Canoeing doesn’t mean beards and long flat water journeys, it is so much more. Many thanks to Matthew Pritchard for sharing this great OC1 edit from Scotland last year which just shows what it can be about.
Tag: Scotland (Page 2 of 4)
Over the last few days Team Unsponsored has been camped out on the West Coast of Scotland. With a number of pieces of gear ready for a final review it made sense to use a couple of the days to hunt down some whitewater that may not have been paddled before. Suffice to say the hunt was very successful.
What has been interesting is that it is very easy to have pretty epic adventures here in the UK.
Using different forms of transport to get myself and my gear to some pretty remote and beautiful places has added to the experience.
The Garry Boater-X is in its 3rd year, held on the dam-release River Garry near Fort Augustus and organised by Kevin Barclay and Daryn Hubbucks in association with the SCA, Pillow Rock and Go Kayaking Scotland. This year, the competition was attended by 41 men, 18 ladies and many more spectators. Here’s a little write-up from my first experience of boater-x.
The Garry Boater-X 2015 was a truly well-organised event. A friendly host of mainly Scottish paddlers were welcoming on arrival at the river and despite knowing very few other people on arrival, by the time the last finals were held, it seemed that everyone knew everyone despite some fierce rivalries and intense competition!
A wee video of the Falls of Lora, Bitches and Severn Bore. If I’d have known I’d be paddling all 3 in a month I might of had the GoPro on a bit more but oohhh well. Enjoy.
A great edit from friend of Unsponsored, Mark Mulrain. Mark takes a run down the Coe Gorge – a classic Scottish run.
A few weeks ago myself and a group of friends were kayaking in Scotland on our annual easter trip with Salford University. We were having a great time, kayaking some really beautiful Scottish white water.
On Easter Sunday we hatched an ambitious plan to hit 4 runs in one day and make the most of the water levels before they dropped because of sunshine. The first order of business was a 30 foot waterfall near Loch Lomond in Stirling called the Falls of Falloch. This waterfall is famous with kayakers as being a very friendly waterfall to run and practice on.
After checking it out we were all happy and we got kitted up and psyched up for what would have been the biggest drop any of us would have done. My friend dropped the falls first and did it perfectly, after seeing him do it I geared up to paddle this beautiful drop. I hit the line and tucked for the impact at the bottom, unfortunately once I plunged into the pool at the bottom I knew immediately something was wrong. My landing was slightly horizontal, my back was in agony and I couldnt move.
Continue reading
There has been a serious amount of rain over the last few days here in the UK, with many rivers being listed as huge on one of the river level sites. Bastien’s edit shows us what the water levels have been like further up north from Unsponsored HQ.
On a wild snowy and windy winter day, we went paddling the Upper Spean river on 6 and plus pipes then a massive River Garry. I can’t thank enough my poggies. It was a good day. Continue reading
Name: Jon Wyles
Location: Scotland
Kayaking ability: Questionable
4th year Geography student at St Andrews. Grade 3/4 uni boater with 3 years experience.
Boats:
I’ve never owned my own boat, almost entirely due to lack of funds and also due to the fact that the University has quite a large inventory of boats. I first frequented an old Liquid Logic Huck, which saw me through the first few trips I’d been on. This unfortunately was involved in a swim on a high Knaike while in use by another member of the club who shall remain unnamed (James McMahon), and was not seen again.
Above: Me on my first river trip (Grandtully), on one of the Huck’s last voyages. Photo: Jonny Hawkins
Wet West Paddle Fest 2014 gave Sam and I the perfect opportunity to put our longboats; the Stinger XP and the Green Boat through their paces. We can honestly say it’s been a long time since we had that much fun and went that FAST on Whitewater! Continue reading
Kayaking in Scotland featuring the River Etive, Orchy, Spean Gorge, Alt a Choaruinn, Dalness, Falls of Falloch and Continue reading
Another great edit from friend of Unsponsored Mo Ritz.
After last years misfortune of travelling to the UK and finding almost nothing but frozen rivers, cold, and snow we decided to take the gamble once again. Packed the van, loaded the boats and hit the road. Continue reading
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