Apologies for the lack of update recently. I have just been run off my feet with work and a tonne of siiiick paddling. The elbow is providing some awesome local paddling at the moment. As is the flows on the Sheep and Cataract. Have not managed to make it out there quite yet.
I did make it down to the bighorn and Johnston's Canyon over the past week which was fun!

The Bighorn is epic to say the least. It was super high and we walked a lot of it due to the water level. Still a absolutely stunning canyon!!!! Here are some pics. Enjoy

Ryan Scouting Curtain Call, High Water

Mikkel, checking if its not to high to head back in after a goood portage...

Stacked!!!

Freefall, some sooolid recirc at the bottom, walked this one. There is absolutely no way to set up safety. Fully walled in.

JD Creeking course, Highwood River

Imitate this Krista.....The best Eddy turn spot in the world!!

Etherington Creek, Creeking Course 3. Beautiful!!

Highwood River, Creeking Course

Highwood, Line practice, Creeking Course

Kelsey, Boof 30fts Johnstons Canyon

Dean Johnstons Canyon

Simon Mindbender, Etherington Creek, Creeking Course

Ryan, Creeking Course, Etherington Creek

Mike Creeking Course, Etherington Creek

Hope everyone is getting out on some sweet paddling trips at the moment. Really we are having a sick season of boating locally here!!!! All the snow and miserable weather was worth it for sure!!!!

If you want to get into creeking then our creeking courses are a great place to start! Look into it for next season!!! Safe boating! Cheers

Blair

Creeking Courses

So the last two weekend has been host to our first two creeking courses of the season. The first weekend provided a wicked adventure having to whip over to Horse thief River near Radium, BC as it was puking snow here in Calgary. That said and done we did manage to get a nice trip[ down Cataract on the Sunday!
There was at least a foot and a bit of snow on the ground at the put in. It was so beautiful out there paddling down between snow pillows on the rocks!! Awesome day had by all with some great lines on Zig Zag!
The past weekend saw perfect water levels locally and gave us a great day on the Highwood hammering homes skills and then a wicked day on Etherington Creek on the Sunday.
This was a quite the experiance for the team involved as no one had done anything close to such a low volume technical run before. Combined with most peoples first waterfall this creek has it all!!!!

Rob Zig Zag

Rob, Mindbender, Etherington Creek

Andy, Sweeet beauty portage, Cataract Creek

Paul P, Always Smiling

Pat, Slides, Etherington Creek

Patrick, Mindbender, Etherington Creek

Cataract with at least a foot of snow on the ground, gorgeous

Darrell Zig Zag

Breaking Trail to get to the river....cool

Aibert, Etherington Creek

John Zig Zag

John Everts, Zig Zag falls....sweet boof

The boss, Simon, Mindbender Falls

Check back tonight for the teaser for a little movie I am going to make this summer!!

As Always the creeking courses are such a weekend to teach on and tonnes of learning and fun is had by all involved!!!

Peace

Blair

Little Video.....

Here is a little video that Mikkell made. Cameron creek which I didn't manage to make it on and some sick footage form a couple of runs we had down cataract a week or so ago! There was knee Deep snow on Cataract today......crazy! Enjoy.

Cheers Mikkel for the video.

Cameron and Cataract from Mikkel St.Jean-Duncan on Vimeo.

Peace

Blair

Here's a few Pics from the past week or so around and about. Believe it or not I have run Cataract Twice with water and the sheep and elbow at medium levels.....as for now.
The Kanbezi is the place to be.....or BC. Enjoy the snow.
It is for the best with out a doubt, the bigger that Snowpack gets the longer our season is gong to be!

Elbow Slides....yep she was snowing and for some reason to make the shuttle shorter....we hiked out right here........wouldn't recommend it!Awesome Mission though!

Glen, Leap of Faith, Elk River Fernie

Dean, post epic Elbow Hike out.

For all those single ladies out there...

Mikkell, Titan, Cataract Creek

Toby Creek, Gorgeous

Looking up from Picket Fence, Toby Creek, BC
Stacked......so sick!

Pavel Bendal, Toby Creek

Toby Creek, Beautiful

Just remember winter is sick to......Myself, Rogers Pass


Give er a week or so and the paddling locally is gonna be eppppic!!! See you all on the river.

Peace
Blair

Vancouver Island Trip

So I was lucky enough to spend 10 days out on Vancouver Island taking our 1st annual spring course out there.
Eric and Josh from Red Deer were the two lucky culprits.
We stayed at the Warm Rapids Inn near Lake Cowichan. Our hosts Don and Rose cook excellent breakfasts and provide a very nice comfy place to stay while paddling.
The B&B is super central to a bunch of great paddling out on the island. The Cowichan River is litterally a hop skip and jump down the road and provides some awesome class 2-3 boating. Along with Skutz Falls a little upstream if you are feeling sporty on the day!

We had a awesome 6 days of boating out there. There is a such a wide range of rivers to run to suit all abilities and comfort levels.
The island is a beautiful place and the paddling scenery is second to none, great lush green bush with an abundance of ferns and flowers.

Here a bunch of photos from our trip. I am sure we will running this trip again next spring so keep your eyes on the website.

Josh Post Swim but still stoked as

Ferry Trip.....Gorgeous

Ferry trip again/....

Arrived a little early for the ferry...

Bit of boofing practice!

Nanaimo Take out

Surf Kayaking


Typical Pool drop style

Slugs Galore!!!!

Koksilah put in

Oldest trestle Bridge in Canada I believe. Super awesome!!!Koksilah River

Huge

The Boys

My Tent spot and personal Long Drop!!

Casual wood carving on the side of the Koksilah River

Again the island offers a great respite from the chilly winters of Alberta and BC. Great paddling and beautiful scenery is in abundance. Their season runs from October till April/Early may rain depending.
A great way to warm up for our season back here or simply a break from skiing!

Well Cataract is calling. Creeking is coming in with a bang! See you all on the water!

Peace

Blair

Well as much as I hear there is snow in Calgary there is definitely water flowing around BC and some super low water out there in Alberta.
I am currently out on the island with Eric and Josh running a 6 day trip. We have had outstanding water levels so far and a awesome day in the surf. I will post a update of this trip in a few days when I am all done and dusted back in Calgary.
For now I managed to get down Spillimacheen River in BC last week with Dean. I am so stoked to have made it down this as the flow window is so tight to get it right. Early spring and Late Fall is usually when she lower enough to get it done. Heres some pictures, we had a fairly stout flow which made for such a sick day!
Only a matter of days before our locals are up and running.

Dean, Last waterfall, Spillimacheen River, BC

Dean, Astro Lube, Spillimacheen River, BC

Dean, Last Waterfall, Spillimacheen River, BC

Blair, Astro Lube, Spillimacheen River, BC

Blair, Reach Around, Spillimacheen River, BC

Blair, L Drop, Spillimacheen River

Blair, Last Waterfall, Spillimacheen River, BC

Blair, Last Waterfall2, Spillimacheen River, BC

Blair, Last Waterfall3, Spillimacheen River, BC

Highly Recommend this run if its at your level. It is pretty committing and it is steep with a fine line for to little or to much water.
Check the online Gauge. This gives you the flow below the power station. There is a Dam at the put in which Diverts up to 8cm/s at max generation. So the best way to figure the actual flow in the canyon is to check the online gauge and take away 8cm/s.
This is a guideline as I was chatting to the BC hydro guy at the put in and he said they do not run at max generation all the time.
Check the Spillimacheen post on Calpaddle for some pictures which give a better idea of flows.

Look forward to seeing you all on the river soon!! Peace

Blair