The life and times

Pyranha Fest, Boater X win and a sweet run of the Fairy Glen...

2011-06-11T15:43:00.000-07:00

It was that time of year again...The mighty Pyranha fest on the Mighty Afon Tryweryn. Me and some friends arrived on friday evening after a nice chilled paddle on the Dee. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of torrential rain shaking and tapping the tent I was in very loudly... It was a good job I brought my creek boat!

Things kicked off with a 'super serious' freestyle competition on Saturday morning...not really my cup of tea so as soon as I had finished my ride we set off to the deep depths of Wales to do some quality boating. We ended up on the Fairy Glen- A 'test piece' class 5 gorge near Betws-y-Coed. I was in my new creek boat (zet raptor) and I have to say it was some of the most fun I have had on the water in ages. I got really good lines all the way including the infamous class 5/5+ Fairy Falls. I had never ran this rapid before and was super stoked when I was at the bottom without putting one stroke wrong!

On Sunday, all the levels had dropped back off and it was time to hold my title for boater x champion!

After a bad start and my gopro being knocked off I battled to the front of the 20+ mass start and went to claim the win.

Now I am waiting to finish my exams and go boating...Pray for rain!

Lea Valley Whitewater Centre...My opinion and a Podium Result

2011-04-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was lucky enough to have been chosen to take part in a special Youth Freestyle event which was to be held on the Legacy Loop. Now, credit it where it is due, the build quality of this course is outstanding. The water had no silt in because the water is held in a concrete lake and the water is slightly chlorinated..swimming pool?

The Legacy course itself was pretty nice and I would compare it to CIWW but slightly deeper. In regards to the main feature..it took time to get used to but was deep enough for loops although it was common for people to hit the bottom every so often but all hole tricks could be done with enough effort. Directly after this hole was another feature which loops could also be obtained in. In the competition, I came 2nd in the 15 and under age category which I was pretty pleased with!

However, I felt that the legacy loop still had a long way to go before it could be classed as a good paddling destination such as the Tryweryn or HPP. First of all, nearly every eddy was almost as fast as the main current itself creating some amusing carnage (to some)...it reminded me of bumper cars but with less control! To add to this some of the other features could be easily tweaked to become even better but I guess all this will improve with time!

James Weight mcnasties in the main feature on the 'Legacay Loop'

Unfortunately only the gb team were allowed to paddle the main Olympic course but believe me in saying it is world class as it indeed is! I cannot wait to take on the main course as it looks a top quality bit of white water. From observations and after asking people who have paddled it, it is definitely harder than the like of the Tryweryn, Hpp or any other 'artificial' or 'altered' course I have ever been to. It looked very continuous and included some pretty steep drops and big surging waves. It is also very continuous and I can imagine a swim on here would be fairly exhausting. It is definitely not for the faint hearted!

Now I have heard a lot of speculation on the price of the main course but I am pretty sure after an hour on this piece of whitewater you will be pretty tired and after 2 hours you will probably be tired for the next week!

See you on the water,

Charles

CIWW TVF Birthday Event & Boater X Win

2011-04-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

Me landing a huge loop on 12 cumecs at CIWW

The Vertical Element Tag Team!

Early on Saturday Morning me and Ryan Liquirish headed off to the Cardiff International White Water Course for the annual Thames Valley Freestylers 4th birthday event. When we first arrived the course hadn't been switched on yet so me and ryan did a quick long board session in the shadow of the rising sun untill the water came on. As soon as the water came on we were a bit weary of the depth of the course but as soon as we entered the main hole our minds were changed instantly! If you paddled this spot right it offered you good rewards at 9 cumecs and at 12 cumecs HUGE rewards! It was truely a great day with myself getting into the final of the freestyle competition and winning the very grueling Boater X race, another victory under my belt which I was pretty stoked with! A big shout out to Dave Wortley and Mandy Chan for running the event and of course Gareth Harvey who runs TVF! Well done to all the competitors and I think it is safe to say everyone enjoyed them selves thoroughly!

The final results were:

Freestyle:

1st: Matty Nicholas

2nd: Dale Mears

3rd: Ryan Liquirish

Boater X

1st: Charles Blyth (me)

2nd: James Metcalf

3rd: Dale Mears

A BIG thank you to Dale Mears for the photos...infact check out his blog here

Now I am waiting to get over a nasty case of food poisoning and for the rain to come so I can go creeking once again!

