French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 11a Upper Durance by Michael O`Rourke A leisurely depart time of 10am saw us waving goodbye to John on his journey to see his sister/avoid the minibus journey home. We were re-joined by Stuart and Dom after their previous day’s excursion to the Chateau Queryas in Dom’s hire car the Duck Egg. A modest 10 Euro entry fee into the Chateau seemed well worth it according to reports. Stuart was back to minibus door duty, it’s a tough job, but it’s no opening and closing window job. Stuart had to be remined on self occasions how to perform his duties. We separated into our now usual groups and headed on down the Upper Durance. Keen to avoid the leaders swimming curse Ian quickly delegated the leader’s role to Stuart, Myself and Hannah and we all took it in turn to lead. We took turns leading, selecting eddies to break into, hand signalling and the choo, choo full steam ahead signal with added sound effects. Hannah carefully navigated us through a set of rapids that curved around and under a bridge with a very colourful skull graffiti piece on then inside. After this we were given free reign to break in and out of as many eddies as we could. We let the other groups run though, not because we were slow, but we thought the more people there were down the bottom, the more people there would be to help us with our boats. Kirk`s group were also doing a significant amount of eddying and it seemed to become a race who could make it down the river the slowest. Eventually we all made it down to the bottom and once again Ian had avoided the leaders swimming curse. Unfortunately, we had left it […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 10c The Guil Valley by Nadja Ford On the 10th day of the Alps tour a group of five people, the three Twingo Boys and two Fords, made a detour from the rivers and went off site seeing. The morning promised us a glorious day so away we went. First on are list was Mont – Dauphin. From the car park hill our eyes opened on a magnificent view of the mountains, waterfall and we looked down at the River Guil, water of which run from the Queyras massif to maintain torrent. It hollowed out a canyon in the morainic sediment, having two plateaux of similar height face to face. After we indulged ourselves with the view and a bit of history we went further, deeper into the bastion, which looked spectacular from the main road. Skipping down to the bastion, Dom give some guided tour about how it’s built and how people of the bastion defends themselves from the invaders We passed double gates of defence, with some elements still intact. Walking down the street with old buildings, with little shops in it, and some consulting rooms and I believe family homes. Down the alley there was a monument which had been put there in 1921 to commemorate people who defended the bastion numerous times. Down we go past the old armoury buildings, old arsenal building and a Catholic Chapel. Outside the Chapel a gipsy circus was setting their performance place for later and we are making are way back to beginning of are tour. Passing living area, with old French houses and new twists on living. After short rest in the shade we make are way back to cars with some family stories about WW2. When we get back, we spot some […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 10b Chateau Queyras by Kirk Williams We headed up to Chateau Queyras after a great morning on the Middle Guil. There was a bit of talk in the minibus about plans for the afternoon, mostly about ice cream, a little about Via Ferrata, and a few whispers about the “toilet flush”. We arrived at a beautifully sunny quaint mountain town and the chips were down. “Whoever’s paddling stay in your kit cos we’re going now and then eating ice cream all afternoon, who’s in?” The answer, a team of 8 for the paddle, a few more just for the spectating and the ice cream was the answer. Chateau Queyras is not that technical, but it is intimidating, so kudos to everyone who went for it, and encouragement for next year for those that didn’t. You can probably split it in to 3 main sections; a tricky, rocky lead in that can unseat a few and unsettle you for what follows; the central “toilet flush” that narrows and fires you through some balance challenging water features at pace; finally a more measured but still interspersed with rocky drops section to lead to the get out before the bridge section. We all gathered in the eddy at the top bridge to agree the approach and running order as once you set off that’s pretty much it. We basically decided to run as two teams of four in a bigger team of eight giving each other enough space but staying together. Work that one out if you can! So we set off one by one and entered to increasing flow realising that know it was hold on tight, stay loose and keep it straight, or else….Well there was no or else, everyone nailed it and we even did […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 9b The Upper Gyronde by Aleksander Ford The Gyronde was alpine great volume grade 4 – river which started from Valloise to Les Vigneax . It is formed from the Gyr and Onde which meet at their confluence at the barrage in Les Vigneax where we got on and set off. The Gyr and Onde water is normally taken off through the hydroelectric power station and re-enters the river Durance some 11 km downstream. They had been doing work on the barrage and consequently all the water down comes down the Gyronde and when came out of the raised dam barrier it was lot faster. There were ten people on the river in two groups of five today. The first group was Keith, Aleksander, Sarah, Neil and Ian. The second group was Kirk, Ron, Mark, Aaron and Helen. The start was at the Barrage which had an enormous wave which was right next to the weir. We had a difficult river with lots of hidden rocks. When we got to the most difficult part of the river there were two ways to go. Our group went first. The left side of the river you had swerve past a large boulder and immediately go river right to avoid a rather smaller boulder, which everyone missed but Mark choose to go over the rocks a different way and go back river left. The other way was down between two rocks and you could carry on straight and go left. This route was called the