Final Days of my Chilean Adventure

Like all good plans our plan to escape Pucon and head south was formulated in the early hours of the morning after a few drinks, not only this it was also the early hours of  new years morning. Much to the surprise of everyone and with a little help from a highly motivated Jakub we somehow managed to rally by 10am and set a beeline for the Florin river. Hopes for the river were high however expectations low as it had been 8 days since rain and typically water is gone after 4. We crossed our fingers regardless and after 3 hours of driving and an hour of navigation issues we found ourselves at the put in with more than enough water. The sun was shining and we were not in a rush so decided to chill and swim for the day then camp out at the put in ready to fire in the morning. Putting on in the blazing sun next morning we quickly realised the flow was on the high side of good and portaged the first major rapid, immediately below was a fun 20 foot slide a pool then a perfect 50-60.

Nick rolls off the lip

Jakub fires clean as always

Snapshot of myself about to begin the freefall!

We all fired with clean lines, nick gave himself a punch in the face however nothing serious enough to dampen the mood. Our limited beta on the river said either take out and walk up a steep hill immediately following the waterfall or continue downstream for super burly class 5 and roadside takeout. The choice was obvious so we continued onwards quickly to find the river canyon in to a must run 30 which flows round the and corner out of sight. Feeling fired up we nearly committed however decided to take the safe option and walk back up to the previous take out. With the limited paddling at high flow Rio Florin is still the goods and a highlight of my trip.

Over the next few days we found ourselves paddling a bunch of classic grade 3-4 due to uncooperative water levels and freedom camping on some stunning lakesides. Our next stop was to be the Rio Gol Gol! We were all fired up for this run after hearing so many good stories from everyone else who had visited. Upon arrival we saw immediately that it like most other things was running on the high side of good at exactly the same flow as on Grand Prix race day. Only myself and Jakub decided to put on and we had an epic run, another absolute favorite of the trip with 5 big volume pushy waterfalls all of which are good to go!
Next morning we rallied another quick lap then were joined by the others to run the "lower Gol Gol"  which we expected to be G3-4, this was the case to start with but it quickly steepened into big class 5 then huge 6+! Needless to say we walked a bunch but also paddled an amazing gorge and plenty of solid 4-5 it is a well worth while extension to the short standard Gol Gol run.

Myself flying of the first waterfall

Jakub disappearing over the lip of Princessa! 

Princessa! This waterfall is all class

Jakub punching through a burly weir on the lower section

The Gol Gol was the last of the solid paddling i managed on my trip, from here we ventured south towards the Cochamo however it was a big brown monster so we turned around and began back to pucon. Managing some relaxed trips down the San pedro, Fuy, Palguin and Trancura was not a bad way to finish such an epic adventure, not to mention the life styling and amazing freedom camping!

Freedom Camping at the magnificent Lago Ranco

Another stunning place to spend the night!

Especially when this is the view from my tent!

Five star tree house on the Fuy river

Salto the kayak hostel guard dog happy as ever regardless of his wounds!

Well that about raps up my trip, im back in NZ now working 8 hours a day behind a computer just dreaming of my next journy wherever it may take me. Thanks to everyone who helped out along the way it would not have been possible without you!

Stuck in the Pucon siphon!

So firstly don't get me wrong here Pucon is a beautiful place with amazing whitewater. However before setting out for Chile the one strongest pieces of advice i received was "do not get stuck in the Pucon siphon, there is much appeal in Pucon however the rest of Chile is just as good". Ignoring this piece of advice i found myself for a multitude of reasons spending well over half of my trip stuck in this paradise and in all honesty i am stoked!

After returning from futa we made it into Pucon with primo water levels after a solid week of rain and were fired up to rally those runs that had evaded us on our first week here. Immediately this fire died with Greg breaking his back on day one, following this i spent two days with Greg in Temuco hospital then returned solo to continue my trip here in Pucon. The next days flowed past in a blur containing a the Palguin race, Zac swimming above Mariman on the Trancura and losing his boat, Christmas and a high water day on Puesco which was amazing! All of this with virtually no photos, sorry i was having to much fun and rallying to fast to get my camera out. After this We went for a super fun high water double date on the Nevados and Middle Palguin.

Daphnee lines up one of the few "clean" drops on the Carhuello

All the troops helping greg into the ambulance immediately post accident!

A very clear reminder not to follow to close, this was not fun for either of us!

Another clear reminder to remember who is left to run and do not eddie out to early.

Late evening park and huck, Nicole coming through clean.

This late evening park and huck to celebrate Geoffs last day turned out to be a total shit show to say the least. Jakub ran first with super sick line, Nicole followed with an unfortunate deck implosion and her boat took off down stream. This left myself and Geoff at the top, Geoff ran clean but tossed his paddle and did not recover it till 100m downstream. This left just me I flopped the seal launch and found myself upside down floating quickly towards the lip, rolling up just in time to feel my stomach start to fall but backwards life was an unhappy place! Quickly i tossed my paddle back over my head, tucked and braced for impact. It was not good with a very violent ejection, luckily my boat washed into the eddie and i was not seriously hurt. My paddle disappeared down stream and both my knees were in relatively violent pain however we made it out all somewhat smiling and Nicoles boat rescued unscathed.

