Kinlochleven

Last weekend saw EUCC take a massive 36 people away for the weekend kayaking. Staying in Kinlochleven in a hostel which we had to ourselves it could only be a good weekend. Leaving early on Friday evening we took a convoy of vehicles up with us for a beginner based trip. Friday night saw activities including sock wrestling (in which I remain undefeated) and table mountaineering among others. It was a nice relaxed chance to meet all the people on the trip that I hadn’t got a chance to meet yet.

The next morning we set out and took over the lower roy. Splitting into 3 still big groups we slowly bumbled down the river. As the groups were fairly randomly split we had no idea of the ability level in our group. Although the river was incredibly low and I dread to think how much plastic was left on the bottom of the river we undoubtedly had numerous swims. Our group got off at Roybridge and waited for the others to finish the middle spean before coming to pick us up.

That evening, everyone was tired after a long day and the night before but everyone was looking forward to a more exciting day on Sunday. On Sunday we drove to the Etive to see if it was at a good level, but we soon realised that it was a bit too high to be taking beginners on. However we went down river to the lower Etive to a grade 2 section with a portageable 4. The harder section was good fun and I was glad to see most people have a go, even if they ended up swimming. After this we got off and about 8 of us stayed in kit and drove up back to the middle Etive to have a go, now with a crowd.

I only did triple steps as was knackered and quite happy to finish on a high, but even these claimed a few people. The video below is of my run of the first two drops.

After  this we began the journey home with the obligatory stop at the Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum. It was a really good and all the beginners seemed to enjoy it and hopefully get a taste of something harder watching us at the end. I’m sure that I’ll no doubt be going back to the Etive sometime soon with the club.

Settling into Edinburgh

Not being content with only being a Bachelor of Science, I’ve left England and headed north of the border to become a Master of Science at Edinburgh University. It’s been in the planning for a while and after getting the paperwork signed off and renting a van I moved up at the start of September. The drive up took a good 7 1/2 hours and we were met by a rather chilly Edinburgh for the first night.

It didn’t take long after moving in to get to know Edinburgh and the rest of my new flat in Marchmont. As things with uni stated to get going I got  in contact with the canoe club and managed to tag along a lift to the Wet West paddlefest that weekend. It was a great oppourtunity to meet the club before new members joined and go on a good intermediate trip. Based around Fort William we did the  Spean Gorge and the Garry on the first day with the first being exceptionally low. Although the Garry was a good little blast with a few chances to play about on the way down. The next day (along with about 200 other people) we did the Moriston, which is a grade 4/5 run north of Fort Augustus. It was great fun once you pluck up the courage to throw yourself over a meaty horizon line, even if it put a major scratch in my shiny new paddles.

Photo from the WWPF website of the Moriston

This drop is followed by a nice grade 4 section infront of the crowds that had gathered.

After eventually getting back to Edinburgh late it nice to have Monday off as a local and University holiday before starting uni the next day, where we got to meet the rest of the course over the week. Our course has a got a wide range of people/nationalities, out of 55 there are at least 15 Irish, but only 4/5 British, not that I’m complaining, it’s nice to have a mix. At the weekend we went to Murrayfield to watch one of teams local to a few of the Irish guys, Leinster play Edinburgh in the Magners League. It was an average match with an exciting last 10 minutes which saw Leinster clench it.

The following day I went off with the Canoe Club, back in the direction of Fort William where an ‘intermediate’ group did the Allt Kinglass into the Orchy, where we did all of the sections down past Eas a’Chataidh. I took my first swim of the year on the first grade 5 at Easan Dubha where I took the wrong line and subsequently took a beating at the bottom. But all in all it was a really good trip with a great bunch of (mainly new) people, if not slightly knackering.

Since starting uni I’ve also signed up to the Triathlon Club along with around 5 people from my course and one of my flatmates. The training has been good fun and I’ve realised that I’m rubbish at swimming, need to buy some padded shorts for cycling and need need to get out running more. However the club has 2 dedicated coaches who are really good and  compared to the cost of membership is an absolute bargain, even if I only go swimming once a week.

