Saturday, March 31, 2012

Oregon Is Going OFF!!!!

Here is a quick clip all slow-mo'd of me going off Metlako Falls at super high flow!!!! I haven't held my paddle on this drop since Spring 2008, but the pool was just too big and dangerous to be paddle-less. Thanks to Devin and Airborn for posting this sick shot. BROWN!



So much shit has been going down out here stay tuned for updates and bomb flow episode 9!!!!!!

Later E.G.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The next Episode from Bomb Flow should be dropping at the end of this week! Some really sick footage and big drops went down in the last month of our Chile/Argentina season so buckle up and enjoy the ride! Check out more from BFTV at http://bombflow.com !



Later E.G.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Lower Llancahue

The Llancahue has always been a fairly unknown run in the Pucon area. People are distracted and drawn in by the closer classics like the Nevado and Desaghue...Until now that is! In late December 2011 Jared Seiler railed the motivation to just walk down past the Dirty Gerd and take a peek. What he found sounded amazing. Steep, continuous, and Toxaway-style...what else needs to be said. The very next day we got a tight crew formed (Ian, Jared, Jonny, Anton, and Myself) and headed around the volcano to the Llancahue valley.

Having just have run The Dirty we walked straight to the bottom and put in above the "Purtty 30". No need to risk lives today we thought ;) After a quick warm up and free fall we found ourselves immediately faced with class V+ must make moves. A seeming slide ran directly into a blind horizon line to_____? Who knew? We ran the slide, for easier scouting, and caught a last chance eddy on the left! On later runs of the canyon people missed this eddy ad were forced to drop into the biggest rapid of the run blind! "No Bueno" as the say in Mexican.

Jared feeling weightless on the Purtty 30...or Suavemente the warm up drop!

Myself in the middle of the second drop and point of no return for the canyon! You had to style this one and catch a small eddy above the stoutness!

From here we took a long scout of what seemed to be the never ending slide! It looked great...Until I saw the crux move half way down the rapid. It looked like a deformed, manky, volcanic, tighter, Gorilla Falls! :( I was not about to go first! This is where having Jared Seiler "El Diablito" comes in handy. This dude is sick in the brain! Super short and compact Jared is one solid muscle working together. With "Beast Mode" turned on Jared dropped in. The entry looked funky and when he came through the crux onto the big slide he made it look good! Elbow pad worthy, but good! I ran up to my boat not wasting anytime and put on!

Jared totally cleaning the first descent and Crux of the Loganieza slide on the Lower Llancahue!

The entry went well and upon arrival at the crux I was ready for anything. The tight crack went smooth, but had me off balance exiting onto the slide. A quick backdeck roll had me upright and styling the rest of the big slide which we later dubbed, "La Longanieza". Anton was next up and had a similar results, but did not roll up quick enough taking shots to the shoulders and head...not a big deal to The Swede though! Ian and Jonny saw how rowdy the crux was and opted for a sealaunch to just get the quality fast part of the drop! It was a win win!

Through the entrance exam and looking down the Crux crack coming into the slide. This rapid was huge. Like 10 moves over 300 meters or so!

Dealing with what the manky tight slot was dealing me.

Upright and feeling better than ever on my favorite slide in the country of Chile! No Joke!

Graham Seiler on the second run of the Lower Llancahue. Great Picture of the last part of Longanieza!

From here the run did not slow down at all. The river split into two channels and drops through a series of steep unforgiving slides and falls ending with a perfect 10 foot boof that looked like this:

A very pretty and fun end to a rally section of drops!

With one more major drop to the canyon, that we didn't run, we reached the first real pool of the section. One of the the next runs young ripper Galen Volckhausen ran this drop. It's a nice slide into a very big hole! Props for that DUDE! From this point the river calms down, but doesn't stop for what seems to be miles of whitewater. Bedrock slides and ledges continue to surprise you around every corner and all the drops are somewhat connected. Mostly class IV you can read and run the majority.

From there the river slows up and seems to come to an end. Not so much! The lower Llancahue wants to kick your ass till the brutal end. With a few more 10-15 foot falls (clean & dirty), 2 seriously nasty looking siphons, a forest adventure, and some bouldery goodness the runs ends once you SEE fences and the road! For us the day was long and tiring, not knowing what to expect all day, and thinking we were done more than once!

Jonny Meyers on a great 10 foot boof late in the day.

Myself running a sketchy line through, "Aids Falls"...Jared later re-ran this drop off the near flake for a much better result!

Fearless leader Jared probing the right line at the Splitster drop late in the. The left line is a bit cleaner, but both go!

Anton happy to be at the take out and crushing a much earned "Greenie".

The Lower Llancahue has truly shown itself to be a classic and if ever combined with the upper or middle could be considered to be one of the best runs in the country! The amount if gradient and number of rapids this river holds is unbelievable! So much class V and so many kilometers of it create the idea that a Todo Llacahue could be the next great achievement in the Pucon area! Maybe next year?

