http://peakuk.com/index.php Peak UK - The Kayaking Company - Team, Event, Product and Website News en-gb Thu, 17 May 2012 12:46:40 GMT Thu, 17 May 2012 12:46:40 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Tim Baillie pete@peakuk.com (Pete Astles) t_baillie@hotmail.com (Tim Baillie) http://peakuk.com/index.php http://peakuk.com/RSS/peakukrsslogo.jpg 88 31 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=436
]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=436 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=435
Peak UK paddler Jakobus Stenglein teamed up with legendary Jan Ullrich and six other athletes to compete in the challenge. Finishing in 3rd place with a total of 5hrs 23 mins.

You can read a full report HERE












For the official Peak to Creek website visit: www.peaktocreek.at]]> Sat, 12 May 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=435 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=434
We managed to kayak all but one of the classics on the Austrian Inn and the tributaries were pumping from snowmelt. It is going to be a good season here in Austria and we are planning our road trip.

More to follow soon…











]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=434 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=433 Whitewater The Canoe Centre catches up with Babu for a in air interview...

]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=433 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=432


Doug on the Allt a Chaorainn

Doug on the Triple of Triple Falls, river Etive

Doug displaying sponsor commitment on the Etive

Ian has been on programme delivering some UKCC/BCU courses and is just about to hang his skis up before the surf kayak season begins. This may be delayed as the snow is back here with some great skiing to be had.

Giles has been ticking away in his boats for a while now and feels just about ready for the Moriston River Race. Being the third to run out of fifty he plans to be showing others the best lines. He has been practicing his victory salute. He has also put some footage of the Allt a Chaorainn on the Glenmore Lodge Facebook site using YouTube.

Giles practicing the victory salute

Giles going airborne on Pinball – Allt a Chaorainn
Shaun is on secondment for a year but has developed an ingenious system for hanging his sea kayak up in his shed.

Nancy is expecting her second baby soon. She is still active and along with Doug and Giles was running sessions at the opening weekend of the Great Glen Canoe Trail. Some items of kit allegedly don't fit as well...check out this link which features Nancy at the event.

Great Glen Canoe Trail

and this one

Great Glen Canoe Trail

Mark has been busy overseas amassing days for his Guides application. In between he has had spells on the river and he is now back in country and gearing up for the season and will be a salty sea dog running sea kayak courses over the next few weeks.

Pete has been off on his travels again, widening his kayaking experience to include Antarctica this time. Pete spent part of February and all of March paddling around the coastal margins of the peninsula on its western seaboard. Although many will associate adventuring in the windiest, coldest, driest continent on the planet with suffering, pain and hardship. I am disappointed to report therefore that the work involved day paddles amongst the ice with the prospect of a warm bunk, hot shower and 3 course meal back on the mother ship each evening…. Carl would have hated it! Saying that the trip did have its moments…. Humpback whales surfacing meters away from the kayaks, leopard seals biting the boats and ice carving from the glacier fronts! Pete's back up to Svalbard again this summer for more polar adventures.

Carl as ever is planning all sorts and some of that is likely to involve a yacht and a sea kayak or two.
We enjoyed a great staff training paddling the Loy and the Arkaig, the Etive and the Allt a Chaorainn and then in sea kayaks to the Grey Dogs in an attempt to recreate Doug's front of cover shot for his Rough Water Handling book (has that been mentioned already?).

As usual the new PeakUK kit has been performing well, wearing well and keeping us dry and comfortable throughout all our adventures.
]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=432 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=431 With very little water about in the early part of April. We decided to vacate to the highlands to run our 'This is Scotland' whitewater course.

Our base for the week was the outdoor epicentre of Fort William. Despite low water levels we managed to optimize the little water we had. With great runs only 15 minutes from the house we had plenty to go at!

