Steve Fisher - Riot Blog April 07.
Ah, where to start? IÕve been asked to write up a blog of my recent adventuresÉbut how far back do I go? LetÕs call it a year! IÕve been sitting on my island in Uganda, just getting ready to start another busy year of traveling and paddling so we may as well reflect on the great year gone by. That said itÕs also the year that I spent four months off the water with my second surgery to my collarbone. None the less there was still almost more paddling than I needed.
This time last year I was just preparing for the ŌRed Bull ReconÕ in Quebec, Canada. After almost three months of that, punctuated by a short trip in the US, I was off to Switzerland and onwards to a bushwhacking trip in Thailand. From there it was a whirls wind trip of the mid west US, up to Eastern BC, a Grand Canyon trip and back to Uganda for an awesome trip on the Karuma to Murchison falls section of the river. Then of course IÕve spent the last few months working on my paddling paradise on the Classic Nile section. ItÕs as good as ready now – check out the pic and vid clip below.
Above: island living in Uganda – IÕve owned this island for two years now and turned it into my winter paddling abode.
WATCH THE ISLAND DWELLING VIDEO CLIP
ŌBlack BookÕ - a kayak film about Steve Fisher. (Scott Lindgren Productions)
As always, weÕve documented all of our travels over the past year. Not only does this leave us with a great photo album and video library to look back on, but itÕs obviously the fuel that drives all of our expeditions and projects. The documenting of our exploits has become so important that us ŌathletesÕ have become closely involved in the process. The documenting of the adventures has become part of the adventure itself. IÕve been working with Scott Lindgren for almost ten years now and as you can imagine heÕs collected a lot of footage over the years. HeÕs now part way done with this one hour documentary that should be ready for sale by mid May 07. The story starts on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet and takes you back to my early days in South Africa. From there youÕll enjoy the best of ten seasons on the Zambezi followed by my history in North America including the good times in the notorious Riot bus. We then take a look at where our sport is today and my views on the scene. My chosen direction is then portrayed in the recent ŌRed Bull ReconÕ in Quebec Canada and a multi-day expedition on the wild Murchison falls section of the White Nile in Uganda. Whilst the film focuses on me and my misadventures itÕs quick to showcase the characters I hang with and the good times had by all – After all, itÕs not where we go or what we do, itÕs who we are and who weÕre with! www.slproductions.tv
The year gone by:
April Õ06 – ŌThe Red bull ReconÕ
The Red Bull Recon originated as a Mountain biking trip in Baja where a number of riders spent a couple of weeks exploring undiscovered freeride trails. Kayaking was chosen for the next recon – this time in Quebec Canada. We spent just over two months exploring Quebec, running some of the best known runs and adding some new runs to QuebecÕs fine repertoire.
The crew consisted of Myself, Ben Brown and Tyler Curtis with Desre Pickers doing Stills and Dan Campbell and Scott Lindgren filming. Nate Nash of Matchstick Productions also joined us. Of course we couldnÕt embark on a trip like this without local knowledge so we spent a lot of time with Quebec local heroes Dominic Chaput, Vince Du Pont, Pat Levesque, Dominic Fourniet, and others, all of whom were super forthcoming with helping us find our way around. Remember of course that Quebec is completely French and the further north you go the less English you encounter.
We started off with a mandatory session at Buss Eater on the Ottawa, a few runs on the Rouge and then headed for Quebec City and Lake St. Jean. St Jean is a fairly large lake perhaps 40 miles across with a network of rivers dumping into it. Some of these rivers run at flows of up to 30 000 cfs in the spring. The first order of business was to take a flight in a small plane and get an aerial view of what was going on. Within a couple of hours we had things figured out and a game plan for the next couple of weeks – Big water. We saw some of the biggest rapids weÕd ever seen and ran the edges of a few of them and walked many. But we did come across literally hundreds of awesome waves to surf. With the use of the Jet Ski we picked the best ones.
