Alpine Paddling Holiday 2020     LCC Home News items or reports on club activities should be sent to Archived Newsletters  Major Trip Reports.… Day 14 Gyronde It was the last day and only 3 paddlers were up for the early morning challenge of a quick trip down the Gyronde onto the Durance and down to the slalom site. We were to be a team of 4, but the “Ford Custom” next door still had a sleepy spell. We drove out of the campsite at 8:30am leaving the others to start to pack away the camp. We put on under the campsite bridge (the lower one!) and paddled off being pushed quickly along by the fast-flowing water. They were still working on the dam and HEP Scheme above so all the Gyr`s water flowed directly into the Gyronde making it a great level for paddling. It was even higher than earlier in the week. It was an exhilarating paddle into the gorge with the water flowing over all of the normally exposed boulders. Richard was paddling well until he misjudged a corner trying to avoid a car sized boulder and got swept into overhanging branches. He tried valiantly to roll but after one attempt the fast-flowing stream and many boulders meant for a fast exit. He managed to rescue himself and the boat when about 75 metres downstream before Keith and Stuart managed to lodge it on some boulders near the bank. Richard soon collected his paddle and reunited with his kayak we headed on down the gorge to the weir. This is now well signed, and the potentially boat pinning boulders have all been swept well to river right by high floods. Without stopping we followed the flow over the middle of the weir and on down below. Keith did talk […]

Alpine Paddling Holiday 2020     LCC Home News items or reports on club activities should be sent to Archived Newsletters  Major Trip Reports.… Day 13 St Clements to Embrun At 10:30 the cars finally left for the river with all the paddlers, families, parents and white-water gurus. We finally got started paddling around 12 Midday. This was at a good level and more and more of the team were starting to get more adventurous on the play waves. We set off down the main river towards the Rabioux Wave with many practising their rolls. We were paddling as one large group of 17 on this large river. There is plenty of room and you can paddle 3 or 4 abreast on most of the rapids. We enjoyed the giant wave trains as we had all paddle this section before. The youngsters including Sarah had to do the jumping in from the overhanging cliff again. Ollie and Ella drew on points with two “5.9`s” for their forward flips into the water. On arrival at the “Rab wave” we met Maria and proceeded to swap parents and boats. Spectators moved to the beach below the Rab wave to watch and take photos. The remaining paddlers set off down the traditional left-hand route between the island. Following the previous paddle, we had all decided to take a line either in the middle or slightly right of main tongue this time. This should make for good photographs as the wave had changed again with higher water levels. One by one we set off. After two weeks paddling and numerous rivers, we were all feeling more confident. However, with the roar of the water and anticipation of waiting your turn, the run always induces much more concentration and stress than it probably deserves. One by […]

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. […]

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 […]