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Alpine
Paddling Holiday 2015 |
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News items or reports on club activities should be sent to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk |
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Alps 2015 – 
This years road trip saw a deviation from our usual formula where we
usually base ourselves on the campsite in Le Argentiere la Bassee. We formed two groups, the minibus and
two cars heading to
This year’s group included: Keith Steer, Sara
Bergqvist, Dom Buckley, Pete Thomas, Carole Thomas, David Brockway, Fiona
Barry,
Photographs……….
More
information on the trip……..
Day 1 Alps 2015 -
After an early rise we set off to the Imst Gorge however in
our haste to reach the river before the folk of rafts, we missed our turning
and headed through what felt to be a 6 mile long tunnel. Once we corrected
ourselves and eventually making it to the put in there was already a number of
rafts readying themselves for the river. In the guidebook the river is
described as a ‘big volume class 3 and a good warm up for the Grand
Canyon of the
Sam was in his playboat cartwheeling all over the
river. We paddled in two
groups with some of us missing the big holes and large waves while others
paddled into them. There were a few
odd swims but they were far and few between as the majority managed to navigate
down river with relative ease to the take out were the minibus was reloaded and
we set off to
David Brockway More Photos…..
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Day 2 Alps 2015 – 02 Soca Kortinica to Trnovo
Slalom Course
After a very hot night we awoke to a very hot morning. In daylight we could see the beauty of our surroundings and if we listened carefully could hear the whisper of the river from the edge of the campsite. With the mercury rising a few of us headed down for an early dip and we where met by the crystal clear water of a small pool which would later be our get in point. Sara the instigated of the early morning expedition took the first dip soon followed by Leanne.
The river certainly cooled us down, no wonder the river bank was strewn with bottles of beer, milk and other fridge based goods. My it was chilly.
Once all re-United we soon gathered at the get in boats and B.A.'s at the ready. Some braving the cag-less approach while others were a little less optimistic!
Any how we soon set off into the clear crystal water with white rock beneath and made our way around the large boulders and rocks. Soon we reached a large flat section where I managed to break my camera mount trying to take an aerial shot by throwing my camera in the air. It seemed like a good idea at the time!!!
After a long winding section we saw a huge slap - Slovenian for waterfall to our river right. It was spectacular as it fell down the white rocks in the distance.
After this we reached another bolder type section, great practice for us all the wind in and out of the rocks. After this point we reached the 'slalom' course. Apparently a grade 4/5 in low water I heard it was a grade 3. A few clever souls left at this point and headed for pizza and beer, but for me the prospect of a nice open river with a few features to hop around or play in was quire enticing. This was far from the truth, we where met by a large fast flowing bolder garden, for me not far from the limit of my ability. After a few silly errors ending in a swim it was advised to be more aggressive and decisive as to where I was going and what I was doing. The advice woke me up and we made it through the get out. I'm so glad I never knew about the siphon after the get out.
After a hard climb out of the river we were re-united with the others who had found a bar, pizza and many beers.
A good day was had by all.
Day 3 Alps 2015 – 03 Soca Bunkerji to Cezsoca
Today started off with a quick recce, Keith, Sara,
Chris, Sam and myself set off to
scout out the upper Soca, The put ins were mainly down long steep paths but
each one looked very welcoming with the beautiful colour off the water. After a
couple of hours we arrived back at the campsite with a plan for the day’s
paddling. The cars were loaded and the minibus was ready so we set off to the
first drop off. 
At the put in we split into three groups of five and set
off. We had entered the river mid way through a tricky grade three section
which John C quickly made look a little harder as he fell out just as we
started (Editors note, John was apparently just trying to tickle a nice fish
he’d spotted for tea, and it was only a technical step out….).
Although the water was low and the grade of the rivers are running a half grade
lower than normal, the boulder gardens are still difficult in places because
they become more technical as you really have to work hard to position the boat
in order to negotiate the drops 
without slamming up
against the next wall of rock. Eddie hopping our way carefully we continued our
way through stunning valley all the time marvelling at the turquoise waters.
Eventually we came to a constriction where we dropped through a narrow slot one
by one. Sarah somehow managed to mount the rock too far on the right and ended
up pinned at a precarious angle. Both Sara and Keith tried to free her until
Keith decided to dump her on her head and let her fend for herself, which she
did admirably with a nice roll up in the pool below. However, flush with all
the excitement she was struck with indecision at the two possible lines past
the looming large bolder and decided to try one rocky roll too far….Mark,
who was a beast all day, watched on intently, just in case his rescue skills in
his borrowed German style full face helmet required the opportunity to practice
another chin roll, this time with protection (Editors note again, Mark said
remember, he was a beast….)
