Post by Thor on May 23, 2012 17:26:02 GMT
22/05/12
Level - Dam release
Grade 4/4+
Paddlers: Moon, Jack, Seori (he's an ol pal o bruceys) and Me
First and formost, the lower moriston is a big, meaty, gnarly, son of a bitch! You can look at the river all the way down from the bank however theres no real way to set up safety due to the height of the gorge. All the way down its littered with humping flows, tight drops, grabby stoppers and angry looking long rapids.
But all of these features on a short section make the lower moriston an unbelievable river that will make you so happy you mite almost have abit of a cry!!
We put in river right about 30 meters above the old bridge. From the bridge you can clearly see 2 potential lines, a tight wee drop to the river right or a face munching drop into tight slot (would'nt think any less of someone using a full facer here!) on the left. Being the handsome devils we are we didnt want to risk our good looks so took the drop on river right.
Call it pre-gun barrel nerves or whatever but we all had a wee bit of a moment here. Running the rapid in a line Moon went first and got himself grounded on a rocky bit below. Being the helpful chap i am, i took the same line and battered Moon off the rocks (helpfulLAD). The two of us then pushed on through the next drop and the nice wee hole. Jack and Seori took a nicer line after the drop to the river left and cleanly ran the second drop with some sexy tekkers!
A mixed show for those folk watching on the bridge above...
Next up was the rapid that made me hope it was shepards pie in my shorts... Gun Barrel. Basically its a 50 meter steep, narrow, fast, intense, totally white grade 4+ rapid that runs against the gorge to river left with a ticky entry stopper.
Plan was for Moon to be the pro paddler he is and hit the lead in rapid down the centre, eddy out then follow on at the back. While Jack, Seori and myself would take the lead in river left and hit gun barrel head on so to avoid the break in stopper. Turns out the lead in left is rocky-er than we though. Carnage ensued!! Jack made it through and was the first to hit Gun Barrel. Mean while id made my way into the central channel then paddled straight into Gun Barrel before my bravery pills could wear off...
Im not quiet sure what happened in that rapid, it was over in a second and im pretty sure i wasnt totally in control but that rapid made me feel like id been given 20 glucose enema's!! Honestly the best feeling ive ever gottten from a rapid!
We all nailed it and stopped for wee moment to reflect how sam sutton like we felt!
The next rapid was a nice blast down a wider section that narrowed into a tight very grabby stopper, simple! That is unless someone fancies a roll halfway down and fails to get enough speed to punch through the stopper.
Moon hit the line clean and battered through to the bottom, but then some tool hit the stopper too slow and got flipped and held. Said tool then rolled, got flipped again and held yet again. Luckily Jack knocked the tool far enough out of the stopper for him to roll and paddle out. Seori also hit a nice line though the steep waves to nail it through the stopper.
The final rapid was a really nice pushy section to carve through to the get out and the killer walk back upto the car park. Such an awesome day, deffo worth staying out west for!
Naebody took a whitey and we didnt need team america. We also went to maccy's on the way home and got served by someone who's been hit too many times in the face with a spade, we called her shovel face...
Level - Dam release
Grade 4/4+
Paddlers: Moon, Jack, Seori (he's an ol pal o bruceys) and Me
First and formost, the lower moriston is a big, meaty, gnarly, son of a bitch! You can look at the river all the way down from the bank however theres no real way to set up safety due to the height of the gorge. All the way down its littered with humping flows, tight drops, grabby stoppers and angry looking long rapids.
But all of these features on a short section make the lower moriston an unbelievable river that will make you so happy you mite almost have abit of a cry!!
We put in river right about 30 meters above the old bridge. From the bridge you can clearly see 2 potential lines, a tight wee drop to the river right or a face munching drop into tight slot (would'nt think any less of someone using a full facer here!) on the left. Being the handsome devils we are we didnt want to risk our good looks so took the drop on river right.
Call it pre-gun barrel nerves or whatever but we all had a wee bit of a moment here. Running the rapid in a line Moon went first and got himself grounded on a rocky bit below. Being the helpful chap i am, i took the same line and battered Moon off the rocks (helpfulLAD). The two of us then pushed on through the next drop and the nice wee hole. Jack and Seori took a nicer line after the drop to the river left and cleanly ran the second drop with some sexy tekkers!
A mixed show for those folk watching on the bridge above...
Next up was the rapid that made me hope it was shepards pie in my shorts... Gun Barrel. Basically its a 50 meter steep, narrow, fast, intense, totally white grade 4+ rapid that runs against the gorge to river left with a ticky entry stopper.
Plan was for Moon to be the pro paddler he is and hit the lead in rapid down the centre, eddy out then follow on at the back. While Jack, Seori and myself would take the lead in river left and hit gun barrel head on so to avoid the break in stopper. Turns out the lead in left is rocky-er than we though. Carnage ensued!! Jack made it through and was the first to hit Gun Barrel. Mean while id made my way into the central channel then paddled straight into Gun Barrel before my bravery pills could wear off...
Im not quiet sure what happened in that rapid, it was over in a second and im pretty sure i wasnt totally in control but that rapid made me feel like id been given 20 glucose enema's!! Honestly the best feeling ive ever gottten from a rapid!
We all nailed it and stopped for wee moment to reflect how sam sutton like we felt!
The next rapid was a nice blast down a wider section that narrowed into a tight very grabby stopper, simple! That is unless someone fancies a roll halfway down and fails to get enough speed to punch through the stopper.
Moon hit the line clean and battered through to the bottom, but then some tool hit the stopper too slow and got flipped and held. Said tool then rolled, got flipped again and held yet again. Luckily Jack knocked the tool far enough out of the stopper for him to roll and paddle out. Seori also hit a nice line though the steep waves to nail it through the stopper.
The final rapid was a really nice pushy section to carve through to the get out and the killer walk back upto the car park. Such an awesome day, deffo worth staying out west for!
Naebody took a whitey and we didnt need team america. We also went to maccy's on the way home and got served by someone who's been hit too many times in the face with a spade, we called her shovel face...