chicken chute which Aaron and Kirk took. When we came to an eddy after the bridge section there was a `boulder choke` in the middle of the river. Keith confidently described the route for the next part of the river; ‘Go right […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 9a The Upper Durance by Hannah Bellamy Monday was to be a two-river day, and in the morning, we headed to the Upper Durance. It was to be a warmup for those who would be paddling the Gyronde in the afternoon, and with plenty of opportunities for eddy hopping and mini wave surfing, an all-round nice river for everyone. We unloaded the trailer in our now well polished fashion, and in our groups (today our group adopted John), we set off down the river. Ian took the opportunity of this friendly river to give us all an opportunity to lead (some might say that he was delegating to avoid the leaders ‘curse’ that has unfolded over the week…!). During our turns leading, he reminded us all of four key points of leading; C=communication – to communicate clearly with your group using a combination of speech and river signals L=line of sight – as the leader you should maintain line of sight with the rest of your group A=avoidance of hazards (rocks/weirs/trees/even forgetting kit) P=position – as a leader you should position yourself where you are most useful to the group, be that at the front, in the middle or at the back depending on the river features/bends etc. In our group we took it in turns to lead, signalling into eddies frequently until we were about 1km from the end – then we eddy hopped and surfed our way to the get out, a bank just before the dam where we sat in the sunshine and waited for the shuttle to the afternoon river. More photographs……….

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 9c The Middle Durance by Jake Toulson So the Toulson brigade arrived yesterday with a little warm up session in the lake Kurt playing assistant coach to Jake, and got him warmed up for today’s paddle on the river Durance. Setting off around 10am with beautiful blue skies we headed down river after Jake eventually got his Cag on. Head coach dad (stu) taught Jake how to break in and out followed by some ferry gliding we got off to a good start. That practise had to soon come into action as Jake was stuck onto wrong side of the river with a huge tree coming his way. He did the best he could to avoid missing the trunk and luckily only hit a few leaves! Leaving Jakes and dads arses both nipping. Some beautiful scenery was observed along the way. As we floated down we spotted an eagle and a white water duck who was showing off his skills on the rapids. After about an hour we stopped for a break got out our kayaks Kurt thought he’d let some water out of his kayak losing his draining bung downstream; never to be see again. Dad (Stu) was ready to improvise with a stick and a bit of tape which saved the day! We headed back onto the water for the second half of our journey passing a group of French kayakers to which one shouted ALREET! (Geordie slang for hello) to which Jake replied with ALREET MATE! after further discussion with the group it turns out he wasn’t a Geordie at all he was simply saying salut! Which was a bit embarrassing for Jake but he blames the noise of the river for the mistake. We then had a steady paddle/float down […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 08b Lilo Race Slalom Course 2019 by Neil Jones Return of the famous Lilo Race not for the faint hearted, only for the stupid!! So after a nice leisurely morning paddle down the Durance with a bit of tasty surfing to finish off at St Clements we returned to the camp were the crazy 8, inflated their children’s toys and headed off up to the start of the L’Argentière-La Bessée Slalom course. Quick brief from Keith, basically condoning our stupid antics and the best line to limit casualties. He lined us up…..sort of…..and we where off!! I just imagined total carnage from the off but we were all doing pretty well. Keith must have thought the same as he instructed the first race photographer to set up at the first drop. But first fence…drop, was taken well by all and we continued down Couse. This must have been the fact that the first 4 across the line would hopefully receive one off the four throw lines set up at the bottom to catch us?? I cleared the second fence… drop and was beginning to lead the field with Sarah a very close second. As for the rest…..who knows what the other riders where going through; all I knew me and my trusty Pegasus was in with a shot…. As we approached Becher’s Brook, it was me on the flying Pegasus and 3 times regular French Alps Lilo racer Sarah on the stable cactus neck and neck with the experienced river runner Ian in 3rd ridding his new Spiderman camp bed. Also going strong was Nickki, riding “Terry the Turtle” very well indeed for her first time. As for the rest they were a thing of the past… (may not have still been alive, never […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 08a Middle Durance 2019 by Mark Benson After a full day and night of rain and the prospect of a chilly wait for some, the group decided that discretion was the better part of valour and the Middle Guil was left for one of the warmer days expected for the rest of the trip. Instead, we reverted to that old standard, campsite to St Clement, starting on top of the slalom course. It was a late, relaxed start, so plenty of time for the customary leaving of kit behind in the tent. This time it was Ron’s honour but luckily, chauffeur-driven transport was on hand to help and, in the time it takes for a chrysalis to transform into a river-butterfly, Ron and the rest of the rear-guard were bouncing down the slalom course to join the rest of the group. The river was a little higher thanks to the aforementioned rainfall. The Fressinières rapid did not disappoint and, making the most of the revised itinerary, some put in eddy practice, whilst others let the river take the strain. So we continued in like manner, on a pleasant paddle to the top of the St Clements slalom course. There Keith encouraged us to venture into the top wave, some meeting with more success than others. All in all, not the drama of the Middle Guil, but a good choice for the group, given the weather. More photographs……….

