Astral is proud to welcome SUP athlete Nikki Gregg to the team. Here’s a short video where she describes some tips for ferrying a stand-up board across moving current and whitewater.
Nikki is also up for two SUP related awards this month. Please visit her website where you can learn how to cast your vote: http://nikkigregg.blogspot.com/2011/08/sup-woman-of-year-and-sup-awards-top.html
During the last two weeks I’ve been competing in the whitewater grand prix, the goal of the WWGP is to help kayaking gain more mainstream exposure, It brings an all star group of kayakers competing in 6 different stages, on spectacular whitewater across Quebec.
Over 14 days we have been traveling all around Quebec and Ontario, surfing some of the biggest waves in the world, and competing in the most hardcore sections ever paddled in a race!
I ended up on 9th position after a bad race on the last stage, giant slalom, but super happy to have make the top 10! Check the results here:
http://www.whitewatergrandprix.com/en/results.html
It has been an incredible experience to paddle and share all this good moments with all those guys, can’t wait for the next edition!
A big thanks to Patrick Camblin and Julie-Crépeau, the organizers of the event for all the effort put in to make the WWGP happen, and of course thanks a lot to all the volunteers and media without them this event wouldn’t have been possible!
Introducing a new web series from 7 Finger media which aims to highlight motivated and adventurous people and the beautiful places they love.
Episode #1 features Eric Giddons on one of his favorite runs, the East Fork of the Kaweah.
Episode #1 -East Fork of the Kaweah- from 7 Finger media on Vimeo.
On October 7-10, 2010, the National Championships of Surf Kayaking and the Battle for Hatteras were held at the old lighthouse break in Buxton NC, on the Outer Banks.
(My best wave of the comp came in prelims. Thanks to Carlisle Landell for getting some shots of me on that one.)
Among US competitors from over ten states, this year’s Nationals also welcomed and hosted surf paddlers from Canada, England and the Basque Region of Spain. With the World Championships on the horizon for the same location in 2011, many of the international surfers attended with hopes of getting a feel of the US East’s most renowned break. I tried my best but was unable to defend the National Championship Long Boat title I won in 2006, when the Nationals was last held at the Outer Banks. My friend Anthony Bell bested me in the finals and became the new National Champion. Congrats Antnee! Full event results may be found at EskaSurf.com. Information on the 2011 World Championships may be found at WorldChampionshipsofSurfKayaking.com
Video Credits:
Soundtrack by Leatherface, courtesy No Idea Records and Southern Lovin PR
Video footage provided by Deadman, Effort, and Interference
Photography provided by Carlisle Landell, Kathy Lawlery, Caroline Janganant and Spencer Cooke
(Low tide at the old lighthouse break in Buxton.)
Thanks for visiting Astral Buoyancy,
Spencer Cooke, Team Astral
We are proud to hear that Astral’s Phil Curry (Philip’s dad) has successfully completed his cross country bike ride. Phil has been sending us updates from across the US for the past few months and we are inspired to see him standing at the finish line!
Last weekend a few kayakers from West Asheville had the chance to hit the Green River with a little snow and ice.
Here are some photos from the day, courtesy of Mark Miller.
Astral’s Jared Curtioff below Nies’ Pieces
Todd Johnson finishes Boof or Consequence (notice tree in background)
John Pilson slides down Nies’ Piece
Bryan Owen at Groove Tube
The Notch with some ice.
Well, here we are again. As of today, there are 53 days until the annual Green River Narrows Race. I’m super stoked about bombing down that river once again this year, and the word is that we’re going to have upwards of 150 competitors out there from all over the world. Just writing about this event raises my heart rate, and I hope everyone is working hard to get themselves ready for it.
I am a bit limited on my training time due to a 17 hour final semester of school at UNCA, but I’m trying to set myself up well as always. I’m working with Crossfit Asheville until the Green Race to try to get my fitness where it needs to be. They’re super cool people, and have helped me out tremendously already.
Here are a few pics of my first run down the Green with the big boat this fall:
**Photos by Jakob Käfer**
The ultimate race weapon…
Taylor Fearrington bombing through Frankenstein.
Damn it feels good to be back.
Piaaaahhh!!
**Photos by Jakob Käfer**
Fast and clean. November 7, 2009.
Peace.
Chris Gragtmans
After attending last years Lyons Outdoor Games I was excited to return this year for another great event. Last years event hosted the first ever South Saint Vrain creek race and was the biggest reason that I was keen to return to Lyons. I was thrilled to see the organisers had also put a lot of work into making the hole a lot better for the event. The quality hole and on top of a great creek race made for an A class event even though water levels were slightly lower than last year.
First up was the creek race. After spending the previous day on El Dorado canyon the South Saint Vrain seemed clean and cruisy, the front range of Colorado is definitely some of the mankiest stuff you’ll find anywhere. The race starts with some technical low volume boogie water which is one of the hardest parts to keep your speed through. At the half way point you get into the steeper section ending with the most difficult drop of the run. Racers were given two runs with only the fastest run counting.
Race results looked like this:
1. Tao Berman
2. Andrew Holcombe
3. Jason Beaks
Competing at Lyons can be very tiring physically as both the race and the rodeo are held on the same day. People that say freestyle hasn’t progressed in the last couple of years haven’t paid much attention to what’s happening on the pro circuit. The biggest changes have been in where and how big paddlers are able to throw their tricks. Even in an extremely small hole the audience witnessed the pros perform almost every hole move that has been created to date.
Freestyle Results looked like this:
1. Nick Troutman
2. Stephen Wright
3. Eric Jackson
Posted by: Kelsey Thompson
To View more images of/from Kelsey, visit his gallery: http://www.astralbuoyancy.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=1259
Howdy!
I wanted to share this little video my friend Spencer Cooke put together. It is some footage from a couple of weeks ago when Daniel Windham, Spencer and myself went to Triple Falls in Dupont. Unfortunately, during the adventure, I took a bite of my paddle and lost a part of my front tooth. Luckily, the said, “front tooth” lives up to it’s reputation and sticks out a bit further than the rest of my grill. This proved to be very helpful, as it saved the rest of my teeth.
The moral of the story is: 1. Don’t eat your paddle! and 2. Crooked teeth are not all bad after all.
Peace, Love and oh, yeah, if you need a dentist in the Asheville Area look up Landon Poteat. He is a local outdoor dude who’s good friends with many in the AVL kayaking scene and he is a great dentist.
Yonton.
…make sure to bring your otter.
photo: Chris Bell
