November 26, 2009

Whataroa Overnighter

River Facts
Upper Whataroa:
Class: IV+ and V (P)
Level: 40 -120 cumecs
Length: 4.8 km
Fun Fact: Kayaks were meant for the water, not the shoulder.

Hoki was dry. Not only was the hellaciously precipitous "coast" dry but Dando´s helicopter was also down due to a transmission failure. We´d come from the Queenstown/Otago region big water in hopes of getting in at least one more heli run in on the South Island.
Our ragtag international group, akin by cheap cell phones, kayak addiction, and the future chances to take the piss out of each other all diverged back to Hoki but were a bit distraught at the received negative news. I instantly began to text around my circle of local Hokitika friends as to gather options. The Whataroa, a glacier fed run 100 km´s south along the coast was the only option relatively well received by the group, and to boot, a company was taking a raft group up tomorrow at nine thirty am to heli-raft the lower section, thus facilitating more cost-efficient helicopter shuttles. A welcome addition for us cost-reliant dirtbag kayakers.

Scouring over dilapidated guidebooks we discovered that there existed two sections on the river, and upper and lower. The Upper consisted of consistent grade IV plus through V boulder gardens with a gorge and numerous portages. The lower was a grade IV plus ultra classic for intermediates consisting of three super scenic gorges guaranteed to bring value to any costs incurred flying up. Our group, Ty, Tom, Chris, and myself, knowing that there was nothing but blue sky excellent weather with the next few days all looked at each other with one thing on our mind, multi-day.


Photo: The best way in.

Take by AM



Armed with dry bags, eight liters of win, and assorted six pack of beer, some dried food, and a pack of cheap cigarettes, we jumped aboard the Hughes 500 and shot up the valley eager for our grueling 3 km paddle to our first night´s camp.

Photo: From Bulter Hut

The run started well with the discovery of an Australian porno mag at the Butler hut where we were dropped off. The rest of the Upper section had mixed results. After the first km of straight forward grade IV we entered the true crux of the run.


Photo: We´re not classy.

The first was a spicy rapid consisting of three distinct sub-rapids. The first was a slide, created by a log and backed up by a rock. It´d go but looked painful with the consequences even more dire. The second stage was a meter ledge drop that was too sieved out to even fathom. Another portage. Putting in below for the third stage gave us the opportunity to run two relatively clean boofs, resulting in a run-out avoiding some undercuts. I went first.


Photo: Idaho Ty showing us how it´s done.
Taken by AM
Boofing the first ledge I came off hitting a rock and getting knocked upside down. Rolling up I was already off line for the next series and charged the hard right boof knowing that a large hydraulic backed up by a huge boulder lay waiting. I boofed, landed flat, and didn´t move. Drifting into the rock wall, I tried to claw my way out but was flipped entering the hole, hitting another rock upside down, and eventually flushed out. Horrible line but safe. Tentatively, the other boys fired it off in style and without incident.
The next rapid was a twenty foot drop in which one was required to slide into a heavy hydraulic or boof the corner into a boiling pool. The true problem here was that if one was to foul the line up, they would be slammed into a undercut cave with three quarters of the current blasting into it. Chris summed it up best after scouting with, "I´m pretty sure I can make the line, but if something happens or I don´t, I´m 100% sure I´ll die." Portage.
The portage fest continued after a few more km´s of read and run grade IV plus, only this time we witnessed the entire river disappear under a house sized boulder. If it wasn´t sieved out, it landed on rock, if it didn´t land on rock, it was undercut, if it wasn´t undercut, it was full of logs. As if the river was laughing at us, we trudged, hauled, and portaged our boats on the convenient hiking trail on river left. It should be noted that the West Coast´s hiking trails closely resemble grade III scrambling in most mountainous countries I´ve visited throughout the world.

Portage, Portage, Portage.

Taken by AM

The final gorge and portage was known as the, "Portals of Doom." In this portage we rappelled, lowered, and dropped our boats all over the place. From the sounds and brief views of the river below the aforementioned name aptly fit the style of river we were witnessing. Putting back in, we paddled upstream through some flat water to witness a beautiful gorge and even more spectacular 35 foot waterfall which landed on a house sized boulder.

The paddling day ended but our efforts to finish all the intoxicants brought with lasted well into the night and probably the morning as tall tales roared just as high as our driftwood bonfire.

