Safe. Tea First

The BCU Student Safety Initiative - working hard to stop university canoe clubs breaking freshers since 1842.

Easter weekend saw the traditional migration north for the Student Safety Camps in Roybridge, with the now stalwart crew of Max Bilbow (What would he do? Answers on a postcard please to: Mr Justin Tramwhicket, 102 The Buildings, Prestatyn. He doesn’t know the answer but he’d like a postcard or two as no one ever writes to him), Adam Dumolo, Chris ‘cool, calm and collected’ Eastabrook and myself enjoying plush new lodgings in Roybridge, only 10 mins from the pub.

Buttscratcher!? Pic: GS

With a near capacity crowd, the boys were under pressure. Tom was feeling the strain:

Me. Looking knackered. Pic:TL.

To continue the impromptu ‘game of two halves’ style of narration, the boys played a blinder…

WoopWoopWoopWooop! Pic: TL

To finish on a happy note, much tea was consumed:

Tea. Lovely. Pic: TL

And some excellent feedback was received:

Feedback in action. Pic: GS.

Many thanks to Sara, Andy, Luke and Matt for crashing on our floor and having a right old laugh (although the kitchen was a state), Max, Adam and Chris for giving it 110%, everyone who made the party excellent, particularly the accordion/guitar duo and the bloke who wedgied me and, finally, all you lot who came along and got stuck in.

For more info on next year’s course and the safety seminar at Plas-Y-Brenin in October, check out:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7032717207 or email bcustudentsafety@mail.com

Avast behind!

The NSARRRRR 2008 - a marvellous montage of pirates, paddling and partying

Commodore Horwood. Pic: PW

The dynamic duo going for gold in the duo event. Pic: PW.

Fighting and facial hair in abundance.

‘I love it when a plan comes together!’ Pic: PW.

A massive thanks to Tim and Nick for putting together the best ‘damn event of the year and everyone who gave it the big one all weekend!

Here Comes the Summer!

Hail storms in Bangor at the moment have certainly got me thinking about the summer! So much so, I thought I’d let you know what trips and courses I’m running so you can start thinking about booking up a spot of summery, sunny boating. Enjoy…

Skills courses:

Foundation White Water

16-17/Aug/08 - North Wales - £150

White Water Progression

23-24/Aug/08 - North Wales - £150

Steep Creeking / Freeride

8-9/Mar/08 - North Wales - £150

18-19/Oct/08 - North Wales - £150

Welsh Creeking. Pic: AT.

BCU Star awards:

4* WW Kayak Training

09-10/Feb/08 - North Wales - £150

5-6/Apr/08 - North Wales - £150

20-21/Sep/08 - North Wales - £150

4* WW Kayak Assessment

26-27/Jan/08 - North Wales - £150

23-24/Feb/08 - North Wales - £150

19-20/Apr/08 - North Wales - £150

25-26/Oct/08 - North Wales - £150

5* WW Kayak Training

19-20/Apr/08 - North Wales - £150

4-5/Jun/08 - French Alps - £150

16-17/Jun/08 - Austrian Alps - £150

11-12/Oct/08 - North Wales - £150

22-23/Nov/08 - North Wales - £150

5* WW Kayak Assessment

9-10/Jun/08 - French Alps - £150

19-20/Jun/08 - Austrian Alps - £150

Inspecting L’ange Gardien during a 5* Assessment. Pic: TP.

Coaching awards:

Level 3 Kayak Coach Training

9-10/Feb/08 - North Wales - £150

Level 3 Kayak Coach Assessment

17-18/May/08 - North Wales - £150

4-5/Oct/08 - North Wales - £150

Rescue 3 International Courses:

White Water Rescue Technician

15-17th Feb 08 (North Wales)

14-16th Mar 08 (North Wales)

11-13th Apr 08 (North Wales)

26-28th May 08 (French Alps)

06-08th Jun 08 (French Alps)

12-14th Sep 08 (North Wales)

Cost: £200 Revalidation £100

Safety - not just a word… Pic: SN.

Trips:

Slovenia

Nestling just beyond the old Iron Curtain, Slovenia’s Julian Alps provide the setting for Europe’s premiere White Water learning destination – the Soca river.

Beautiful crystal clear water and plentiful rapids make this an ideal location to hone your river skills and our top class staff will ensure that you get the most from your time here.

Price: £700Dates: 02-07/July/2008

Bovec, Soca Valley. Pic: SN.

Norway

Norway is one of the most visually stunning countries in the world, full stop. The western fjords, from where the Norse sailed forth to plunder Northern England will leave you speechless and the central mountains of the Oppland have a poetic majesty.

Add to this some of the world’s best and most accessible white water and you have the recipe for an exceptional experience.

This year, we’ve teamed up with the guys at Liquid Satisfaction to offer you the opportunity to discover the myriad white water options Norway has to offer.