Once the spring levels started dropping off a bit and after a few minor incidents, such as a big cold swim for me, we decided to switch gears and take on some creeks. We spent the next few weeks running some of the classics and a few new ones. One thing that we established in Quebec is that if the locals havenÕt run something then thereÕs probably a pretty good reason why – access, difficulty whatever. So you have you work cut out for you. There arenÕt too many roads around so sometimes flying in or some serious bushwhacking, or both, is required. Some rivers have really gnarly rock and others have good smooth stuff so you just need to figure out the good zones. One of the classics and one of my favorites is the easily accessible Mastagouche River near Trois Rivieres. Good stuff – big clean slides.
Whilst around Quebec city we were lucky enough to coincide our trip with a quick run of the Nelson river – QuebecÕs most popular creek and a must do for any visitors. Close to there in the Jacques Cartier national park is the roadside, 1-mile Cache River that is world class and great for a few laps. We attended QuebecÕs first extreme race on the Cache where paddlers must race in teams of two. Tyler Curtis and I teamed up and won the coveted pat on the back, narrowly beating local legends Dom and Dom. The day was the epitome of Quebec paddling – nobody was too serious and everyone was there for a good time. Red Bull was in attendance with hot soup and plenty of the good stuff along with a good bender after the event. The event will take place again this year on the 19th & 20th May. For info check www.coursecreekcache.blogspot.com .The site is French but the guys behind the email address will tell you all you need to know in English. The French stuff on the site is just course info to give the frenchies a competitive advantage.
About midway through the trip we found what weÕd come for: The Chutes St Ursule (seen in the pic to the left). This is the biggest, gnarliest runnable rapid that IÕve seen. Dominic Chaput is the one who gave us the tip and felt that it was runnable. That and the fact that heÕs a paramedic was a good reason to take him along. I kitted up in my mountain biking body armor and full-face helmet and off I went. All went well. Hectic – not sure IÕd do it again. Then to prove itÕs a go dominator ran it too. Sweeet. That day was literally one of the sickest days of my paddling career. Too good. 15 seconds of pure heaven or total destruction.
From there we zigzagged all over the show running bits and pieces and fighting with CanadaÕs famous bugs. Once way north near Lake Manicougan we eventually turned tale and decided that the bugs were going to carry us away so we headed back to Montreal for a session on the Lachine rapids and to attend the Montreal Formula 1 Grand Prix.
What we discovered in Quebec is what weÕd heard: ItÕs probably the best all-round whitewater destination in the world. ItÕs in the first world – well almost, and boasts huge volume rapids, many of the worlds best waves, waterfalls, steep creeks, park and huck, remote expeditions, the works. If youÕre thinking of checking it out, go, but be prepared to work for the good stuff. IÕll be back there this spring, and the next, and the next, and I still wonÕt scratch the surface of whatÕs out there. But at least now weÕve done a recon!
For blogs and many pics from the trip check out the Recon website: http://www.redbullusa.com/recon
HereÕs a low quality video clip off St Ursule. The other three angles on 16mm will be seen on Scott LÕs film CLICK FOR VIDEO
Here's another classic clip of Dominic Chatut's view as he follows me down the Mastagouche CLICK FOR DOM"S POV
Kayaks used on this trip:Astro 52 with power seat, Nitro with power seat, Magnum, Astro 58 prototype, Thunder prototype
Outdoor games - Switzerland
Now hereÕs a good event. The Outdoor games in Interlaken Switzerland is one of the better sport events out there. The idea iis that a team of around 8 or ten in total film and do five sports in five days and at the end make a five minute video. The sports are: Paragliding, Kayaking, base jumping, climbing and mountain biking. All climate sports. Awesome, sounds easy. Actually I found it quite difficult. None of our team knew the area and we were generally quite disorganized. But we had a great time running around like chickens with our heads chopped off. The beauty of the event is that it tests what we really enjoy doing – cruising around the countryside looking for new stuff to do and filming it.
The place is absolutely spectacular. The valley where the event takes place is much like Yosemite park except that all the sports mentioned are legal and popular. There are a number kayak runs in the area ranging from easy to crazy. The run we picked for our video skit was the lowest volume run IÕve ever done. That sounds bad but it was great fun in a super narrow gorge.
