Alpine Paddling Holiday 2020     LCC Home News items or reports on club activities should be sent to Archived Newsletters  Major Trip Reports.… Day 12a Upper Ubaye An early start for today (8:30am) as we had a bit of a drive via Col de Vars (ski resort) into the top of the Ubaye valley. Last time I drove this route it was very early in the morning and freezing cold at the top. Today could not be different, 100% deep blue sky, bright sunshine, and no wind. We stopped at the top to take photos and explore. The kids wanted to go to the top of a small hill. As we drove off, we nearly left Oscar who unknown to us had purchased a coffee and sat with the locals in the Col top bar as we drove off! At the get in we met a group of German paddlers who were paddling the same section. We chatted a little. They had paddled this section earlier in the year with 10 times the amount of water – it was huge they exclaimed, and it surely would have been with massive wave trains. They paddled off as we got ourselves ready. As the three groups started their journey the water picked up and we could paddle down the river for a pleasant Grade 3- trip. There was more water than last year, probably from more snowfall over the winter months which had kept river levels high all week. Halfway along we met up under the old bridge and some played in the small play wave there. The second half of the journey provided more fun but was relatively straight forward. The water quality is high, and this section is well deserved of its 3 stars. We all waited in the sun […]

Alpine Paddling Holiday 2020     LCC Home News items or reports on club activities should be sent to Archived Newsletters  Major Trip Reports.… Day 11a Glacier Blanc An early start was made to try and avoid the heat of the morning sun. We rolled out of the campsite at 7:00am heading up the Vallouise Valley for the heart of the Ecrin Mountains. We went for an amazing hike up Glacier Blanc on Wednesday morning. After a wriggly drive up mountain roads we arrived at the car park where Clara spotted a ‘mole-badger’ which Keith told her was a marmot, thereafter, known as a Marmite! The kids investigated the snow which was near where we parked. The start of the path wound up through the trees and over a fast-moving river. The scenery was beautiful. We quickly split into two groups, with the Murphy’s, Oscar and Alicia moving faster and aiming for the refuge. Alexander was amazing and walked with the youngest, Clara who chattered, continuously without a breath the whole way up! Gabrielle and Clara played a bizarre duck game, and everyone was included in their duck family. We enjoyed incredible views and spotted many little flowers and succulents tucked into little gaps in the rocks. After our hard work we arrived at the bridge for a well-earned packed lunch with the glacier in view and some geography lessons from Keith! The older kids led off back down the path and were soon well out of view. Clara bounded down the path with Keith to help her. It was hot-hot with the sun on us. Gabrielle found some mountain streams and waterfalls to dunk caps and water bottles into. We finally caught up with the teenagers on a large erratic rock at the bottom, with some rather suspiciously wet trainers… […]

We now allow more than one group on a session at one time. How will it work in practice: A key holder Ruth has asked for an open boat paddle to be added to the calendar and is organising her group of up to 6 paddlers (via googlegroup).  A non-keyholder but qualified paddler Janet emails Ruth to ask if she minds her running a second group for a general docks paddle in kayaks.  Ruth replies no problem and Janet organises her group for up to 6 paddlers.   Both groups arrive at 10am.  Ruth opens up the compound and her group get on the water while Janet’s group remain by the cars.  Individual paddlers sanitise any loaned equipment – especially their hands and paddle shafts.  The padlocks are left “on the hook” but Ruth waits near the compound to see that Janet gets her group on the water and locks the compound.   Both groups remain separate and discrete using which ever area of the docks they want but all paddlers remain social distanced at all times (eg 2m apart).   Janet’s group return before the allotted return time of 12:30 and remain on the water. When Ruth returns, she opens up the compound and her group quickly put the equipment away.  They then move to their cars and leave.   Janet’s group exit the water and return their equipment.  Janet, overseen by Ruth locks the compound and all remaining paddlers leave the site.   Each group had a leader but Ruth had overall responsibility for the security of the compound.   Ruth found it so easy to do she asked for the paddle to be named a “Docks session” next week so that other non-keyholder sheltered water leaders could email her to ask to bring their own group to the session.  😊 All paddlers MUST […]

