Upper Alseseca

The higher water brought some motivation to explore the upper reaches of the Alseseca. Before the "Roadside," the proper river is formed by two arms. The one that comes in from river right had been run by the Jackson crew last fall, and they finished that trip with some really nice footage. Mexico City boater, Rafa Ortiz, was on that trip and he said the upper stretch was worth a go. We spent one sunny morning hiking the run from downstream, and then we returned with our boats on a cold, rainy afternoon. The hike from downstream eliminated some reported difficult rope-assisted portages, but it turned out to be quite the pain in the a$$ to haul our gear over the wet rocks and through the tight jungle trails. The drops were worth the relatively minimal effort. We are all looking forward to exploring the impressive gorges of the Middle Alseseca as soon as we get some more sunny weather and lower flows.

Photos:

1) Todd Anderson on the last slide.

2) Discussing the options on the scouting mission.

3) Ian Garcia going huge on "The Rib."

Lots of Water in "Roadside" Alseseca

The "Roadside" section is a classic. It is stacked with clean slides and waterfalls. At normal flows, one might call this the perfect Class IV creek. At high flows, the holes are stompy and some of the drops are a bit more committing.

After taking off of the Rio Xico last week, we (Charlie Centers, Evan and Ian Garcia, Todd Anderson) drove through a nasty rainstorm to Tlapacoyan. The rains continued through the night, and we found a swollen Alseseca in the morning.

Photos:

1) Evan Garcia airing it out before El Puente Tablazo

2) Ian Garcia feeling relaxed on his way into "the one with the log at the top."

3) Todd Anderson riding the tranny in "the one below the 20 footer."

4) Me dropping "the 20 footer." photo by Todd Anderson

Tlapacoyan

This is a photo of the centro. I`ve been waiting for an hour for kayaking photos to load, but the connection is just too slow. Better luck next time?

Veracruz!

Todd and I took the overnight bus from Huatulco, Oaxaca, to Veracruz, Veracruz. We hopped on another bus to the capital city of Xalapa and settled in for a few days of city living while we waited for the kayakers to drive in from Montana. A huge crew rallied to the Rio Texolo, where Tyler Bradt finished the day with a beautiful first descent of a massive waterfall - maybe 90 feet? Crazy. We did a fun run down the Upper Xico before making the move to Tlapacoyan. We are basing out of Aventurec and doing daily runs down the Alseseca. The river is high right now, but we are having a good time on the "Roadside" section.

Lots of photos coming soon!

Puerto Escondido

"Mexpipe." Morning offshore winds, plenty of swell and fine sand bars bring some heavy waves to this famous Oaxacan surf destination. Todd and I cruised up here last week and decided to come back again before our trip takes us inland for kayaking in the mountains of Veracruz. We`ve been taking some beatings, but the occasional good ride is worth a few big waves on the head. That iguana in the photo was our roommate here. We call him "Ocho." We`re headed back to Huatulco tonight to prepare for the long bus ride to the other side of Mexico. Ocho is going to stay in Puerto.

Zipolite

After an early morning surf session at our favorite spot near Huatulco, some friends talked us into spending the afternoon in the "muy hippie" beach town of Zipolite. Famous for its quirky expats and nude beaches, Zipolete also has some pretty fun surf. Our buddy snapped his board in the heavy beachbreak.

Random photos from town

We eat at El Chisme for just about every meal.

The last photo: We hit a road block today on our way to the river. Teachers are still protesting the state governemnt of Oaxaca. We were backing up as the cars in front of us turned around and started rallying toward us on this one way street. The people protesting did not look they were going to let anyone pass.

Another fun day in Huatulco

We´ve surfed almost everyday since our arrival on the 1st, so we decided it was time for a little break from the beach. I also felt like I needed to get to a river after I heard the news of the tragic loss of friend and former student, Max Lentz. We paddled the Rio Zimatan today with some of the local raft guides. Max was here with World Class near this time last fall. It is a beautiful river. The guys from Rancho Tangolunda brought a lot of laughs. Good times.

Surfing Oaxaca

I traveled to coastal Oaxaca with World Class this time last year. I liked it here so much that I decided to come back again for a surf mission with Hood River local, Todd Anderson. Todd and I are chasing waves before we meet up with a crazy crew of kayakers in Veracruz in about two weeks, and then we travel on to Chile for an endless summer of more surfing and boating. So far, the waves are amazing, the sun is strong and the tacos at El Chisme in Huatulco are still muy muy bueno.

Gabi, the owner of El Chisme, is dishing out some serious Mexican hospitality. He even tried to give up his daughter´s bed to Todd on the first night. I think she´s happy that we refused the offer. Because we are staying at their apartment in town, we´ve been operating as kind of a gringo shuttle service for some of the local surfers who work around here. Sometimes they eat our bananas, but it is nice to have some new friends who know all of sweet breaks.

We´ll try to keep the updates coming with more photos. Hasta proximo!

Ohiopyle Falls Race and Freestyle '07

I was fortunate to be in this part of the country for the annual Falls Day on the Yough. I learned to kayak here, and I used to spend my summers working for Riversport before I moved to the Northwest. Ohiopyle Falls is actually illegal to run on every other dayof the year, but the park rangers open it up to the masses for this great event. It was fun to catch up with friends and to actually run the falls in the daylight...

I took home the gold in the freestyle event in Max Blackburn's pink Hurricane. That boat is probably over 10 years old, and it is still one of the best designs on the water.

Photos:

1) Ride #1

2) Ride #2

3) Representing the Riversport Family

Summer Day on the Little White

Wongy, Snacks and Tweaks came over from Ireland to sample some of what the Northwest has to offer. Needless to say, they are having a good time. Mike Shields running Spirit Falls in the last shot.

Back in the Columbia Gorge

Mt. Adams. Mt. Hood. Spirit Falls.

The Dredger Wave

I meant to post these shots from the Zen Wave section while I was still in China....oops. This wave was surging between scaffolding, dredgers and thick cables. All of this equipment was being used to survey this spot on the Salween for a potential dam.

More Maji

1) Dave Zinn looking for the next move
2) "Gare Bear" Meng staying hairy side up
3) Joel Kowalski tries to maintain control in a chaotic environment
4) Mikael Ekstrom headed for the chaos

Maji Section - Salween River

So, after a three day drive down the Mekong and back up the Salween, we arrived in the city of Gonshang. Although the water levels were much lower than anyone could have expected, we still managed to find big rapids and some nice waves. We spent most of our after school sessions paddling a short section above Gongshang, but the highlight of this stretch of the Salween was about an hour downstream near the village of Maji. Last year, Travis Winn, Scott Doherty and three other American paddlers found some of the world's best waves on this section. The low water kept these features hidden from us, but there was still plenty of excitement the whole way down. I tweaked my shoulder near the beginning of this run, and I have been forced to sit out from paddling for the remainder of the trip, but I'm still having fun in China! These are all shots of the put-in rapid.

1) local man

2) locals fishing

3) Joel Kowalski and Mikael Ekstrom dropping in

4) Evan Garcia picking up speed

these huge mountains separate the mekong and the salween. kawa karpo up top, it's "female lover" in the middle, and the stupas below.