Ultimately our team (Active focus) didnÕt win the video comp but as I said, we had a great time and IÕd happily do this type of event again. Check out our video skit.
Check out the event site and the other video clips from last yearÕs competition at http://www.outdoorgames.ch
Kayak used on this trip: Standard Magnum
Paddle Thailand
At the end of 2005 I did a trip back to the Zambezi with Matchstick Productions of ski film fame. They were producing an episode of their multi-sport series on Rush HD called ŌFocusedÕ. The show turned out great so they decided to do another kayaking show last year. This time the destination was Thailand. Unusual? Yes, thatÕs why we went there. 1999 World freestyle Champion Eric Southwick has lived in Thailand for about four years now and has been insisting for quite sometime that thereÕs some good paddling to be had over there. There have been numerous trips in there looking for the goods but none of the results had made it seem that appealing. Despite that, I was was happy to take WicksÕ word for it and head over for a good time.
The crew consisted of Ben Brown, Wick and I paddling with Nate Nash and Scott L filming. We also recruited logistical help from Pat OÕKeefe of Paddle Thailand – a company that hooks guys up who want to paddle there. We picked the July rainy season for our visit and started out based in Chang Mai (north of Bankok). The trip got off to a bad start. On our first day out we ran a 40ft sloping drop as a Ōwarm upÕ to get a feel for the rock character and get the team logistics working. After running the drop first I decided to give it a second go. I decided that I wanted to land flat. I got my flat landing and my stern clipped the rock befind the curtain of the fall. It gave me pretty serious whiplash and I was immobilized for a few minutes. Once IÕd recovered Ben headed up for a run. The same thing happened to him but for him the result was much worse. As he emerged from the fall it was clear that he was in serious pain in his back. We helped him out of his kayak and suspended him in the water for a few minutes. We then got a door from a nearby house and slid it under him to get him out of the river. A visit to the Chang Mai hospital confirmed our fears – two compressed vertebrae. After four days in the hospital he was sent back to New Zealand where he spent the next five months making a full recovery.
Back to the business. After a few days rest for my Neck the we got back on the project. We headed further north and started on some goals that Wick had laid out. Out of the gate, the trip took a turn for the good. We started a run with a fifty foot drop at the base of a 200ft drop (seen in the pic on the left). A sketchy put in where I encountered a big snake was the start to an awesome run. The first drop into a small plunge pool led into a series of about ten smaller clean drops and rapids. From there we spent the next two days running roughly five or six miles of great white water. The river felt like a California creek except for the thick jungle around us. The water is crystal clear and warm with smooth granite bed rock. But the goodness comes at a price. You need to be prepared for literally crawling on all fours through the jungle before you can scout run or portage drops. We then switched to a three-day (driving in each day) trip on another river that had almost roadside access. Again, a lot of work for the sweet drops. Some people may not have thought it worth it but I was stoked on the adventure and discovering a new run. A couple more runs and it was time to head home.
As we always say, we get paddle about 10% of the time on trips like this and the real adventure is in the other 90%. It was particularly true here. The place is so exotic and itÕs so easy to get way out there. Wick had the whole area well mapped out and speaks fluent Thai so we were stoked. In between paddling we used a 4X4 to trot around the country side and saw all kinds of great stuff from rural rice farms to elephants, spectacular temples and weird foods. Once again, having a mission and a goal (the kayaking) was an awesome way to explore a new country.
We were in the area just long enough to realize that there was some good potential for paddling in the North off Thailand. IÕd happily go back and hunt out some new stuff. We flew from Chang Mai to Bankok on $90 first class tickets and then enjoyed four days of fine living with Wick as the best host ever. We ate on the roof of a 67 story buiolding, partied at supper clubs, shopped and generally hopped from one air conditioned environment to another. Exploring a new place with good mates, all punctuated by world class paddling.