Also, check out my latest video of all my paddling up to date:

Everything Everything. from WEK on Vimeo.

The Outdoor Leisure Show N.E.C and a Shiny New Boat

2011-04-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

On the 25th-27th February I was given the opportunity to help out with my new sponsor West Midlands Canoe Centre to perform with the CIWW crew at the out door leisure show. Me and Chris Hackett did a daily display and entertained ( I hope) some large crowds and helped publicise our great sport a little bit more! It was a great experience and it was great to support a local company to me so please check out there site!

http://www.canoesport.co.uk/

I have also recently become the proud owner of the new Project 56x! I feel I am really progressing in this boat as are a few others such as Dale Mears!
While it is very different compared to the allstar I am glad I have made the swap and reccomend you all to try this out!

Wales Weekend

2011-02-18T02:41:00.000-08:00

On the Friday night of the 4th of February, Myself, Miles Jones and Matty Nicholas met up and travelled to Betws Y coed to meet up with with Jason Raper and friends.

We spent that night sleeping in cars in a rustic forest with the sound of the Llugwy in spate in the distance.

The following morning we were up at half 7 and while I was still waking up Matty Nicholas and Jason Raper fired up chipshop drop. Both of them styled it!

After that we headed to the Nantygwyryd and began the steep walk in to the slides above. At this point the weather and visibility was shocking making getting decent footage pretty hard.

After that we headed down to the 'classic' section which was continuous rockslidey class 4. The one person who had done the river before forgot where the portage was so we ended up running the 'class 5+' Llys falls blind. Luckily we all got away with it and it all left us with huge smiles for several hours after!

Above: Me on the top slide

After this we proceeded to the mighty Aberglaslyn Gorge via the Lledr ( flood levels)

Pont-y-Pant was at the most biggest scariest level I have ever seen it at-Truly spectacular so it was no wonder that a few of the boys fired it up!

Both Matty and Jason got the first part of the line perfectly but they both ended up taking a ride in a pretty big hole but managed to get out. While all this carnage was happening I was meant to be filming but instead I was getting told off by fisherman..go me!

Above: Matty in the thick of it: can you see him?

After retrieving Rapers boat we proceeded to the Aberglaslyn which was at a sweet high level. I borrowed my friends gopro for this which can be found here:

The next day we walked into the Lower Prysor with full kit only to find it was a bit low so walked back out again. Shortly after we hit the Goedal stout..Apparently the rest of the river would have been 'unrunnable' at this level:

Me on the Goedal stout drop

The last river of the weekend was to be a medium high Mawddach which we had some very good moments including 3 people in a row getting back loop just above the last drop on the Three Nasties. Jason did a quick video of the group on the top drop:

Overall a great weekend, with great company: Nice one! :)

'Not as good as Hurley'...

2011-01-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

After a long time I finally got the chance to visit the mighty Hurley Weir.

I have been looking forward to visiting this spot for ages due to so much hype surrounding it!

I am going to be honest here, it is over rated, but that is not to say it isn't a great spot but it just not the same as a spot such as the Dee where you have beautiful surroundings, not just some concrete and a metal weir gate.

The first time I was there it was a lovely green 3 which you could soul surf until your heart was content! Sadly it dropped down to 2 during the time I was there which wasn't great considering the long drive and sub zero temperatures!

Today I returned to find a high level 3 gates with a nice pile.

Thankfully it was a bit warmer and I managed to stick a few blunt and nearly stuck a donkey flip!

I look foward to returning and having some more fun next time it is up :)

With a long 3 month gap between year 11 and sixth form approaching, I am currently looking into a trip to Iceland or somewhere further afield which should be brilliant!

See you on the water,

Charles

Mawddach Hype

2010-12-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

Me below the big class 5 hit near the top of the river.

With a sudden rise in temperatures and rain fall the snow was melting and all the rivers were at meaty levels and running brown!

After waiting around for a while we ended up with a random group who didn't know each other very well but proceeded onto the mighty Mawddach non the less!

We drove towards the get in to find the mountain road completely iced over meaning that we had to shoulder our boats for nearly 2 hours to reach the get in.

Once at the get in we had a quick snack of fresh snow before venturing down some continuous class 4 and a couple of 5s. After 2 people walking out due to high water we were left with a final team of 4 people.