Lower Whataroa: Day 2

Class: III+ (IV)
Length: 13km
Level: 40-120 cumecs
Fun Fact: Stunning, Fantastic, and Worth Every Penny.
Awaking on day 2 to another beautiful day and the West Coast´s complete population of sand flies we put on the river as quickly as possible, expecting a chill day. With Tom still heinously drunk from the wine the night past, our first portage at the first rapid, on the first gorge put fears into our minds as to what this run really had on it. Hell, rafts ran down the thing, certainly we should be able to!
Photo: Chris finally realizes why he came to NZ.
Taken by AM
Alas, our fears were put to rest as the rest of the river was gorge filled fantastic grade IV, complete with some must run rapids, the most beautiful schist gorges I´ve ever seen, and some wonderful technical moves mixed in. Aside from a piton dent in my bow and some interesting lines resulting in surf sessions as a result of Tom´s debauchery, the day ended as we had hoped with a good time had by all and completely without regret.


Photo: Inner Gorge, Chris Eastabrook, or Christ, you choose.
Taken by AM

Photo: Ty linking up the end of a another classic rapid.
Taken by AM
****Interesting Side Story*****


Ty, having already blown up one van in New Zealand, was again struck with Van issues as his back passenger side strut blew out on our way out of the river. First attempts at repair with our limited supply of duct tape were in vain, however, I´m extremely proud to claim that my Midwest Mountaineering cam strap and our combined ingenuity reigned supreme, holding the destroyed part for well over 60 km and to the nearest garage.

Ty getting amongst it.

October 17, 2009

Mauria Falls

Mauria Falls is probably the most straight forward waterfall in the world. Simply drive to the viewing point, walk with your boat to the lip of the falls, view, walk another fifteen feet upstream to a flat eddy, put-in, take a stroke, and drop. It´s too good to pass up.

Tom Strongman, Chris Eastabrook, and myself made a picnic out of the experience, having lunch and firing off numerous lines on this beauty.

Photo: I win.
Taken by Tom Strongman

Photo: Tom went deep, swam, and came up carping with a fantastic face.
Taken by AM

Photo: Tom, round two, and on a better line.
Taken by AM

Photo: Tuck Practice
Taken by Chris Eastabrook










































October 7, 2009

Hollyford River: Marian Creek Run...all balls.

Grade: IV -V (P)
Level: Stompy.
Length: 8km
Gradient: 32 m/km
Fun Fact: Some rate this as the premier trip in NZ and the closest thing to domestic roadside hair boating.

Beauty. Balls. Boofs. This river has it all. Cutting through the outer worldly scenery Darran mountains deep in Fjordland National Park, the Hollyford River represents a true must do and easily one of the top classic rivers in the country. With beauty abundant in all directions, this section hosts steep challenging rapids usually requiring complex moves, lots of consequences, and endurance. 

With recent rains cushioning most of the area rivers, our crew of Chris, Tom, Ty, Tim, and I dropped into the Marian ready for just about anything and expecting a long day out. My river journal's notes in quotations below will suffice for the most adequate description of the run. 

"Five and half hours, lots of scouting, technically hard and physically a long day. Kiwi standard: steep and stout grade V rapids, walked three total rapids including one mandatory portage....." 



Photo: "S-Turn?" Various results.
Taken by AM


Photo: S-Turn: Chris wondering what kind of punishment is coming..
Taken by AM


Photo: S-Turn: Ty later labeled this line: "Pre-Piton and Spit Out."
Taken by AM

"Tons of wood and sieves.....probably much easier with local beta."


Photo: We lost our wood to the Hollyford.
Taken by AM


Photo: Idaho Ty finds his boof trigger. 
Taken by AM

"Tom broached, swam, and I missed him with a last attempt bag. He dropped over the next horizon line.."


Photo: Chris getting antsy with his triggers but eventually finding it.
Taken by AM

"Basically a hard day out, lots of great boofs, wood, sieves, undercuts and scouting. Seemed like one SUPER steep gorge that wouldn't fucking quit." 


Photo: The portages were seemingly hard as the rapids. Chris probably cursing.
Taken by AM


Photo: Chris and Ty taking our mandatory lunch and chill session. 
Taken by AM

"Come to first house sized boulder after some chill grade III, ran it, then the next huge sized boulder in river center is the proper mandatory portage. The portage is heinous as hell, use the road...." 