Each morning we were met by blue skies, and a glimpse of Ben Nevis before setting off to the river for the day. With the picturesque classics such as the Spean gorge, Arkaig and Pattack on our doorstep we managed to get the best of the environment.

Throughout the week we used the main rapids to perform some set piece work. Working on boofing driving over cushions and river tactics. Once we had the fundamentals in place we then headed over to Glen Etive to apply our skills on a slightly steeper set of rapids. Here we used triple falls, right angle falls and the scenic tributaries to have a play with our skills.


Here are a few shots of the team on and off the river! Visit www.newwavecoaching.co.uk for our Autumn dates.







]]> Tue, 08 May 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=431 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=430
In our mission towards European and World glory, the importance of nailing the Endurance section of the events has been our focus. A very high scoring element of Rafting Championships has traditionally been the team's weakest event. The Endurance event of Rafting Championships has seen in the past teams racing down adrenaline filled grade 4-5 whitewater over a period of just under an hour. So it seemed appropriate to our coach, G-Man, that we undertake downriver endurance training from Beeston weir to the National Water Sports White Water course.

These training weekends usually involve an early start and this one was no different. 7:30 am meet in the cold car park at the WW course, for loading of Blue's motorhome- kit, paddles, raft and squad members loaded (legally of course!) Jump on at Beeston and get going- just over an hour later we find ourselves at the finish, ready to do it all again the following morning.

As you might be able to gather from the photos below, we are still to experience the constant white water challenges that will be awaiting us in Czech Rep in August, but it was certainly a fantastic physical challenge for all involved.

A technical session in the afternoon draws further information into mastering the dark art of the perfect rafting paddling strokes. Fantastic progress. Sunday afternoon is wrapped up with a very enjoyable slalom session on the WW.

Our eyes now move to the next weekend of hard training, and the eternal search for a WW run good enough for undertaking a downriver session. Any suggestions, answers on a postcard please!

A big thanks has to go to our coach Gaz Wilson, his continued support and input is invaluable.

Until next time.






]]> Tue, 01 May 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=430 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=429
My adventures started with a night in Vegas before heading west into the Mountains and Desert of Nevada to prep and set up our trip down one of the 7 wonders of the world – the Grand Canyon.
Our canyon experience took our group of 9 paddlers on a 19 day adventure down 282 miles of the Colorado River from Lees Ferry to Pearce Ferry. We took nine kayaks and two 18 foot rafts fully loaded with gear and set off into the wilderness self sufficient for the whole trip.

It's hard to describe how incredible a Grand Canyon experience is. The natural beauty you see all around in every direction you look is insane. The big flowing white water rapids, constant boils and eddy line and world class surf waves. The colours, the wildlife, the stars, the sky! The holistic immersion into an area explored by only a few. It is an incredible place and for those of us fortunate enough to have the opportunity to paddle it, an experience of a lifetime.

I picked up a brand new Jackson Fun Runner to take with me on the trip which turned out to be the perfect choice. Its speed and agility allowed me to surf every possible wave and cruise exciting big water lines down all the rapids. I have been on a number of overnight expeditions before but never for 19 days. The feeling of freedom, remoteness and adventure that you get from being immersed so deep into such a large canyon is insane. It made me super aware of some of the everyday risks we take and how we would cope in this level of remoteness if things went wrong. It also made me appreciate how small we are in the grand scheme of things and how important is for us to make the most of the magnificent beauty, nature and opportunities that are available to us in this world.

Throughout the trip we had so many mini adventures climbing peaks, exploring side creeks, learning to raft massive oar rigs boats down rapids filled with huge holes and wave. I have kept a diary throughout the trip so far and will be posting regular exerts on my blog to share the experiences we had check it out claireohara.blogspot.comif you would like to find out more.

