Sunday, January 06, 2013

Canoe Courses 2013



In association with the Kanuschule Versam I will again be offering white water canoeing courses, guided tours, canoe specific safety and rescue courses and Rescue 3 SRT and WRT courses. There are courses for paddlers of all levels, from beginners to advanced paddlers, who wish to learn and improve in small groups in a safe and relaxed environment. We offer many courses and tours throughout the European paddling season and are happy to provide a customised course or private tuition if our dates or locations don't suit your mood or time scale, please contact james@jamesweir.net for more info.

9. - 10. March
White water fun, tips and tricks for intermediate paddlers at Hüningen white water course, France
Details and booking info here

30. - 1. March/April
White water fun, tips and tricks for beginner and intermediate paddlers on the Vorderrhein, Switzerland
Details and booking info here
 
6. - 13. April
Corsica, a week of white water rivers, fun, tips and tricks for good intermediates and advanced paddlers based at Camping Francardo, Corsica.
KSV blog from the 2011 Corsica Canoe holiday here
Details and booking info here

18. - 21. April
White water fun, tips and tricks for good beginner and intermediate paddlers at Sault Brenaz white water course, France
Blog from 2010 Sault Brenaz course here
Details and booking info here

9. -12. May
European Cboats Armada, a free meeting for open minded white water canoe paddlers at Berner Oberland, Switzerland. Suitable for good beginners to hardcore pros!
Forum infos here

18. - 20. May
White water fun, tips and tricks for beginner and intermediate paddlers on the Vorderrhein, Switzerland
Details and booking info here

25. - 26. May
Canoe safety and rescue course for members of the IG Open Canoe at Bremgarten, Switzerland
Details and booking info here
Report from IG Open Canoe Safety weekend 2012 here

8. - 9. June
Moving water fun, tips and tricks for beginners and families on the Reuss, Switzerland
Details and booking info here

14. - 16. June
Rescue 3 WRT, white water rescue instruction suitable for paddlers who want to learn white water safety, rescue and incident prevention.
Details and booking info here

20. - 23. June
Best of Graubünden 2013, white water fun, tips and tricks for good intermediates and advanced paddlers on the best rivers in GR; Valserrhein, Landquart, Moesa, Inn, Glenner and more(maybe!), Switzerland
Details and booking info here

29. - 6. June/July
Vive la France, a week of white water rivers, fun, tips and tricks for good intermediates and advanced paddlers based in the Durance region, France
Details and booking info here

12. - 14 July
Rescue 3 WRT, white water rescue instruction suitable for paddlers who want to learn white water safety, rescue and incident prevention.
Details and booking info here

19. - 21. July
White water fun, tips and tricks for beginner and intermediate paddlers on the Vorderrhein, Switzerland
Details and booking info here

22. -26. July
Engadine, a week of white water rivers, fun, tips and tricks for good intermediates and advanced paddlers based at Camping Sur En, Switzerland
Details and booking info here


1. - 4. August
White water fun, tips and tricks for beginner and intermediate paddlers on the Vorderrhein, Switzerland
Details and booking info here

10. - 11. August
White water fun, tips and tricks for beginner and intermediate paddlers on the Vorderrhein, Switzerland
Details and booking info here

11. - 15. August
Family open canoe holiday on the Rhein from Bodensee to the Aare, a week of family fun for beginners and advanced paddlers on the Rhein, Switzerland
Details and booking info here

24. - 27. August
Engadine, a week of white water rivers, fun, tips and tricks for good intermediates and advanced paddlers based at Camping Sur En, Switzerland
Details and booking info here

30. - 1. August/September
White water fun, tips and tricks for beginner and intermediate paddlers on the Vorderrhein, Switzerland
Details and booking info here

8. - 14. September
Soca, a week of white water rivers, fun, tips and tricks for good intermediates and advanced paddlers based at Bovec, Slovenia
Details and booking info here

28. - 30. Semptember
End of season special! White water fun, tips and tricks for beginner and intermediate paddlers on the Vorderrhein, Switzerland
Details and booking info here

12. - 13. October
White water fun, tips and tricks for beginner and intermediate paddlers on the Vorderrhein, Switzerland
Details and booking info here

9. - 10. November
Eskimo roll workshop, learn and improve in a warm and comfortable pool at Hallenbad Sand, Chur, Switzerland
Course and booking details here

I am very much looking forwards to the 2013 season, we have a new courses and tours and new ideas for the old favourites, I look forwards to paddling with new guests and to get back on the water with some old friends.
Enjoy the winter, ski safe and see you on the river soon!

