Canada Day

"The Ashlu is running this weekend".

That's all the text from Brad said, but that's really all I needed to hear.

I met up with a bunch of engineers a little North of Seattle and we all piled into Mike Nash's beast of a van.

The drive never seems that far when you're sitting at your desk or packing up the truck to leave, but once you get on I5 and start heading North its a whole different thing.


We got to the border pretty quickly but getting through Vancouver was a little bit hairy... but that's another story for another day.



 

After a late night and a rough morning we started to assess our surroundings. We were not planning on meeting anyone until Sunday and there was enough water coming into the reservoir that the Mine was in.


While I had a few Ashlu Box laps under my belt, I had never paddled the Mine so I had to jump on that opportunity. We met a sicko paddler name Palo and Alicia drove up for the day as well. So we all piled into the van and started up the sketch-ball road that leads to the Mine put-in.

  

Palo's girlfriend is a saint and agreed to drive up with us to run our shuttle so all that was left was the short drive to the top and the potential case of tetanus from all the scrap metal you get to hike around.

A short hike through the woods deposits you at the very top of this thing:

When I asked Brad what level looked like he kind of shrugged and grinned. So who knows. I thought it was incredible! The Mine is a blast.

Some Devil's Club anyone?

All in all, a great weekend spent with some awesome people. Thanks to Brad and Palo for showing us noobs down the Mine.





Here are some of the highlights from the paddling sessions that weekend including the Mine, Mini Mine and the Box:






Canada Day on the Ashlu River from daniel patrinellis on Vimeo.

SeaGnar 2015

The 2015 SeaGnar has come and gone. If you were able to make it out; thank you for supporting the event and hopefully you had a good time. Thank you to our awesome sponsors who made this event possible!

We started the evening off with two videos. The first is this awesome video by last year's SeaGnar winner: Mike Hagadorn

Mike gives us some awesome ariels and the boys up in Leavenworth show off some classic moves on Tumwater Canyon. Check it out!


Tumwater Canyon & Freefly Systems from Tom Potter on Vimeo.


We followed up with this year's version of the Chelan Gorge Experience. It took a long time to flesh this thing out so thanks for waiting. It was awesome to see so many new faces on the river this year.

Chelan Gorge - 2015 Release from daniel patrinellis on Vimeo.


From here Tom O'Keefe had a chance to talk about some of the important issues we have regarding our waterways here in the PNW. Ernie's Gorge is back in the spotlight as Black Canyon Hydro has filed its License Application for the Black Canyon Hydropower Project (FERC No. P-14110) on the North Fork Snoqualmie River. You can read more about this terrible idea here. There is also a renewed interest in putting a hydroelectric dam on the Skykomish river. Please keep an eye out on social media and on AW to see if there is anything you can do to help stop both of these projects in their tracks.




This year Christian Knight took home the win with this awesome video about why it's important to get your kids out in nature. A great film from a great kayaker and father. Check it out:


Why we teach you from Christian Knight on Vimeo.

The people voted and Christian crushed the competition and took home a new Maximus Prime life Jacket from Kokatat.

Come on down and claim your prize!

Great work Christian, looking forward to more of your videos.

The next five videos were all entered and although awesome, didn't hold up to the charm that Christian's video contained.

Here is Megan Kelly's video: America's Sweetheart.



America'sSweetheart from Megan Kelly on Vimeo.


Next is Andy Lockey's entry: Ridiculous. Andy came in at second place and took home a brand new rand sprayskirt from Snap Dragon.

Andy may have also just started a new tradition for SeaGnar. Second place booty beer?

Now we have another Chelan video with some cool editing. Cooper Fitch's Chelanigans 2k15.



Chelanigans 2k15 from Broken Paddle Productions on Vimeo.


Ellie Wheat gave us this awesome video about the all girls trip down to Ecuador.



Ecuador - Ellie Wheat from SeaGnar Film Fest on Vimeo.

And Dave Fusilli takes us on a ride down all the Hood River classics in the new 9R.


9R Cascade - Dave Fusilli from SeaGnar Film Fest on Vimeo.

Honorable mention!

These videos were all either submitted a little too late or we just didn't have time for them at the event. Either way, please do not be discouraged and try again next year! Thank you for entering the contest and I'm looking forward to next year's contributions.

Brett Barton with Bridge Creek in the North Cascades.


Bridge Creek in the N Cascades from Creek Sides on Vimeo.


Nick Baughman with his take on the Chelan adventure.



Chelan Gorge 2015 Whitewater Kayaking from Nick Baughman on Vimeo.


Mike Smith with his video: 2015 PNW Classics.







Chris Haenisch submitted: Calawah & Sitkum Double Header. Some great pack-rafting in here.







And that's all she wrote!