Photo of the Month Please send any photos to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk August 2019 Click here to see the photos and to vote for your favourite. # 1 Fiona paddling Serpents Tail by Dave Gentle 17 votes (25%) # 2 Junior Club Weekend based at Anglesey Outdoors Amy Newnham 12 votes (18%) # 3 John Fay on the Arisaig Sea Kayaking Trip 11 votes (16%) # 4 Andy Garland Paddling around Ramsey Island during the Pembroke Weekend 10 votes (15%) # 5 Open Day 2019 Ella Clews 10 votes (15%) # 6 Ian Bell on the River Dee 7 votes (10%)

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 07 The Lower Durance by Ian Bell After the late finish yesterday on the Ubaye we had a lazy start today. The plan being to have some time on the campsite and then leave late morning to do the Sunshine run later in the day even though the weather forecast was suggesting that it would be in the rain rather than the sun. The morning was spent on the campsite, for some this was a chance to rest whilst others visited local shops for supplies. More importantly there was a significant amount of time spent repairing boats. The most serious being Martin`s which required a major weld to the hull. Fortunately, Dom had all the required equipment to do the job. This was also a useful opportunity for others to learn how to do these types of repairs. They will be examined on this later in week to see if they hold. As we approached departure time, an amendment was made to have lunch on the campsite and then paddle. This gave some members opportunity to play a rather competitive game of Pictionary, which was won by Keith and Hannah. At 12:30 the bus and cars finally left for the river with 14 potential paddlers. Only 13 finally paddled as one member who shall remain nameless forgot some key items of his kit. He went on to spend the afternoon in Embrun sightseeing. We finally got started paddling around 2pm with a warmup on the slalom course at St Clement. 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. On arrival at the “Rab wave” […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 6b The Ubaye Racecourse by Ron Wood After lunch we headed over to the racecourse section of the Ubaye, an exciting and technical river which today was a series of pretty constant grade 3-4 rapids. Overnight rain must have churned up the silt turning it to a mushroom grey colour to give it an uninviting look and covered the rocks just enough to catch-out even the best of kayakers. After a nervous wee and an eiree silence in the eddy under the bridge. Groups of 4 set off down the first drop in sight of the get in – John did a speedy self rescue, putting the rest of the groups at ease of not being the first swimmer of the day and helping to focus the mind on the task ahead. The next victim of the grey mushroom soup was Sarah who had had a flash back to being back on the minibus and had fallen asleep. Another broken go-pro to add to her list!! We took the rapids one at a time, regrouping at the bottom of each. Suddenly in front Helen seemed to succumb to river leaders curse. She had dropped sideways off a rock and ended lay flat on her back deck with her face grating against the hard river bed. Safe out of the water we realised her paddle was missing. Strong and hard as nails as usual and with a bleeding lip Helen was composed enough to indicate where her paddle was left. With luck after a few minutes it popped out and was quickly recovered by Nikki, and we were on our way again. Stuart found some cracking lines at the infamous “sharks tooth”, running one rapid masquerading as a submarine and later on he managed to […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 6a The Upper Ubaye by Ron Wood On Friday we had an early start, setting off at 8 am to take the very scenic route to the Ubaye valley, stopping en-route for some geological sightseeing. There was a rather disgruntled fisherman at the get in, but he soon headed home when he realised that it was past 10am and time for the kayakers to take to the river. The morning saw us take a pleasant bimble along the Upper Ubaye to warm up for the afternoon. It was a bit on the low side, grade 3-, with some waves where the group attempted some surfing high fives but it looked more like they were doing a poor rendition of the chicken dance. Too many boulders over many seasons resulted in a split in Martins boat. This was in the same place as for all Pyranha kayaks, under the seat. A quick repair at lunchtime with Denso tape was good enough so that he could carry on for the racecourse run in the afternoon (ish). More photographs……….