Now that I’ve been in Edinburgh a month it’s starting to get cold but I’m really enjoying it and I’ve been so busy, but I’ve loved every moment of it so far so the rest of the year should be great fun too.

Graduation

After 3 years of working (and playing) hard my time at Manchester has come to a close. I graduated with a First Class BSc (Hons) in Physics and got to put on the purple and gold robes to collect the certificate from the Vice-Chancellor in the beautiful setting of Whitworth Hall on Oxford Road. Some photos from the day are shown below.

Me and the Parents in University Place before the ceremony

Collecting my certificate from the Vice-Chancellor in Whitworth Hall

Belinda and I in the Old Quadrangle after the ceremony

Turkey

This trip was devised after being inspired to go somewhere new after a series of talks of where other people had been. The plan was to go somewhere hot, beautiful but not too hard, it fit the bill pretty well. We started the trip with a few days in Istanbul visiting the standard tourist attractions.On our first day we visited the blue mosque, the Topkapi Palace and ran to the underground Basilica Cistern as the heavens opened.

The Basilica Cistern, Istanbul

The next day we visited the newer part of town, experiencing Turkish ice cream which has a marshmellow like texture before hitting the grand bazaar in the afternoon all while being ripped off for storing our boats at the airport (£60 for 3 days).

Inside the Grand Bazaar

We then flew to Erzurum and drove to Yusufeli where we would be based for the rest of the trip. We stayed at the greenpeace campsite, where we met Birol who’s help would prove to be invaluable over the course of the trip. If we wanted to do a river he’d tell us the get in, get outs, hazards and have a driver waiting for us in the morning. For our first river the next day we decided on the Lower Barhal from Sarigöl which finishes at the campsite, this was supposed to be a nice easy introduction for everyone who hadn’t been in a boat for a while. In reality it was a pushy grade 4/4+ run, forcing all bar one of us to take a roll but it was my favourite river of the trip.

Beth on the Lower Barhal

The next day we decided on something easier and did 15k of the Çoruh from Meydan finishing at Yusufeli which was a much gentler grade 2/3 section. Most of us then continued on into Yusufeli gorge where there is a great 9k, big volume grade 4 section. After spending the evening planning we decided to do a 3 day trip along the Çoruh from Ispir to Yusfeli, a distance of 95km. After driving along the dusty main road, and stopping for Çay with the builders while they did work on the road we arrived in Ispir 4 hours later and set off. After setting of late we found a place to camp in a dried up paddy field not far from Ispir. the next day we completed about 40k of grade 2/3 before setting up camp again on the bank of the river.

Team Photo, taken by Oktay

The next day saw us complete the final 40k, including a few stops, one up to a castle which we saw from the river. The multiday was a great trip and a good introduction to living out of the back of the boat and the differences this makes to your paddling. After completing the multiday we were met at the bottom of Yusufeli with a minivan to take our boats back and we walked back through the town before relaxing back at the campsite in the evening.

Tom and Dave on the Çoruh on the multiday

We decided to do something a little pushier the next day and decided on the Upper Tortum which started below a lake and waterfall high in the mountains. It definitely lived up to this and within the first kilometer I had my first swim and broken my paddles in doing so. After changing to Dave’s homemade splits we carried on. A few km’s later we reached a river wide strainer formed by a fallen telegraph pole which I failed to clear and ended up rolling under to everyone’s shock. Carrying on we reached a tricky rapid which needed inspecting and I decided to portage. However the others ran it and Rhiannon ended up dislocating her shoulder despite still rolling up. This effectively ended the day as we got out and got her to hospital to get it checked out.

Tortum Waterfall

The following day we decided on a day off paddling to let everyone to recover. Birol gave us a lift to Dörtkilise Monastery which was hidden up in the mountains but we decided it would be a good idea to walk the 21k back in the 39° heat, which didn’t help in resting.