The next major feature was the entrance to a grade 4 gorge. Although a little more forgiving in these levels it was still a committing drop into pushy boily water with a slight undercut thrown in. One by one everyone stepped up (eventually) and successfully negotiated the drop. There was quite a bit of indecision at the top looking at rocky line in to a fast flowing drop into the turbulent water with the rock faces either side waiting to grab the unwary but with a bit of limbo and puffed cheeks even Kirk made it through without pulling the ejector loop (and spent the next ten minutes in mild hysteria at his awesome skills….). Waiting for us at the other end of the gorge were Peter, Caz and Dom to start the next section. But we then realised we had managed to send Leanne off solo down a riverside path with numerous forks and a very optimistic (short) estimate of distance. Search parties mobilised but struggled to find her, until reports filtered up river of a young woman teaching German paddlers the lyrics to Hey Jude. Safely reunited, the team set of on the final scenic section to complete another great day.
Kirk Williams, Chris Murphy and John Cooke More Photos…….
Day 4 Alps 2015 – 04 Soca Otena to Tolmin
Today’s paddle started with a bracing walk in the baking heat to the start of a great section of the river just below the most dangerous section on the river. Without doing the walk I you’d never understand why people would choose to run the dangerous section above, but after struggling down the narrow, very steep path in sweltering heat for what seemed a very long time even the most timid where entertaining crazy thoughts of “how hard can it be….”. Still, emerging at the bottom to an idyllic pool above a nasty rocky looking opening feature was a welcome relief. The advance party decided to take the opportunity for cooling swims, rock jumps and general lazing around content in the knowledge that only fools would attempt the bolder strewn drop. We kept quiet about putting in below it when the shuttle party arrived and all styled it one by one without any inspection. Mark, obviously, was still a beast.
We then set off on one of the best of many beautiful and scenic paddling sections on a great river, full of testing but enjoyable rapids for the full range of the group.
This was the distance paddle of the week, with a super long flat water paddle down to Tolmin, with only occasional minor features to break up what was quite a test of endurance, if a very relaxed and scenic one.
Breaking up an otherwise sedate section, Fiona decided to fall in over a rock about the size of a sandwich box on a really flat grade 0 section. Amidst our howls of laughter and shouts of encouragement (some misinterpreted as sarcastic), Sarah jumped out of her boat in rescue mode to help her friend in dire need. Unfortunately, in all the excitement of preventing any further damage to the diamante bling on Fiona’s helmet, Sarah’s boat made a break for freedom with only Kirk in hot pursuit in the mighty trickle. Eventually, Keith stepped in with his sling and karbiner to drag the boat to safety, although his threat to drag it down to the bottom to “teach her to keep hold of her boat” seemed a tad harsh. Especially as Sara was far more magnanimous when she found the karabiner he had inexplicably dropped in the heat of the action.
Kirk Williams, Chris Murphy and John Cooke More Photos…….
Day 5 Alps 2015 – 05 Soca Kortinica to Trnovo Slalom
Course
After much debate on Wednesday evening, Chris finally got
the team to understand Keith’s plan for today, and it turned out to be an
earlier replay of Day 2 with a campsite put in and run down to Trnovo. 
The target start time
was an ambitious 9am in order to allow for an early finish and return to
collect gear & food for a BBQ up at the beautiful paddling restricted
(ecological reasons) gorge on the upper Soca above the Lepenja confluence. As
the clock ticked past 9am, a few tardy paddlers were still eating breakfast and
messing about, resulting in the expected barbed comments. However, Chris and
Kirk were experienced enough to know that they would still beat Mark on to the
water, even with a mini 100m shuttle from Marianne for his gear to the river.
We had another brew, put on some sun tan cream and the got on the water to
wait…..
Mark was a beast again today, but we also saw a new side to the Silver Fox. An eventful rapid provided the opportunity for him to give a demonstration of advanced rescue techniques so he set of with a cheery “I’ll just go and help these out” to Nick. His delivery of psychological comfort and “it could happen to anyone” support was much appreciated.