Photo: I'm deep, like my lines....
Taken by Thomas Strongman


Photo: Ty refusing to believe that we needed to get out again and look. 
Taken by AM



Photo: Chris and Tom, loving the mandatory final portage.
Taken by AM

"Challenging, exciting, and team building..."


Below Photo: Tom and I working through it. 
Taken by Chris Eastabrook




Photo: Done with this shite.
Taken by a group of dirty, tired, and stubborn boaters.

"We all said fuck it, we were at our ends, worn out, tired of scouting, and wondering when the hell the gradient would end. I said was I was going to bomb it and Chris nodded, getting into his boat as well. His faith and commitment were powerful. I was thankful. We agreed to charge in groups. We dropped in and were everywhere, rolling, boofing, blasting by each other, it was chaos, but thankfully, it was the last of the hard rapids. We found each other at the bottom pool, charged up, smacking each other in the back, screaming, reenergized and again ready.

Hollyford River: Falls Creek Section

Class: III - IV
Length: 2.5km
Gradient: 28 m/km
Hot Tip: Superb quality and adequate lubrication for the following section. 


Photo: Hollyford River Valley, Fjordlands National Park
Taken by AM

This section is one of the most aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable runs in the country. Fabulous scenery combined with non-committing and technically straight forward rapids lubricate the would be paddler for the following section. 


Photo: Chris Eastabrook splicing through some fantastic stuff. 
Taken by AM

The Falls Creek section of the Hollyford was mostly read and run class III and IV with great boofs, fun stomps, and as many rail slides as you could create. The whole short run being roadside only adds to the bonus of bombing through the bombay gin colored water and overhanging forest. A crew of Chris, Tom, Idaho Ty, random Limey #1, random Limey #2, and Timmy all dove into a new Fjordland region of New Zealand and a new fantastic  section of Kiwi whitewater. 


Photo: Pure Living. Falls Creek Section style.
Taken by AM


Photo: Boofing one of the few class IV's on the Falls Creek section of the Hollyford. 
Taken by Chris Eastabrook


Photo: Falls Creek has some gradient. 
Taken by Chris Eastabrook 

October 5, 2009

Kawarau River: Waitiri/Citroen Rapids



Class: IV (V)
Level: Class IV >300 cumecs, Class IV+ to V: >300 Cumecs (10,600 cfs)
Length: 3km
Gradient: 10m/km 
Fun Fact: Imagine a Kiwi Itunda.

Citroen defies the New Zealand rating system. A system based on technicality and true to most big water rapids, Citroen is simple, and few moves here, a couple there, and all, as they say down under, "Is a piece of piss."

Looking at the rapid for the first time however at 310 cumecs (roughly 11,000 plus cfs) puts a stout intimidation into a paddlers gut. Hearing rumors of that this thing changes dramatically at various water levels and is run literally ever which way by a variety of boaters from numerous skill levels, our crew of Tom Strongman, Chris Eastabrook, and I stood there, staring at the beast smiling. 


Photo: Hot 'n Heavy in the Middle. 
Taken by Chris Eastabrook

All of us engaged, taking various lines of attack with all favorable results. The most memorable feature of the experience was the giant crashing wave trains at the terminus of the rapid. Tucking and ducking, I was tossed into the natural washing machine thrown every which way, left eventually to roll up screaming and smiling. The goods were superb, proving to me that Kiwi whitewater didn't just include boulderbed creeking.  


Photo: Punching the terminal waves
Taken by Chris Eastabrook


Photo: Going deep. 
Taken by Chris Eastabrook

Kawarau River: Dog Leg Section in flood.

Class: III+ IV-
Level: Class III+ 100-400 cumecs, Class IV: >400 cumeces
Length: 7.5 km
Gradient: 4 km/m
Fun Fact: The local wine may be more exciting than the run. 


The best part of this section of river was the wine tasting before and after the run. Pumping full at 450 cumecs (roughly 16,000 cfs) our crew of Tim Johnson, Tom Strongman, Chris Eastabrook, and myself put on the Kawarau Gorge looking for a chill day. 


Photo: Bobbers in a muddy ditch. 
Taken by Jule Harne.


The only major rapid encountered on the flooded run was the pseudo crux namesake feature, Dog Leg. A mix of huge muddy wave trains and the avoidance of a few holes produced some cheap thrills. Twas an enjoyable introduction to a new region of New Zealand's South Island, the Otago. 


