70
IN AT THE DEEP END – AN ENTRY INTO
SUP
SLALOM
WORDS : HELEN NIGHTINGALE PHOTOS : PROTEUS CANOE CLUB AND PAUL CROWSLEY & LLANGOLLEN CANOE CLUB
FROM THE START , I MUST MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THIS IS NOT AN IDIOT ’ S GUIDE TO GETTING INTO SUP SLALOM BUT AN ARTICLE WRITTEN BY AN IDIOT . I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I ’ M TALKING ABOUT . TWO WEEKS AGO , I HAD NEVER BEEN NEAR A SLALOM COURSE , LET ALONE PADDLED ONE . IF THERE IS AN IDIOT ’ S GUIDE OUT THERE , I ’ D LIKE TO READ IT .
I ’ m writing this because sometimes , allowing yourself to be the biggest idiot can give you the best experiences . Many people are put off doing fun stuff or things that will help them learn and improve because they don ’ t want to feel like an idiot , or because they don ’ t know how , or they don ’ t know anyone . My friends tell me that if anyone can be relied upon to go through with the stupidest of plans , that ’ ll be me . They also say I have the best weekends . They are probably right .
I ’ ve recently had an Intro to Whitewater SUP lesson at Mile End Mill , and Matt , one of our coaches , suggested I might enjoy SUP slalom . After the session , I made up a route through the gates and gave it a go . He ’ d said to do red gates paddling upstream and green gates downstream . Matt was right ; it was fun to challenge myself , and it highlighted where I was in charge and where the river was in charge . It seemed like an excellent way to focus on developing skills .