Dörtkilise Monastery

Back on the river the following day we set off from the campsite and did the Lower Barhal through Yusufeli with the locals watching from the bridges before passing through Yusufeli gorge again, although this time in much lower where I took my second swim through exhaustion and lack of concentration. From here we continued down to the King Kong rapids which we good fun and in high water would be pushing on grade 5. Unfortunately this is where my paddling ended as I was hit by a tumbling rock when we pulled the boats out and up the cliff which has ‘possibly’ fractured my rib.

The last paddling day saw Beth, Dave and Tom run the Upper Barhal, a notoriously hard run which has a fairly significant gradient from up in the mountains. A week ago two guys from Leeds lost their boat here which we luckily enough to find and recover for Birol but it was a nice finish to the paddling even if half of us didn’t do it.

Tom and Beth on the Upper Barhal

The next morning we left for Erzurum and spent a day there before heading back to Stansted via Istanbul. In conclusion it was an amazing trip and we were there at the very end of the season. High water is April-May and then dies of until July when it gets too dry. If you’re are thinking of a trip you’ll need to go asap as their damming a significant proportion and Yusufeli will be underwater in 2 years time.

The Alps with MUCC

After the stress of the May/June exams a trip to escape away from it all was much required. After months of careful planning we all met up outside stores to leave Manchester in search of sunshine and good boating in the Alps. From here we set out on the epic journey to L’Argentière-la-Bessée in Southern France in a convoy of two minibuses and one big van with all the boats in for the 22 hour drive.

Taking a break from driving

After arriving and setting up camp a few of us got on the slalom site and not quite knowing what to expect I ended up getting a slight beating on my first run but managed to stay in my boat. The following day we started properly with the whole group and began with swimming practice at the slalom site before heading down the Durance to St Clement where there is another slalom site. A few of us then headed down to the wave at Rabioux.

On the Durance, Photo: Dave Perry

The next day we decided on a much lower volume river, the Lower Claree, to allow everyone to get used to their boats before the first of our coaches, Dave Brown, arrived. With Dave Brown here we first did an excellent flat water session which broke down all the aspects of strokes and paddling into their component movements before going back to St Clement to try out these skills on the slalom site.

The next day we did the Upper Durance in the morning before the Upper Gizane in the afternoon. This was a nice grade 3 with one grade 4 section which I ended up being far more nervous about than I should have been and did fine. The next morning after everyone was feeling confident after the Gizane we got on the Durant which was a very rocky boulder bash. After claiming 2 paddles and as many swims a few of us decided to walk out and the rest got picked up later on. In the afternoon we returned to something much easier and did the sunshine run on the Durance although even this was not without swims.

Not content with the ease of the rivers so far a few of us woke up early the next morning to go paddle the Onde, described by the guidebook as a grade 3+ similar to the Tryweryn in North Wales. We actually got on the Gyr by accident which is a 4+/5 “lightning fast, toboggan run”, I ran one of the grade 5 sections but we ended up walking about 50% of the river and to quote Chris “My arse is this grade 3″. We then spent the rest of the day at the slalom site  ”providing safety” for the rest of the group as they got on with the coach.

At the Slalom site, L’Argentière-la-Bessée, France

Then as if yesterday morning’s run wasn’t enough a few of us decided to wake up early again to run Briançon gorge before packing up and driving to Slovenia for the rest of the day through Italy. As we had a competent group we could run it without inspecting and managed to do the whole gorge in 5 minutes.

Slovenia was the most beautiful place we visited, all of the rivers we went on were crystal clear and with the usual mountainous backdrop it couldn’t be much better.

Tom Barlow on the Soča, Slovenia

On the first day after a bit of a lie in and a late start we got on at the campsite in Bovec onto the Soča, a nice 2/3 bimble. Running the shuttle at the end I got into my first bit of trouble on the trip and picked up a speeding ticket through a tiny village which cost me €40, but luckily no points on my licence. The next day we did and easier section of the Soča, to give everyone a little break before we picked up our next coaches when we went to Austria. In the afternoon the minibus got a flat tyre so we had a lazy afternoon off around the campsite and the town. The next day was the last of our short stay in Slovenia and we decided to push ourselves a bit more and did the Kornica down to the campsite. A much narrower river but great fun which pushed our ability and our river leading around its narrow bends.