Since then I have returned back to the real world – well in some ways! I am now beginning my journey as a full time kayaker. Based in Reno, Nevada I have spent the last week getting back into freestyle kayaking and squirt boating, training on the local white water park. I am travelling with fellow JK team paddler Stephen Wright and we are intermixing freestyle with creeking, and squirt boating rest days. Yes that's right in this boating Mecca, that is on the boarders of Nevada and California, we have been spending our rest days creeking on some of the best white water runs in the world.

Here are a few photos of my adventure so far...

















]]> Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=429 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=428


]]> Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=428 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=427
The athletes selected to Team GB are:
David Florence – Men's C1 & C2
Richard Hounslow – Men's K1 & C2
Lizzie Neave – Women's K1
Etienne Stott – Men's C2
Tim Baillie – Men's C2

Visit teamgb.com for more info.

]]> Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=427 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=426
]]> Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=426 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=425
From the start to just after Newbury was probably my toughest time. I was suffering severely from nerves, and felt extremely anxious and fidgety in the boat. My legs were still shaking with nerves at Hungerford. We were therefore, a bit slower than expected through this section of the race. Even the running commentary and humour from 2 of our support crew cycling on the bank wasn't calming me. My nerves, were not helped by a swan attack (in which I feared for my life!!!), being overtaken by another mixed k2, our close competitors throughout the waterside series, and the nausea and dizziness I was beginning to feel by Newbury. The thought that I had only been paddling for 34 miles and still had a massive 91 miles to paddle, at this point, seemed impossible. However, the support crew stopped giving me the protein shakes (which were revolting) and the sugary food and I started to feel a lot happier, potatoes were going down a treat! The appearance of my friends on the bank waving and cheering me on also boosted me further.

The next section from Newbury to Dreadnought went smoother with Pete and I getting into our rhythm and starting to paddle like the experienced and comfortable crew we are. I particularly enjoyed this part of the paddle and was starting to look forward to hot food and a change of clothes at Dreadnought. It was about half way through this stretch that we started to catch other k2s which, again, was a boost! With a fading light we paddle through reading town centre and arrived at dreadnought feeling happy and comfortable.

The changing process, for me, was probably the most embarrassing moment of my adult life so far. Putting dry kit onto a wet body is challenging to say the least and a special mention to those who had the unpleasant job of changing a grown woman who had been 'weeing' in the boat for the past few hours was having a minor strop over her cloths not going on easily! I was at this point being fed like a toddler and obviously thought that I should stomp my feet like one too. I felt that this change was very rushed but apparently we were there for 10 minutes. The warm rice pudding was a big hit though and I was very glad of it when we got back on the river.

The dusky light that we had during the change had vanished and we got onto the river in the dark, this was my next low. I couldn't believe how dark it was, I felt quite panicked that I had to paddle in dark for another 8 or so hours. I also took a sip of my drinks bottle and found that it had been filled with protein shake rather than water. This episode induced my first tears of the DW (although not my last!) Pete, suspecting that he had a very grumpy k2 partner in the back, offered to swap his water bottle with mine at the next portage and this was enough to cheer me up. It is worth noting here that, whilst doing DW, the smallest, pettiest things really matter and by Pete offering to change water bottles I was able to settle back into the paddle and begin enjoying myself and my dry kit. The best part of paddling the Thames in the dark is that you are catching other k2s the whole time which makes you feel considerably less lonely. You also can't see the long bends which you are winding round are concentrating so much on where to paddle you forget some of the pain and don't have time to feel sleepy. We continued to plod down the very slow moving Thames with relative ease.

I had one more bad patch which hit around Cookham. I started to get very cold and needed to layer up more. Unfortunately, my dry kit was a significant way down the course in the campervan which was preparing hot food for us later on in the race. I was therefore, squeezed into an xs thermal over the top of two other thermals. I am not an xs thermal size and was extremely upset when, although being warmer, I found I was being strangled by the thermal. After a few miles of muttering about how angry I was I was greeted with my warm kit, which had been rushed back up to me. This was a welcome relieve and now, toasty warm and much happier I set off again.

