It has begun….. the sequel to Wet Dreams. Slippery When Wet will release in 2011 and will feature Big Island Hawaii, plenty of Cali, and much much more. This is the first of many teasers so keep you eyes out for more wet lovin……..
A few cold and snowy weekends ago I had the opportunity to paddle the Overflow Creek for the first time with a group of friends from Asheville. Its an incredible creek run with some really cool drops, and as we quickly learned its not a run to let your guard down as almost every drop has some type of hazard. We rallied down past Singley’s Falls to an inconspicuous drop called “Twilight” that has a pretty nasty cave on the right. Coming off the drop I was kicked right into the cave and for minutes battled to get the hell out of there. Thanks to my bros Will Lyons and James Kodaras for helping me out, and props to AW’s Jeff Paine for a really daring paddle recovery. There’s some good footage of Astral rescue jackets in action too, chekkit out:
Check out this video that Gareth Tate put together from the Toxaway and Raven Fork Rivers. He had the opportunity to hit these NC classics the week before the Green Race with a world class team of paddlers from NC, CO, TN, and the Czech Republic. Gareth is one of our local crew who grew up making goat cheese in the Piedmont of NC with his family. Now he spends most of his time running the steeps of WNC, hammering on his bike, and teaching swiftwater rescue curriculum for Landmark Learning
paddlers: Gareth Tate, Drew Duvall, Laura Farrel, Jakub Nemic, Chris Baer, Chad Pickens, Billy Jones, and others.
Our friend Jakub is a paddler from the Czech Republic. He has been on the road for about a year paddling and filming for his movie HONEST…here’s the teaser so chekkit. We are looking forward to having Jakub in town for the Green Race.
Our friend Chris Morelli is an up and coming paddler from the Northeast and works at Mountainman Outdoor Supply. He put together this important safety reminder to always carry a rope. Chris uses the Greenjacket with an integrated throwbag for easy access during rescue situations.
Here’s a really creative video from Astral team paddler Kelsey Thompson that shows some of the places, faces, and sick freestyle moves that went down at this years World Championships in Thun, Switzerland.
It has been a frigid week here in Western North Carolina. Temperatures and operational schedules have been sub-optimal. This has given me ample time to wade through my hard-drive in search of entertainment. Check out these not-so-great lines from past trips and remember to keep ‘er on line in ‘09!
I’ve been back in New Zealand now for about six months… six months since I was running the stout in Cali. It’s been a long winter of no kayaking here in NZ, but the summer is finally here and I’m getting the gear out and getting back on the river finally.
Here’s a little recap of the demshitz crew on the South Branch of the Feather this past spring in California.
I love watching this footage, you can’t beat California. I can’t wait to head back there again next year.
I’m super excited about the new Green Jacket and can’t wait to test it out on some kiwi creeks, so keep an eye out for some updates from the upcoming NZ summer.