Finally got to paddle on the day 1 section today. We did two runs from our campsite down to Silverback. It's a great run. Theres a few rapids after silverback but also a lot more flatwater so they were left to another day.
My runs were far from Stylish and unlike the day 2 section, were I only had to roll once, I rolled on most the rapids here.
The first rapid on the run is a choice between either Ribcage or The Hump neither is particularly hard but both are good fun. After that is Bujagali falls. There are several lines but I oped to run the left one both times. The left line is basically two drops with a flattish section in between. On the first run I realised that the the flat section was actually quite pushy and ended up ferrying hard just to make the line having been pushed into the centre which is nasty and rocky looking. I landed just at the edge or the normal line and got flipped by the hole. The second time was much better but the second hole still got the better of me despite being on line.
50-50 is the next major rapid. The curx of it is a diagonal wave which is fairly big. It flipped me on both occasions. The second one I was sure it had popped my deck due to difficulty of rolling, but it appears that I timed my rolls perfectly with the waves on the wave train which were pushing me straight back in. The final (and biggest) rapid on the run is silverback, there's a massive ramp where the river narrows and feeds into a wave train. The waves are huge and surging and a clean line requires an element of luck for anyone. my first run I got eaten by the 3rd wave while in my second run it was the 4th wave that ate me after I dared to roll up when wave number 2 had already flipped me.
It's a great section of river, I still have to do Overtime and Chopasuai which are further downstream as well as any of the back channels. Hopefully over the next few days I'll get to try them as well as make some cleaner lines on the main rapids.
2 comments:
What element of luck? I ran Silverback twice with a dry head in the one morning, the first run was before I even had breakfast :) The paddle down to overtime is a killer. Hook up with a raft group so you can get out of your boat on the long float. And while you're down there have a look for the line on Dead Dutchman. Chop Suey's got a mother of a big hole in it so take a deep breath if you start falling off your line. You're gonna need it. Oh and have some Zappa for me :)
Yea, but how long did that take you to achieve that! Any of the waves could surge while your on it and nobody can run it clean every time. Did it again today,much cleaner lines than yesterday, it takes a while to get used of the water.
I've already had some Zappa. Was a forfeit in a game of Jenga. :)
Post a Comment