Me on the Kornica, Slovenia. Photo: Phil Mayer

In the afternoon we did skills before setting off to Austria via Germany to pick up Chris Smith and Jo Mackin our coaches for the next few days. On the way we got directed in to a weighing station where the van came in overweight at a hefty 3650kg, however our ignorance, lack of documents or inability to speak German got us let off €550 fine as long as we redistributed the weight at the next service station.

After we finally arrived in Prutz, the small town in Austria where we would be staying. The first river we did was the Inn, starting with the Pfunds section for everyone before some of us did the harder Tösens section where I took my first swim of the trip, ironically on my final river after getting stuck in a hole. I then took the next day off to wash and dry my kit before driving to Munich airport through a thunderstorm to fly to Istanbul the next morning to start my kayaking in Turkey.

Approaching the finish

I know I’ve been a bit behind on keeping up to date but it’s that time of year again where everything takes a back seat behind revision. Over Easter, after getting back from the club Scotland trip, a few of us went open boating along the River Wye in Herefordshire. This was a good opportunity to dry out something different and experience multiday trips, carrying all of our kit with us. The weather wasn’t ideal with a thunderstorm on the first night but although showers continued throughout the trip it could have been worse. Overall we paddled 60 miles over 4 days which was easily enough as we were all starting to ache after the continuous flat. On the final day there was a slalom course set up at Symmonds Yap where we took all of the kit out of the boats and took them for a solo run.

Me open boating at Symmonds Yap

Since Easter my summer has started to take shape with the trip to the alps looking better and better as it gets nearer. Flights to Turkey have been booked for my second holiday which I am looking forward to immensely and the thought of which is keeping me going at this revision! In preparation for these trips I’ve bought a new boat, a yellow liquid logic Jefe (Henrietta) and spend far too much on other kit.

There was a Saturday at the Tryweryn with one of our coaches for the Alps, Chris Smith which all the river leaders in the club went to hone their skills ahead of taking the rest of the club down the Alpine rivers. This was a really good little trip and encouraged us all to push ourselves to make the hard lines whilst maintaining good leadership skills.

This month has also seen two balls, the Physics ball and the AU awards ball, both of which were conveniently at the same hotel on the same night so I could attend 2 for the price of 1 and still collect my double colours for 100 hours voluntary work for the club.

Alan, Alice and myself at Font before the ball

Now lectures have finished and the focus is all on the exams, of which I have 5 but these will be finished on the 9th of June and then my holidays can begin..

March

This month has been hectic by any means, the Dissertation has been handed in, leaving just the presentation for after Easter, we won the Christie Cup  (despite losing our event) between Liverpool and Leeds and me and Ben entered C2 at a Slalom event in Stone.

K1 heat at Stone

Other kayaking trips have seen me visit the Conwy in N. Wales and the Leven and Kent in the Lake District. I also went to Pau Brasil, a Brazilian restaurant where they bring different meats to your table cooked to how you want it, I’ve never eaten so much meat in one sitting but it was well worth it, despite the rather expensive bill.

In the evening of my Birthday we began the journey up to Scotland for the annual canoe club trip to the Fort William area of the Scottish Highlands. We stayed in a bunkhouse just outside the little village of Laggan arriving just before 2am after a long 7 hour drive in the minibus (limited to 62 mph). On the first day we did the middle Spean, thinking that it would be nice introduction for the beginner heavy group we had with us, however the dam at Loch Laggan was releasing on 4/5 pipes turning this gentle 2/3 river into alpine conditions.

The dam at Loch Laggan

The group managed well and it was a nice introduction to alpine like levels ahead of the alps trip in June, apart from one section which caused 4 people to swim almost simultaneously which entail a interesting rescue but it was good fun. The next day we decided on something with much lower volume and did the lower roy with relatively few swims. This didn’t take very long and 4 of us decided to go paddle something a little more fun… We settled on the Arkaig which links loch Arkaig to Loch Lochy, this has one major grade 4 section which we had to inspect by climbing through the dense Rhododendron bushes on an island in the middle of the river, which felt like a tropical island due to the humidity and the sound of waterfalls either side. We decided on a line to the far left to avoid the nasty middle but when it came to actually running it none of us managed this and were forced right and after a few high braces before the drop I made it the right way up, the same cannot be said for Pete who took the middle line and got back looped when he hit the bottom, but he was fine, if not a little bit shaken.

