of crashing waves and white water. I did my best but had lots of trouble keeping the boat under control and doing many mistakes, at the end I got first with less than a second lead though, it was a tight one! After the premiere in Boise where we showed our new SBP reel 2014 and partied a bit everyone got ready for Saturday at Jakes. I had two decent runs but lost quite a bit of time on gate 2 on both runs and hit a few more rocks than desired. This conservative runs were only good enough for 4th place this year, will have to go faster and take more chances next year for sure!
We paddled the North Fork for another week and then headed up to the Payette River Games just a few miles upstream. I entered the freestyle, boaterX and 8Ball races. Ended up 10th at the freestyle event after a couple training sessions, got 4th at the 8Ball and luckily took the win at the boaterX going home with some more dolla$! So stoked! After the PRG I started the drive back west and then north back to Canada, it's BC time! 


Got to Whistler early July, started working at Wedge rafting and padded the Cheak and Callaghan everyday with Ali and friends, pretty good times! Unfortunately the levels weren't as high as I expected but it was a good time! We entered the Cheak time trial and the Callaghan race. I managed to win both events and it was a really nice time.
Time went by fast and the Stikine dropped in earlier than expected so by August 1st I quit and got ready to head north. After a long drive we got to the put in of this magical place ready to go for the first trip of the season. Nice weather, good flow and a sick crew, let's go! We took it easy shooting a bunch and making it the traditional 3 day trip. We did another 3 day trip with great water levels and an awesome one day. It's such an amazing place!



After the Stikine we went to Revelstoke where there wasn't much water but enough for Sutherland and Pinkston. After a couple days we drove back to Whistler to finish off the trip on the Ashlu. A couple great weekends on the box and some days on the Cheak left us all tired and ready to go home.


Landed in Spain mid september, hang out for a week painting my grandmas house and paddling in Sort and left to Sickline. Sickline was great, we had good flows and pretty nice weather overall. I surprised myself and I managed to win the qualification on the lower section and clocked a couple fast times on the top section, however I didn't have a good run on my final and had to content myself with 4th after doing good all weekend… This was my best result yet and a good experience for next edition.





Right after Sick-Line we flew back to BC to finish The Keyhole Red Bull project as we needed Fall lows water flows. Everything went great and I went back home for a few days before flying to Chile for the whole winter.
After some days of traveling troubles I landed in Chile late October and paddled the Maipo just outside of Santiago. We then moved south and paddled around Pucon including a couple trips further south to GolGol area. Mid Novemeber we flew to Mexico for the Rey del Río, an event in Agua Azul that included a BoaterX and a Waterfall comp. After the event we went to Tlapacoyan and paddled on the Alseseca and Jalacingo, two of the best runs in Mexico.




After Mexico we spent some time around Pucón and then traveled south following the water and paddling as many rivers as possible. It's been an awesome time just camping everywhere and paddling all of the good classics that still have some water. It's been really dry and all the snow and rain from the winter is almost gone so the rivers are pretty low right now but there's always water and rivers to paddle, you just have to keep going south.

Overall it's been a great year for me, I've managed to spend all year traveling around the world visiting NZ, the USA, Canada, Chile, México and Argentina and only go home for over 2-3 weeks. I've only had minor injuries and I've paddled a lot, almost everyday and in some amazing places. I've paddled the 9r prototype all spring and I'm now super stoked to have the final version, it's sick. I feel my paddling still improves year after year even though sometimes it's hard to see it and easy to get frustrated. I can only ask for 2015 to be as good as 2014 and I'm sure it will be with plenty of adventures and expeditions ahead.

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IR skirts 2015

April 14, 2015, 10:54 pm
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I've been using the Lucky Charm skirt from Immersion Research for the last six months straight and I'm stoked it still looks like the first day!


Immersion Research is based in Confluence, PA, USA and they produce all kind of kayaking gear, from drysuits to skirts to backbands and other accessories.

Salto del Indio, Gol Gol, Chile | pic: Evan Garcia
IR is most famous because of their world renowned skirts. They are the best in the market simply because they are the safest while still being dry, durable and comfortable to wear and paddle everyday. Their rubber band stays on your boat on every drop or waterfall you run and you can even land on your head and still stay in your kayak which is pretty nice sometimes.

Rey del Rio, Agua Azul, Mexico
I’ve been using the 2014 Lucky Charm but they just came out with the 2015 collection and they look sweet. Both the Rand Royale and the new Lucky Charm look great and bright with some new colors, materials, more comfortable and even safer, so get out there and enjoy them!





Check out their skirt collection here: http://www.immersionresearch.com/store/product-category/spray-skirts/whitewater-rand-spray-skirts/

Crashing into some waves on the Baker, Chile 
Or just go to http://www.immersionresearch.com and check all their catalog. IR is probably the brand that’s pushed their products the most within the last couple years so expect great design and quality from all their products.

Enjoying some laps on the Mariman, Chile
Stoked to be using and representing the best skirts out there!!



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