Meanwhile from an
eddie further down the river we had a perfect view of carnage corner from where
we saw three unmanned boats floating past. It turns out it wasn’t just
the Fox that had got his tail wet as Fiona and Leanne threw themselves out of
their boats in sympathy. Pete and Carol had done brilliantly up to this point
and were feeling very chuffed that they had survived this tricky section. Pete
had inspected the river bed from close quarters on a couple of occasions but
Carol remained swim free until the final hundred yards. This boulder river
centre also caught out Pete but in truth it was Kirk who led him down a crap
line. Pete’s last act before he disappeared beneath the water was to
reach up and push Kirk back upright. Selfless to the last, unlike Kirk who
didn’t give his saviour a backward glance. 
We carried on to the top of the Slalom course were we met the overworked support crew who had had another busy day doing not very much at all really. Chris, Keith, Stu and David carried on to run the Slalom course. This toughest section on the Soca wasn’t without incident as David somehow managed a swim out of view of the rest of us. As we didn’t see what caused this I’m afraid we will never know for sure what happened. You will have to ask David! After another lung gasping walk out we were more than ready to hit the road and get ready for an afternoon BBQ.
After the shuttle back to camp and a quick trip to the supermarket we set off for the BBQ up at the Eco gorge. Sara set off on her bike and we passed her on the way. The fires were loaded with coals and we went off to jump, dive, attempt a high five and generally mess about at the Gorge. After the food, including two wasps, we walked up the gorge to get some photo’s. First of all was the boys then the girls then Kirk feeling Gerry up! Just before it was time to leave a sudden gust of wind blew my umbrella into the river and without hesitation Captain Kirk flew in to action and a successful recovery was made All through out the evening the thunder was rumbling and on the way home Sara was caught out in the rain.
Back at camp it was off to the bar to have a pint in celebration of Kurt’s birthday.
John Cooke, Kirk Williams, Chris Murphy.
More
Photos………….
Day 6 Alps 2015 – 06 Soca Velika (Eco Gorge) to Cezsoca
This was to be our final paddle in 
previous night. We got
on the river for 11:15, we had been blessed with another amazing day of
sunshine! It was a shame that Nick and Mark couldn't make it. (They took the
day off to do laundry!)
Before we set off we split into three groups of five. Ours the second was
lead by Chris; which contained myself, Helen, Pete and Leanne. Progress was
slow and a scrape but we soon got going. The first major rapid we encountered
was a grade three boulder garden with little pool drops. We had a few swims and
bashed knees here and there, but everyone was still smiling! The rapids
continued for about 500 meters, everyone was down in one piece.
Around the next bend we found a slide that was going off the top of gorge
wall. The Silver Fox thought this to be the perfect opportunity to show off his
silky skills! It was a good eight foot drop onto unbroken water and some seemed
a little anxious at the thought, while the rest couldn't wait to see the Fox
swim. Kirk and Sam had to help in the process as foxes aren't that strong. He
ended up styling the drop with his assistants jumping in after to add to the
effect!
Shortly after the heavens opened up which laid a think layer of mist over the
river, which added a new element to the paddle. Making everything seem more
interesting. Out of nowhere a dog appeared floating towards us, this mysterious
hound turned out to be a part of the mountain rescue team! (Also smashing zip
lines on a regular basis!) We ended the day on an Ice cream from the page 3
hut, never to return again!
Kurt Toulson More Photos…….
Day 7 Alps 2015 – 07
Once upon a time,
there was a city far far away. A city of amazing ice cream, pizza, coffee,
water ways for streets and spectacular architecture. This city, is of course,
After our last
visit to the supermarket in
We left the camp site at 6 am and drove
to
We arrived close to St. Marks square
which is by the way, stunning! We walked around taking in the atmosphere, ice
cream, coffees and churches. We then took a gondola ride around the
“streets” where we saw houses where Marco Polo and Caser Nova once
lived and of course we sang “just one cornetto”. Well I did!
We got the water
taxi back to the car park and were away, all in about 3 hours! This is by far
the best “services” we have ever stopped at on an LCC journey. A
truly magical experience that now seems serial and to quote Pete “Did we
just dream that??” Loved it,
I’m now working on
Fiona Barry
More
Photographs…….
Day 7 Alps 2015 – Le Argentiere la Bassee
When we arrived we
set up camp in the usual spot – site numbers 1, 2 and 3. We had just managed to make the supermarket
before they shut so were all set for evening meals and breakfast. There was the annual Le Argentiere la
Bassee sport climbing competition in the town and some of us wandered into town
to watch the finals. The photograph
on the right shows the presentations to the winners.