James










Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Course Dates 2012


Welcome to the 2012 paddling season! In collaboration with the Kanuschule Versam I will be offering white water open canoeing courses for beginners through to experts, white water open canoeing holidays and Rescue 3 Swiftwater Rescue Technician courses.
I also offer private courses for groups and individuals; white water safety awareness day for canoe clubs, open canoe specific Rescue 3 Whitewater Rescue Technician course and personal goal lead coaching for white water open canoeists.

For more information, if you can't find the course you want or the dates don't fit please drop me an email to james@jamesweir.net so we can work out a solution.

3.-4. March
Eskimo roll training; Hallenbad Sand, Chur, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here


10.-11. March
White water training for intermediates and experts; Hüningen white water course, France.
Course and booking details here


7.-9. April
White water training for beginners and intermediates; Vorderrhein, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here


15.-22. April
Corsica, a week of white water rivers, tips and smiles for good intermediates and experts; Camping Francardo, Corsica.
KSV blog from the 2011 Corsica Canoe holiday here
Course and booking details here


11.-13. May
Rescue 3 Swiftwater Rescue Technician course, essential rescue training for raft guides, canoeists and the emergency services; Vorderrhein, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here



17.-20. May
European Cboats Armada, THE meeting for white water canoeists in Europe; Camping Sur En, Engadine, Switzerland.
Info here


21.-24. May
Canoe Creeking, boofs, tips and lines for expert canoeists; Piemont, Val Sesia, Italy.
Course and booking details here


26.-28. May
White water training for beginners and intermediates; Vorderrhein, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here


1.-3. June
Canoe Creeking, boofs, tips and lines for good intermediate and expert canoeists; Glenner, Valserrhein, Medelserrhein, Surselva, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here

13.-17. June
Tour de Grison, a week of rivers for intermediate and expert canoeists; Vorderrhein, Glenner, Landquart, Moesa, Inn, Graubünden, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here


22.-24. June
White water training for beginners and intermediates; Vorderrhein, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here


30. 1. June/July
Open canoe safety and Rescue; Bremgarten, Switzerland.
COURSE FULL!


6.-8. July
Whitewater training for beginners and intermediates; Vorderrhein, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here


3.-5. August
White water training for beginners and intermediates; Vorderrhein, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here


23. -26. August
Engadine, white water training for intermediates and experts; Camping Sur En, Engadine, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here


31.-2. August/September
Whitewater training for beginners and intermediates; Vorderrhein, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here


9.-15. September
Soca, white water training, tips and smiles for intermediates and experts; Bovec, Slovenian.
Course and booking details here


5.-7. October
Whitewater training for intermediates; Vorderrhein, Switzerland
Course and booking details here


3.-4. November
Eskimo roll training; Hallenbad Sand, Chur, Switzerland.
Course and booking details here


Enjoy the Winter and see you soon on the river,

James

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Mexico, a canoeing paradise!

Photo by Matt Partridge

This year I was invited by Jim Coffey to join him in Mexico as a guest paddler on his Week of Rivers programme. I have never visited Mexico before but have heard many stories of big waterfalls, warm and continuous white water, sometimes all the way into the ocean! I have also recently heard stories of dangerous drug cartels and lawlessness. I spent two weeks cruising around Veracruz State and found many rivers with warm, continuous white water, waterfalls and even one that had rapids all the way into the ocean.

Mexico Revolution day celebrations, just close the road and have a party!