About the time of my return to relatively good spirits, my rock in the front of the k2 began to really suffer. His back had been starting to go from Newbury, but by now he was starting to lean significantly forward. Anyone who knows Pete and his paddling style would understand why this was a concern (Pete usually slouches onto the back deck when suffering, like he's sitting in an armchair). Pete continued on stoically, but our portaging became very slow with Pete needing regular massages to keep going. We also needed to stop paddling for Pete's back to stop spasming. We continued on in this vein throughout the night with Pete's back, unfortunately getting more and more painful for him. When we were approximately 12 miles from Teddington I suggested a pit stop of 5 minutes for Pete to stretch and get back to being able to stand up straight. This suggestion was met by worried mutterings and the encouragement that we needed to keep moving. This rang alarm bells for me, and I asked if we were going to make the tide at Teddington. The answer simply was, not if you keep stopping. Within a couple of miles I got a straight answer of, it is a definite possibility that you will miss the tide. My heart stopped! There was NO WAY I was missing that tide after paddling for so long! At this point all the pain left my body, my techinque had been struggling for the last few hours with my hands very low and my rotation zero due to tightness in my elbows and my shoulders and my hands were really starting to suffer. As for my hamstrings, they had stiffened up like a board and I was no longer 'leaping' out of the boat at portages. However, this all vanished completely as the adrenaline kicked in that we might miss the tide! As we left the portage I felt like I was at the start of a 12 mile race and I was determined to paddle like that. It was my turn now to be the rock in the boat and drive and encourage Pete and I down to the tideway for 7am (little did we know that we had plenty of time as it did not close till after 8am!). At the next couple of portages Pete was massaged and helped to stand up and stretch whereas I bounced around on the spot trying to stay focused and upbeat. These 12 miles were the best of my race and nearly the worse of Petes. Pete was unable to paddle for more than 100 stokes at a time without experiencing extreme and unbearable pain in his back. At this point, I will admit I worried if Pete's body could finish the race, I knew his mind could, but would his body last!

We arrived at Teddington, full of hope for the Tidway which we had been guaranteed would be flowing so fast we wouldn't need to paddle. After another quick back massage for Pete we were ready to float down to Westminster. What a bitter disappointment! It didn't feel like we were going any faster at all and Petes back was rapidly deteriorating. However, I knew we were on the home straight and that we could finish this! We had to do an extra portage over some rollers which were extremely muddy and slippery, cue, the most funny moment of the entire race for me. As Pete stepped out of the boat crippled in pain, he slipped flat on his face in the mud without even bothering to attempt to break his fall with his hands. He then turned his face slowly and looked at me with the most forlorn expression I have ever seen. This forlorn expression however, was somewhat marred by the mud dripping down his face which sent me into fits of laughter in the back of the boat. Pete, luckily, also saw the funny side and we had a good chuckle before we got back into the boat and continued our slow way down the tideway.

We thankfully saw our support crew waving and shouting to us (minus a near miss with a rowing boat!) we made it across to them. Pete had to be lifted out of the boat and could no longer stand without assistance. I, very selfishly at this point, was seriously concerned that Pete's body wouldn't last to Westminster! However, with a bit more biofreeze and a quick massage we were back on our way. Along this last leg of the paddle the regular cheers of encouragement from not only our own support crew but also Caroline and Alisons team, who we had passed just before Teddington, continued to lift our spirits and spur us on. We continued to push on, I continued paddling when Pete could no longer as my arms were beginning to seize up and I was desperate to see Westminster Bridge. By this point on the Thames the tide was flowing much stronger and we were, relatively speaking, speeding towards the finish. With a bit of steering from the back of the boat and encouragement for Pete we got over to the right hand side of the river. After persuading Pete that it was not a good idea to stop with 2 miles to go, we continued on with the anticipation of the London Eye coming into view round every bend! When we saw the finish and the DW volunteer support crews on a boat directing us over to the right hand arch and shouting encouragement I started to cry. Tears of relief in main, but also tears for the pain! When we started to hear the mass of cheering from the finish, my tears were accompanied by a massive grin! I think I said something along the lines of 'we did it' to Pete (right before a massive support stroke as we went under the bridge!). We had completed the Kayakers Mount Everest and had done it against the odds as well. The DW volunteers were brilliant, getting the boat to the bank, getting me out first as I was able to walk and speak which was more than Pete could do, such was the pain he was in.

