Team Bliss Stick UK

Hidden Gems Mini Movie

2011-11-06T05:35:00.000-08:00

This is what Ieuan has been doing all summer in Wales. Enjoy watching these Welsh Gems.

Wet West Paddle Fest

2011-10-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Well. We travelled up on Wednesday hoping to get a few rivers in before Wet West and yes we did... Some of the best classics in Scotland were ready to rip.

On Thursday morning the Team met up at Falls of Falloch, Ieuan had just ran it. We shot off to Bridge of Orchy and with our luck, it was at a nice meaty level. There were some nice read and run rapids, big waves & beastly holes, no rocks in sights! Quite rare for the UK.

The following day we checked out The Etive but that was absolutly raging so we checked out some rivers closer to Fort William. Another group joined up, some excellent boaters from Aberystwyth & Edinburgh University and so we hopped on The Kiachnish. More or less from there start it was read & run technical G4, following the leader type boating. The best bit was going off the last drop like lemmings without knowing the line. You just come up the the horizon line and watching the person infront drop off and having no idea where the went until you meet the horizon line.

Right after The Kiachnish, we had just about enough time to run The Classic Nevis. It was a nice level.

There was plenty of carnage. Boulder bash went sweet for all ten of us but then when we hit Daves hole, it all went wrong. Owain was the first to get stuck in this sticky hole and there there was a back log of three boaters. We were very quick to get the kit out before it went off down the river and back on track. Next was the infamous Schimitar Gorge. Plenty of scouting went on here but it was good to go. Once agian there was a bit of carnage, Owain stopped in the weir drop to pull some cartwheels then had a chill on the side (whilst we pulled him up the gorge). By then it was getting dark and the Venezuela boys needed to get back to do their presentation so we bailed at the next foot bridge. All in all, another swee day despite the carnage.

Now it was the start of WetWestPaddleFest. The Moriston is an awesome wide G4 drop & pool river. Plenty on it and there was plenty of carnage to go with it as there was a good percentage of the British paddling community there. Ieuan got a trashing in the hole on the upper section and then Ollie got an absolute beating on the first drop on the lower as you'll see in the video. We paddled all day long till the point where there were no shuttles.

We had the length of Britain to travel back on the Sunday so we got a head start by going South to the Etive for another try and to our luck it was a beautiful level, since we know this river well, we ran it blind all the way. It was just high enough to get through crack of dawn so no portages either!

We then paddled down to meet Allt Chaorain (sp) and we found that this little trib was on the rise. We started at a nice medium level and after 5 mins of paddling it suddenly hit the roof. We still ran it!
Zak our resident loonatic decided to head rudder down pinball. He lost a tooth. His boat went down the next slot and was just chilling in the weir. So he went down, picked it up and put his boat back in where he left off and carried on. Resident Loonatic.

All in all, an absolute awesome trip. We will be back next year.

Cresta Run

2011-09-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

Can't really explain it. A big slide and a big drop. The speed is addictive so another ride might be in order.

Cresta Run on the Lower Prysor from Ieuan Belshaw on Vimeo.

Lower Prysor

2011-09-08T04:02:00.001-07:00

Caught it very much on the low side so instead of making a hardcore vid of The Lower Prysor... I went creative and made a drop by drop guide.

Note* The marker rock needs to be just about covered for a nice run. If its a foot higher or more, expect a solid G5 run.

Trees are a big hazard. If you scout it out in low water (it makes for a great gorge walk) then plase take a saw and clear out a tree or two.

Enjoy.

Swallow Falls in High Water (again)

2011-09-07T05:50:00.000-07:00

I was a nervous going back here at this level after the last time, totally out of control. I went back because I wanted to get it right! Wanted to proove to myself that it could be done in a controlled way.

It was possible. I nailed it. Can't as as much for ZaK* who came with me... he took a bit of a bump and left a dent in his everest but he was chuffed with running it nevertheless.

Viaduct Falls on The Cynfal

2011-09-07T05:46:00.000-07:00

I've been eyeing up this waterfall for a while now and after some hard thinking I decided to give it a go.

It was a great adventure, we had to absail down a 40 foot cliff through trees and wild stuff to get to a rock shelf just above the falls. When I was heading down I didn't notice but I ended up falling into an undercut / siphon on the shelf, gald I was attached to the rope!

Gareth Thomas and myself (Ieuan) were sitting just above the drop looking at this huge horizon line! couldn't see the river at the bottom anywhere, a bit daunting! I chatted to Gareth and asked him what falls has he done before. He said the other week with me on the 15 footer just futher up stream....

Team Day

2011-09-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

So The Team finally got a chance to meet and go boating, unfortunately Sam Sawday couldn’t make the day and neither did any rain, but we made the most of it on the Llguwy anyway.

Great start to the Bliss Stick teams missions.

Check out the video!