We finished the 8+ miles of continuous water just before dusk with welcomed soup and water.

An eventful but good day on the water! :)

Etive River Race 2010!

2010-10-24T14:46:00.001-07:00

Above: A cheeky boof off Right Angle.

For those who don't know, The Etive River Race is the biggest Boater x event in the U.K held In Glen Etive on the west coast of Scotland. As I am only 15, I had to gain special permission off the organisers to compete which I am very grateful for! A big thanks to James Fleming ( sorry for beating you ;] ) Me and my partner (Bren Orton) did very well considering we were the youngest paddlers coming 6th in the sponsored category which placed us 7th out of 21 which I was very pleased with! Next year me and Bren aim to get in the top 3 so something to aim for next year :)

Here are a few more photos of the trip:

A Welsh Mission

2010-10-24T14:24:00.001-07:00

With the hint of rain (of which there has been very little this year) Me, Matty Nicholas and Adam Ramadam met up with Miles Jones to go and Huck! Water levels were all over the place with the Fairy Glen being pretty meaty whilst the Mawddach was on a low-medium level. We ran the entirety of this right from in the moorlands to below PTF and what a run it is! A truly magical river with brilliant rapids and inspiring scenery! Whilst running the river I had the chance to have a good look at the infamous Rheadr Mawddach-definitely one for the future (with the mineshaft filled, of course!) After that we headed to a medium level Lledr the level was a bit lower than the first time I did it but at the end I was still stoked even after an 'interesting' encounter with some fisherman at Viaduct Falls!

Above: Pont-Y-Pant. A class 5 rapid in Wales. Photo by Ronja Nyman.

I'm Back!

2010-10-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a long time since I last updated this blog, mainly because of too much boating!

It has been a very busy summer with lots of competitions and (very) little rain. With numerous competions at HPP including the Youth Freestyle where I came 5th which I was very please with!

Here are a few freestyley photos:

One of the highlights of my season this year is learning to mcnasty which is coming along nicely.

The worst thing this season would be my very bad back problem which is slowly being sorted out. Not good considering I am only 15!

HPP photos

2010-04-15T14:19:00.001-07:00

Here are a few photos of me in the new 2010 Jackson Star. I REALLY liked this boat and I was getting some head dry loops and new tricks such as split wheels and clean cartwheels. A few photos:

hPPPPP

2010-04-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

I have been heading to HPP a lot recently. I have been privileged to paddle with some of the best young freestylers in the country and I can not thank them enough on how much they have helped me!

I whipped up a quick video...I hope you enjoy it:

Fairy Glen

2010-04-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

The team:

It has been a while since I have updated this blog, and a lot has happened! Not too long ago, me and my group set off to the legendary Fairy Glen on the Conwy. This is meant to be one of the best gorges of hard challenging white water in the U.K with class 4,5 and 5+ rapids all in a magical gorge and boy was it fun! The water level wasn't high but good paddling was still to be had.The team who ranger from a 15 year old ( me) to a paddler in his 40s!

2010-02-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

Here is the lastest video: Progression...

2010-02-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

Here are is my latest video...Enjoy :-)

Fairy Glen, Aberglasyln Gorge and numerous Dee Sessions...

2010-02-01T12:54:00.000-08:00

As I am starting to really improve in my boating and start to push my boundaries, We decided to finally hit the Glen and I don't think we could have had a much better crew to show me down : Kev Griffiths, Chris Williams and Phill Davidson of the Welsh Rivers Guidebook Fame.

Well, my my, what a truly magical place! I have never been to such a place which has moved me so much.

It is just amazing how secluded and unique this gorge is. From the moment we got on it moved me in a way indescribable. The rapids were testing with must make lines, gnarly stoppers and lots of hidden nasties....

Due to light we only had time to run the lower gorge which included rapids such as Pipeline, Speed biker and end of the world- the infamous must run rapid.

Due to Captive Productions, I have had to hold nearly all the footage back except for a few various clips:

Here is me on SpeedBiker:

Here is the mighty Chris Williams running Pipeline:

Before we did the Glen We ran a low level Aberglasyln gorge, which was a really nice run which was quite technical at this level.. One thing that I loved of this river was the mellow green colour of the water...Fantastic!

Due to the recent lack of water I have been playing on the dee A few times over the last month, One time in my playboat which resulted in a nice healthy spanking in Serpents which involved a nice lengthy side surf numerous back loops before being briefly shoved under the undercut before I was freee!