The following period of time was filled with congratulations from a variety of people, encouragement and laughter with Pete over his experience in the wheelchair. We have many pictures to remember this moment. At the end I looked quite fresh and Pete looked half dead! Why? The answer to this is, I have no idea, maybe it is an age thing. Pete had put in long hard hours of training just as I had, he had been my rock through 2 of the 3 watersides and had kept me going through the first half of DW. What made Pete and I such a successful partnership was probably that fact that when I had my low points Pete encouraged me through and when Pete had his low points I was able to encourage him through, never having a cross word throughout the race. Pete's ability to continue on through the level of pain he was in is a testament to his determination and strength and I owe him a great deal of thanks for never being tempted to give up.
My first thoughts when I finished were, never again! However, even by that evening, I was beginning to think about doing it again to achieve a faster time in the future. There are a couple of areas in our support and in our training and preparation that we would have tweaked and improved in hindsight. However, our challenge this year was that Pete and I wanted to finish DW, which we did in a time of 23 hours and 20 minutes, coming 2nd in the mixed class was an added bonus. Next time, my challenge will be to race and improve my time....

However, A DW crew is only as good as its support team and ours was excellent. Supporting is often considered as hard, or harder than racing and therefore Pete and I were extremely lucky to have accumulated an experienced, upbeat and dedicated support crew. Some of our supporters were volunteers, some were close friends and some were conscripted without choice as family members. From around October my dad had been ferrying Pete and I around for long paddles and feeding us at portages and offering advice on training and eating. He was our chief supporter, boat repair man and an indispensible part of our training and our race. A support crew not only has to feed their paddlers, make sure they are at the next portage etc but they have to be trusted by their crew, they have to keep their crew upbeat and positive, massage backsides, backs and legs and stuff food into waiting mouths. They suffer the brunt of the crews ups and downs during the race and must remain constantly positive. I hope that the experience was as enjoyable and exciting for them as it was for Pete and I and we thank them sincerely for the time and effort they put in, the achievement of completing DW would not have been possible without them.









Article by Becky Parker]]> Mon, 23 Apr 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=425 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=424
Naturally the Peak UK team members were all contenders for not only the 3 spaces per category on the GB team, but also considered as favourites for the Olympic spots.

There was a simple format to the racing. 3 races on 3 separate days. The position you finished is related to a points score, the accumulation from the 2 best result is taken forward, the highest score results in being the Olympic boat. 2nd and 3rd position in the points ranking would be the final two spaces on the GB team for World Cups and the European Championships.

A thrilling and emotion filled weekends racing eventually brought winners and losers, as is true in any sport. Individual’s hard work over the past 4 years, was to be played out over 600 seconds of racing.

In the K1W class the battle for the 3 spaces on the team between 4 very talented and established athletes was always going to be a fantastic event to watch. By Sunday afternoon, the GB team selected comprised of Lizzie Neave, Louise Donington and Fiona Pennie. Lizzie put in a fantastic show over the 3 races taking 3 wins, and the Olympic position! Nice one Lizzie! We are sorry to see that Laura Blakeman this time around missed out on the team.

Over in the C1 mens event David Florence placed an equally dominant and impressive display of paddling, again taking 3 wins from 3 races. At times David placed running time to rival that of the Mens Kayak class. Excellent stuff David! We'll be seeing David competing in London 2012 in his C1, his second Olympic Games. His fellow team members consist of other Peak UK athletes, Mark Proctor and Dan Goddard.

