Part II – The White Nile

Words and photos by: Karl Moser

The Nile is an incredible river that flows from the heart of town out into the Ugandan jungle. The river offers paddlers a mix of big water class V, ginormous waves, and fun creek lines. You can spend an entire season there and never get bored because of vast number of channels that create a near endless combination of rapids.


Karl Moser keeping his bow dry. To check out more photos, click here


Most of my time was spent living on the tropical island paradise called “the Hairy Lemon.” This island is situated only five minutes downstream from one of the world’s greatest waves, the Nile Special. This wave is a super steep monster that is notorious for snapping paddles and paddler’s egos. In all I saw four paddles break in only a month, including my beloved AT2 which met it’s end at the hands of a violent donkey punch.


Karl Moser hucking on Kalagala. To check out more photos, click here


At the end of my trip I got the chance to run the two of the largest rapids on the river, Itunda and Kalagala. Itunda is a long rapid where you have to make a river wide ferry through some very big holes. The best part is that the rapid is inaccessible from the shore, so you have to drive in to scout it and then come back the next day to run it.

Kalagala lies in the farthest channel over from Itunda but drains into the same lake. The rapid is basically a 20 foot pour-over that plugs into a massive hole. The line is fairly straight forward, but the consequences of not going deep enough… well, sometimes it’s better not to think about the consequences.


Karl Moser goes big. To check out more photos, click here


Big thanks to Rayno from NRE rafting for showing me down the river and filming some of the bigger rapids.

For more info on the White Nile, or to plan your own trip, check out KayakTheNile.com

Up next: Part III – The Zambezi

Argentina First Descents...

Words by Trip Jennings:

OK, here´s what I love most about kayaking. This is what keeps me smiling for days and fuels the addiction: pushing the limits. Either my limits, the limits of the sport, whatever. I´m not sure why, but running a waterfall that has never been run before that scares me, is my crack. To arrive at a drop, know that it´s ridiculous thing to attempt to run and that I might be better off staying in bed, yet at the same time, see the perfect line, know deep down inside that I can hit that line, and then do it...that´s adrenaline. That´s what gives me the satisfaction I feel for days afterwards. That´s what keeps me coming back every time.

This week LJ and I were lucky enough to have one of those days. At the end of the last No Big Names video, there was a drop featured called the Nilahue. It´s in one of the most beautiful valleys in the world, with huge unrunable waterfalls dropping in all over the place and super nice locals all around. I don´t remember much from the video except they didn´t run it and said they´d save this one for next time.

When we arrived, the river was roosting high. Maybe 10,000cfs. Huge. Many times the flow we saw in the No Big Names video. The drop itself had turned into a gnarling death trap where the NBN could have run it, but in the center the high water opened up a pretty intense line, that we called runnable. It was a 40 foot vertical drop into a transition of 6 feet deep exploding foam pile/landing pad. The landing pad had about a boat length and a half before falling off the final 30 feet of the drop. The line was to boof in the center of the river, transition on the soft but not so deep landing pad, become enveloped by the bottom drop and pop up on the right side of the pool to avoid the death cave on the left.

LJ and I both knew we were going to run it almost instantly when we saw it. Actually getting gear on, getting in your boat, and calming your nerves enough to huck a totally flat boof off of what is a 70 foot horizon line from the top, is a bit of a different story.

In the end we played rock, paper, scissors for who would go first. Whoever `won´ would get the first descent. LJ won, and I´ll never forget running safety from the bottom and watching his hull fall 40 feet before reconecting and dissapearing for at least 20 seconds. I´m pretty sure I held my breath the whole time, until he finally reappeared, rolling up and smiling. A few minutes later, I followed.

Now normally, I wouldn´t choose to boof anything over say...25 feet. This was a 40 foot boof. Very intimidating, but after extencive scouting we decided it was so areated it would be soft and we would dissapear of the ledge before we could even slow down. Paddling full speed up to the horizon and then boofing burned the image of my boat flat as a pancake with the valley, 70 feet below in the background. Quite a unique lip shot. As it turned out, it was so soft and fun, we both wanted to run it again I wasn´t even a bit sore the next day. Alas, it was late and the next big drop was calling...