Lee Valley

2011-09-06T15:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my mates finally got round to doing their assessments at Lee Valley, which is great because it means I don’t have to go boating on my own anymore! Although in fairness, having been going most weekends I have met quite a few friendly people on water, which shouldn’t be surprising really but it’s nice to be reminded how friendly the kayaking community really is.

This end was intentional, the next 2 weren't!!
Photo: Dave Garratt

The course seems to be undergoing constant changes at the moment, especially the bottom half of the course. The second big drop which I heard being called Jaws last time I was there, seams very aptly named now, we were all throwing some impressive unintendo’s in that one. And as Chris found out, it’s not a good place to be when a raft is bearing down on you.

Photo: Jeff Taylor

The middle wave is pretty good though, everyone was getting flat spins and the odd blunt, plus I've seen some far more impressive moves being thrown down here, so I can't wait to see how I progress having a reliable feature to practice on!

Racing down the top half
Photo: Jeff Taylor

Everyone passed their assessments and so an afternoon of fun and frolics ensued, we played the eddy game, and had a head to head race, needless to say I won the race haha. And any boating trip wouldn’t be complete without the liberal use of KNAR quotes and banter.

Winning!
Photo: Jeff Taylor

Rob "I'm so much better than you" Menown

Swallow Falls in High Water

2011-08-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Bit of a random day really! a lot of places were dry so we thought it was going to be a low water run Swallow Falls.

Turned out it was actually quite high.

Confession time... don't take the centre line in high water, boulder bash on the hard right and boof off the right... I went centre then down the centre of the slide (which is bad because of the razor shaped rocks) then got chucked river right... lucky.

All in all, an interesting day...

One of my hidden gems in North Wales

2011-08-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

This is what its all about, finding these sweet hidden secrets so close to home.

This little gem is called the Cynfal, I only paddled 500 meters of it with a couple of mates but it was so good that we did it 5 times that day. There are more falls futher up and futher down, a nice 40 footer which I've been eyeing up but it has to be absailed in and out. I'll do it soon because I'll keep going back to this one!

A Ieuan Post.

3 martins, 2 rivers, a whole lot of rain- 3 days in Venezuela

2011-07-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

Arriving arrived in Venezuela after a long Journey we were all pretty shattered but waking up the first day to sunshine and the prospect of a beautiful days paddling we all jumped at the idea. Staying at Arrassari rafting centre we tagged along on a rafting trip on the Siniguise river. Was a sexy grade 4 run and finished at the campsite were we are staying with a steak lunch waiting for us- I could get used to this. On the river another local company was also rafting, one of the safety kayakers had a rad and he looked pretty rad in his oakleys!

After a good first day we were keen to tick off another local rafting run the rio Canagua, after a long jungle drive we put on another sexy run. As we started to blast down all the read and run grade 4 a small tropical shower started. A tributary joined from the right and turned the river chocolatey and the rapids from then on were on the high side. Was lots of fun until we got the 3 martins rapid to have a quick scout and as Joe and I watched the others check out the line from a rock, we were blissfully unaware of our boats floating in the eddy behind us. Luckily they didnt escape and after a quick round up of kit we watched, from a high point the river rise about 3 metres in under 10 minutes! Pretty insane, ended up with a hefty jungle bush-wack for a km before finding some help and a further few kms walking into the night! We returned the next day to pick up the boats and kit and paddle the final little bit, an epic start to the trip! The drive in to the Canagua,

The 3 martins after a bit of juice!

We are now in Merida with our legend of a guide Roque and planning the next few trips out of here, checking maps for blue lines! More to follow, take it easy!

Aberglaslyn Gorge Fun

2011-07-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

Harry and Ieuan have a little blast down the Glaslyn Gorge, medium levels. Enjoy :)

2 days later with Dave Janes on the Nantmor & Glaslyn again.

Upper Mawddach Carnage!

2011-07-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

Ieuan: A day out in my brand new Mystic! Rivers were up so a group of us headed over to the the Eden and Lower Mawddach. Decided it was such a good morning that we should shoot off to do the Upper Mawddach.

It was pretty high, big & bouncy and the falls were gushing =D There was a bit of carnage, a few swims. Harry got a trashing in a weir and took a bit of down time on his swim, you'll see in the vid! Still... awesome day.

2011-07-12T13:28:00.001-07:00

Team paddlers, Dave and Ieuan came over for a bit of filming and a get together. Using a local play spot, we had a blast and the guys got to know each other. Cheers to Simon for some filming, garthering more footage for the new vids. Looking forward to the team getting together again, to plan the next adventure. http://www.blissstick.co.uk/

A little blast down Pont Cyfyng

2011-07-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

Just a little blast at Pont Cyfyng with Harry and myself (Ieuan). A fun little boofing spot when nowhere else is up! Turns out you will get stuck behind the waterfall if theres a little more water in it then usual! Enjoy :)