PADDLER 67
First of the little white water drops . Photo : Del
Phil enjoying some lunch with a view ! Photo : Del
Happy Matt ! Photo : Del
GOOD FRIENDS
It ’ s an odd thing to be on a course with your friends . Matt and I are good friends and have often paddled together over the last decade . If we had been on a mate ’ s trip , I would have most likely gotten on to join him . However , we only had half an hour before we were supposed to meet , and this rapid was definitely not a good option for a whole group warm-up . It wouldn ’ t have been appropriate for me to get on and the other clients not to . I ’ m sure you could have argued it would be fine , but I did not feel it was fair to the others for me to paddle and them not to , and I know Matt would think the same . So , I was happy to stay on the bank side and do some media instead .
THE SMOOTHEST PADDLER
Matt did three laps , and watching someone so talented in their element is always a joy . Despite being the smoothest paddler I know , he still got slightly munched by the bottom hole of this rapid on two out of three laps . It was definitely at a harderthan-it-looks level , and the others on the course agreed that we , too , would have got very munched if we ’ d been paddling !
At 09:00 , we came together as a group to decide where to go . We opted for a warm-up lap on the Conwy and perhaps come back to the chip shop drop in the afternoon . Some group members had expressed a desire to work on their leadership ability and ability to peer paddle rivers , so it was decided to make the focus of today a day about tactics . Having done a lot of leading / spending a lot of my time helping to run grassroots events for young people or new paddlers , this wasn ’ t a particular goal of mine , but I know that it ’ s never a bad thing to have more practice with any skill !
THE STUNNING CONWY
I have paddled the Conwy lots but hadn ’ t yet in 2024 , so it was nice to get out before the end of the year . The Conwy is a stunning river ; taking in this lap ’ s scenery was lovely . The Conwy is a river we often run when everything is huge and we need a warm-up . Although it was a nice upper medium level , this was probably the lowest I ’ ve paddled this river , so it was nice to have the breathing space to appreciate my surroundings compared to when we have usually paddled it .
PADDLER 67