Salto Palguin...

After the Todo Palguin day for Christmas I had one thing on my mind...that Salto Palguin was good to go. I had watched the first D by Steve and then my two best paddling buds run it, all with good lines. It was bugging me to say the least. All the prior years I thought it was so gnar and not very runnable. With some firey thoughts and a lot of shit talking we finally set the date and went out to Mama's the night before to make the task just a bit more difficult...hahaha

This is the view you get at the lip...just think of it as a 10 footer, that will make you feel beter. It took some balls to decide that this was the entrance I wanted for a drop this big.

The rats getting ready for one hell of a descent.

Salto Palguin in all its glory.

We showed up at our friend Ben May's house with a big group and six people who wanted to run the biggest drop on the Palguin. Keep in mind that this drop has only been run a few times before. So with safety all set up and photogs in place I fired it up first.

Dropping into the seam... The entry was a bit more chill than I imagined, and the lip was just a messy as it looks. Although after connecting with the left curler it wasn't too out of control.

Myself all set up at the lip ready to connect with the mean curler and fall along way.

Falling a long way to the pool below, the drop itself felt money. 80 feet of freefall maybe? And I landed what felt to be just a hair over the bars. My line couldn't have been better. When I hit the pool though that boil told me different. I took quite a big hit going deep and punching myself in the face with my paddle. Falling out of my boat under water my jefe grande resurfaced launching 10 feet in the air landing right side up. I swam to the safety of the shore where my little brother waited for me. He said, "Shit man you're bleeding."

Tyler went second...He had a good line disappearing in the falls and coming up in the pool with a blown skirt and broken paddle. Due to the nice sharp fiber glass of the Kober shaft he cut his finger good enough to get 4 stiches in his middle finger (the bird).

Then came Candaian hucker/party smrph Logan Grayling...He also had a good line, maybe the best of the day, because he only broke his paddle and helmet, but stayed in his kayak. The only member of this huck team not to swim.

Keegan from Canada (The Canucks showed they aren't pussies on this day) stepping up after watching his buddy, Stephen, run this bad boy the day before. Keegan boofed the lip hard, but reconected with the flow to melt this giant.

A beautiful picture of Aniol Serrasolses...somebody needs to sponser this kid. He's 18 from Spain and he rips harder than almost anyone I know.

Aniol's line from the other side of the river. Aniol had a beautiful line maybe a bit crazy with a boof...but he resurfaced in his kayak with a blown skirt, then forced to swim due to a wall contact. Not bad.

5 people ran this 85 foot falls...4 swims...2 broken paddles...and 8 stiches (4 for myslef and for Tyler)...

Ty and I all bloody and ready to go get stiches bitches.

Myself later that night at the Latitude party icing my face to stop the swelling. This was a great day indeed, I didn't like swimming or punching myself in the face, but it is just a part of the game. If you plan on going big you will swim and will maybe get a few stiches every once in a while. Was it worth it??? Oh yeah!

Thanks to Candace Sanders and Janjo for the sick photos of the day.

Later E.G.