Watch Bomb Flow TV Episode 7 "Minor Fails and Epic Wins" to see the video of the Lower Llancahue.



Later E.G.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

The Dirty

It's crazy how time flies when you're having fun. I was planning on updating egcreekin more frequently this season, but as you all know life is busy!

The Bombflow videos and a lot of dream living has slowed my writing down! I have a stack of photos sitting on my hard drive and a bunch of great stories to share! So I will start by saying this season has just been another great year in Pucon! I arrived fresh off the couch injured and not able to get around very well on my right foot, but I didn't let that slow me down.

Starting off getting back into shape with endless boofs on the Puesco and Nevados I got back in the groove of things and set my sights high! Getting comfy free falling again is always a fun time. Your first stout in a few months feels like the first time all over again! Demshitz drop and Middle Palguin laps had me on fire and looking for more.

Anton Immler stomping "Stout 10" this is the entry rapid to the 70 foot tall Middle Palguin falls. It's way trickier than it look I promise!

Anton lining up the Middle for his first time of this season!

Myself running the Demshitz Drop at high water on the Rio Nevado. This is the most complete best run in the Pucon area when the levels are right!

Anton and I getting busy on the Rio Puesco near the border of Argentina. Which is only 45 minuets from Pucon!

Brown Chicken and treats on the Upper Nevado!

Aniol and I decided that it was time to get "Dirty" and went to the Middle Llancahue for "The Dirty Gerd"! This drop had been on my mind for some time now...I have almost run this drop so many different times. 2008-2009-2010-and finally I got there, saw the line, and laced up! This is not just a sick stout that you go and take a picture of yourself running and put it up on Facebook...this waterfall is one of pure terror and mystery. Upon arriving at this drop no matter if you've seen the video or picture a thousand times, it makes you cringe! The entry is fast, pushy, and manky. The lip is boily, unpredictable, and blind. The falls is cracked out, rocky, and tall! Everything about this drop tells me walk away, but that's what has drawn me to come back every year.

It was an amazing experience to decide to get in my kayak and commit to such a powerful piece of whitewater! Truly a mental battle. I knew I was good enough to make the moves and stick the line, but fear and the unknown-ness of the drop gets in the way. In the end the power of the water almost bested me. A slight bobble at the crux of the rapid sent me only feet off line connecting with a rock wall 20 feet down...

Coming down the entry rapid, into the actual entrance! This drop has two separate entries!

Here is the crux stroke I took while leaning away from the wall. Without this "Plan B" move I would have taken rock to the head/body and things could have turned out way worse.

I always say that with years of experience on drops like these, comes the ability to style "Plan B". The older I get and better I get, I notice that when I fall offline I'm way more calm and in control. This comes not from arrogance or stupidity, but from running countless big drops and not always having them go the way I plan.

Back to it, getting swept left, I pulled a huge boof stroke bringing my bow up and having my bow hit the wall and not my body. I saw this same line New Years Eve of 2008 by my brother Ian. He...did not get his bow up! The end result was me hitting the Mesa Falls-esque ledge half way down and bouncing sideways and upside down in to the pool below. Crazy feeling no doubt! The hit was soft due to the high water level and I rolled up insanely adrenalized and happy to be at the bottom. I had done it! The Dirty Gerd was no longer a mystery, I unlocked that box and saw what laid inside. Aniol was next!

A shot from the bottom take by Mathias Fossum. You can see the size of the Dirty from this angle.

Aniol, being the stud he is, still decided to run it after watching me. Head Strong!!!! He dropped in with the same plan and line in mind. Upon reaching the true entry he clipped a manky rock flake and flipped extremely fast. With a clutch roll he was upright and looking to be online. I can't imagine what was going through his head? Surfing a curler hole he made his way right, but maybe a bit too far right. There is a perfect flake on the lip that you want to send. Aniol looked like he was on line and then fell into the crack on the right. This looked sketchy from scouting, but after watching the video you see, that aside from it being manky it sets you up well for the free fall. Aniol went roosting off the beast and rolled up at the bottom.

Aniol getting kick flipped by the manky flake! :O

From this angle you can see the flake you want to be on, and the crack to the right of it where he is heading.

Aniol Serassolses! La Cobra! Not much else to say...

On this kind of rapid you accept "Plan B". Aniol is one of the most skilled and amazing paddlers I have ever met. Watching him go after me really gave me a perspective and respect for how gnarly this drop really is. We both celebrated and hugged, talked shit about going back to the top and running it agian, and then went down stream to run the cleanest 30 footer in the country of Chile as a dessert.

This drop is only 200 feet from the base of the Dirty Gerd. Such a pleasure to run this after stressing all morning! We call it the "Suavamente" or if you're from Montana "The Purtty Thurty"

Another amazing day in the country of Chile. This was my sixth season in Chile and I'm still stepping it up and running new things every year. I don't think that in my lifetime I will ever get sick of this place. Call it what you want...but this is my paradise!

Check out the video of us running this epic water fall in Bomb Flow TV's Episode 6...The Rise of Blue Balls here.



Later E.G.