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 5 Glacier Blanc and Tour de France by John Rasquinha Today was a day for something different from paddling after most people had spent 4 days on the water, though still with an early start, setting off from the campsite at 7am. The plan was to do the traditional annual walk up to the Glacier Blanc situated within the Ecrins national park. The huge glacier runs down from an altitude of 4015 metres and can be up to 250 metres deep in parts. We began our walk up the path with glacier meltwater forming fast flowing streams and rivers coming down the mountainside alongside us. Starting early meant most of the way up was in shade and the cool morning air. We stopped for the traditional group photo on the bridge halfway and then proceeded up to the refuge at a height of 2550m and once there enjoyed some nice cool drinks and more fruity French tarts. Unfortunately, by the time we were heading back down to sun was high in the sky and we had a very, very hot walk back down, requiring another drink stop at the bottom. Whilst most of us had gently been working our way up and down, Michael and Hannah had decided to jog instead in very impressive times, looking well rested by the time the rest of us caught up! After finishing the walk, we were able to time a visit to Briancon where the Tour De France was scheduled to pass through for stage 18 which was an exciting experience! After navigating to a hill climb viewing point, we managed to see the competitors powering up along with their entourage of support vehicles, and even got to see one of the swiftly executed bike-swaps right in […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 4 Slalom Course and Upper Guisane by Nikki Aldridge The morning started with some people playing on the slalom course and others playing on SUPs on the lake… success stories all around. After a fairly relaxed morning and lunch at the campsite, 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 water. In no time at all, we reached ‘S-Bend’. After some jungle bashing we eventually found our way to the top of the rapid and went to inspect. A few sensible people portaged while the less sensible people tackled the (quite long) rapid in small groups. It was big and fast with lots of rocks to dodge and smiles all around at the bottom. We regrouped in slightly calmer water and carried on, only to find out shortly after that Neil had disappeared… he’d apparently stopped to take photos and missed the brief on where to get back on the river with the rest of us! He was eventually rescued by Kirk and Aaron, who found him sat on the river bank staring blankly at his phone and contemplating his lack of friends and how long his water would keep him alive! Meanwhile, on the river, one of the leaders who shall remain unnamed decided to go for a swim at the first of two weirs! Just to make sure the group were paying attention, obviously! The rest of the river was a relaxed and pretty paddle, with a few bits to keep us entertained and tourists squirting us with water pistols, before reaching the get out. It was then back to camp to celebrate Ian’s **th birthday with chocolate cake and […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 3b The Lower Durance by Stuart Conway We entered the Durance from the Lower Guil, with some confusing eddy lines but everyone managed to get safely across and when we reached the undercut everyone got through it safely! We then dropped down to the slalom course where everyone surfed on the waves. Unfortunately, Aleksander capsized, and the wave gripped his paddle out of his hands, but with some great teamwork he was safely returned to his boat, which included Neil chasing down his paddle and helping with the rescue, a first! After a leisurely lunch, and once the shuttle was completed, with the van going down to Embrun, we set off down the Durance heading towards the Rab wave, encountering loads of big bouncy wave trains, Choo Choo! On arriving at the Rab wave, we pulled over to an eddy to analyse the wave and determine the line that we were to take. Mr Steer gave us a long briefing through the perfect line, avoiding the rocks and passing through the left of the main wave and then he proceeded to go straight down the centre, resulting in an unfortunate backflip and a mediocre roll. The 4 river leaders followed on to ensure there was safety at the bottom of the Rab wave in case anyone got into any difficulties. As it happened, we all got through safely, not relying on Keith’s line. Even Aleksander, who capsized but demonstrated the perfect textbook roll within the big white stuff, unlike someone else… Some of the adventurous members of the group then went back and swam the Rab wave, all went well except for two who went to the wrong bank! We then pushed on down the Durance, heading for Embrun. On the way we stopped […]

French Alps 2019 paddling trip Day 3a The Lower Guil by Sarah Gille After waiting patiently on the bus for mark to get ready the convoy set off for another day on the river. We made it down the rickety road to the get in and had a few practice rolls in the clear blue water before we set off. A few of us where starting to get a bit weary so the pleasant flow carried us down with a bimbly bounce to view the beautiful scenery that surrounded us. Strange rock formations in the shape of a hand and a large cascading waterfall. A few stop offs where made and we played on the waves and practiced our break ins. Next a bit of eddy hopping practice where I heard that a member of the less experienced and professional group in front had unfortunately taken a swim. From far far far far far far far far away it looked like a huge pour over with a massive stopper behind it. But from close up it was a tiny rock. The swimmer???? Captain Kirk. We descended to the Durance and slalom course where we practiced our surfing. Aaron was getting the hang of the big surf waves and so too was Alexander. A few of us had a play on the slide and had another run, while others sunbathed and had lunch. What fun!! More photographs……….