Price: £700Dates: 09-15/July/2008

Al Kommer til Norge! Pic: NH.

Ecuador

Ecuador’s whitewater is some of the most stunning - but accessible - in the world. If you’ve got a sense of adventure then Ecuadorian paddling is the perfect tonic for the UK winter, offering reliable warm weather boating when Britain’s at its grimmest.

Our guided trip will take you to the two main boating centres in Ecuador. The high Quijos valley is like nowhere else on earth, with condors circling above your head and extinct volcanoes forming your horizon. The headwaters of the Rio Napo, near Tena, will blow you away with world class whitewater in lush tropical rainforest.

Our guided trip takes all the hassle, unpredictability and guesswork out of paddling in South America. We’ll organise your accommodation, airport shuttles, food, internal transport connections and, of course, river guiding down some of the world’s best whitewater.

Date: 01-15/December/2008

Price:£1100

Loading up for another mission. Pic: TP.

Check out www.tomparkercoaching.co.uk for more info or to book a place…

Ice Ice Baby

Firstly, those of you asking ‘Hang on, where’s “That Was The Year That Was #4″? I was looking forward to that, etc’ Many apologies, but the production company went into receivership last month. Still, you’ll be able to catch repeats on UKGold pretty soon.

Now then, last weekend was spent in Dundee running a 5* Training for those lovely folks at Dundee Uni Canoe Club. I think these pics sum it up:

Hooray for Union Suits and Merino! Pic: RN.

Ross and Rich W questioning their motivation at the Blackwater. Pic: RN.

That was the year that was #3

Continuing the popular series on some of last year’s highs and highers, things hot up as we hit the Alps…

France

A bit of boating, a bit of drinking and a bit of work. In that order.

‘I freely admit, I was very, very drunk…’ Pic: TL

Slovenia and Austria

2 weeks spent working with Hull Uni CC. Well, you say working…

Pics: SN.

You can have it your way… In Norway…

After 3 days on the road, I finally reached Sjoa. The next 3 weeks saw epic water levels, a sucessfully run ‘Discover Norway’ trip (see www.tomparkercoaching.co.uk for more details), Jam, cheap suits, parties and some great boating.

15 year record levels made for excellent playboating
on the Sjoa. Pic: TT.

Monty, the hardest working car in kayaking. With a GPS that gives speed in Knots and
position in longditude and latitude. Pic: TT.

Max overcome with joy at his new boat arriving. Pic: TP.

The man who used to be Tim Trew nailing it on the Brandsetelva. Pic: NH.

‘Crikey!’ Pic: NH.

‘Does my bum look big in this?’ Pic: TT.

The author pimping it up, despite having ‘hat envy’. Pic: EAS.

So, to conclude this instalment, consider these pearls of wisdom;

Norway is a long way from everywhere, ‘Trevor’ is an excellent name for a beer, never accept rugs from others, as you don’t know where they’ve been until it’s too late and the ‘Local Stuff’ will soon be available at your local too.

Join us next time as we reach the final furlong and have a quick round up of the autumn…

That was the year that was #2

Continuing the popular series recounting the thrills, spills and so on of 2007, we pick up the thread with student safety and Val Sesia…

The BCU Student Safety Camp

Traditionally run every Easter to give uni clubs access to top notch coaching for a reasonable price and stop them killing freshers into the bargain, the Student Safety Camp had folks attending from a diverse selection of colleges. Sadly, it was the driest Easter for years but we muddled through and everyone got something out of it, which was nice.

Cows. Wandering about a bit. Pic: TP.

‘Never tie your shoelaces in a revolving door…’ Max dispenses some wisdom. Pic: CE.

Val Sesia

Eth eth eth, adventuros con kayakeros englese ‘Team Slacker’ en Paradiso Piemonte!

Eth eth Tom en mucho hurryo en Torrente Egua! Scorchio! Pic: TL.

Sminki pinki Tom e Chris filmio para nuevo DVD Kayakero Adventuro ‘Means Of Production’! Pic: TL.

Scorchio! Nick Horwood en Torrente Sermenzina. Pic: TL.

Buono Noche! Chris en Torrente Sermenzina. Pic: SN.

Mucho Agua. No Excellente! Pic: CE.

Mucho vino collapso! Excellente! Pic: TL.

Uno excellente trip. Bhoutros Bhoutros Ghali!

Excellent stuff. Once again, lessons should be taken from this, like the fact that Slovenia is further than it looks, coffee perculators will explode if misused and menus in restaurants are an outmoded concept…

Tune in next time for more European adventures and find out just what Max would do…

That was the year that was

Introuducing a series offering a wry look at some of the social highlights of 2007. Today, cowboys, injuns and the NSR!

