Voss Norway!

There are few places on earth that have caught my eye like the Scandinavian country of Norway. For years I have seen pictures and videos from this amazing country and couldn’t wait until it was my turn to go find myself in the Fjords and rivers of Norway. Basically I have said, “I’m going to Norway this year” for the past 5 years! Finally I made the move and bought a plane ticket to the city of Bergen on the West Coast.

Meeting up with Fred in Amsterdam our European odyssey began! Arriving in the land of whitewater and fjords we were greeted by a long train ride through countless tunnels and right past many of the rivers we would soon run. It took us a while to find the crew in the small village of Voss, but once we did...it was on!

We drove directly to the Brandset River. Greeted by amazing clear water and countless sick slides, holes, and drops this river really delivered a true intro to what we were going to find the next month! What cam next is a blur of amazing kayaking, meeting tons of people, partying all night in the Veko Extreme Week tent, and scaring ourselves daily on the local rivers.

My personal favorite river in the area has to be the Teigdal. It starts off a fairly low volume creek with technical gorged in waterfalls and slides of the tastiest variety...and as it continues down the valley gaining water, the Teigdal climaxes in a orgasmic blend of beauty and raw emotionless power at the Double Drop! A perfect 30 treat layer right off a 30-40 foot step-down church falls! Quite a sight to behold and an even better feeling deep inside the loins!

We were blessed to watch Aniol really push the limits of what is possible in a kayak here, day after day...with fearless motivation Aniol back freewheeled both tiers a few different times. On his last attempt, after already cleaning this moves 3 times prior, he got off line and landed hard on a rock shelf. After a few weeks of Norwegian doctors terribly diagnosing him...we finally found out he fractured his L5 vertebra. Aniol will be back on the charge before we know it! Pssssssssssss Cobra!

Here is the rundown of the days we paddled in Voss:

Day 1- Upper & Lower Brandset River
Day 2- Upper & Lower Brandset (high) + Teigdalselvi Double Drop
Day 3- Teigdalselvi
Day 4- Urdlandselvi
Day 5- Exsingdal 70 footer + Teigdal
Day 6- Jordalselvi
Day 7- Brandset race training
 Day 8- Brandset Race + Team Race
Day 9- Money Drop
Day 10- Double Drop High
Day 11- Day Off
Day 12- Teigdal (Aniol Hurt)
Day 13- Todo Urdland
Day 14- Lower Myrkdalselvi
Day 15- Tysselva + Leave Voss

Here are some photos that I took during my stay in Voss.

Aniol Back Freewheeling the first tier of the Double Drop.

Anton dropping into a high than recommended Lower Myrkdal

Benji Hjort at the top of the massive Tysselva Slide...we had some high water on this beast.

Myself on my first lap down the Double Drop...used the old trusty Jefe Grande for two days before my boat showed up!

Dr. Gnar operating a full cavity search on the Teigdal!

Mr. Dirty Gerd running a big volume slide on the Myrkdal.

This is my personal favorite shot I took. Sam Sutton having the line of the day on the Tysselva Slide!

POV booting the sh*t out of Double Drop!

Bomb Flow strap job!

This is the Nick Turner drop from Valhalla, he named it Lucas Falls after his late bro who passed away on the North Fork years ago...Urdlandselvi!  

Another beautiful Norwegian horizon line! 

Here are some photos that our Swedish friend Mikael took in Voss.

Eric Dugil going very fast in the pink boat and WINNING the Voss Race!

Dialing the lines in on the Brandset race course.

Race Day. Came in 4th place in a field of true racers...not bad for a so called park and hucker ;)

Josh Neilson showing us the lines...very scenic place!

Aniol on the ‘HIGH' day at Double Drop!

Myself launching a massive boof up top! 

Freddy Getting Freaky...look at how much water is going off this puppy. 

Aniol ran it 3 times that day...heavy flow!

High Fives!

COBRA STYLE

Dr. Gnar doing an autopsy...  

They put a sign there just for me!

Aniol on some juicy money drop!

Myself about to go deep in the money sauce!

Gerd getting tight on the first drop of the Urdland...

1st stage of the double...Urdland!

2nd Stage of the double...Urdland!

Anton second boof of the double set!

Gerd running Lucas Falls on the Urdland...right above the confluence with the Raundal.