Day 8 Alps 2015
– 08 Le Argentiere la Bassee to St Clements
A relatively
leisurely start gave us time to head for the supermarket to sort out lunches
and our evening meal but, for those who already knew the lay of the land, a
visit to the near-by bakers kicked the day off with decent coffee and pan aux
chocolate and then a second breakfast back at the campsite.
Some of our regulars headed up to the start
of the slalom course above the campsite while the less intrepid moved boats to
a decent vantage point to watch the fun and games. Although the river was
running faster than most of the sections we had run in
We were a large
group so were split up into more manageable sizes but, at grade 2, the river
was mostly a cruise and we all began to relax and mingle with other groups when
sitting in the large eddies.
Perhaps one of the
trickiest sections was a meandering kilometre or so that was lined with ugly
looking strainers formed from fallen trees and shrubs. Leading our group,
Stuart did a great job of keeping me out of harm’s way in this stretch
and I was conscious of him placing himself frequently between me and the trap
hazards. Thanks Stuart!
Bend after bend,
wave train after wave train, we eventually reached another section of slalom
course where Keith separated out us green horns and got us to 
run each feature and eddy out immediately
afterwards to watch our more experienced paddlers play on them. It looked like
a lot of fun and I was very tempted to get stuck in but my nagging back pain
gave me an all too easy excuse not to push too far outside of my comfort zone.
Maybe next time!
The get out was immediately
after the slalom section but a handful of the team took advantage of the
impressive man-made small canal built alongside the river, to get back up to
the start of the course. Sarah managed to run it 4 or 5 times before finally
packing in once the shuttle had arrived.
A great introduction
to the delights of French rivers and, despite the water not being as beautiful
as in
Once in the bus, we headed
up the valley to Le Lac du Roche le Rame where we spent a happy 30 minutes
chilling out before heading back to our camp in Argentiere.
Pete Thomas
More
Photographs…….
Day 9 Alps 2015 – 09a Le Casset to Chantemerie Upper Guisane 11km grade 3
We set of for day 9 paddle at 9.00, and
headed for Le Casset which is the put in for the Upper Guisane, which according
to the guide book flows in a classic U shaped valley with huge cliff faces and
hanging valleys, I did miss some of this as I was concentrating on the water in
front of me and Keith’s back as I followed him down the fast flowing
river, at least it seemed fast to me.
We had split into 3
groups of five and headed down river fairly quickly as there were very few
places to eddy out, after a very enjoyable run and with confidence building I
did manage to look around at the fantastic mountain scenery, and for one second
thought it would be great to be walking up there on the tops, but quickly
concentration back to the river, we were approaching the S bends which is the
hardest section of the river and can take paddlers unawares (says the guide
book and any swims can be long rough and cold).
We got out just before the start of the S
bends, 4 of us were going to portage and the rest of the team were going to run
it, while we were sorting the portage, Doms` friends from Phoenix Canoe Club
(Cork) caught us up and started the run before us, causing a little delay as 2
of them had a swim, and as I stood at the get in below the bends 2 empty boats
a paddle and a throw bag went passed at a fair lick, Sara who had just finished
the run set of to rescue what she could.
Keith ran it last and back in the water I followed down to a gravel bank
where we all re grouped.
Setting of for the
next section, Keith put me in front for some of the way this was good but I
needed to concentrate in case something unexpected presented it self, we
finally came to the get out at the lovely ski village of Chantemerie, where we
all got out for lunch. The better
paddlers of the team were then going to run the lower Guisane, which is another
story.
Pete and Dom who
were having a day off meet us with the bus, and after 2hours of relaxation we
set off to pick up the lower Guisane team.
We finished the day
with a visit to the Grande SuperMarche where Fiona spent a huge 98 cents!! As
we were all going to have Pizza only to find on arriving back at the campsite
that it was shut. What were we going to have for Tea ???
A great confidence
building and enjoyable paddle for me.
Carole Thomas
More
Photographs…….
