I suppose this is long out of order from my travels this summer but I just came across an SD card with all the shots from my trip down Westwater Canyon. It’s crazy that I’ve lived only 3 hours away from this beautiful place most of my life and never took advantage and hopped on a trip until this year. It was the perfect way to wind down after the crazy excitement of the Outdoor Retailer show where we launched the new Liquidlogic Stomper and all the other great products with Legacy Paddlesports. I was pumped to meet up with my good friends from First Descents and share some sun, beers, and good times in the canyon. I mean, truly, that’s what this sport is about. As much as it feels good to push yourself, and seek challenging whitewater. It’s the times spent with your friends on the river that really makes you keep coming back for more.

Canyon entrance

We rolled up the night before launch and set up the rafts. Unfortunately, one of the groups with a raft wasn’t able to make it at the last minute so space on our two rafts was very limited. I decided I’d just roll self support style keeping more space in the rafts for the important stuff like food and beer. I moved my seat forward just a little and had plenty of space for my two watershed futa-floats, 70′ speedloader throwbag and camera gear. My bags held my sleeping bag, pad, jetboil stove, and change of clothes. The Freeride 57 still rode awesome and I was stoked to have it as we set up camp at Little Dolores and Jason, Matt, Angie, and I had an awesome surf session until the sun went down that evening.

It was an awesome trip with great friends. Here are some shots from the weekend.

Loaded up Freeride

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Scouting Skull

Matt going for a deep line

Peta guiding smoothly

Even Brianne, a total hater of all things Brown Claw and fun was caught enjoying herself.

Camp

Freeriding

Flotilla on the flatwater cruise out… Good times

So this year was the first time I changed paddles in ten years. I have stuck with my foam-filled AT2 standard for a long time and I think most people will tell you, once you get used to something it’s hard to change. With my summer plan to be on the road, and finally having a chance to get out to the California wilderness, I decided I needed to make the change to something I could feel really confident about when SHTF. Werner was the obvious choice for the strongest most reliable paddles in the industry. While the largest majority of my friends went with the straight-shaft Powerhouse, I had a friend hand me their bent-shaft Sherpa on the river one day and I was hooked. The slightly smaller blades than the Powerhouse made it a little bit more forgiving and the bent shaft is simply what I know how to use. The switch to the different style of Werner vs. AT bent shaft was no problem. By the end of the first day the Werner felt just as natural in my palm like I had been using it all along. The confidence of Werner’s continuous weave fiberglass meant I wasn’t checking my paddle for dings or cracks after every day on the river. After a full season from coast to coast I’ll never look back to my old paddles. When paddling in areas of high commitment and risk you just have to eliminate anything from your equipment that could fail you. A Werner paddle is that piece that you can hold season after season and feel good about.

Fantasy Falls

For my playboating blade I got the Double Diamond. The DD is a full carbon construction with double Dynel edging and a layer of Kevlar. The foam filled blades are the only way to go for playboating whether on a wave or in a hole. The biggest difference I noticed switching to this paddle was how light and stiff it was. The super stiff paddle made moves precise and sharp. The blade shape is smooth and perfect for fast vertical strokes.

Glenwood Wave

Finally, I also use Werner for Stand Up Paddling. The same construction that makes their creeking paddles so bomber goes into their paddles for SUP. I see countless blades from the other surf companies with blown out seams and chipped edges. I’ve got two full seasons on my fiberglass Carve. I can push off rocks, get rocked to the beach surfing and it doesn’t show a bit of wear. I suppose my point is, when you use Werner paddles, you’re more worried about picking the right line and pulling the next move. The paddles just do their job.

Big Sur

Many people got to check them out firsthand at Gauley festival and see Jordan out there tearing it up. Liquidlogic is working on a new composite playboat. It doesn’t have a name and the only mission for Shane with the boat is to keep testing till it’s perfect and figure it out after that. We had an awesome set of sessions on Garburator Wave with the level holding at -1 feet. Here are some of Shane’s shots from the sessions and the video with Jordan Poffenberger absolutely killing it.

And a couple of shots I found from round 1 testing at Glenwood Wave in June.

Shane Benedict, Jordan Poffenberger, and I rallied into Ontario for a quick 5 day trip on the Ottawa river last week. The flow was around -1ft making for some great options right outside our door. This was my first time to the Ottawa and I’m sure it won’t be my last. It’s pretty crazy showing up with nothing but farmland in every direction and knowing there is world class kayaking somewhere close by. We were there to test out the design of some new Composite Playboats that Shane has been working on, but we took some breaks and went out freeriding too. Here is a quick video from Push Button and Corner Wave.

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