Perth River

Class: V
Level: 40 - 60 cumecs (1410 - 2200 cfs)
Length: 13km
Gradient: 20, 40, 50 m/km for the first 3km , 18m/km average from there after. 
Fun Fact: Classic hard West Coast boating.
Special Side Note: I added a few vulgarities in this posting to directly reflect my emotions and feelings throughout the run, if this offends the reader, too bad. Life sometimes hurts. 

"Boof yourself till you can't shit anymore." 

James Griffen told me the aforementioned after an enjoyable but rather taxing day on the Perth. My ego and lower extremities both felt those words for days after. 

Graham Charles, author of the last hundred or so editions of the New Zealand guidebook describes the first initial kilometers of the Perth as "outrageous", and it is.  Dropping 20 (105 ft), 40 (211 ft), and 5o (263 ft) meters for the first few kilometers, the Perth feels a lot like kayaking down a flight of ultra steep stairs. Atypical of Kiwi whitewater runs, the Perth is ridiculously beautiful: a steep, blue, schist ridden boulderbed run complete with a committing gorge. 

Photo: Top Gun ain't got shit on West Coast pilots.
Taken by AM

Putting in at Scone Hut after an exhilarating Hughes 500 helicopter flight, our team of James Griffen, JJ Shepherd, Steve, Sam Hughes, and myself readied ourselves for the run. Overhearing James and JJ laughing, then talking about "bombing it", began to ignite some already shaky nerves. 

We didn't stop, nor eddy. We boofed, boofed, and boofed more. After the first kilometer and watching rapid after rapid fly by, I knew the two veterans were fucking with the rest of us Perth virgins. 

I pinned horizontally amongst two rocks while making an easy ferry river right. Caught with my cockpit facing the upstream side of the river, it was no surprise the sheer force of the current blew my skirt in a matter of seconds. Trying to rock off the boulder mess amongst the water, I bailed out. 

Stuck on a rock trying to hang onto my boat and gear was seemingly impossible as I was subject to the power of the river. I ultimately lost control of my boat subjecting it to the will of the river. Thankfully, my fellow paddlers, all excellent boatsmen, noticed my plight instantly breaking into teams with one group attending me on my new home on a large boulder and the others chasing the boat. 

Being a relatively "chill" swim and subject to James continuous ridicule, I was surprised to see that the combination of hydraulic pressure and my own force bailing out shattered my back band straps, leaving me to fashion what I could out of some manky zip ties and cord.



Photo: This title should be, "I'm too damn focused on not messing up instead of documenting."
Taken by AM

Continuing downstream, battered but not completely beaten, I fought hard to maintain with the group and stay in control. 

No more than three boofs later I felt the makeshift back band again snap under the pressure of my hips, Control be damned, I was now in a fist fight. 

Nearing the end of a section of rapids, our team bombed through a large pourover requiring a cross current boof into an eddy. Sans technique, I put an upstream boof stroke in on the wrong side of the river, thus propelling myself into the hydraulic sideways. Penance resulted in a hard beating in one of the longest hole rides I've ever had, complete with more technical drops directly downstream. Control vanished.

It was a hard lesson. After a lot of recirculation, side surfing, and attempted loops, I was especially thankful to notice JJ exit his boat ready with a throw bag. Swimming previously once in the run, I was sure as hell not going to fail again, or surely suffer worse trying. 

The river finally released me kicking my boat and body into the moving water where I attained a quick micro eddy and caught my wind. Pissed at myself, apologizing to the team for putting them in such a position, I fought in that small place to regain my shit and find some sort of control. 

"Harden the fuck up Andy! Breathe. Just relax. In control." My mantra ran through my brain. After a few minutes of refocusing, I eddied back into the current, broken backband, refocused and determined to finish the run without incident. 

After a quick lunch, a seal launch portage, and some hard rapids we reached the end of the steep section and thankfully the beginning of the intermediate section. 

The second section of the Perth consists of some relaxed class III then the grande finale, a final steep and smooth walled in schist gorge hosting five grade IV to IV plus rapids, the highlight being a nice almost river wide twenty foot weir (low head dam). 

Making quick work of the gorge, our group enjoyed the rest of the run in various ways with me shaking my head at an off day on a West Coast classic.