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. […]

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 5 St Clements to Embrun (Lower Durance) The morning was spent on the campsite, for some this was a chance to rest whilst others visited local shops for supplies. We had lunch on the side of the Slalom site at St Clements and then we ran the shuttle. On the return of the drivers we played in the two surf waves at the top of the rapid. This was at a good level and more and more of the team were starting to get more adventurous on the play waves. After the slalom course we set off down the main river towards the Rabioux Wave. There were several interesting features to play on and Aleksander was really trying to pull off a wave wheel in his inazone in every standing wave he could find. On arrival at the “Rab wave” Keith and Stuart paddled to the bottom and then signed the others to paddle over the crest and head for the red boat in the eddy below. One by one we all made it down safely and in some style. The wave seemed to have changed again this year and was more of a tail with huge standing waves below. Once we left the “Rab” the lower river was entertaining with several large wave trains and bouncy rapids to keep us on our toes. A couple of people decide to practice their rolls, but this only shows that they were pushing their limits and trying moves and tight break ins. The tall crumbling cliff just above “point Neuf” was avoided by heading to river left and then we paddled down […]

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 4a Upper Guisane We headed off to find a river… the Upper “Insane” Guisane. It started from a precarious launch spot and we were soon on our way, dodging rocks and following the swift flowing water. There were very few eddies and it was a good job we split into two 4s as any more than this and we would lose contact between paddlers. After 4 km of this grade 2-3 toboggan run, we entered the fantastic canalised section through “Les Grand Bains”. Here the water flows over boulders and twists and turns to give an excellent 1.5km section though the town. A few sensible people portaged while the less sensible people tackled the (quite long) rapid in a small group. I t was big and fast with lots of rocks to dodge and smiles all around at the bottom. We all met up in sight of the house on the left bank and were very quickly on our way again. We stopped at the raft get in and discussed the lines some of us had taken over the two small weirs in the next section. This year none of us had any trouble and Oscar didn’t even know we had gone over those pesky weirs. The rest of the river was a relaxed and pretty paddle, with a few bits to keep us entertained. We are glad to report the student globe is still on the balcony where it has been for the last 20+ years. A great river and in total contrast to the mighty Durance. More photographs………. Day 4b Lower Guisane Following a shuttle to leave a […]

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 3a The Lower Guil We had a leisurely start and headed up the Guil Valley under Mont Dauphin Forte. The road was a rocky gravel track which is closed outside the summer because of rock fall from the hillside above. On crossing over the bridge and into the car park we checked out the “scenes of crime”. We spotted the line of oil from James earlier grounding of his Volvo. This is a sad story of wow with his car having hit a rock and holed the sump pan resulting in it having to be posted home and James booking a flight. (The French main Volvo dealership could not book it in for repairs for another two weeks!) The shuttle was soon sorted. Olesia and Nadia were going to follow us down the valley on foot following the valley path and gravel track. This was Oscars first ever river and we spent a little time at the start explaining what an eddy was, how to edge and carve a turn. He was also shown the basics of a ferry glide, a few river signals and what to do if he encountered a rock midstream or a overhanging trees on a bend. We headed off down the picturesque valley with crystal clear water flowing from snowmelt higher up the valley. There were a number of other groups on the river and we leapfrogged each other between the rapids and eddies. We played for a while on a good little surf wave and honed our skills ready for St Clements Slalom site below. As the Guil joins the Durance there is a […]

Day 2 The Upper Durance The Upper Durance is a good little warm-up river and confidence builder for the less experienced at paddling white water. Lots of easy bouncy rapids with more quieter stretches on which to take in the spectacular scenery. Today, was particularly enjoyable as the sun was out and the water blue. The get out at the barrage by the tunnel was “barred” but we still wanted to run the lower section which has fantastic eddy sequences for about a 500m section. We scouted on foot through the barriers and tunnel and noticed the tunnel was indeed blocked on both sides, but we thought we would be clever and drive the cars to the other side of the tunnel. However, the road was also blocked about 1km away, so we had to leave the cars there and do a double shuttle at the end of the trip. We bounced down the rapids opposite the commercial centre, under a footbridge and then the road bridge to the commercial centre. We all took turns to lead and find breakouts. On one tricky section Kayleigh followed Craig over a large rock (boof) but this proved a little unbalancing and the inevitable happened and she took a short swim. Kayleigh managed to self-rescue dragging her boat to the bank. This was a great spot and we all surfed the little wave in the centre of the river while Kayleigh sorted her boat out. After about 3 km we made it to a railway bridge and the start of the main rapids. These all had a good level in them and provided a great playground for us to play as we made our way down through. The stinky bridge at the bottom (possible exit point) will have to be renamed as 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.… This year’s trip had been affected by the Covid crisis but eventually we decided that we could not take the minibus and trailer and started to cancel these. Instead, some of us opted to drive out in cars as this followed government advice and was obviously much safer for all. In all 8 vehicles made it out with 24 of us in total. These included Craig Ford, Aleksander Ford, Nadezda Ford, Stuart Toulson, Keith Steer, Neil Jones, Kayleigh Campbell, Oscar Kelly, Olesia Polivac, Chris Murphy, Oliver, Charlie, Clare, Steve Hitchen, Sara Gille, Richard Clews, Amy Newnham, Ella, Poppy, Clara, Maria Safar, Steve Gavin, Ellie Gavin, Gabrielle. The annual Alps Holiday has been running every year since 2008. Day 1 The Durance from the campsite to St Clement After our eventful 23-hour journey on the cars we finally arrived at the camp site, everyone exhausted we decided to have a nice chilled night. As this was my first-time out to the Alps, my excitement and anxiety started to kick in said Kayleigh. We started our two-week journey on the Durance which was flowing very quickly. I was very nervous as this was the fastest river I have ever done. As we drifted down the flowing river the scenery surrounding us was fantastic. About halfway down we approached a rock cliff on a sweeping bend with a low overhang. Craig suggested that we all take the left-hand channel this year. Keith and Stuart decided to “get up and personal” with the gigantic overhang and checked out the right-hand route. Soon we made it down to St Clement Slalom Course where we played on […]

If you missed last night’s talk by Ian Bell you can now watch it on the Club YouTube Link…. Recent talks: 21st April Turner Tours Ltd Open Boat Expedition to Canada by Keith Steer 28th April Bowron Lakes by Ian Bell  Club YouTube Link…… 5th May Sea kayaking in East Greenland by Jim Krawiecki Club YouTube Link… 12th May Circumnavigation of Menorca by Pete Thomas Club YouTube Link… 19th May Hiking the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand by Hannah Bellamy Club YouTube Link……. 26th May Sun Khosi River of Gold by Jenny Brown and Chris Thompson Club YouTube Link…. 2nd June Greenland revisited by Jim Krawiecki Club YouTube Link… 9th June Walking through the Tobeatic with canoes on our heads by Roger Coleman Club YouTube Link…. 16th June Constrains led approach in coaching by Matt Giblin Club YouTube Link…. 23rd June Prince William Sound by kayak – Alison Moxley and Keith Steer Club YouTube Link…. 30th June Costa Brava Sea Kayaking Club Trip – Pete and Carol Thomas  Club YouTube Link…. 7th July Hiking and sea kayaking on Vancouver Island by Catriona Hare Club YouTube Link…. 14th July West coast of Scotland Oban to Jura by Ian Bell Club YouTube Link…. 21st July River Rottnan from Norway to Sweden by Debbie Hughes 28th July Sheffield or Bust by Brian Green Summer break 8th September Outer Hebrides Caz and Pete Thomas 16th September ???????