Alpine Paddling Holiday 2020     LCC Home News items or reports on club activities should be sent to Archived Newsletters  Major Trip Reports.… Day 09a St Clements to Rab Wave (Lower Durance) Learning that we had two parents who now wanted to paddle a river but with no river experience at all we adapted our plans and decided to run the St Clements to the Rab section again. The wide river with easy rapids that slowly builds would provide some confidence and a chance to explain the basics of a break in, ferry gliding and how to cope with the boils. While the cars were shuttled to the bottom some of us practised edging and carving a turn while breaking in. It was great to see, Ellie, Ella and Poppy teaching their respective parents and demonstrating how to carve a turn while edging and looking downstream. After 20minutes of practise we were ready to head off in two large groups. We were swept along in a beautiful valley with folded rock strata above. At first the current was slow and deep and some of us tried a roll or two to cool off. The first rapid was a large right-hand bend but we took a shorter channel to the right. Soon after we found a pebble beach and climbed the cliff to a jumping off place into deep water. Dangerous Ellie went first followed by Ella and Poppy. Sarah was showing us were to jump. As Poppy surfaced, she cried “it`s Cold!”. Soon all the others in the group wanted a go followed by three raft crews. The trio went up again, on their own this time and jumped in. Poppy cried “it`s Cold” again! Further on there were larger waves and we all bounced through laughing and joking as […]

Salty Sunday Sojourn on the Sea After the opens last week, it was time to head back onto the salty stuff in the sea kayaks. Moelfre to Bull Bay via the Point Lynas Tide race – A pleasant 16km paddle into the F4+ wind but with the tide assisting us. Waves formed by wind against tide at Point Lynas tide race might explain how, despite NOT capsizing, the top of my head got wet – don’t you just love rogue waves and confused seas! Great paddle and even managed to top up the tan 😎 NB< no photos in the lumpy bits as I was otherwise engaged And in the words of Seasame street, todays paddle was brought to you by the colour yellow, and the number F4+ A fab Trip with Ian, Catriona and me. If you weren’t there, you missed out on a rather nice paddle actually. 😊

Alpine Paddling Holiday 2020     LCC Home Site Map Page last updated News items or reports on club activities should be sent to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk Archived Newsletters  Major Trip Reports.… Day 10a Lower Gyronde After a short drive ten of the group readied themselves to take on the River Gyronde. This is a fast river not unlike yesterday’s Guisane but with a few more eddy opportunities and bigger rocks and small boulders to navigate. We got on at the middle section in the centre of the campsite. Keith gave us a brief demonstration of how to tackle the broken weir using a couple of stones standing in for boulders and then we were off. Keith led the first group which consisted of Stuart, Alexsander, Oscar and Neil. The “Murphy” group went next led by Chris with Oliver, Charlie, Steve and Sarah. The second group started off well but there was to be an early incident for Charlie not long into the paddle. Steve managed to get his large Machno sideways trying to avoid a couple of large boulders and unfortunately Charlie was a little too close to avoid “Titanic 2” and he rolled in. It was at this point that we realised that Charlie had not inflated his air bags (or is that his Dad’s job?). The boat chase was on for Chris and Sarah whilst Ollie went after the paddle. After several attempts we eventually managed to get the very full Mamba into an eddy, but Charlie predictably ended up on the other bank. It took another couple of ferry glides to get his kit back to him before we could set off again. As we rounded the next bend, we saw the broken weir with Keith standing pointing the way to paddle. It didn’t look much like his scale […]

Alpine Paddling Holiday 2020     LCC Home Site Map Page last updated News items or reports on club activities should be sent to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk Archived Newsletters  Major Trip Reports.… Day 08a The Lower Guil Day one for many on the river today and an ideal first river in the Guil Valley below Mont Dauphin Fort. We all arrived at the get in along the gravel track and carried our boats down to the water`s edge where the newcomers got used to the wizardry of whitewater kayaking. Everyone practiced edging their boats while others rolled and surfed in the clear blue water. We split into groups and set off downstream making sure to avoid the rocks and enjoy the scenery. We arrived at a wave where some of us had a short play before setting off again downstream practicing breaking in and out as we went. Soon we passed a pretty waterfall on the left and turned around to see a rock formation in the shape of a hand. More eddy hopping and we soon arrived at the convergence with the Durance. The water here was a bit confused, so we had to concentrate and keep our balance and joined the main flow. Alexander made the mistake of dipping his paddle to check the water depth. And we all know it’s just the law to do a roll after making such a signal. Before we knew it we arrived at St Clement where we or I was a bit nervous in my new boat so we paddled straight through the Slalom course to the get out on the beach. Here we all practiced swimming down the rapids and then tried to safety people with our throwlines. Everyone’s throwline work was really good this year so everyone must have been practicing!! The […]

