Return of the Duck: A low water attack on BC

Growing up across the street from each other, Nick and I had many adventures during the high school years.  Last year Nick first approached me with the idea of a trip to Canada and a possible return into paddling for himself.  I was stoked on the idea and when it fell into place to make the trip this September I was sold.  Nick got into a boat once this summer on the Provo river in Utah before the trip, and before that a 3 year hiatus.  Confident in our ability to work as a team, we set a pretty ambitious schedule of class IV-V runs using low water to our advantage. Nick would be using an IK (the duck) so we would use the morning of our second day as a warm up, and it would be pretty much game on from there out.

 Day 1

   - Drive north and check a couple park and hucks (too low)
   - Deal with the class five mank that is Vancouver, BC
   - Camp near Whistler

Day 2

   - Cheakamus in the morning
   - Callaghan in the afternoon

Day 3

   -Rogers Creek
   - Skookumchuck hotsprings

Day 4

   -Drive to Wells Grey, try to get clean

Day 5

   - Mahood River

Day 6

   - Upper Clearwater

Day 7

   - Lower Clearwater
   - Drive home

This is obviously a lot to cover, so I will write these in installments of each day.  Some quick teaser shots..

Below the triple on Rogers

 

Driving along Lilloet Lake

 

Sylvia and Goodwin Falls

  

Shawn lines up on the Clearwater

Bailey Chute on the Clearwater.

  

Nick at the lip of the famous Callaghan Falls.

Manifestation camp.

Tune in next week for more BC goodness!

     -Jacob

2012 Mash-Up

I've been a little hobbled recently with a bum right knee. Before now, I'd never really thought about how much we use our legs in kayaking. Not only to we have to carry our heavy boats to, from, and around the river, but I personally use my legs (specifically my knees and hips) to help control my edges while paddling. I'm not entirely sure how I hurt my knee, but it coincided with the culmination of an intense city league kick ball game... laying it all out on the line for the team! Anyhow, it has been pretty painful trying to shove my right leg into my thigh braces and the injury has effectively KO'd me from paddling for the last few weeks. The good news is that I took this time to focus on some projects around the house and even found some time to throw together this short edit. The footage is mostly composed of things that I shot over the course of the spring and early summer. Most of the regulars make an appearance and the footy includes shots from McCoy Creek, Eagle Creek, Middle Feather, South Branch, among other glorious locales. FYI: This is my first attempt at editing footage, so try to appreciate the vid for the paddling, and not the cinematography. You won't find any overly dramatic time lapse in this beaut.

One Goal on the North Fork

Sometimes you need to set a goal to get something done.  Sometimes things just happen, but having a specific goal in mind just puts you on your game a little more somehow.  A couple weeks back, I made the annual Labor Day pilgrimage to the NF Payette for some classic steepness, great camping, hotsprings, and a huge crew, like always.  Speaking of which, if you're free on Labor Day, go to Banks.  Whether boating class 2 or class 5 or anything in between, there's stuff to had between the Main, the South Fork, and the North Fork, not to mention the great hiking and hot springs all around.

This year I had one goal and one goal only; a no portage, no roll top to bottom decent.  I nailed it, once, on day two.  Felt on top of the world!  Here are a couple pictures of me routing into Rock Drop in the midst of Jacob's Ladder with Dan Rubido hot on my tail. (Photo Credit:  Catherine Loke-  Thanks Cat!)

 

 

Not sure what my goal might be for next year; The Vertical Mile?  A No-brace, No-portage Run?  A Moonlight Middle Five?   An R2 top-to-bottom?  

Whatever it is, I'll set it, I'll try my hardest, and hopefully notch another goal off the list.

Until next time,

Matt

Mermaid Kayak Utopia

A few weeks back I was in Hood River musing with an artist friend of mine, Lila Roo, on the idea bringing wild visual art and wild action sports together for some cutting edge goodness.  Our conversation started when we came upon an incredible collection of photos of the Jamaican surf team where most of the team is underwater, chilling, and someone is on top getting barreled or hanging ten.  The photos look totally photoshopped, but they're not.  Check them out here  http://diaferocollective.com/blog/2009/08/07/insight-dopamine-ad-campaign/  

We decided to put a little something together and went out to the Lewis River to set up a scene on Lower Lewis Falls.  She happened to have a gold mermaid outfit with her, that she made by hand out of plastic bags, and we set her up next to the falls, tanning nonchalantly in the sunshine.  Meanwhile, I ran the falls a couple times, with our friends Mattie and Neal checking out various angles and holding onto the rope if it came to that.  I wish we could have gotten more stills, but the video is pretty sweet anyhow.  I set it to "intro" by The XX,  check it out:



Mermaid Utopia from Jacob Cruser on Vimeo.


We're looking forward to more crazy collaborations like this one, including some kayak/skate/ladies stuff with the Dogtown crew (who Lila knows down in LA).

Until Next Time,
Matt