Me Canoeing Lower Keeney

SamS · Post by **SamS** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 11:49 pm

Hi everyone! This isn't much of a video, just me canoeing Lower Keeney over the weekend. It was a lot of fun though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP76ykHTroo

Wendy · Post by **Wendy** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 1:42 am

kabuki_blaze · Post by **kabuki_blaze** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 1:56 am

I think I saw this run Live?

french erick · Post by **french erick** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:59 am

cool looking bit of water.
What would you have graded that on the day? I'm trying to get my head around classes and soft or not grading.
I went down something that the guide book give at 4. A one move wonder type place that I really think don't warrant that or else there's 4 and 4? It was medium flow and very cool and fun.
What I'm worried about is not so much numbers as knowing what I let me in for. I played it conservatively and found it tame (better that way round).
But the next step up was of significance and I did not do it (although next time I will).

So is Scottish grading soft?
PS: River Arkaig for those that me know my guidebook says 2(4) as it is mostly 2 (apparently?? could it be 1? what is one? completely flat water?) with one easily portaged rapid.
Sorry to highjack your thread.
Did you have fun...looks like you did

xtraheat · Post by **xtraheat** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 5:11 pm

kabuki_blaze wrote:I think I saw this run Live?

ads

xtraheat · Post by **xtraheat** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 5:21 pm

french erick wrote:cool looking bit of water.
What would you have graded that on the day? I'm trying to get my head around classes and soft or not grading.
I went down something that the guide book give at 4. A one move wonder type place that I really think don't warrant that or else there's 4 and 4? It was medium flow and very cool and fun.
What I'm worried about is not so much numbers as knowing what I let me in for. I played it conservatively and found it tame (better that way round).
But the next step up was of significance and I did not do it (although next time I will).

So is Scottish grading soft?
PS: River Arkaig for those that me know my guidebook says 2(4) as it is mostly 2 (apparently?? could it be 1? what is one? completely flat water?) with one easily portaged rapid.
Sorry to highjack your thread.
Did you have fun...looks like you did

I think this would definitely be considered a class IV rapid. It's a lot bigger than it looks from the video, and has a lot of barely visible rocks to throw you off line or flip you. That being said, it isn't all that difficult and there aren't any realistic consequences of swimming the main line, so I wouldn't think it would be anything above a IV. There is a rapid downstream called Double Z that I have heard a lot of people consider a class V; however, it isn't any more difficult than this rapid, there are just severe consequences for swimming it. So the rapid system is kind of complex

OC1er · Post by **OC1er** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 6:21 pm

Swimming the Halls of Karma at 3 feet is a consequence, as is getting trashed against the Juicer...There's also a rock in there at low levels that looks like it would rip your head off if you flipped mid rapid...

oopsiflipped · Post by **oopsiflipped** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:04 pm

umm, III+ maybe at this level. z about the same at minus levels. both IV's of varying difficulty depending on the water

xtraheat · Post by **xtraheat** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:33 pm

xtraheat · Post by **xtraheat** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:38 pm

oopsiflipped wrote:umm, III+ maybe at this level. z about the same at minus levels. both IV's of varying difficulty depending on the water

Although I disagree about Lower Keeney being anything below a class IV at any level, I won't argue with you there. However, I think that Double Z becomes infinitely harder and more dangerous at lower levels. At levels above about 1.5 feet, I think it becomes one of the easier rapids on the whole river. Table rock gets covered up, and you can just ride a smooth wave train straight down the middle from the eddy. However, at negative levels (this day was about -1.6 or so), you have to first make the must-make eddy above about a dozen undercuts, then punch through a sticky,rocky hole and ride down the current straight towards the giant undercut while there are two strong diagonal waves on the right looking to flip and push you right towards the undercut. Then, when you finally get away from the undercut, you have a rocky chute to navigate before you are done. What makes you say that Double Z gets harder at higher flows?

oopsiflipped · Post by **oopsiflipped** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:55 pm

since arguing about rating rapids on the internet is about the dumbest possible, way to spend one's time, i will not.

i've only ran the new once in about the last 5 years and that was my only time down it in a hard boat. but i did run a few raft trips there years back, and i sure remember everything on the run being much easier, including Z, with no water.

jscottl67 · Post by **jscottl67** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 8:10 pm

I've been on the New I think 8 times in a raft (eons ago). I never ran it below 0, think the lowest was around 1.5 and the highest was 11.5 by the time we came off the river. It's been probably 13 years or so, but if memory serves me double Z was more technical in the low ranges, easier to plow through at mid-levels, and scary when high.

Of course that was on rafts - not sure how that would translate into OC1 because we weren't looking to avoid a whole lot of nastiness with the raft. Swimming from Vulture Rock wasn't so bad the time I swam there, but the other people that went out didn't seem to think so.

kabuki_blaze · Post by **kabuki_blaze** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 1:19 am

xtraheat wrote:
kabuki_blaze wrote:I think I saw this run Live?
ads

just curious, what is "ads"?

mr ray · Post by **mr ray** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 3:13 am

Wendy wrote:nt

Minus 1.6' I think I heard someone say? Wendy, you'd love it at this level. As a SE paddler it seemed like plenty of water. As Kevin stated, it was WAY more water than what people routinely find acceptable on Chatooga Section IV during the summer.

Sam and Fritz, enjoyed boating with you guys this weekend!

french erick · Post by **french erick** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 9:30 am

All the discussion makes me worried...not unduly, but some.
There's a HUGE amount that I don't understand under the water and about levels. My assumption was that the more water the more dangerous it would get...never thought about the other way round and features reappearing with lots of nastiness.

So there's only one thing for it...get a bombproof roll and minimise swims by staying in my lude

. Read the water well and hit those lines reet boyo!

(PS: I do apologise for my earlier post...it was riddled with typos. I usually check but!)

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Me Canoeing Lower Keeney

Me Canoeing Lower Keeney

What level was NRG that day?

Re: What level was NRG that day?