For info on paddling in Thailand visit: www.whitewaterasia.com
For the Matchstick Productions ŌFocusedÕ series DVD visit http://www.mspfilms.com/store
Boat used on this trip: magnum
Fernie, BC
Helly Hansen is one of the most popular and progressive outdoor apparel companies in the world. Based out of Norway, theyÕve been in business since 1877. They started out in the fishing and sailing markets and being from Norway know a lot about keeping people dry and warm. In more recent years theyÕve created a wide variety of casual and sport products ranging from board shorts to drysuits and have sought out the help and opinions of prominent climate sports athletes. In the near future there will be a full line of white water specific products. IÕm proud to have recently joined their skiers, snowboarders, kite boarders and mountain bikers as a sponsored athlete. After sporting their products since I was a kid wearing Helly Hansen thermals, I was invited last year to join the team on their annual photoshoot in Fernie BC.
It so happened that IÕd just received the first production ŌThunderÕ Š RiotsÕ new river runner. I had no iidea what kind of paddling existed in Fernie but I took it along anyway. As it turned out there is some good stuff to be had. We were there in August so it was the low water time of year but the were a few staple runs that were more than enough to keep any paddler entertained.
I got to try the production thunder and of couse it was awesome. That said, I did find that it worked better in deeper water than on shallow slabs – and that is the difference between a river runner and a creek boat:
Why have one when you have the other? Why get a Thunder if I have a Magnum?
Here is the answer: A river runner is a fast, forgiving boat of medium volume with a planning (flat) hull. A creek boat is a high volume, forgiving boat with a displacement (rounder) hull. Why the difference? Well, a creek is a river that has a lot of shallow sections and slabs (less water than rock), as well as the need to boof off the corner of rocks and slabs , thus you're often actually touching or scraping on the rock below the surface. Here you need a round hull so that you get to choose how the boat leans as you scrape on a shallow slab. If you have a flat hull the slab chooses the lean of the boat - the hull will have an automatic tendancy to sit flat against the rock. Then of course you need as much volume as possible to stay on the surface and pass over under-water obstacles. With a river runner you run deeper, medium or high volume rivers where you rarely touch the bottom. The flat hull helps with stability in side surfs down diagonals, speed and better directional control during ferries and the like where water is passing quickly and diagonally across the hull. The medium volume is just enough to keep you on the surface most of the time but low enough that you can punch through waves and diagonals (surface obstacles) rather than being surfed at their mercy.
So if you choose just one which should you get? You should decide which you run most - deep or shallow rivers. If you run mostly deeper rivers you need the Thunder and then you can still run easy creeks. if you run mostly creeks then you need a magnum and you can still run easy deeper rivers. If you're serious about running both types of river then you need both types of boat. Add that to your Astro and now you're and all-round paddler!
Anyway, enough of shamelessly plugging our absolutely awesome line of kayaks. Back to the Fernie photo shoot. If youÕre ever passing through Fernie – near Calgary, you can go for a goood paddle anytime in the spring of summer. The scenery there is awesome too. We took a heli flight to the top of oone of the peaks, did some sweet mountainbiking at one of the ski resorts and spent the rest of the time lounging in a hot tub sipping bevyÕs and enjoying the view.
You can of course enjoy some of the pics and other good stuff at www.hellyhansen.com
Grand Canyon of the Colorado
When I was a kid, like most foreigners, I was let to believe that the Grand Canyon of the Colarado was the only river in the USA. A bit off, but nonetheless I quickly made running it a goal of mine despite the fact that I was ten years old. It was only after visiting the US that Ii realized how restricted it was and how difficult it may be for me to do.
Then came the Imax movie ŌWater PlanetÕ to be filmed in the grand canyon in September last year. I was invited as a kayaker to be featured inn the movie about conserving water as an important resource. Sweet. But there was one thing between me and being a star in the film – a free ride mountain biking session in Crested Buttte CO. Bugger! Ten days before the trip I broke my collar bone for the second time and spent four and a half hours in surgery so that ccancelled my spot as kayaker on the trip.