The next day following this epic i bussed back to Temuco to visit Greg and give him his gear so that he could fly home, by this time he had been discharged from hospital and insurance was paying for a 5 star hotel for us both until he flew home in two days time. Perfect, what an amazing place to recover for both of us after our unfortunate accidents!

Life has its funny ways of working out.

The amazing sunset out of the hotel window

Making my way once again back to Pucon i found myself with no gear except my camera rallying with a big crew to the Nevados. Everyone was fired up to run Demshitz drop, im a little gutted i missed out however still managed a good day roping into the lip to shoot pics.

Seth launching off the wall drop

Issac about to reconnect! 

Happy times, the boys share the stoke after 4 solid lines

The next day I made it back onto the water and straight back to the Palguin for redemption! This time life went according to plan, seal launch, paddle, begin falling, throw paddle, tuck, impact, roll up, Happy! Clean lines were had by all and this time it truely was smiles all round.

Jakub launching in, no turning back now.

Carson looking good at the lip.

Myself about to take the plunge

New years followed swiftly then a brief escape southwards for more classic boating! This brief escape did not last long as i am now sitting back in Pucon writing this and preparing to return home, one more update to come in the next week or so. keep posted!

Pucon to Futa and back

Since my last post we spent a couple of days cruising Pucon and lapping the ever classic upper Palguin. Unfortunately it has largely been pissing down every day and i have been taking more footage than snaps so kayaking pics are running slim. Here is a few screen grabs from the river anyway.

The palguin is soo good! screen grab of myself chasing greg down the first rapid

Boof to swim, myself nailing the first half of  the name. Photo - Ford Smith

Stoked after one of the  many laps on the Palguin.

Our one sunny day in Pucon, the volcano is an amazing backdrop

One of the thousands of wild dogs that roam the streets of Chile

The last ten days have been spent on an epic road trip from Pucon south to Futaleufu through Argentina then back to Pucon via the small coastal town of Chaiten and three separate ferry trips. Nick, Daphnee, Greg and I set out about midday from Pucon after some serious car insurance issues which needed to be resolved before being allowed entrance into Argentina. Eventually we made it through border control into Argentina and to the supposedly very nice upmarket tourist town of Bariloche, it was 10.30 so we stopped for a dinner of cheesy, olivey pizza. Walking out of the restaurant Greg and myself noticed someone peering through the van windows, we ran towards him but were two late he had already broken two windows and was trying to get in to rob us of everything. Luckily with the use of a kayak paddle we scared him and another knife wielding accomplice away without losing anything at all. Departing Bariloche as quick as possible we eventually ended up in Futaleufu the next evening after numerous food and rest stops.

Van post being taken to with a wrecking bar. Photo - Greg Allum

Arriving in Futa we camped out and following morning finally hit the river! It was running super high after three weeks of continuous rain, this river is a beast but so much fun. We ran the whole lower section it is non stop G4-5 wavetrains with a hole thrown in for good measure every now and again. The following day the Grand Prix was running the same section for their whitewater enduro so we watched then jumped on for the same section again. 

A mess of boaters straight off to a mass start in the 15 minute event

Tangling into the first rapid

This being the last event of the Grand Prix there was a major party back at their campsite that night which we felt it would be rude not to join in on. 

Just a typical night out!

After some sketchy late nights plans we rallied with a crew of Slovenians to the put in for the inferno canyon section by 2 pm the next day. Inferno is supposed to be the most challenging section of whitewater the Futa has to offer however at our high water level it was just one huge 5 minute long wave train with the line straight down the middle the whole way. The remainder of the inferno run was flat water with two rapids zeta and throne room nicely spaced out, these are the two big ones and big they were. We all opted to walk zeta there was a line through, however consequence appeared far greater than reward. Throne room on the other hand was massive and good to go, the line was straight down, slam into a towering crashing wave and surf it to the left to avoid a terminal hole. Sounds easy, we all fired and somehow all managed smooth lines. stoked!  Continuing on our way for a full river top to bottom day next up was the terminator section. Terminator rapid its self was by far the biggest whitewater i have ever paddled, it is maybe a km long and doesn't ease the whole way. It is riddled with monster holes and the line is down the middle and try not to get surfed. We all ran with varying degrees of success but made it to the bottom very happy to make it through. From here it was just the section we already knew to go and we boosted to a 6 pm take out.

That night we left futa beginning our journey back north and made it to the little seaside town of chaiten awaiting the ferry the following day.

Devastation all around Chaiten from a volcano eruption 2 years previous. 

One of the three ferrys we journeyed on to avoid travelling  back via  Argentina

The ferry took us to another small town called hornopiren, we camped out on the side of the road here then headed for a seldom run river called the Rio Negro. This was a really fun wee creek with a couple of 20 footers and an un run 50 at the put in which we looked closely at but reluctantly decided against.