Boof safely,
Trip

Part I - The African Adventure

words and photos by: Karl Moser

Ever since I was a kid with a Dancer XS and half a roll, I have always wanted to go to Africa to paddle the Zambezi. My obsession started with the video Wicked Liquid when I was still swimming class III. Over the years I have worn out three copies of Wicked Liquid from constant viewing and reviewing. It wasn’t until this year that I had the travel budget large enough to plan my African adventure.


Karl Moser. To check out more photos, click here


Fueled up by my childhood dream of paddling the Zambezi, I started to formulate a plan for the greatest two months of paddling that Africa can offer. One month of solid paddling on the Nile River in Uganda and three weeks on the Zambezi in Zambia and Zimbabwe. In between would be a logistical nightmare of planes, buses, taxis, and motor-scooters (known to the locals as boda-boda rides).


Karl Moser running Headbanger Falls. To check out more photos, click here


The plan was simple: First, get on a plane in Oregon. 6 airports for 51 hours later, get off a plane in Nairobi, Kenya. From there take a bus 12 hours over the worst paved road known to humans, and then jump on a motor scooter taxi for 45 minutes until I was on the banks of the Nile River. From there, find somebody that kayaks...


Stay tuned for pictures and Part II – The White Nile

Andy´s EP

Our time in Pucon continues to be amazing! Sunny days and warm temperatures mean the snow continues to melt and the rivers remain full.


Andy runs the 2nd of the Tres Saltos. To check out more photos, click here


Yesterday, the whole crew woke up early to make a push on the upper two drops of the Tres Saltos. The Tres Saltos is a park and huckers´s amusement park, with a 30 footer, a 50 footer and a 60 footer all back to back. The last one was the only drop to have been previously run and, conviently, the only one that the water level prevented us from running. The second drop ends in a gorge, so Garcia and John fixed a line for us to ascend out on and we all headed for the top.

The first drop slopes for about 15 feet before disconnecting and freefalling for about another 10. Garcia won the ro-sham-bo and fired it up first. After we all ran it once, Alex, Kyle and I hiked up to run it again with Trip, who had been filming.

The second drop slopes for about the first half, then disconnects and falls about 15 feet into the pool. Garcia ran it first, followed by John, me, Alex, LJ and Trip. There were a few upside-down landings and a bloody lip, but the mission was absolutely successful. We all harnessed up, ascended out and headed back to town with a sweet day of hucking under our belts!


Today, Trip Alex, me Trip and LJ ran a section of river about 10 km from Tres Saltos called Los Nevados. This run has only been done a very few times, but will absolutely become one of the classic runs in the area. Los Nevados has it all: Cali slides, Crystal Gorge style canyons, WV boofs and classic Chilean surroundings. The run is solid class 5, with must-run vertical drops in tight canyons. We were able to complete the first 2/3 of the run today, but had to bail when we reached a gorged out 40ish footer whaning daylight. In the next few days we plan to put back in with a more daylight and finish it off.

That´s all for now from Chile...


Andy Maser

LJ´s Epicocity

So, kayaking in Chile is pretty much my childhood dream come-true. Classic footage from Kavu Day and Paddlequest got me stoked to explore South America at a young age, and now I am finally here! After lots of time on buses, in taxis, at car dealerships and then toll booths, Kyle, Alex and I finally rolled into the beautiful Andean mountain town of Pucon super early Thursday morning. We´ve been kayaking every day since, and it has been killer.

I have already had a chance to witness a good bit of big hucking and big carnage. Yesterday, I became a member of the big carnage part of the trip when I was sucked under an undercut wall (boat and all) at the bottom of a fun rapid on the Rio Desahue (sp????). Alex hooked me up with a heroic rescue of my boat, and I am totally fine. Fortunately, the camera was not harmed in the incident, and we´ve got some sweet pics to show you of our local friend Rodrigo and Mr. Lane Jacobs hucking off of a shallow 30 footer.

