This September, I was lucky enough to get back to Australia for month of ski mountaineering guiding, family catch ups, a wedding and an eventful kayak race. My talented friend (and race partner for the Inaugural Snowy River Extreme) Aidan of escapeaidan put together a couple of rad videos of our time together. Check them out … More Adventures in Australia
The water is receding in Colorado, and rising in Australia. Grab some popcorn and get ready to pine for the season that is winding down, celebrate the seasons about to start, learn some history of the sport and generally just watch some quality whitewater throwdowns. Duhd Khosi: Canoeing Down Everest (1977) Nothing will ever compare … More Ten of the Best Whitewater Films Online
Whitewater kayaking is one of the trickier sports to get into in Australia. There is a ton of new gear to use, a bunch of weird language getting thrown around and heaps of hard to learn safety skills. One of the worst parts however is not knowing which rivers are safe for beginners and what … More Whitewater Kayaking Progression: Getting Started in Sydney
I don’t think I ever really believed I would paddle the Franklin in the summer of 2014/2015. Sure, we talked about it, after our successful Snowy River trip. Sure, I bought the guidebook. But I just thought it was something nice I should have on the shelf. The logistics…the cost…the difficulty…the weather. Too much to … More Kayaking The Franklin Part 1: Prelude
So we set off on the boisterous and bankfull Franklin, on the afternoon of day 2. The front had passed, leaving glorious sunny weather. I knew this would continue for several days as a high pressure ridge now lay over the island. Anasthesia Ravine Right from the start it was clear this water was definitely … More Kayaking The Franklin Part 2: The Upper Franklin
With the knowledge that the major difficulties were over, and that we were now well ahead of the schedule set by Jiri’s 2012 party, we set out to make for Rock Island Bend. The gorge opened out for the first time in days at Rafters Basin, and we paddled by the flat banks on wide … More Kayaking The Franklin Part 3: The Lower Franklin
The Gordon River The Gordon River is also extremely beautiful, and different in character again from the lower Franklin. Large and gentle, it moves slowly between hills overflowing in astonishing green forest. Despite being the official “end” of the trip, St John’s Falls is still a very, very long way from the nearest flushing toilet, … More Kayaking The Franklin Part 4: The Return
One of the things I get asked a lot by new paddlers is how to make decisions about what to paddle and what to walk. It’s actually a process I’ve thought a lot about and always try to get better at. My rough process is outlined below. It works well for snowboarding as well and … More Should I Huck That?
You can learn a lot from watching better kayakers. If you don’t have anyone better to paddle with, consider watching kayaking videos online. Even better is to look at stock art. The models in stock art are always the best in their field, modelling. Let’s start with getting to the river. To avoid having to … More How To Paddle Whitewater, According to Stock Art
More old school reporting from the September 2010 kayaking trip… The Double Drop The double drop was scarier than it sounded in the book. Two two-metre drops, split by two hundred metres of fast water. Should be pretty serious, but nothing ridiculously deadly. Our last trip down the Nymboida in a canoe and raft had … More From The Archives: Snowy River Part 2
Huck & Dyno 