Kayak coaching & guiding in the UK and abroad.
Everyone knows that North Wales is a honeypot for white water kayaking, with thousands of paddlers making the migration here every weekend. With all those paddlers about, are there still adventures to be had off the beaten track? Somewhere up in the hills behind FlowFree HQ, an epic gorge awaited an exploratory mission…
Stay tuned for part two of the adventure, here’s a taster of what we found in the forest:
It’s great living in Wales 🙂
On Friday 24th of October I set out to go and scout Rhaeadr Mawddach… little did I know by the end of the day I’d be one of the few people to have ever paddled it and star on national radio!
As I know most of you are just itching to see the footage, here it is… the story is below.
I have been waiting to run these falls on the Upper Mawddach ever since I saw them about 2 years ago. Running the whole river I never had the time to really get the feel for the drop and have an objective look at them as there is always more fun bits to paddle downstream, but the falls never left my mind as something I wanted to run.
After deciding today was the day to go and have proper look, I managed to persuade a friend and his wife to come along for “a nice walk”. Unfortunately for them, they were supposed to be going for a relaxing day at a spa (sorry for ruining that one guys!).
On arriving, the falls looked amazing with good levels and the sun was beaming down – a true autumn day in Wales. For Rick and Claire Foster it was the first time they had seen the falls but they stayed cool and let me take my time deciding what to do. Very much appreciated!
After strolling back to the car, I realised I had forgotten my river shoes and elbow pads not the best for a delicate mind-set but the time was right and everything felt good.
Back at the falls I ran through my line once more in my head, passed Claire the camera and we were ready to huck.
Getting into the flat pool above, it looked like one of the best horizons I have ever seen but with a stiff back and cold muscles I wasn’t going to rush things… a good 10 minutes of warm ups later, I was ready to go.
Cameras rolling I set off down the entry rapid and I was through clean. Right, here we go… first drop I need to get a good flair off the right to avoid rolling or subbing out… No problem, right now the big one, I just need to hit the rooster tail… perfect. One impact on the slab, second impact through the big pillow, now correct the angle and wait for the pool!
Wooooo Hoooo!
From leaving the lip of the big falls to the pool was shear exhilaration as the work was done and I could just let the boat fly.
A few hours later the lovely Faern Cotton from Radio 1 called up to interview me, as they were looking for stories relating to ‘Waterfalls’ by the Stone Roses…. so it was obviously just the right day!
You can hear the interview on BBC iPlayer on this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00f0t2t (at 2:48:50) – or click here to download just the interview
On Friday Team FlowFree burned up the M6 for a very cold and (at times) very wet weekend in Scotland including the first ever Etive River Race. We arrived as the sun went down and got a cheeky run down the race section in super-low water.
Rick Foster on Right Angle – Photo: Jon Davies
Everyone was expecting rain overnight but the sky was so clear, it was hard to imagine. We went to sleep in our shed-like wendy house safe in the knowledge we’d be racing a medium-low Etive in the morning.
But no! The heavens opened and a gale force wind drove in through the mountains all night and all the following morning. The Etive rose beyond recognition and the event organisers were forced to move the event to the tamer section of water upstream of Triple Step. Water levels changed all day reacting directly to how much it was raining and the wind was pretty much relentless. The race became no longer a challenge of skill combined with speed, stamina and judgement; but a flatwater battle against the elements. A Jackson Rocker was never going to be the craft that was first over the finish line!
Dispite the set-backs Mother Nature threw at it, Etive River Race proved to be a well-organised and successful event pulled off with style. Had it have been possible to race on the section planned, I have no doubt it would have been a World Class event. See www.etiveriverrace.co.uk for photos and results.
Lowri on the Kinglass: if only everyone had been so far behind in the race! – Photo: Rick Foster
As soon as the rain stopped, the rivers began to drop instantly. The Etive had dropped to something most people would recognise even as the minibuses took the last competitors out of the glen. Making the most of the water and the sunshine while it lasted, Team FF blasted down the Kinglass before heading to the prize-giving.
Lowri & Jon present Adam & Jonathan with a bumper cheque
FlowFree sponsored the event by donating a Steep Creeking course to the winners of the 16-18yrs category. The deserving team of Jonathan Hiam and Adam Cox were chuffed to pieces with their prize.
That night, temperatures of minus 11 were recorded in our ‘chalet-style’ hut. Needless to say, a good cooked breakfast was in order! Once we’d thawed out, we headed to the Orchy for a final fling before the long drive back to Wales…
Jon does the ‘Harry Potter’ on the Orchy – Photos: Lowri Davies
The drive turned out to be the biggest adventure of all! It seemed Wales had recieved similar rainfall the night after Scotland, which wasn’t a problem until I tried to drive through mid-Wales with limited fuel at night (note: petrol stations between Denbigh and Aberystwyth are all closed after 10pm).
2 closed roads, 3 wheel-deep floods, 1 jerry-can of diesel and a million suicidal sheep later I finally arrived back in Aberystwyth!
A few weeks ago, FlowFree were due to be at the Alpkit Plastic Fantactic / Festival of Freestyle in Nottingham for our official launch and to provide freestyle and river running coaching sessions.
We packed up and set off, all the time cursing the pouring rain. As we cruised over the Horseshoe Pass with our wipers on max, we got a phone call from Alpkit Jim “The course is rising fast; we’ll still have an event but if I was in Wales… I’d stay there!”.
Jon boofing Chip Shop Drop on the Llugwy
And so it was, the launch of a kayak coaching company was rained off! Over that weekend we ran 7 sections of quality whitewater (including sections of the Dee, Llugwy, Eden, Mawddach, Wnion, Conwy and Ogwen)… the rivers were stonking and we had a great time.
Martyn looking pleased after nailing Chip Shop Drop
Photos thanks to Richard Watson.
