It has certainly been a great year Team Peak UK kayaker Steve Brooks. First take was way back in January where he arrived in Chile for a months kayaking mission. Hanging out with David Joos and his family (an old friend from way back in Peru) Steve managed to kayak some of the classic rivers around Pucon before heading down to Patagonia and the Futaleufu.









It was then back to the servicing skis for the rest of winter before Steve and his wife Ute finally meeting up with fellow Team kayaker John Blake in Slovenia. The Soca is a great way to get into the groove of things and the climate in that part of the Alps is certainly more favourable in the Spring! Finishing off some guiding and coaching qualifications the team also got to kayak a few sections in between.





Back home in Austria it was going to be the first full summer season for Steve in over 10 years! It did not disappoint, not only kayaking the classics in the area like the Oetz, Upper Pitzbach, the Inn was at its biggest level in years. The team explored the Rosanna a river just outside Steve's house and also completed a successful descent of the Rosanna Gorge, this actually caused quite a stir in the German speaking kayaking community!








While all this was happening Steve and Ute set up a kayak school and in doing so brought a new dimension to the villages of St Anton and Lech. With all the snow that falls in the winter in these infamous resorts it is unbelievable to think that no-one locally kayaks!!





The Lech river is also an Alpine classic, with so many different sections it has something for everyone. However the best piece has to be the Lower Lech Gorge, it jumped straight into Steve's top 5 rivers of the world....unbelievable!













Finally as the weather started to get colder and the rivers were losing their water Steve and Ute headed to India for a spot of boating Himalaya style! Though their plans were originally scuppered by the heaviest monsoon since 1929 they finally managed to get up to the tributaries of the Ganges (negotiating landslides, upturned vehicles, goats and cows) to spend some time kayaking with Shalabh and his family.







Back in home in Austria Steve is out with his beloved camera skiing and trying to capture that powder shot! Lets hope for a load of snow (Northern Europe has a lot for sure) this winter as it all has to go somewhere in the Spring and Summer!



For more pictures check out this link ENGLISH or in German.... DEUTSCH

(Posted on the 4th Jan 2011 by timb)

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• Chandra River, India.
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