Norway August 08

Chris at the put in to the Driva.
My Norwegian paddling virginity has finally been broken, for the last five summers I had been working in the US and had not realised what I had been missing. I joined up with 'Lord' Chris Wheeler, Andy 'McDoom' McMahon, Fran 'The Fearless' and 'Little' Robin and together we became Team Thames Valley. Chris has been to Norway on numerous occasions and had a tick list for all the classics, he knew exactly where every river and it's gauge was and sometimes I felt he was more excited to read the levels than actually go paddling.

Fran: Mrykdaselvi, 1st drop of triple falls.

Chris: 3rd drop of triple falls.
Only having two weeks to kayak, we managed to squeeze as much paddling in as possible ticking off the Randaselvi (play and train station), Mrykdaselvi, Visda, Skjoli, Lwr Skerva, Lwr Finna, Grovu, Lwr Driva, Lwr Rauma, Lagen Canyon and a 12 minute Amotz (Sjoa) Canyon. (I apologise for the current spolling, I will correct later when I get a map).

Andy: Lower Skirva
The highlight of the trip had to be the Skjoli which provided a non stop roller coaster ride from top to bottom. Tagging onto a German group for a short section provided an overdose of adrenaline as we blindly entered a section of ledge drops, each containing huge holes. I do not think that we actually followed their line that closely as Chris nearly became intimate with the river.

Andy: Mrykdaselvi
After reading the horror stories in the Guide Book about the Lower Rauma (broken nose, broken ribs, broken back), we were close to walking away to go wash our hair. But after an inspection of the 1st few drops they looked 'good to go'. At the put in a very enthusiastic Tom, Colin and Dom joined us to make a group of six and this helped with regards to now having enough numbers if anything was to go wrong. Once everyone was through the 1st drop and no one had broke their nose as recommended by the guide book, confidence was high that this was going to be a successful mission. On the fourth drop, Chris decided that running these intense drops was too easy, so tried to pull off a barrel roll mid drop but ended up running it upside down escaping with a few holes in his spray deck and bashed fingers. This led to the comment of the trip when Tom looked at Chris after and said "S**t, s**t!! What happened to your nose?" Chris replied, "nothing, it has always been like that."

 

Probe Andy: 1st Drop Lwr Rauma

Andy: 2nd drop Lwr Rauma

We struggled to work out what the six drops as per the guide book were on the lower Rauma as we came across ten, so I have labeled the photos according the order that they came in.

Chris: 3rd drop Lwr Rauma
Andy: 9th drop Lwr Rauma
At the take out to the Randeselvi Train Station section, our final run, I was throwing my rope out to get it dried. Whilst I was recoiling the rope and putting a little twist in it to get perfect loops, Chris came over to see what I was doing. After explaining why and how to do the little twist Chris exclaimed "I was just interested because I have always been fed up when I throw the cord of the lawnmower out, it always get tangled."


Chris: Main event on Lagen Canyon

For all the photos visit:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49159&l=4ac3c&id=608562679
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49161&l=a4b67&id=608562679