Sweden doing some work on the Urdland!

Making our way down the Myrk!

This rapid is called Holy Diver!

Gerd Holy Diver!

Anton Holy Diver! Lower Myrk!

Mr. Basso...feeling the fear on the Myrkdal!!!!!!

So Voss is just one of those places...like Hood River, Pucon, Asheville, Etc...It’s got a ton of boating really close to a cool town. So its a win win for kayakers and extreme athletes alike! I feel in love with this place when the sun didn’t set and we were able to paddle 2-3-4 rivers a day! Its all time epicness and we only scratched the surface of what there is! Thanks to everyone who made our stay in Voss so epic. Mathias Fossum, Erik Martinson, Mark Basso, and the local community for putting up with our non-sense!

Later E.G.  

BFTV Episode 11 Teaser

Stay tuned for BFTV Episode 11...dropping the end of July!!!!!!!!! Feel the fuego... Later E.G.

Bomb Flow Episode 10 "Substantial"

Bomb Flow TV turns its sights on to the North Lands of British Columbia once again! We avoided the normal Cali siphoned and boofed north from Hood River and Montana to BC. What we found was Substantial!!! Spring provides high water on BC’s already cold, unforgiving, and dangerous rivers. Hitting much loved classics and finding some gems tucked away in the frozen mountains we are stoked to bring you BFTV Episode 10!!!! Enjoy Later E.G.

Kayak Session Short Film Awards Entry

This is a 5 minute edit that I made for The Kayak Session Short Film Awards!!! Half of the competition is online hits so help a brother out and share this on all your social networks, blogs, websites, and with your friends!!!!

This is a short story about running the 5 big drops on the North Fork of the American River in California. I first completed this feat in 2010 and then repeated in 2011! It was an amazing thing to be able to put on this powerful river and take out having completed this goal I had for so long. I dubbed the run, “The Royal Flush”.

It consists of :

The Heath Springs Gorge (Huge entry set into a 40 footer, a clean 60 footer into a slot 20 foot boof, then a committing class V canyon run out)

Rattlesnake Falls (The marquee perfect granite 50 foot falls)

Scott’s Drop or Chuck Kern Falls (A 100 foot double stage falls, the crux of the run)

Wabena Falls (70 foot launch ramp falls)

Running all 5 big drops in one descent had been talked about for a long time...I have run the Royal Gorge 5 times now and it took me 3 runs prior to my 2010 Royal Flush to put it all together into one successful descent. It wasn’t an overnight stunt by any means. Of course it’s all about picking the right flows, group, weather, gear, and time to go for this descent...when it all lines up it’s one of the most incredible things I have ever been a part of to this day! I would suggest 900-700cfs @ Inflow to Clemintine N.F.A. river as the proper flows to run everything! Now Watch the video and enjoy!
  Later E.G.

LW Race

First and foremost I’d like to say that the last two comps have been 2 of the best most fun I have ever been a part of. So thanks to Capo of World Class Academy and James Byrd for putting on such cool down to earth events for us.

The Little White Salmon is a place I hold super close to my heart and I have spent more time on this river than almost another in the world. I have had my sights set on the LW race for a long time now. Years ago I hurt my shoulder on Metlako the day before the race. Last year I had a slow partner haha jk ;) However this was my year...I decided to race with Isaac Levinson from Atlanta, GA! I have know Isaac since the spring of 2009 and we have shared some super good and memorable times all around the world since then. He is a slalom paddler, which means he’s fast, but is also easily one of the most talented kayakers around!

