Jim's verdict 'It rained a lot'
With most of the original EST members making excuses like 'dissertations', 'exams' or 'hospital' it was up to Kev and Jim to take the young guns to visit Rhene at Le lac. Unfortunately when we arrive at le lac Rhene had gone, move on to a bigger lake, worse still, the new waiter Jean Luc didn’t know what a formidabla was!
Day 1/2
Drive...Drive...Drive...Forget passport...Ferry...France...Drive...Drive...65mph max...Drive...Drive...24 hrs later arrive at vallouise. Vallouise closed. La Argentarre. Sleep.
Sunday
Crazy mental lower Guil, Greg wouldn’t do it especially when he heard Jo had swam that section before. Eventually we got him on the water. We did the slalom course that day too, mint. In the evening the team were christened the 'Sketchy splash squad' - EM, Ela, and Greg being the co-founders.
Monday
Upper gusain - and the river gods claimed their first victims - both Em and Ela had a couple of swims each, but even with these swims everyone did really well - it's a hard river - with some awesome paddling from the girls and Greg solid as ever. Jim did some sketchy paddle throwing/deck grab move over a drop. Em almost had to leave us - she got as far as Lyon!
Other Highlights
Tuesday - The mighty durance!
Wed - The upper upper Guil
Upper and middle - Clarie - High water - Sweet! - Everyone paddled really well - Ela lost her bung.
Climbing - Durance gorge - High - Shit scary!
Upper Ubaye - Em had an epic - but it didn’t damage her confidence. Oh and Greg and Em did the bridge jump.
Despite several warnings, with signs in english warning of the dangers of the Onde - things like 'building debris in the river' - what the hell does that mean anyway? Kev and Greg found out pretty soon... rumour has it both Kev and Greg just ignored the signs, didnt inspect the rapid and got F**ked up by a tree, but unfortunaly there is no evidence of this so it porbably didnt happen.
Swim Count = 19
A really good trip - everyone has improved loads - the girls have improved loads - and Gregs ready for some scary stuff!
1 comment:
Of course it must also be noted that the sketchy splash squad is far superior to the EST!
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