Thursday, March 29, 2007

SE Creeking Update

So unfortunately it's been dry for the last couple weeks, but at least I've had the time to edit video and reflect on the great kayaking from before the drout.
SE creekin' vid


On Daniel Delavergne's birthday we all headed down to the notch to catch the infamous 'birthday eddy' which is an absolutely terrifying eddy poised just above Gorilla. It was the highest the eddy had been attempted, and 5 of us stepped up to catch it. After we all caught it, about 10 people gathered around and watched as Toby poured some of Daniel's ashes into the notch. A good memorial for an amazing kayaker.

The birthday eddy itself is probably the scariest eddy I've seen anyone catch, and it takes a great amount of precision.


The Magnum really whips around into the eddy nicely. Here's Chris Gragtmans on his first run.


Carving in.


Peeling out into the notch


A week or so later, we got some good old fashioned high-water green.

Here I am switching edges as I boof into the notch.


Gragtmans, large and in charge.


Walking up for another go.


A couple weeks later, the water dissipated and we had no other option but some low-water triple falls. Clayton Gaar and I headed to Dupont for some park-and-huck.
Stomping


Clayton stylin'



Second drop


Clayton at the lip


Hope you enjoyed the post, comments are appreciated!

Nathan Silsbee

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Jerry's Baddle and more

It's been really warm lately, and the Green is the spot to be. The Jerry's Baddle bike/kayak race was yesterday, and my partner Travis and I placed 2nd in the team race, with Scott McCluskey and his bike partner taking first. It was a really good time, and it's cool to see so many people out there racing in Jerry's name. They raised a lot of money for ALS and the Green River access fund, and the event was a huge success. It was really cold when Clayton Gaar and I showed up at the take-out to sign-in and prepare for the race. After a somewhat chaotic search for my bike partner, I was paired with a new partner. (Travis ----). Back at the put-in, I took some time to remove a giant chunk of ice from my kayak. I paddled down to the staging area, where Big Hungry creek comes into the Green. I was the third person to start, so I didn't have long to wait. Everything went well, and I managed to catch up to the guy in front of me at Rapid Transit. I got to the take-out and passed under the finish line and Travis took off for the biking leg. It was really disorienting seeing Steven come in behind me, because he was the first paddler to start the race. I guess I passed him while he was running around Sunshine. All the racers were really fired up when they got to the finish line, and it was cool watching the Greenmen like Adam Herzogg(1st place) and Brad Kee(3rd place) run across the line only to change clothes at lightning speed and hop onto a bike for the long ride back up. Other notes of interest from the race... Chris Gragtmans and Toby Macdermott tied for the fastest time on the run. (27 minutes and 45 seconds). Respect to Cooper Lambla for a fast time on the run, then getting onto a beater mountain bike for the biking leg. Big shout-out to the organizers of the race, Brooks, Steven, etc for all their effort in making it happen. The food was really good at the festival, and they had a variety of delicous desserts as well. I can't wait until next year! On that note, here are some cool pics from the green a couple days ago... Big shout out to Ryan Moore for shooting these great photos.

Gorilla run #1


Clayton Gaar on the Monk.


Rock star eddy


Scream Machine


Gorilla run #2


Scream Machine run #2


Gorilla run #3


Scream Machine run #3


Rapid Transit


Sunshine


Clayton on Sunshine


I hope you all enjoyed the pics... Again, big thanks to Ryan Moore for shooting those. Check the RIOT BLOG soon for some birthday eddy video, and high-water Gorilla.
-Nathan Silsbee

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