With all the time I have spent in White Salmon this spring I was pretty solid out on the LW, and we had been running the river up to 4.7 feet! So the race levels were chill and fun in comparison. After about 15-20 laps in the 2 weeks before the race I had the lines dialed in and was in shape. The day of the race came and there were 27 teams of 2 racing! That was a huge step up from last year at 13 teams (I think). So twice as big of an event and way more organized we set off for Willard and the Put-in of the LW. Teams went in 3 minute intervals and Isaac and I were the 25th team to go. We went fast had smooth lines and Isaac was behind me giving me little quick...Go Go Go’s on the way down the river! Through Getting Busy, Boulder Hoose, Island Drop, Sackers, Double Drop, S-Turn, Bowies, a ton of in-between water, and then we came into Wishbone and the finishing line hot...It was cool to boof the perfect 15 foot falls and see close to 70+ people just chilling on a river I rarely I company on! We were beatdown!!!!! People started the rumor mill and said that we won...I didn’t claim at all because I know how that stuff goes! We all bombed down the rest of the river (Which is for sure the hardest part) I can pretty much say without a doubt that Spirit Falls had by far the most runs in a day that it has ever seen...and it lived up to its stories. A bunch of people swam, a broken nose, lots of gnarly Chaos action! (Chaos is the substantial slot drop right below Spirit falls with a terrible recycling eddy hole at the bottom) Overall it was a great day and everyone came to the take out stoked and ready to party this night away! In the end Isaac and I did take the honors and all the cash ;) A dream come true for me to compete super well on my favorite river! I had my sights set for a long time and I’ll be back to go fast for years to come! We had a great party way up in the woods and the LW Race 2012 was a huge success! Thanks Capo. Check out the results and some pic...

All Photos by Reid Morth

Morth Photography

 Getting ready for the race, thanks to World Class for helping out and shuttling people!

Dillon and Baby Bird routing fast over Boulder Sluce!

Beavers Max and Ljah getting very busy!

Beaver Max killing a stout boof, even dogs like kayaking!

This makes Boulder Hoose look BIG...

Myself roosting off Spirit Falls...this is the icing on top of the cake that is known around the world as the LW!

Uncle Ty on his $80 scooter...don’t underestimate this puppy goes 30+MPH... 

In the Pool of Jah Falls!!!! Voke Helmet!

The Boys watching at Spirit.

Doing what Spirit does best...kick ass and take names and break kayaks!!!! 

High levels of stoked pledged the day!!!! :) 

All the boys at the Takeout getting organized trying not to lose all our gear.

Hesh and Chomps!!!! B.D.

Awards up in the mountains sick spot to get rowdy!

Gypsy Livingggggg!

Isaac and I taking winning shots...my night became blurry after that.

Ok, can’t wait until next year. I’m sure the competition is going to be even more stout and the field even more stacked than this year, which is saying something! Once again a huge shout out to all the people who made it out, helped out, showed respect and support!!!!!

Later E.G.

 

"HUCK"

Here is a project that Andy Maser from the old Epicocity videos came out and made while we were filming for Episode 9! We shot some stuff around the BDP mansion and then went and bombed off high water Outlet Falls. He took some simple interviews and edited this short film up! People seem to be loving it and it has been popping up on some major networks and websites this past week!!!! Stoked on the good exposer and a really bad ass stout!!!! Thanks for making the flick Andy! Check it out...



Later E.G.

I'm Teasing you with BFTV Episode 10!

Here is the a look at the next insatallment of BFTV!!!!!!! Keep on watching and sharing!!!!! This Episode features some of the scariest most committing hucks I've done in a while...and when you're running the stouts...sometimes the shit hits the fan. Should be dropping in a 10 or so days! Winning...

Later E.G.

Getting LW-ular!

The Past 4 days in a row myself and a solid group of paddlers have been lapping the Little White Salmon at 4.1-3.9 feet on the bottom gauge. Putting in at the Willard bridge and running the Upper/Lower LW is one of the best and most amazing things you can do in a kayak. The river drops close to 2,000feet in less than 5 miles. It is an endless ride of frothy white goodness from top to bottom! Here are a few Go Pro freezezzzzzz for y'all to enjoy.

Mushroom Tripper...one of the crux's of the Upper LW!

Coming hot into Simon Says...the most technical rapid on the river right now!

The new entry duck into Island Drop.

High Water Spirit Routing!!!!!

Love seeing thisssssssssssss 4.0!

Later E.G.

BFTV EPISODE 9 "go to church"

Here is the ninth installment of Bomb Flow TV!!!! This episode feature Fred and I spending some time with the infamous BDP crew in Hood River OR and the surrounding area. This crew truly thinks of kayaking as going to church...a place of worship to what they believe in. With heavy March rains many of the big dawg water falls in the area where full of water...some for the first time in years! Watch this 24 minute episode of us romping around and going as big as we could for those two weeks! Enjoy and share this video with as many people as you can...

Bomb Flow TV Episode 9 "Go to CHURCH" from BombFlowTV on Vimeo.

Later E.G.