On Monday we did the middle Findhorn and again a few of us did the top findhorn after the trip and a harder trip. However a trip to the Findhorn wouldn’t be the same without leaving a part of my hands on the river. This was the river that last year scarred my thumbs and this year was no exception, while running the top section I took a suspicious line into a nice big hole which ate me up and spat me out. After failing to roll I swam but still took a while to get my breath because of the very aerated water and being forced towards a nasty undercut, although this injury shouldn’t scar. However this was not the end of the Findhorn. the final grade 4 section at Dulsie Bridge where the rest of the group where waiting (and watching), after deciding to run it, the lead in was a large arc around a corner into a series of 3/4 big rapids, however the current in the lead in was larger than i expect and I went over at the top and despite very nearly rolling it up I continued to swim the whole thing which was interesting! I only swam twice on the trip and they were both on this one river, maybe next time I’ll get it right.

The next day most of the girls decided they needed a day off  so the remaining few of us headed off and did the Awe (which isn’t worth doing) and the Orchy. The Orchy was a lot better than I expected and had a few nice drops. Due to running out of time and needing to get back me and Dave sprinted the last section to pick up the vehicles, tackling the last drop by ourselves which Dave had to roll on, which fortunately I didn’t see. I managed it fine, only to go upside down afterwards while stationary and  talking, a prime example of losing concentration after a hard section, earning a unneeded eskimo rescue, we drove past the rest of the group in the minibus, dripping wet but with big grins on our faces.

We used Wednesday to work on skills at the SCA slalom site at Grandtully near Aberfeldy as most of the swims over the week were due to getting in and out of the flow of the water.

Me at Grandtully

While we were there the ambulance service we doing their swift water rescue training and although we gave them a few real rescues to deal with they left us to it.

On the last day we decided on the Spean gorge, a choice we turned out to not be ideal. Although low (none of the pipes in the picture of Loch Laggan were open) there was still enough water to make some of the rapids interesting. The ‘fairy steps’ claimed all bar 4 of the group (me included) and Tom hit his head on the a rock and started to feel worse after 5 minutes later. We had no choice but to extract and then began the long process of getting out of the gorge which involved of splitting up, getting Tom to hospital and getting the boats up out of the gorge which was a good 300m up steep cliffs, in the end Tom was discharged in less than an hour and fine after a bit of rest and all the kit was lifted up out after a well organised response from the group.

This trip has been a great week and has given me a chance to work on my river leading and given me lots of rescue practice, next it’s off to the alps and then Turkey!

February

This month has been far too busy, I’ve had my dissertation looming over my head for far too long now. It has been interesting to do and I’ve done most of the words so I’m just in the process of checking and writing the conclusion etc and will all be over in less than 2 weeks now.

I haven’t done much kayaking this month, only getting out on 3 rivers, the Kent and the Crake in the Lake District and the infamous Dee in Llangollen. None of which are particularly extreme but it is always nice to get up to the lakes where the water is always nice and clear. However there has been a lot of things going on within the club that haven’t been on the water, I’ve been climbing more and more and have had the chance to do some leading now that someone has their own rope which is considerably more tiring! A group of us went to Castleton and Hope for a pub lunch and for a little walk in the peak district which was a great day out.

Working up an appetite in Castleton

However, the highlight of the activities this month has to be going to the velodrome. I organised a trip for 7 of us onto a taster session which included bike hire and an hour coached on the track. To set the scene, these bikes have no brakes, no gears, your feet are clipped in and it’s fixed wheel which means you can’t stop peddling. Once we got a few practice laps on the flat inner circle getting used to the bikes are more importantly braking with your feet by slowing your peddling down we gradually worked our way up the slope. At the corners the track has a 40° incline and you would think that you have to lean in for it to take you around, but this just causes you to come down, once we realised that you just have to brave it and stay upright it started to get fun. I don’t know how fast we got but I’m sure it was approaching 30-40 mph.

