ThePADDLER 18
2 . Etive – if there is a hole , make sure to boof !
Photo that Nick took of me once I ’ d got back on ! Photo : Nick Bennett
The river booties that followed … you know where this is going !
A year later , I enjoyed a lovely week in the Scottish highlands with friends . Unfortunately , the week before , I had split my trusty Mamba . Luckily my good friend Matt lent me his 9R for the week – with his additional five-seat pads . The levels had been relatively low all week , though , so it didn ’ t matter much to be in an unfamiliar boat .
Our final day arrives , and with it – a lot of rain ! It had rained all night , and the river was pretty swollen when we headed to the Etive for our final lap . Locals would probably call it a ‘ medium ’. To me , it looked terrifying . We scouted Triple step and were unsure whether we should get on .
Another paddler arrives and has a chat . He asks if he can go down with us and swaps his RPM for a creek boat . If I had known this was Nick Bennett ( a very smooth UK paddler ), this alone would have been enough to put me off . However , I had never met Nick , so swapping boats seemed sensible to me .
A WOBBLE Half of our group decided to get on but only ran the last step of the triple step . I go last , and as I break out of the eddy into a fast-flowing Etive , I wobble . It ’ s not huge , but enough that in the time it takes me to correct it , I have run out of river and time to get my speed up . I plug the last drop of Triple step and get destroyed by one giant hole .