One of our few clear nights, beautiful view over the hornopiren volcano

Screen capture of Greg leaving the first eddie below the un-run 50

Screen capture of Daphnee running the perfect 20

Greg backflipping into the meat of the second waterfall

We then promptly made our way back to pucon via some back scans for nick, camping in an orsorno city carpark, stops at super flooded waterfalls and a juicy run down the rio curringue. Water levels in pucon are nice and  high so fingers crossed we tick off a few more classics over the next week. Keep posted plenty more good stories to come!!!

CHILE!!!!

So after 60 hours of brutal travel we arrived in Pucon with one team member lost to Chilean immigration! Massively jet lagged/sleep/food deprived we immediately found our brand new kayaks and were straight off to the Rio Nevados which hadn't flowed in over a month. Our very interesting crew of 5 being myself, greg, dave ( who runs the kayak hostel ) and two Chilean slalom kids put on and started rallying as greg had to be back at the hostel for a skype job interview in two hours. The run was an awesome start to our trip, totally different to nz boating with constant slides and waterfalls.
Day two after a little rain we went back for a slightly higher nevados running a few laps such good times.

Myself launching flat on slide to perfect 20!

Carson? I think hits the kicker on the navados slide!

Day three we cruised for a run on the upper palguin, this river is sooo good! Its clean top to bottom with such classic whitewater. We were lucky enough to strike a happy medium flow and only day of sunshine.
Making it to middle palguin waterfall we all started to get scared/excited for this perfect 70 footer, three of us decided to fire her up with all of us loosing our nuts for the stout 10 immediately above. Tote was first up with a nice clean line, rock paper scissors decided greg was up next with another clean line. I was third, its a pretty scary place sitting in the flushy eddy at the top and i was stoked to exit and begin the freefall. The hit was soft and i rolled up at the bottom even more stoked to be in my boat and uninjured!

Greg tosses his paddle and tucks for impact - Photo Nicholas Gottlieb

Myself launching in, no turning back now - Photo Nicholas Gottlieb

Go-pro screen grab of the view from the lip

Jordan fires a possible C1 first descent

Great style by chase!

Yesterday we caught a solid rain dump and headed for the Rio Turbio. This river was crazy, sliding and dropping its way down sharp and twisted volcanic rock. Myself and greg decided to fire up the scary top 30 footer to slide and both had perfect lines, such a sweet day out.

The scary view just before flying from the top of the turbio

Today we had a lay day due to poor flows, we have two or three more days in pucon then heat south towards the fuy, futalafu and argentina. Keep posted!!!!

  

Getting The Ball Rolling

So in three days i depart for the mystical land of Chile for six weeks of kayaking adventures. I have created this site so family and friends can follow this and all my future adventures wherever they may take me.
To get the ball rolling and learn my way around this blogging business check out a few of my favorite snaps from the last few years.

B-rain and Henry Cotton rolling into the stunning Gates of Argonath on the upper Hokitika river, west coast.

These next two shots I love, they are HDR shots of Paul and B-rain on our first decent trip of the Mcfarlane river in Haast. This trip turned out to be the biggest mission of my life with over 10 hours of steep bush portaging and an un-anticipated and very cold night spent on the river bank.

- Brain fires first of one of the clean drops

- Paul early on day 1 

- The Paparazzi! Jordy immediately post beating, low flow on the Kokatahi river. 

These previous shots were all taken the summer of 2011-2012 on my first camera a canon 1000D. Just recently I have upgraded to a Sony A57 to capture our trip to Chile in HD video and better quality images. Ive only had the camera a couple of months and out on three trips but so far im loving it, the following pics are all from those three trips. 

- First decent of the Edwards river, B-rain making a cold start to the day.

- This drop was named the aptly named 'the slot machine' , B-rain  launching clean and flat!

The Edwards trip was the coldest of my life with an 11 hour day in the snow and water. Epic times and some new goods to add to the shortage of whitewater in the Canterbury region made it all worth while though.

A couple of months back i was also invited to the coast for a day trip into Toaroha Canyon, Myself, Greg and B-rain left at midnight from chch and drove to Jordys in Hoki arriving at 3.30 am. The following morning we were up and beginning the three hour walk in by 11 am, all five of us were feeling fired up and considering first d of the big one. When we arrived she looked to go and hot of a north america season Jordy fired first followed by Barny, Greg then finally myself. This was the biggest i have fired to date and was stoked along with everyone else, the rest of the river is also unreal some of the best whitewater the coast has to offer hands down. After the river we rallied straight back to chch and managed to have B-rain at work by 9 pm, long but most certainly worthwhile 21 hour trip!

- Barny fires the cleanest line of us all

- Myself rolling over the lip of the same drop (p. Greg Allum)

- Barny dropping the second to last waterfall of the canyon

Just a few weeks ago i sneaked away for a flying visit to the Nevis for two cheeky laps, this river never fails to deliver such good times!

- The worst part of the day, Greg seal launching in.

- Jared Mulligan looking stylish as always 

- Things don't always go to plan!!!

-Greg Launches a sweet line off big bro 

Three days to go! lots more updates to come, keep posted. 

Cheers,

Ari