PADDLER 42 preparation . If I know that I have worked towards being able to make certain moves , I can be confident in my ability to execute the move safely .
PADDLER 42 preparation . If I know that I have worked towards being able to make certain moves , I can be confident in my ability to execute the move safely .
IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ONE LAST THING YOU WANTED TO ACHIEVE WITHIN WW PADDLING BEFORE GIVING IT UP , WHAT WOULD THAT BE ?
There is so much that I want to do in WW , small goals such as running Big Banana in Mexico , or longer-lasting goals like making videos of my journey that inspire other kayakers to enjoy the sport I love .
WHEN PREPARING FOR A MULTI-DAY EXPEDITION IN CHALLENGING CONDITIONS , WHAT QUALITIES DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A FELLOW TEAMMATE KAYAKER ?
I have only done a couple of multi-day missions , and they ’ ve always been with different people , but there are definitely some things I would look out for . Other than their kayaking ability , I look for people with a good attitude on and off the water so that when the days get long , they can still enjoy and appreciate the beautiful places they end up in .
WHAT ’ S THE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO SOMEBODY THINKING OF PACKING IT ALL IN TO BECOME AN ADVENTURER ?
Make sure you enjoy every moment of what you ’ re doing . A lot of the time , it will be type two fun , where you look back on it and realise it was actually quite a lot of fun ! So yeah , if you can appreciate the small things , it improves the whole adventure .
HOW DO YOU PREPARE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY FOR A CHALLENGING RUN ?
In my opinion , physical preparation is done outside of the river . It ’ s making sure that you keep yourself fit and active so that when you come to a challenge on the river , you have physically prepared yourself as best you can for the run . That also helps me with my mental
CAN YOU SHARE A TIME WHEN YOU FACED A PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT SITUATION ON THE WATER AND HOW YOU MANAGED IT ?
This would probably have to be the last time I was close to swimming ; it was on Cherry bomb gorge when I got stuck in the top hole against the wall , super disoriented I couldn ’ t get pressure on my blade to roll , so I thought it was broke , I spend roughly 20 second upside down trying to spin my paddle around to be able to roll , because I knew that the gorge ahead was too long and steep to swim through . It wasn ’ t pleasant because even after rolling , I had some tight moves to make , I was tired , and my boat was heavy with multiday gear .
HAVE YOU EVER FEARED ANY PARTICULAR RIVER OR WATERFALL ?
I wouldn ’ t say I fear any particular river , but there was a time when I would get pretty nervous above one drop on the Saalach River in Lofer . The reason for this was that I had two back-to-back runs where I violently surfed in the hole for quite a while . But the way I got over it was to look at it again and keep running it until I was confident in it again .
WHO OR WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR SETTING UP PISTYLL PRODUCTIONS ?
The start-up of Pistyll was all John and Chips . I guess they just loved cameras and kayaking and wanted to do something with them . About a year later , they invited me to join , which was sick because it helped me with my filming , editing , and kayaking !
WHAT ’ S YOUR PRIMARY JOB WITHIN PISTYLL PRODUCTIONS , OR DO YOU , ANDY KETTLEWELL , AND JOHN HAINES ALL MUCK-IN TOGETHER ?
We kind of all muck in together . As I said , we all love kayaking and cameras , so when one person gets inspiration for a new project , we all do what we can to help make it happen !
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IS IT ALWAYS WHITEWATER ? OR DO YOU ENJOY ANY OTHER TYPE OF PADDLING ?
Like I said , I started in slalom , but I don ’ t do much of it at all anymore . However , when I spent some time in New Zealand in 2023 , I got back into some training in a slalom boat , which was pretty fun ! I never spent much time in a freestyle kayak when I was younger , but I ’ m not opposed to going to play around in one , although I don ’ t make it look very good at all …
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