Another session involved messing around in my solo on the Mile End Mill site with Peter Lamb, was great to paddle with him and learn some new techniques!

Afon Lledr

2010-02-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

Right, It has been an awful long time since I last updated this blog and since my last post I feel my paddling has improved an awful lot...

Shortly after Christmas I met up with the 'usuals' and a few new faces for a paddle on the Afon Lledr. Wow, what a river. I can understand why the guidebook mentions that it isn't as popular as you would think due to the diversity of the rapids. We got on at Pont Y Pant which was one of the hardest rapids on the river which we ran... Straight onto solid grade 5 with no warm up wakes you up believe me! This was one of my first big grade 5s. Here is a video to prove it:

The video doesn't really do this amazing rapid justice but never the less, enjoy:

A full video of our day can be found here:

Afon Lledr Kayaking 27/12/09 from Charles Blyth on Vimeo.

Ogwen and Cwm Llan

2009-11-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

What an absolutely awsome day, I have found it hard to compare to!

We started off by meeting at the Ogwen with the WCC lads and some others but found out Kev and Chris were one and a half hours away! We decided to press on for a run of the Ogwen starting at Ogwen bank falls. Most people ran it but I decided to leave it for another (very soon) day.

This was my first run of the gun barrel and BOY was it fun!!!! The river was at a low-medium ish but all good fun. At the get out Chris had arrived in his paddlewagon just in time to pick us up for another run!
This was great as I was paddling really well and I was really in tune to the river.

When we got out to move on, we met some 'friendly' welsh people in there car who were quite expressive about their views. After a short 'language fight' and chasing their car (not literally)we were on our ways ;-) (don't ask)

After this we headed to the Cwm Llan with that LONG ASS walk in, which in all honesty I quite enjoyed as it made that sweet little gem that bit sweeter!
Once we got their the river was at a lowish level but still plenty of fun was to be had!

At the top I was very relieved and I was looking foward to the run in hand.....
All the drops were fine and my favourite was the very last one which is basically a 15ft. drop onto rock but GOOD GOLLY was it fun!

Here are a few other photos...

Scotland, WOW!

2009-11-14T10:09:00.001-08:00

Here are a few photos of my Scotland trip with report below :-)

What a truely amazing place. The rivers were unique, the scenery amazing and the boating was 'lush'!

The rivers me and my group got done were :

Roy-high water

Gloy-high water (perfect)

Pattack x2-medium and then again in high

Archaig-low-medium water

Upper Spean to Invalair falls-2 pipes (alpine!!)

Etive-medium high

I think my favourite has to be the Gloy, what an outstanding continuous grade 3/4 run. Out of my group I was the only one not to swim which was pretty lucky. All the other swims were due to lack of attention, new boats and chase boating.

After this I would strongly discourage anyone to 'chase boat' unless you are on a piece of water which you know in side out.

I ended up swimming once on Right Angle, River Etive. I basically got a small dunkin' in the 'right angle' part. I took a roll and manged to get out. But by the time I was out I was way too far right. I went down the fall O.K but I resurfaced upside down and the pretty weird boils pushed me against the wall leaving me unable to roll. I popped my deck and got pulled to the side of the fall with water trickling down my head. As i was stuck in the most awkward place, it took a good 20 minutes to get me out of there.

In my opinion I think it was agood thing as I am still pretty inexperienced and a swim like this has never happened to me. The bad thing was that I lost beloved h2o team blades :(

So I am still currently paddless but borrowing friends blades:)

Cynfal

2009-11-14T09:44:00.000-08:00

The Cynfal was an absolute blast. It begins with a tricky lead in but after that there are two 20foot freefalls which are bliss!

Here is a video of Taff running seond drop

Here is me running it ( this video is a little long and i do't arrive untill the very end so hang in there :-) )

Skip foward to 42 seconds.

Feel Good factor

2009-09-04T02:31:00.000-07:00

The feel good factor. For the first time in my life I am truely happy with where my boating is taking me, I am now running rivers which i could of only ever dreamed of and several of my early paddlign goalshave already been accomplished. For example paddling Swallow Falls and the mighty Ogwen.
Yesterday I paddled the Ogwen. It was pretty high at his point. One of the people I was paddling wit said it was at the perfect level- It was HUGE!!!! I never scraped a rock once and there was some pretty beefy pour overs!
After ot first run we did it again and by this point the river had dropped off by atleast a foot. We were very lucky.
A big thankyou to everyone who was willing to take me paddling and more importantly, help have me have lots of FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN :D

A Happy Turn

2009-09-04T02:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a crazy week for me, on Sunday I paddled the Llugwy again but different parts.