Luckily II was still invited along to help with the behind the scenes video of the making of the film. And so we set on a 15 day trip with 43 people – the biggest group ever to run the canyon. Along for the ride were some pretty smart chaps like Robert Kennedy Jnr, Wade Davis, Greg McGillivray etc. so we enjoyed some pretty good campfire stories on this one. As IÕm sure most kayakers know the white water in the canyon isnÕt all that, especially at the dam restricted flows of recent years, but the scenery and overall experience is tough to match or even describe. IÕve never seen a video or photo that does it any justice. It really is amazing and if you ever get the chance you should go.
The Imax movie will be in theatres in spring 08: www.movieweb.com/news/90/14490.php
Whilst youÕre at it check this out: www.leonardodicaprio.org/whatsimportant/watermovie.htm
As an added bonus, since I couldnÕt take my girlfriend Desre Pickers along, she was invited on a separate GC trip by Jim Stohlquist of Stohlquist Waterware. I gave her the Thunder that I mentioned above and she had a great time in it proving it to be a great beginner boat. She still took a swim or two (donÕt we all) but the boat instantly transformed her as a paddler. SheÕs since taken the Thunder down the white Nile. Check out her website for her photos: www.photosbydes.com
Boat used on this trip: 37ft motor raft full of Imax gear.
Karuma Falls to Murchison Falls expedition
After four months of recovery from the Collar bone saga it was time to get back on the water. By that time I had been back to the Riot factory in Montreal, scrapped all my fall plans and was back in Uganda island dwelling. As the last act in Scott LindgrenÕs film ŌBlack BookÕ it made good sense to take a good look at where I spend my winters. Scott first filmed the White Nile in 1998 so thereÕs been plenty of footage of the upper run. Nonetheless I showed off my island and how I get to the various rapids. We enjoyed the festivities of the Nile freestyle festival where I fortunately and not easily beat off the challenge from now local Sam Ward of the UK. From there we headed the few hours north (downstream) to the legendary Karuma to Murchison section of the river.
This section was first done by Cam McClay and his team from Adrift. It took something like seven days with 10 flips of the gear raft. Since then thereÕve been a few failed attempts and three more successful trips (including ours). All of the last three (including ours) were lead by Pete Meridith and Hendri Coetzee who, apart from being general expedition legends, are the only ones to have run the entire length of the worldÕs longest river, including itÕs possible source in Rwanda. Despite debate including the Blue Nile as a contender, youÕre welcome to quote me on that.
The Murch section has produced many a horror story that I wonÕt go into now suffice to say that the dangers are many. Huge rapids, thick jungle, LRA terrorists controlling the jungle and every kind of dangerous animal that Africa has to offer including crocs and the highest concentration of hippos in the world (an estimated 20 000 in 80km). Once you leave the put-in youÕre on your own. Africa quickly becomes the way itÕs been for thousands of years. ItÕs refreshing to see that places like that still exist.
Just a few miles in we had our first of four raft flips. In itself thatÕs not a problem , but that first flip also induced our first of seven croc approaches. Over the next five days we ran some awesome rapids. What makes these good compared to the upper section that we run often is the fact that very few of these rapids are in separated channels. A lot of the time all of the water is in one narrow channel making for some big ones.
By the end of the trip all of our nerves were somewhat frayed from avoiding hippos. The scariest moment for me was when I bumped into a hippo on land during a portage. Fortunately he go as much of a fright as I did. A couple of the other guys werenÕt so lucky and had to take serious evasive action in their encounters. Remember that hippos kill more people than anyother animal in Africa (other than mosquitos). I was just watching the footage of us arriving at te takee out and you can tell that weÕre really relieved to be in one piece. Ben from quickly stated that he didnÕt have words to decribe the way that he felt, ŅIÕve never been so apprehensive before a trip and I never been so happy and relieved at the end of a tripÓ, he said. ThatÕs saying something.
The team was: Steve (me), Ben Brown, Justyn Venable, Hendri Coetzee, Pete Meridith, Scott & Dustin Lindgren
For more pics of this awesome adventure check out Ben BrownÕs website www.benbrown.co.nz
Justyn has also written a great article that will be published soon.