Day 9 Alps 2015 – 09b Chantemerie to Briancon Lower
Guisane 8km grade 4
“The insane Guisane”
Our run of the lower Guisane started by our
selecting teams. Keith was to lead with Sara, David, Mark. Our team had been
boosted by two top Irish paddlers , Connor
who is in the Irish surf team and Rooan. We decided that Kurt should
lead our team as he has a super human ability to avoid boulders and pick clean
lines. My super human ability to drink a bottle of beer without getting wasps
in it may have been needed later.
Keith's team led through Shelobs weir, this
is a concrete sectional bridge that forms a long dark tunnel full of rubble and
concrete. All went well with team
one until Mark decided he needed a little " Me time " against a
boulder.
Continuing on brought increasing wave trains
and boulders, before the mandatory portage of the weir at le Pont Carle. Rejoining the river brought continuous
rapids of increasing furry now grade 4, at this point I decided do throw in a
few rolls (all that time in the
Finally the river mellowed out a little as
we wound our way through the houses of Breancon and to the get out. A fantastic
paddle!!
Paddlers: Sara,
Keith, David, Mark G, Kurt, Connor and Rooan
Stuart Toulson
More
Photographs……
Day 10 Alps 2015 – 10a
An early start on the van leaving the
campsite at eight am saw us start our long drive to the get in on the upper
Ubay. We made an early stop
to buy baguettes and view fancy French pastries in a patisserie best known for
short changing Chris Murphy on a previous visit. Lunch bought and change carefully
counted we continued on our way.
Near the get in we passed a village called Barcelonette which some
believe gave the world cantilevered underwear. At La Condamine we split into
our groups and started our descent. The trip was approx 11 km of grade 2-3 to
the get out at Jausiers.
We took turns in
leading down the river avoiding rocks finding eddies and generally moving round
the river with some style and elegance, no swims towering mountains sunshine
and great companions all meant we had a brilliant experience and everyones
paddling had improved loads after our week in
Thanks to all our
team.
Dom Buckley
More
Photographs……
Day 10 Alps 2015 – 10b Le Fresquieres to Le Martinet
Grade 5
2.5km time about 1
hour
“A powerful section; big water;
enormous stoppers. The first rapid has changed a lot as a result of a landslide
in recent years and has some very jagged rocks so this section is not really to
be recommended.” Alpine
Playground…..
Keith and I were
keen to run this section again so Stuart dropped us off at Le Fresquieres
bridge and watched as we paddled off between many of the giant boulders near
the start of this steep and powerful section. The level was fairly low but the pour-overs
still powerful enough to hold you if you got it wrong. At the first really difficult drop we
were a little cautious with only the two of us so we carried over the large
boulder and put in avoiding the difficult first drop. This still gave us a difficult run out
rapid with some powerful waves.
A little further on
and we were below the road and we ran the next drop on-sight through some
difficult boulders and channels.
This led to the short 500m run down to the raft get in at Le Martinet
and the rest of the group sunning themselves on the beach. A great run but does need some confident
paddling.
Kurt Toulson
More
Photographs……
Day 10 Alps 2015 – 10c The Ubaye Race Course
Following a
lazy lunch of cheese and tomato baguette, the first bouncy ride down the Racecourse
is always a bit of a jolt to the system. Levels seemed lower than in previous
years but it was still wise to be switched on for the initial bounce. The Ubaye
was disappointingly grey and murky due to a lot of silt which was being
deposited as dark silky mud all over the place.
A weird line around the first huge boulder was taken, could have sworn river
left was much more straight forward - meh! Once we had all settled 
down, it was a
pleasant bounce around the never ending bends of the Ubaye with a few rafts
getting in the way. despite the grey colour of the water, a glance behind you
revealed fantastic views of the rising peaks in the valley.
More continuous rapids and then the "Sharks Tooth" is soon upon
us. This was very straight forward in these levels and everyone got
through without any nonsense. A few gnarly members of the LCC entourage didn't
waste any opportunity for a spot of playboating whilst waiting for everyone to
get through.
We stopped for our usual photo opportunity just before the rapid which takes
you under the
A few more bends and rapids and we were soon at the get out in Le Lauzet. A
final haul over the rocks and a snarl at cocky raft guides and their silly
hair.
Helen Siertsema More Photographs……
Day 11 Alps 2015 – 11 Lower Guil to Rabioux
Whilst waiting for the shuttle we recognised
a familiar boat on the opposite bank. This was Sara’s boat to which she
said early she wasn’t paddling but obviously after discussion back at
camp with Aid she decided to paddle with him and friends. So we waved her on by
as she passed with her favoured group of paddlers for the day. After a long
wait we got sight of Tony and Keith crossing over the bridge. As they met us on
the river bank everyone geared themselves up.