I met many friendly Mexicans who were excited to see us and offered to help us out when and where they could, I saw no sign of lawlessness or violence but was attacked fairly frequently by no see 'um bugs, so forget the drug cartels and worry about insect repellent!

Take out for the Rio de Oro!

Fishing with the locals on the beach

Fish everywhere!

Surprise rapid

Jim has a superb fleet of Esquif canoes down in Jalcomulco and so instead of flying a boat over I just borrowed his, flying without a canoe makes life so easy. Borrowing boats gave me the perfect opportunity to compare the decked and open L'Edges back to back. I have read a lot about the differences but had not paddled the open L'Edge, only the decked version and my custom hybrid.


The open L'Edge is noticeably lighter than the decked version and to my mind much more pleasing on the eye, it just looks like a ww canoe. Most rivers we paddled required a certain amount of hiking in so I was keen to use the lighter boat. I have read much about the difference in rolling the two models, one being easier than the other and blah blah blah...I didn't deliberatle capsize to test these theories just rolled when I capsized, I found both boats quite easy to roll when necessary and have concluded that boiling and aerated white water makes much more of a difference to how easy it is to roll than whether I have gunwales or lids on my canoe.


The decked L'Edge is noticeably drier than the open version, in fact the difference really surprised me. It is not that the open version takes on water easily it is just that the decked version is incredibly dry, even in crazy rapids the water just doesn't find its way in, it is simply stunning! I am hoping that my hybrid will be very nearly as dry as the decked L'Edge and not much heavier than the open L'Edge.


We paddled 7 sections of 5 rivers from 3 different drainage systems, I must admit to not knowing exactly everything about each section because Jim was a great host and organised everything, I just had to paddle!


Just nice 'n'easy rapids all day long

The Barranca Grande from Amititla to Jalcomulco; a visually stunning 3day trip on mostly ww2 to ww3 with a nice section of four ww4ish rapids on the third day. Food and gear can be driven into the beautiful riverside camps so it is just paddling with no need to pack a boat full of gear, awesome!


Filo Bobos; after a dirt track drive and a 20minute hike down to the river we put in and cruised for 3hours on read and run ww3 and ww4, we took out at a bridge with a restaurant on river right and ate freshly cooked prawns and drank a cold cerveza, it was great day out!




Matt drops the entry fall on the Actopan

Actopan; we drove to a butterfly sanctuary and put in there, the start is an easy 4metreish slidey drop and then the river just cruises on through the jungle with mostly easy ww2 and a few ww3 rapids. Look out for low bridges and take some cash for the restaurant on the river right bank for lunch or a cold beer. We took out at a low stone bridge with many small arches.


Rio de Oro, the one that flows into the ocean; Jim's local knowledge was key here, we hooked up with a local fixer who arranged for us to 4X4 as far as possible to the put in, we only had to hike 30mins or so after the drive, without the fixer we would have been walking for maybe 2hours! TheRio de Oro is a sweet little jungle creek with ww3 and ww4 rapids and two big drops; the first 12m and the second 9m, once you commit to the first you kinda have to run the second too, climbing out is not an easy option but you can portage them both on river right. I don't know much about the river below the drops other than that there are easy rapids all the way to the beach, we paddled out in the dark and saw nothing!

Photo by Seppi Strohmeier


Tomata; this is my favourite Mexican river, several short, steep sections with ww3 to ww5 and many drops and a few really challenging lines to master. The upper requires a relativity short hike, 15mins, and then sweet creeking and two drops, one tight and tricky the other easier. The roadside section is a bit easier than the upper but equally as rewarding with many rapids to ride and enjoy. I think there is much more of this river to explore and enjoy and I can't wait to get back over to Mexico to check it out!

L'Edge in Mexico from Funkidreadz on Vimeo.

A big shout out to Jim, Barbara and the rest of the Esprit crew in Jalcomulco for inviting me, looking after me and showing me many superb sections of white water, to taco man and the juice ladies for cooking up the best food and smoothies in Jalco and finally to my awesome wife Lilli for looking after 5month old Max on her own whilst I was off paddling on the other side of the World.



Paddle safe and see you on the water,
James