In the blue ribbon event, K1M, there were close battles for positions all weekend. Eventually Richard Hounslow came out on top, similar to his Peak UK team mates, Lizzie and David, taking 3 wins from 3 races. Richard booked his place on the start line of the London 2012 Games in August. Nice one Richie! He'll be joined on the GB team by the experienced Campbell Walsh and youngster Tom Brady. Unfortunately our other team paddlers fell short this time of the Senior team, Huw Swetnam can be very proud of his efforts over the weekend, and Joe Clarke can be consoled in the fact of booking his place on the Under 23 GB Team for 2012.

Finally in the C2 category, Baillie/Stott were up against Hounslow/Florence in an epic battle. By the end of the second day of racing both crews had a win each to their names, however as the Olympic positions for C1M and K1M had been claimed by David and Richard, this left Great Britain with the unique position of being able to nominate 2 crews in the category as David and Richard are 'doubling up'. Resulting in both Florence/Hounslow and Baillie/Stott placing themselves on the start line of the 'greatest show' on Earth. Fantastic news for the guys, Well Done! Peak UK supported athletes Greg Pitt and Adam Burgess join them on the team.


A fantastic few days of racing seeing all Olympic boats being Peak UK athletes, Great Stuff!! Keep your eyes peeled in the months to come for more updates from our Olympians.









Words and Photos: Paul Ramsdale]]> Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=424 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=423
I am just back from the North of Skye where we have had some amazing weather to enjoy this spectacular area. The cliffs, sea stacks and caves were as good as ever and there was just enough wind and tide to work on some rough water paddling skills and ideas. Getting out to some of the offshore islands we were also pleased to see the Puffins are back as well, no doubt enjoying the early summer weather. To top it all off I was trying out the new Peak Explorer one piece suit, and finding plenty of opportunity to put it through it's paces. Having worked with Peak UK in some of the design ideas around the suit, it was great to get out and experience it was as good as I'd hoped. From a sea kayaking point of view it has got to be the most functional and comfortable dry suit I've ever worn - awesome!

We have all the gear and equipment in place for the season, the weather is shaping up nicely - it has all the ingredients to be a good one - bring it on...





Glenmore Lodge

]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=423 http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=422
In the K1 women, the floodlit conditions appeared to have little effect on the PeakUK girls, as they comfortably took all three podium spots. Fiona Pennie took the honours, less than 2 tenths of a second ahead of Laura Blakeman, with Lizzie Neave rounding out the top 3.

The C1 men followed suit, with new PeakUK member David Florence taking the win ahead of the ever improving Mark Proctor. Either athlete could have taken the win, with both incurring a penalty on their quickest run. Beijing Olympic silver medallist, Florence, will be looking to hold Proctor at bay in his attempt to go one step higher in this summers Olympic Games.

The C2 men saw the tightest of racing, with Florence/Hounslow having to come from a long way behind after an impressive 1st run from Baillie/Stott. But it was a bridge too far for the PeakUK new boys, eventually settling for 2nd behind PeakUK old boys Baillie/Stott by a mere 0.05 seconds! Again, PeakUK team members were dominant, boding well for the upcoming Olympic selection series.

The final racing of the day didn't finished until 22:30, and it was the K1 men that would roundup the evenings proceedings. Unfortunately our boys couldn't hold off the charge of the flying Scotsman, Campbell Walsh. But it wasn't all bad, with PeakUK team members Richard Hounslow and Huw Swetnam taking 2nd and 3rd respectively.

There is no doubt the PeakUK slalom team are racing well, and with a few fine tweaks, they'll all be set for the Olympic Selection Series taking place in London from April 13-15.



Article by Rich Hounslow ]]> Mon, 02 Apr 2012 01:01:01 GMT http://www.peakuk.com/peakuknews.php?article=422