We all got onto to
the river and some of us braved the cold water to practice some rolling. Sarah
with the normal roll for most however Sam with his 
nifty back deck roll. As we navigated on
down the river as one large group we eddy out in order to then practice our
break ins and outs. Then we carried on further on down river until we made
another large eddy to where we could continue to practice doing our break ins
and outs ready for Clements.
As we reached the
end of the Guil it merged to join the Durance to which the group then drifted
on down to St Clements. This to where Sam showed us how to style the play waves
in his
The rest of the
group then paddled on down the usual left fork of the river and eddy hopped on
down the left bank to a suitable place to shoot the Rabioux from. One by one we
were signalled down and on the whole we were successful. Plus we needed to be
with the two eagled eyed sea paddlers of Pete and Carole Thomas on the banks
watching our lines. Once we all got down we all got out and watched a number of
rafts, hotdogs and hydro speeds run the Rabioux.
David Brockway More Photographs……
Day 12 Alps 2015 – 12a Château-Queyras - Via ferrata
The day began in the minibus
as usual as we went to scout the upper Guil. The plan was to run the upper
Guil, stop at Chateau Queyras to do the Via Ferrata, lunch then run Chateau Q
and some of the middle Guil. Unfortunately the upper Guil, which flows down
from the mountains on the Franco Italian border, was very low and especially
for myself as one of the "porkier" paddlers, would have been too much
of a scrape.
It was therefore
decided that we would do the Via Ferrata before lunch then paddle afterwards. I
have never done any Via Ferrata before as I went for lunch in a nice
restaurant last year [Plat du jour 15 Euros with wine] and missed all the fun.
All of us without our own harnesses went and hired the relevant equipment and
after a little safety briefing from Keith, off we went with Sam leading the
way.
Our timing was out as we managed to hook on just after a family of
mother and two sons. The younger boy was obviously part monkey but his older
sibling had all the climbing ability and sure-footedness of a half hour old
foal. As we began to edge along the rocky gorge everyone who had done it before
noticed that the route had changed, with both the bridges over the gorge
decommissioned.
About half way along a couple of the new bits involved edging
along a bridge consisting of three steel cables, two as handrails and one to
walk on. I did look back to see how Helen, who is not keen on heights, was coping
but she seemed OK so I set off across after Stu and Kurt. There seemed to be a
bit of a tricky climb to get off the bridge and "foal boy" was
struggling thus causing a bit of a backlog with more and more people stepping
onto the bridge. I did have a little prayer to the French god of epoxy resin as
that was how the bolts were fixed into the rock but all was well, unlike some
later not as important bolts pointed out to me by Stu. After another bridge and
a bit more climbing we reached the end and walked back down the road to the
start, disappointing the people who had been looking forward to an ice cream
from the shop at the top [who's owner is now probably destitute]
Nick Coughlin
More
Photographs……
Day 12 Alps 2015 – 12b Château-Queyras Gorge
I had been looking down into the Chateau-Queyras gorge as I
climbed and thought "that doesn't look too bad" as lots of things do
when you look back upstream at them so when asked if I was going to run it I
said yes. Note to self: next time
attempting something like this have little warm up paddle first.
I got down the first half OK and without incident but then came to
a narrower section that was a bit like a corkscrew under an overhanging rock,
now I know you're supposed to "love" the rocks and lean towards them
but at the speed I was going I didn't fancy smashing my head against it so
leaned away, flow to the edge and over I went. I can see from my camera footage
that I tried to roll three times but every time the boat got halfway up I was
banged back against the rock wall. I only swam down the next drop and was
rescued by Kurt [again, Thanks Mate] and back in my boat. Then managed to get
stuck on a rock after breaking out but was pushed into the flow by a passing
Sarah [Thanks Mate]
There was a tricky bouldery bit at the end because the levels were
low but everyone got through OK.
Thanks to my fellow paddlers; Sarah, Helen, Sam, Stu, Keith and
Kurt.