Kayak used on this trip: Thunder – perfect for the job.
Red Bull Illume image quest
ThereÕs never really been a legitimate world wide photo contest designed specifically to recognize photographers in the outdoor action sports arena. There have been many film awards and cinematographers have enjoyed premiers of their work for years. So it was along time coming when Red Bull decided to launch the Red Bull Illume Image Quest. Within a matter of weeks there were over 8000 entries. With our field embracing and supporting this concept I believe it will become an ongoing annual happening. It will be sought after beyond our tight community and, for the photographers, will mark a big achievement and worthy tribute. The athletes and photographers in the images have something in common - Most of us would try to live our adventurous ŅlifestyleÓ with or without media or sponsors. We all started out on careers of passion. But with all of us working together, achieving our goals and living our dreams brings us closer to realizing them and along with these achievements we get to do something even more exciting - we get to imagine new bigger and better ideas and realize even greater feats. As adventurers, documenting our exploits on film and in photographs has become an important part of the adventure itself. So important, we athletes have become closely involved with the process. But for the photographers, getting the shot is the whole adventure. And because of film and photography we find ŌoutcomeÕ in the media, which in turn brings in the ever important sponsorship dollars. I often talk about fueling the revolutions or evolution of our respective sports, and of ourselvesÉ The photographs we see here are that fuel - an important part of the recipe. To recognize and respect exactly how important these photographers are we simply need to try imagine magazines without pictures or the x games without photographers. They wouldnÕt exist. IÕm going to go out on a limb and say that the town of Aspen and thie ski slope where the exhibition was held wouldnÕt even exist as it does today without photographs of people skiing. So for us athletes the Red Bull illume is not only pleasing eye candy but an important tribute to a group of people that deserve it.
As you can see in the pic below, the opening exhibition was held on the ski slope in Aspen during the X-Games in January this year. The exhibit stood for ten days and is currently on a world tour. And the results? Well kayaking held itÕs spot in the comp with a photo by Desre Pickers (see below). We were both flown into aspen to collect her award for best lifestyle shot and athletes choice – chosen by roughly 500 outdoor athletes online. The final peoples choice award will be announced when voting ends at the end of the world tour. Go and vote online right now at www.redbullillume.com
This award was not only an achievement for Des but also for our sport in general. At this stage, exposure and appeal to the mainstream is not only crucial to the progression of our sport but also to the mere survival of our industry. Quite simply, more people need to start kayaking for our industry to survive. This photo enjoyed publication all over the world including many of the biggest European newspapers.
Incase youÕre wondering where the DesreÕs pic was taken, it was from a heli as we approached Vic falls in Zambia on the Matchstick ŌFocusedÕ shoot that I mentioned earlier. After the shot was taken we proceeded to repel into the gorge below. After running one small rapid and deeming the others unrunnable we ascended the rope and headed to the usual Ōminus rapidsÕ
HereÕs a short Zambezi video clip from some of the footage featured in ŌBlack BookÕ CLICK FOR ZAMBEZI VIDEO CLIP
Also visit www.photosbydes.com
Uganda Classic
So after living the high life in Aspen I headed back to Uganda to spend some time on the much talked about upper two day section of the White Nile in Uganda. I suppose that thereÕs not a lot to be said about the section of river that hasnÕt already been said but I still love paddling there on my now fifth winter spent there. With eddies, like the country itself, becoming somewhat overpopulated IÕve now taken to night sessions on Nile Special. That and working on my humble abode kept me nicely busy until it was time to head back the US and A. And here we are ready for an awesome 2007 season.
Boat paddled in Uganda – Astro 58 CLICK FOR ASTRO 58 VIDEO
Well there you have the abbreviated version of my last year. That should lay the groundwork for more blogs on the good stuff ahead. Watch this spot.
I will also eventually have more details, pictures and articles covering the above on my webbsite.
For more detail onn the film 'Black Book' visit www.slproductions.tv
Later
Steve Fisher