We spent the day today testing the off road capabilities of the Peugeot as we searched for another classic Chilean waterfall run. We unfortunately searched a little too hard and accidentally hiked for about 1.5 miles upstream of the run we were looking for. This explains the horrendous cramp that just shot me halfway across the internet cafe. Ouch. Other than kayaking, we´ve been practicing our Spanish at the local pubs and hacky sack in beautiful places is always entertaining. Word.

First Day Kayaking in Chile!

Well, after more than 36 hours of bus riding, and a few extra days of soaking up the culture in Buenos Aires, the EP crew has reunited in Pucon Chile. LJ and Alex did an amazing job of car shopping in Santiago. (props to them for working while Andy, Carley and I were enjoying BA!) We ended up buying a Peugeot stationwagon with 7 seats, three racks on top, and except just barely idling, it runs great. We paid $2800US, it´s baby blue, and I`m pretty psyched about it. Most of all, the ladies will love it.


Alex Hucks the portage on the Upper Palgien near Pucon Chile! To check out more photos, click here

We also joined up with another group of Eugene, OR friends, Lane Jacobs, Erin Rettig, Ian Garcia, and John Meyers along with myself, LJ, Andy, Alex, and Kyle Wetlaugher, a friend from Portland, makes quite a crew on the river. I can`t believe how much skill and straight up balls are involved in this possy. Lane`s smoother than anyone but Andrew Holcomb, Alex suddenly quit portaging this year, LJ is always down to ace a huge waterfall, and Andy is bombproof, super safe, and runs the gnar. I haven`t paddled with Ian and John, but they both have reputations as strong paddlers. We have until christmas when most of us fly back to the states, which allows plenty of time for us to huck. The water is perfect, the weather is beautiful, I`m fired up!

The 36 bus hours, the plane rides, the hours of working construction, and catering all were made completely worth it today when we hit the put in of the Upper Palgien. There`s an amazing 70 to 85 footer at the put in that I´m sure will be run one day, today it just added to the spectacular beauty of the area. The upper Palgien is a mellow waterfall run full of fun 10 and 20 footers. At today`s pretty high level, there were some stout holes, but overall, just good clean waterfall fun. It`s mostly class IV, but Alex decided to help the group out and seal launch into the portage half way down and at least make it a class V day for one of us. He stomped his line, we continued on to take out above the Middle, a full on waterfall park and huck for 4 burley drops. These will pobably be on tap for tomorow. They are featured in Bigger Than Rodeo, and they´re fun! A challenging 20 footer, pool, sketchy 15footer into a 30 footer, big pool sucking pretty hard into a 50 footer. This trip is about to really get started!

Peace,
Trip

The trip gets interesting...

Well, Buenos Aires has been so ridiculously fun, I knew it couldnt last forever. First off, every day here is a party, but not just any party. The locals are super nice, and generally go to sleep at 10pm, wake up at 12:30 or 1am, and go to the party, club or whatever. The clubs don´t really start bumping until 2 or 3am, and you never go home until after sunrise. Combine that with learning lots of spanish, soaking up the rich and diverse culture during the day, great exchance rate and you´ve got an rad city. That being said, its time to leave the big city, I´m ready to go boating!

The next leg of our journy takes us to Santiago de Chile, a 21 hour bus ride over the Andes. There we will buy our car, and do what we came to, kayak.

LJ and Alex are already there working on the situation, our traveling companion Carley made it to Santiago today, Andy is stuck waiting for his boat in Mendoza just 6 hours from the goal, and I missed the bus last night so I´m still in BA.

In Costa Rica, there are taxi with roof racks everywhere. In BA, there are none. After an hour of searching we found a taxi with room for one boat. I threw Andy in and he just barely made it. I did not. I will attempt again today, and I think it should work. Think happy thoughts and wish me luck!

Peace,
Trip

PS: Everyone should visit argentina, it´s amazing.