Nick Coughlin
More
Photographs……
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Day 12 Alps 2015 – 12c Middle Guil
Well at this point in time, I shouldn’t
be paddling as my poor dagger nomad had gained an extra drainage hole. Unfortunately this was on the hull and
no bung would fit this beauty, as it is very useful to empty the kayak, it was
not as useful as staying afloat while on the river! Thanks to a very kind
member of the club, they let me borrow their very unique pink Pyranha burn (as
it was the mark 3, I thought a test drive would be good). I was very eager to
get on the water and was suited and booted within minutes, being the last one
to get dressed and the first on the water surfing the… eddy!
Shuttle done, we started by the gauges at
the road bridge and we split into groups with myself leading the first group.
Later on I realise that Carol was leading the way with style, positioning
herself perfect for every rapid. With some tight and technical lines to find
with few eddies, we progressed smoothly down the grade 2/3 section. This
section of river was certainly less shallow so I could afford to play around a
little without 
damaging the ‘£1500’
boat I was in.
As we approached surprise drop, we eddied out and waited for the following group. This is where some paddlers got out to consolidate their awesome skills just performed on the previous section… “Don’t touch that boat Pete!!!”
From here, Keith, Sara, Sam, Stuart, Kurt
and I continued on down the grade 4+ section. At this point I had made my mind
up with what boat will have the pleasure of ‘the beast’ for
the foreseeable future, when funds allow! This made it relatively easy to play
down this section with the odd boof here and there (without leaving any plastic
behind). A really enjoyable section of rapids with small drops, stoppers and
waves only managed to trip up one member of the group, but we won’t
mention their name, no it wasn’t Keith, Sara, Sam, Kurt or myself.
After a quick self-rescue came a long wait for Kurt to empty his full boat as he tried to help with the rescue. Continuing on, we approached ‘staircase’ but as we were short on time, we jumped off at the top and picked our line for next year, then got back on below. A bit further down river we could see the tunnel where the rest of the gang were waiting for us, cameras at the ready! We all styled the last rapid as that would be unprofessional to mess it up on camera, before getting our boats chauffeured up to the minibus… “Pete! Leave that boat alone!!!”
Great section of river, thoroughly enjoyed by all, now im off to find a good deal on a new Pyranha Burn Mark 3… See Ya!!
Mark Garrod
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Day 12 Alps 2015 – 12d Mountain biking from the
Col Du Galiber to Briacon
After initially
failing to get a bike for the day due to being there too early I (David) decided
to return to camp and I went back an hour later. On my return to the shop it
was really quick and easy to secure a bike so I was soon on my way back to
camp. Once back camp I rode around a while to test out the bike and eventually
I bumped into my fellow biker for the day Mark Benson. We discussed a plan of
action for the day which was to drive to Col Du Galiber and ride the track down
the valley and along the Guisane to finish up in Briancon.
The plan was to set
off around half 10 however we were going at the steady speed of Mark so we got
away at 10 past 11. He drove whilst I took up the co driver seat and Marianne
took up the rear seat. On our way up to the
Eventually when we
got under way it was just gone 12. We searched for the put in and off we went
on our decent. It was steep and rocky decent which meander on down.
Occasionally we made a break out in order to capture the surroundings which
including a glacier among many cows and the odd donkey. Once we reached the
road we had to ascend in order to reach Col Du Lautaret were Marianne met us
for a sport of lunch.
At about 10 past 2 we searched for out next
put in which did take us a while. This decent was more gradual than the
previous one as there were fewer rocks to dodge. However about half way down
this decent is when I realised to why my arms were taking a pounding and it due
to forgetting to unlock my suspension from ascent just before lunch. After the
correction my ride down the track took much less of a strain on my body.
Soon enough we
reached the source of the Guisane. Then on from there we started to come across
many small villages, It was in one of these villages that we stopped for an ice
cream in which I kept it original with vanilla and Benson went for strawberry.
As we ventured on from our ice cream at Le Cavallion bar we carried on the
track following the Gusiane and as we did the area became more familiar with
recognising the river (S Bends).
Finally we were
nearing the end of our ride as we crossed the river at the put in for the lower
Guisane and carried on the track mostly along the left bank of the river, Once
we reached the take out at half 5 there was no Marianne and it turns out she
decided to do a quick shop. So worried about time I left Mark and headed off
back to the bike shop as I needed to get the bike back by 7. I managed to do an
hour’s ride in just over thirty minutes even seeing off a road bike on
the way.