First we paddled Pont Cuffin mainlining it as it was only just low enough to run it with te ease of getting out of it.

After that, we paddled down to the mighty Swallow Falls where I paddled all 3 drops but portaging the first bit of the last drop but continuing to do the last slide. After that where we paddled down to the mincer.

After close inspection of the first rapid I decided to run it.
The safety was set up, the atmosphere was tense and I was ready to go. As the lead in was a bit rocky, I managed to mess some of my line up. Non the less, I carried on to the 'mincer'. All was going well untill by back caught the undercut rock and I went into a slot where I unfortunately got pinned. Luckily MY face formed an air pocket where I could breathe and help with the rescue. Kev and John pulled me out of the water within seconds. A big thankyou goes to anyone who helped out with the rescue.

2009-08-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

After a LONG break ( 3 weeks) off paddling i was ready and raring to go.
First stop was a flatwater session, although I was a bit rusty it all soon cam back to me...

The next day I was mean to be going on the Tryweryn but somehow there was water in Wales so we headed to a beautiful selecton of welsh classics including:

Wnion MEDIUM

Eden LOW

Angell LOW

And the 25 ft. drop on the galam LOW MEDIUM.

SYOTW :D

Marvelous Marston

2009-08-29T06:22:00.000-07:00

The water was up, and a few of my friends had been tipped off about a local gem of a playspot. I walked down the muddy bank to come accross this:

After a wavewheel or 2 off the wave we set about carving this sweet spot up...

Although the feature was quite washy much fun was to be had in the hole straight after the wave which gave you a small thrashing every time :=)

2009-07-30T07:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG311HUzkj4
Watch this video. It is my first one and I hope it amuses you :)

WWSR and The Tryweryn

2009-07-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

A few members from the club had set their eyes on running the Vrnwy on this wet Sunday. With being told it would definitely be running we all had our hopes up but to our disappointment it was dog low. The gorge looked runnable but not worth it. Our back up plan was the Tryweryn and I was very glad the boat i brought with me was my play boat!

Here is a picture of me on NRA wave :)

The time was right for me to embark on a WWS&R course as the skills which would be learnt are essential to any white water kayaker. My coaches for the weekend were the Dallaways who were extremely welcoming and were excellent at helping me progress.

The weekend went fast and I escaped with only a few boozes and a boozed bone from jumping across the chipper!

Sadly i have no photos from the weekend...

South Wales Trip

2009-06-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

It was that time of the year again, I was off to Pembrokshire to visit my aunty which is an excuse to take my boat with me :)

On the way there I stopped off at Morriston weir and met up with Rich. The level was a bit low but the rides were fast, the pop outs small and the company great!

After that, we finally arrived at my autnies house just outside pembroke. From there we headed to a range of beaches including Manobeir, Whitesands and last but not least Fresh Water West where they have just filmed parts of Harry Potter and Robin Hood which I am looking foward to seeing in the cinema!

Here are a few photos from the trip....

Tryweryn Compression..

2009-05-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

Due to the lack of water around, 2 successions of the Tryweryn would have to do.

The first, I paddled with Stu Parry, Elliot Mcgee and Bren Orton. It wasa real laugh and good to meet up with them all. I am getting quite close to landing the loop now but still practising :)

The next week I was off there again with some of the guys from http://www.therivercrew.co.uk/

Big thanks to Dave and t'other Dave and Rick Atkinson for a great day out. A few photos...

Photos by Chris Noble and Andrew Blyth

Holme Pierrpoint Paddlefest

2009-04-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

On the 29Th March 2009, I set off to Nottingham for a day of paddling the new whitewater course which was recently renovated. At 11 o'clock, I had a course with the guys 'n' gals at FlowFree. It was a looping course and boy was it fun!
While getting used to my new jackson star, I gave a go at perfecting the trick of looping! After several attempts i cracked my first ever loop! I was over the moon. It really gave me some confidence and opened the path to proper playboating.

See you on the water,
Charles :P