Alpine Paddling Holiday 2020     LCC Home Site Map Page last updated News items or reports on club activities should be sent to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk Archived Newsletters  Major Trip Reports.… Day 7a The Ubaye Racecourse Racecourse – Martinet to Le Lauzet The Ubaye Racecourse is the classic Ubaye run. A consistent stretch of class 3+ to 4 whitewater with fun big and bouncy rapids and surprisingly warm water. 15 rapids in quick succession, including named rapids like Dent de Requin (Shark’s Tooth) and Rouleau de Printemps (Spring Roll) make this section a must for your kayaking bucket list. The scenery is outstanding with views over the wooded valley, and at the end of the descent the river narrows through a sheer sided gorge. Put-in at the rafting base just past Le Martinet. Take out below Le Lauzet at La Source campsite. Class: IV. Gradient: 15 m/km. Flow: 30 m³/s. Paddling time: 2 hours. Distance: 8 km. Best months: May to July. With everyone else deciding to take a well-deserved rest day, Keith and I departed the campsite early and made the 1 1/4-hour journey over to the get out. On the way we passed the massive lake Serre Poncon, it really is a wonderful turquoise blue. As we approach the lakeside road it always reminds me of the Mediterranean Sea. The road winds around the lake for some time, giving amazing views of yachts, wind and kite surfers. Upon arriving at the get out we found a suitable location to secure Keith’s bike. The plan was when we had dropped of the car at the get in, and ran the river, Keith would cycle back to the start and collect the car. We put on the river with minimum faff, as we had arrived early, we virtually had the whole car […]

Yesterday Saturday 25th July I attended my first club trip to Llangollen for Trad Canoe grade 1+ skills run by Mike Alter & Ruth. Being a moving water beginner I was nervous/excited about the trip. However after contacting Mike on Thursday, he answered all my questions putting my mind at ease. The 6 of us met up in the car park at Mile End mill, everyone was welcoming and friendly, then Mike briefly laid out the agenda for the day. We then went upstream from the ‘put in’ and warmed up, then we went just below where the two channels of water meet and practiced ferry glides. Some of the others poled up the channel and some, including me, lined up through the rocky bits. I tried a technique to paddle up a small step up, although I didn’t quite manage it without help from Ruth. We then we went up just before the bridge to practice eddieing out and in, in a S shape. We then canoed down the rapids to go back and have lunch. After lunch we practiced eddy hopping in the training channel in front of the mill, we then aligned ourselves using the eddies behind the rocks to go down over a double rapid to where some were surfing the wave and I was practicing ferry glides to cross from side to side. As this area was flowing a lot faster, it enabled me to understand the difference in angles required between the two areas. After we had finish our practice here, we assisted each other in carrying our canoes up the stairs on the bank and down the other side so we could ‘put in’ again and ferry across to the slipway in front of the mill. All in all a great day on […]

Alpine Paddling Holiday 2020     LCC Home Site Map Page last updated News items or reports on club activities should be sent to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk Archived Newsletters  Major Trip Reports.… Day 06a Upper Guil We headed up the Guil Valley stopping briefly at Mont Barton Bridge and Triple Steps to view the water levels. Passing Chateau Queyras we headed for the get in at Aiguilles and on the way tried but failed to peer over the edge and into the gorge section. I am sure it will be ok said Stuart. A quick car shuttle and we were away, going with the flow over and around every boulder in sight. Soon reached the start of the gorge, the river steepened and disappeared around a corner. Time to eddy hop. Signals were being passed along the line and paddlers dropped into an eddy and then the next. The river had very sharp rock strata and the step walls had collapsed in several places giving difficult routes around blind bends. On one tight sequence Craig had made all the difficult moves but was unsettled by a nasty boulder. He soon got himself and paddle to the edge, but the swift current sped his boat over the next few rapids before Keith managed to wedge it tight against some rocks. It took a few minutes to sort the boat and re-establish contact with the rest of the group. They had portaged around the tricky rapid under Stuarts guidance. Once on our way again we encountered several nasty bends, a few overhanging walls, and another long portage for most. This is where good soled trainers or river shoes are a must and make scouting and portaging on difficult ground that much safer. A few more pour-overs and pour-throughs saw us the end of the gorge. […]