Cheers to Mark
Benson for a great ride down the
David Brockway
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Day 13 Alps 2015 – 13 Lower Durance (Sunshine
run)
We ran the Sunshine run in one large group
of nine- some paddlers needed a day off to recover from the two weeks worth of
strenuous paddling and non-paddling antics and some simply wanted to utalise
their last chance to soak up the rays. We started our paddle at St Clement
slalom course. While Carol, Dom and Pete took the opportunity to show off their
stylish breaking in and out skills the rest had a go at surfing. Fiona and Nick
surfed across the waves stylishly and with no carnage. Sara showed off her play
boating skills in Sam’s boat- while Sarah took photo footage to teach Sam
a few tricks. Fiona (aka Mark in Fiona’s boat) and Keith demonstrated to
the group how surfing is done. David had a late arrival to the water after
buying his new shoes but surfed effortless. Mark Benson was so skilful that he
was able to chat on the phone- I think while surfing!
After playing on
the slalom course we drifted down the river enjoying the wave trains, sunshine
and the no so enjoyable confused water before arriving at the Rab Wave. While
Keith prepped the group well ensuring that we were positioned in a good eddie
and advised us of the best line many of the group still appeared anxious.
Keith, David, Mark and Sara taking a left line all wizzed through without
flinching. Sarah then smashed through the middle with no problems, skilfully
positioning herself in the closest eddie to take photos. Pete then bravely bit
the bullet and volunteered to go next. Testing the LCC tradition he asked Ms
Rab’s permission to let him through which seemed to work as he floated on
through with little effort- I think the wave actually parted to let him
through.
I went through next
with less success but luckily got T-rescued by David who was waiting to pick up
the carnage. Dom styled the Rab with a slight roll afterwards but gained enough
gloating material to end 
his white water career on a high. Nick also
styled it with little effort and enthusiasm to have a second run. Carol
followed bravely but took a swim but enjoyed her first experience of taking on
the Rab. Carol and I have vowed to ask Mrs Rab’s permission to let us
through next time! Mark Benson smashed straight through- I think while still on
the phone. Keith and David really showed off their skills by surfing the Rab,
Sarah and I decided to swim through while the group enjoyed a sunny lunch while
watching all the carnage of other kayaker’s and rafters.
After lunch we then
set off to take on the wave trains down to Embrun. Sarah styled the waves by
going down backwards to snap the rest of the group who put a bit more effort in
to remain upright. Meanwhile the seasoned sea kayakers made the wave trains
look like flat water paddling! Sara and David maximised every opportunity to
surf every stopper possible and gave us good viewing at the two surf spots.
Overall it was a
really enjoyable sunny paddle and a great way to end a fabulous two weeks of
paddling. We ended the day off with a BBQ with our
Thanks to all
involved in this paddle and all paddles during the trip- the river leaders,
those who picked up the carnage and simply those that made the paddles great
fun!
Leanne Murray
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Day 14 Alps 2015 – 14 Departure Day – The Gyronde
The weather forecast had been showing a damp
departure day and sure enough the rains came on the Friday evening and carried
on through the night. By morning the Durance was running fast and brown. I had
been hoping that the rain would make for a good last day run on the
The van pulled over
and now came the first surprise for me; it’s been a couple of years since
I was on the Alps trip and it turns out that the “normal 
“get-on is now at the top of the
harder (Gr IV) section by Les Vigneaux;
I was expecting enough of a challenge for me with the Gr III section
almost 2 Km down-river! Oh well, a
hike down the path was to ensue. In fact, the whole team portaged the first 750
metres or so, as the upper part of the river was looking too risky considering
this was supposed to be a drama-free quick run back to camp.
Leaving the rest of
the team to put-in, I kept on portaging along the track following the river
down to the road bridge. I arrived just as Keith appeared in an eddy, closely
followed by Sarah and David.
At last, if with a
little apprehension at the speed of the water flowing past the eddy, I was in
my kayak and ready to launch. 
Following Sara’s lines helped me
avoid the initial two or three larger pour-overs as I got used to river and
started to enjoy the first of the many wave-trains created by the high flow
conditions.
Keith led the
eddy-hopping to control our descent, especially as we approached the weir. This
we sneaked around, well away from the main flow. Now the river eased, and we enjoyed the
conveyor belt to the Durance confluence and on to the top of the slalom course
which by now was running black on one side. The swirling slabs of water provided a
final challenge or entertainment, depending on the paddler, and all too soon we
were at the get-out and hauling our boats towards transport home. A good end to a fortnight of
varied river paddling.
Mark Benson
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