C1s on the Green
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:39 pm
Well, I am not sure if it is appropriate anymore to talk on here about actually going paddling, but I am going to try anyway. Here is my Green Trip Report.
This past Friday a couple of cracked Necky Blunt C-1s put on the Green Narrows with a bunch of kayakers, and headed down river. I was again lucky enough to be paddling with none other than our own Will Lyons (notdrunkatthetime). As Will has said a bunch before, the Green is definitely a perfect river for a C-1 - there is just so much fun stuff to do. Everywhere around me during this trip I saw boats exploding up into the air in huge rock splats, and doing rock 360s every where. As I came down West Prong Rapid, I thought I saw Will's yellow Blunt heading skyward in a huge splat against the big rock at the bottom. There were also lots of offside boofs happening.
It was cool to get the low-down on how to run Zwick's as a rightie - there is definitely a little trick to it. I followed Will's advice, and it went perfectly. I couldn't believe how well it worked actually. I was really surprised when I smoked into the coveted halfway eddy. Just below, I was also happy to find the main line at Chief was not as hard as I imagined - and feels way more safe to me than the right side sneak.
Also of note - the Monkey gave up good runs to everybody - especially to the two C-1s. I don't think there is anything in boating that can compare to slamming through the Notch, catching that eddy, and then peeling out toward the launch pad of Gorilla. The launch pad drops you down a little and then sends you up in the air right as you go off Gorilla - giving you a little weightless sensation, and making good runs look incredibly soft and smooth. What a ride! At first I was a little worried about the Speed Trap, as it was pretty sticky on this day, but then I thought to myself, "You know what, there are worse things in life than getting stuck in the Speed Trap." And on this day, the hole was good to me.
The three slides below Gorilla are absolutely classic - one of my favorite sections anywhere. I especially like Scream Machine into Nies' Pieces. I took a fairly far left line down Nies and ended up on the far left at the bottom in a nice boof over the hole - very cool! As I was sitting in the mid-stream eddy right underneath Scream Machine, looking back up toward Gorilla and watching the whole crew come hurtling down - in c-1s, playboats, you name it, all having a blast - I was amazed by just how comfortable you can get with the Green. Even on only my second run, I was really having fun out there. This might have something to do with having watched Leland's video guidebook about a million times, and already knowing all the rapids, but who knows.
I also watched some runs off Sunshine. I don't think I'll ever run the standard line at 100%. I watched Will do the river left line - maybe next time. I'll have to get my nerve up - it's on of the most consequential lines I've seen.
The rest of the river went great, although I kind of did Baby Sunshine wrong, and my Sunshine simulation went all wrong. If I had been running the real beast, I would have gotten hammered. haha.
I also love Hammer Factor at the end - this is the type of rapid that if you accidently found yourself above it in the last eddy as a class II boater, you would look down and feel that death was absolutely an overwhelming possibility. It looks very scary, and I must admit, I thought that I entered it wrong. Fortunately I found myself on the correct line and not underneath the undercut. Always a good way to end the river.
Overall - a great day, and a great river to run in C-1. The high of running Gorilla was with me the whole drive back to DC. Still is actually.
Alden
This past Friday a couple of cracked Necky Blunt C-1s put on the Green Narrows with a bunch of kayakers, and headed down river. I was again lucky enough to be paddling with none other than our own Will Lyons (notdrunkatthetime). As Will has said a bunch before, the Green is definitely a perfect river for a C-1 - there is just so much fun stuff to do. Everywhere around me during this trip I saw boats exploding up into the air in huge rock splats, and doing rock 360s every where. As I came down West Prong Rapid, I thought I saw Will's yellow Blunt heading skyward in a huge splat against the big rock at the bottom. There were also lots of offside boofs happening.
It was cool to get the low-down on how to run Zwick's as a rightie - there is definitely a little trick to it. I followed Will's advice, and it went perfectly. I couldn't believe how well it worked actually. I was really surprised when I smoked into the coveted halfway eddy. Just below, I was also happy to find the main line at Chief was not as hard as I imagined - and feels way more safe to me than the right side sneak.
Also of note - the Monkey gave up good runs to everybody - especially to the two C-1s. I don't think there is anything in boating that can compare to slamming through the Notch, catching that eddy, and then peeling out toward the launch pad of Gorilla. The launch pad drops you down a little and then sends you up in the air right as you go off Gorilla - giving you a little weightless sensation, and making good runs look incredibly soft and smooth. What a ride! At first I was a little worried about the Speed Trap, as it was pretty sticky on this day, but then I thought to myself, "You know what, there are worse things in life than getting stuck in the Speed Trap." And on this day, the hole was good to me.
The three slides below Gorilla are absolutely classic - one of my favorite sections anywhere. I especially like Scream Machine into Nies' Pieces. I took a fairly far left line down Nies and ended up on the far left at the bottom in a nice boof over the hole - very cool! As I was sitting in the mid-stream eddy right underneath Scream Machine, looking back up toward Gorilla and watching the whole crew come hurtling down - in c-1s, playboats, you name it, all having a blast - I was amazed by just how comfortable you can get with the Green. Even on only my second run, I was really having fun out there. This might have something to do with having watched Leland's video guidebook about a million times, and already knowing all the rapids, but who knows.
I also watched some runs off Sunshine. I don't think I'll ever run the standard line at 100%. I watched Will do the river left line - maybe next time. I'll have to get my nerve up - it's on of the most consequential lines I've seen.
The rest of the river went great, although I kind of did Baby Sunshine wrong, and my Sunshine simulation went all wrong. If I had been running the real beast, I would have gotten hammered. haha.
I also love Hammer Factor at the end - this is the type of rapid that if you accidently found yourself above it in the last eddy as a class II boater, you would look down and feel that death was absolutely an overwhelming possibility. It looks very scary, and I must admit, I thought that I entered it wrong. Fortunately I found myself on the correct line and not underneath the undercut. Always a good way to end the river.
Overall - a great day, and a great river to run in C-1. The high of running Gorilla was with me the whole drive back to DC. Still is actually.
Alden
Fun ain't it!