Me at the Velodrome, Photo – Rhi Walker

On a completely different note, a few of the girls off my course have been slaving away for months making costumes for a production of the Sorcerer so we went to go see their hard work. The show was the RNCM (Royal Northern College of Music) and was really impressive, especially the costumes!

January: The month of exams

Since getting back from Scotland it’s been exams, exams, exams. January exams always seem to drag out and this year has been no exception. To me it always seems a bit unfair as we have over a month to revise for these and only a week or so for the May/June ones, that said generally I do seem to do better in Januray and I’m hoping that this semester will set good foundations for the next and final semester of my Bsc.

While revising it’s been nice to see people before everyone gets busy during the term and there have been a few good breaks including climbing at awesome walls and MCC and a mid exam kayaking trip. A group of us went and paddled the Ogwen in N. Wales in the weekend between exams and I have to say that it is possibly one of the finest rivers I have paddled. Continuous 3/4 keeping you on your toes but I managed to make it with only one roll, which to be honest I deserved.

I’ve also been doing a lot more climbing, this time at MCC which is easier to get to than Stockport and splashed out on a harness and some shoes so I look forward to using them more now exams have finished. 

The weekend after exams finished we went up to the Tees Barrage for the BUCS slalom competition. I competed in K1 Mens and C2 where I put in a good performance for K1 and had a fun time in the C2. This was the first time I’d ever been in a C2 and I managed to convince Zen to do it with me. At the top it was shaky and I doubted us making it past the start line, however once we got moving the current helped to stabilise and we made it down over most of the course until we hit the main drop where we unfortunately swam.

Me and Zen just about to hit the main drop…

But now lectures have started again and it all is getting back to normal, before it all happens again in June

 

New Year in Fort William

For some reason we thought it’d be fun to go to Scotland kayaking over new year and despite the sub zero temperatures, we set out two days before new year for Fort William where we would be staying. When we arrived we were greeted with a thick frosty reception and quickly got inside to the warmth.

Due to the lack of rain and freezing temperatures, none of the rivers were running high, however we found the lower Orchy was paddleable with a nice few technical rapids. you could see the ice coating the rocks and on the get out there was a sustainable few inches covering the side of the river.

Photo: Dave Perry

We spend new year’s eve in the hostel where we saw it in with the other guests, it was nice to spend it in such a relaxed place by the fire. On new year’s day we powered through the hangovers and set out for Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in the UK) and as if right on cue, the clouds disappeared and it was the nicest day that we were in Scotland albeit a little fresh. We climbed about half way until the ice became so thick over the paths that it wasn’t safe to carry on, but before we turned around we took a while to enjoy the views.

On the way back down we found a lake that had completely frozen and that thick enough to stand on to a significant distance out, which provided some entertainment and some excellent photo opportunities before heading back to the warmth of the hostel. In the evening we checked out which rivers were high enough to paddle the next day on www.wheresthewater.com and one river stood out from the rest as having a high flow although a 2 hour drive away. 

Photo: John Hartshorne 

The next day we set out for the Findhorn, near Nairn and joked from inside the warmth of the car about the form of the water in the river, little did we know that when we finally arrived we would find the river completely frozen over. Never the less it was impressive to see and we had a nice little picnic by the side after playing on the ice. 

The next morning was our last morning and we set out early from the hostel, not to get home early, but to go find another river on the way home, this time we headed to somewhere that we knew there had to be water, the river Tay SCA slalom site near Aberfeldy. Despite the sub zero temperatures, most of us got on and did the short section over and over. It was a perfect little confidence builder and nice end to the trip, despite having to crack the ice off my kit as we got changed.

I look forward to heading back to Scotland/Fort William when it’s a little bit warmer and there’s water flowing and will be heading up there at least once over the easter break. Until then there’s BUCS slalom, 2/*3* assessments and probably Wales to enjoy