Last New Year, Mr Laws hosted a shindig on his folks’ farm in Westbury Sub-Normal, darkest Somerset. Drinking, dancing, drinking, boating, cake etc…

Jem and Dave with a giant French Fancy. Mmmmm, creamy. Pic: TL.

Party Mitch, Ange and Chris. Pic: TL.

New Year’s Day was spent filming promo footage for the NSR.

Dave getting into character. Pic: TL.

‘I’m not paying you to stay dry!’ Max camps it up a bit. Pic: TL.

Thwack! The stuntmen Alex and Chris indulge in a pagga, western style. Pic: TL.

All this approximate wild west fun was to promote the NSR, probably the biggest freestyle event in the UK, which was also loosely based on the wild west. Yehaa!

Dave screwing around to take gold in the squirt event. Pic: SN.

The crowd giddy with anticipation. Pic: SN.

Sara marshalling the crowds. Pic: SN.

Jules and Dave. Whistful melancholy and comedy facial hair. Pic: SN.

Pic: SN.

What have we learnt from this? That cider is not to be trifled with, hay bales are tougher than they look and that a big ginger beard does not repel the ladies…

Coming up next time - Student Safety soap dodging and more shameless topic recycling as we go creekio Italiano!

Q: How many firemen does it take to rescue someone from a car in a river?

A: 10 from Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service.

Dagenham’s Finest

A milestone was reached in motoring history yesterday as the famous ‘Tom Parker Van’ reached 100,000 miles on the clock. The van has been a senior player (some would say THE senior player) in the burgeoning coaching outfit created by Mr Parker causing many to stop Tom and say ‘Were you at the Tryweryn last weekend? I saw the van but didn’t see you.’

The van is no ’stay-at-home’ though, broadening it’s horizons with trips to destinations from Slovenia to Norway.

Sadly, the van was unavailable for comment, as it was busy heading to Runcorn to pick up a load of boats.

Always a grafter, early starts never fazed the van. Pic: DF.

On the road in Norway. 2006. Pic: SN.

On a mission. Italy 2007. Pic: DF.

The Momentous Occasion. Pic: TP.

‘Well, at least one of us won’t come last…’ The Adidas Sickline World Extreme Kayak Championship.

This was Dave’s comment when we checked out the illustrious start list for the Adidas Sickline World Extreme Kayak Championship. Illustrious names from the global kayaking community like Tao Berman and Steve Fisher had signed up so, naturally, we thought we’d enter to show the colonials true British sporting spirit - it’s not the winning, it’s the taking part that counts as Mr Bullcrusher, my old PE teacher used to say.

Thankfully, the boats were still there in the morning. Pic: DF

After leaving a day early due to ferry date confusion, eating pizza and sleeping in the van at Landeck, we headed for Otztal to check out the race site. Our first mistake was apparent that day. We had anticipated the the Alps would be a bit chilly in October, and were consequently stitched up like kippers by the weather, which was relatively tropical. While we waited for the shops to open so we could buy shorts, we partook in sone pre-race training like the true athletes we are:

Tom missing a tricky screwback. Pic: DF

Shorts bought, we started the process of training proper.

Tom struggles to contain his excitement when faced with the course. Pic: DF

Tom in the midst of it all. Pic: SN

Matt going well over the speed limit. Pic: SN

Thursday kicked off with being told that no training was allowed on the Wellerbrucke (site of the finals) as the previous day had been utter carnage. We didn’t know wether to be annoyed or relieved, judging by the state of the rapid.

Lynsey, Sarah and Tom survey the Wellebrucke. Pic: DF

The day passed with faff, tea, some more boating and anticipation about the race briefing that evening.

The hall was packed at the race briefing and you could cut the tense atmosphere with a bowling ball. We were greeted with the news that one of the Sickine guys, Tim Weinmann was missing on the Heiligkruz Gorge and things were not looking good but that all would go ahead tomorrow.

Sadly, this was not to be, as we rocked up to the start at 9.00 to find that the race was off for that day due to high water. Damn! Instead of that early night with camomile tea, we could’ve been on the beers! Ah well, we drank tea and hatched a plan to tackle the Finstermunz Gorge instead. For the record, the first rapid is still minging, even when low.

Suddenly, (P)Rich spots his excuse. Finstermunz Gorge. Pic: DF

A messy night followed and, once again for the record, I was never going to hit those Germans.

The race was cancelled the next day too, so everyone hung about, drank tea and moaned about headaches. The party that evening was epic, with rock music played by kayakers, wodka, camping it up a bit, sweaty Ed and Prich and feet being put through walls.

Overall, it was a cracking event, marred by the death of one of the team and unseasonably high water levels. I’ll make the trip next year. I’ll leave you with a few more pics…

A friendly local. Pic: SN

Autumnal colours. Pic: SN

The capacity crowd giddy with anticipation. Pic: SN