The Paddler Autumn/Fall issue 2017

Remote location
Sam Ellis has been in the white water game for years and
has paddled some of the world’s most challenging rivers
and has a string of first descents to his credit, so I
certainly felt like I was in safe hands. Finding Keld and
indeed Sam in a remote, no signal location was more of a
challenge than I had hoped for but finally our paths
crossed and we went for a look at the river to see what
was possible.
Unfortunately the water wasn’t quite high enough, so it
looked like my fun would be kerbed this time, as the
risk of injury outweighed the opportunity to fuel my
ego that I was a natural at all things SUP – well at least
in my own mind anyway. I was also lacking the body
armour necessary to fling myself off a waterfall, so we
decided it was best to leave Sam to it and I’d snap in
the all too familiar Yorkshire drizzle.
In fairness to Sam he’d done very little SUP and at a vikingsized
100kg, I did worry he might struggle to even stand up
on our 10’ x 32’’ Amigo Air iSUP – despite it’s generous
220L. After some ‘test paddling’ at the foot of the first
waterfall, it was clear this lad knew his craft, as he was soon
paddling around like he’d been doing it six months.
Nerves
We both went for a look up at the top of the falls to see
where the water was flowing and to assess any hard
ouchy things that might take out Sam. He was a little
nervous and rightly so but after the obligatory jump in
the pool depth test, it was psych yourself time, while I
walked down to the bottom and negotiated the rocks,
over to the best vantage point to hopefully get the
money shot.
The tension was unbearable. Sam’s obvious anxiety had
made my mind race: what happens if he knocks himself
out? I have no phone signal, am I going to have jump in
and drag him out, is he going to sue Loco if he breaks
his neck? Talk about a full on fanny fit but this was
uncharted ground! Thankfully both of our concerns
were totally OTT and after some initial thinking and
probably a few choice words with himself, York’s own
Viking grew some stones and headed for the lip with a
determined look on his face – or the snake was half
out of the cage!
Boom he hit the sweet spot and nearly rode out of it,
cheeky bar steward! I was rightly impressed considering
the flow and the 90 degree angle. He popped up,
looking stoked and before I could even show him the
snaps, he was out and back off to the top for another
bash – some boy! This time he managed to get a full on
boof stroke in and his projection was much better but
sadly the side fins caught on a ledge on the way down,
which catapulted him over the bars. You could see his
confidence growing and like any seasoned pro, he was
back on it and we repeated the process until I was
happy we had a keeper.
ThePADDLER 159