An event like this is not possible unless a lot of people help, so a lot of thanks are in order: Thank you to Snap Dragon, Teamscum and Kokatat for providing prizes for our contestants. Thank you to Silver City and Dave Fusilli for providing the beer to keep the masses hydrated and stoked. Thank you to Tom O'Keefe for all the hard work you do to make sure that we have access to these amazing waterways. Thank you to Dan at Cascade Paddlesports for lending us his space and his patience for the event. And thank you Sara for being awesome and all the support you provide.

And thank you to everyone that chipped in for the American Whitewater donation. We raised over $600 for an amazing organization.

Until next year.

2015 SeaGnar info

Ok folks, the SeaGnar cometh!

Last year was awesome. About 100 of our best friends all crowded into the local kayak shop, in the middle of a rainstorm, and watched kayaking videos. Then we voted for the video we liked best.
Mike Hagadorn stole the show with this video: The Grand.



The Grand from Cloud Level Media on Vimeo.

We had fun last year so let's do it again! Our longtime friends at Silver City Brewery have graciously donated beer to our cause and the boys at Snap Dragon have donated to the prize fund, so get stoked!
We will be raising money for American Whitewater, so bring some cash and a thirst.

If you want to enter the contest, send me a video! It needs to be 6 minutes or less and I need your video the week before the event. The sooner the better.

A panel of judges will review all submissions and submit the 6 they feel are a cut above. We will watch all the videos and vote at the end. The winner will get prizes, or a prize. Probably something.

And an autographed picture of Rob.

Email me for information if you're interested in submitting a film. I look forward to hearing from you. Email me at drpatrinellis@gmail.com

If you just want to come watch carnage videos, drink good beer and get awesome; Cascade Paddlesports will be hosting us again in Redmond, WA.
Saturday, December 12th at 7 pm.

Cascade Paddlesports
(425) 430-0111
15143 Ne 90th St
Redmond, WA 9805

The 2015 Chelan Gorge Recreational Release

Oh sweet, sweet Chelan.

This year was the largest turnout to date. It seems like I'm saying that every year, but I guess a good thing can't help but get bigger and better over time.

Every September the Chelan PUD gives us kayakers one weekend of recreational release into the Chelan Gorge.

The locals set out some furniture for us. So sick!

The Chelan Gorge recreational release came to fruition on an overcast day, deep in Chelan County. 2015 was the first year that I've needed to wear a drysuit in the gorge, but the cold weather on Saturday just meant the stoke had to be that much higher.

Darren rallies into the first ledge in Entrance Exam.

Nobody ever talks about how fun the first slide is. It would be a named rapid if it wasn't above Entrance Exam.

Entrance Exam gets the most media coverage and the most respect because it's the longest rapid on the run. I would say it's the toughest. And it's the first rapid. So yeah, that's fun.

Entrance Exam consists of four parts: The entry slide.

The first Ledge.

The second Ledge.

Finally the third (and stickiest) Ledge.

The Crowd goes wild.

The combination of a higher than normal turnout and an overall lower number of Chelan veterans on the roster Saturday morning lead me to believe that the carnage reel would be well padded this year. I believe I took the over/under at 7 swims for the first day.

On the contrary, the Chelan virgins absolutely crushed the run. It was awesome to see some new faces and to meet some new boaters, it means the word is traveling and people are seeing the value in the Chelan recreational release

Next year we'll bring the couch too.

Time to move on.

Next up is the Chelan Slide and Meatlocker. A scary ferry to a fun rock slide. Or a chance to op-test your sprayskirt.

The Chelan Slide:

The Meatlocker:

Tom was swiping right the whole time.

Teamwork keeps you out of the Meatlocker. Ben took one for the team and set "Safety" for those who went for the ferry.

But some people look for it.

And give it. These guys all had sicko lines on the Meatlocker. Crushfest.

The Point of no Return. Just past The Chelan Slide is Super Boof. An awesome cross-current right stroke boof into bliss. A fast moving pool puts you right above Throne and Pinnacle. This is one the sickets boofs in the canyon and also the most mellow. It's a nice break from the deathgrip the rest of the run requires.

Darren shows us an alternate Super Boof line.

The Team rallies through Super Boof on their way to Throne.

Dan Rubado.

Ryan Young.

Jeremy Bisson.

Throne awaits.

Throne is a fun move, but still retains some nail-biting factor as a couple of carped rolls means you get to run Pinnacle without a scout.

Todd sporting the new Dagger Nomad.

The Dufey drops in.

Pinnacle awaits just down stream.

Since Rob McKibbon got the first D on this thing a couple years back, the number of peeps running it has steadily climbed. This release weekend was no exception. We got to see some awesome lines... and some lines that make you thank whoever thought of putting a face mask on a kayak helmet.

Safety is key, as a significant portion of the run-out of Pinnacle Falls flows directly into a massive boulder sieve pocket on river right.

How's it look fella's?

Jeremy Bisson, Pinnacle Falls.

Todd Wells, Pinnacle Falls.

Pinnacle Crushfest.

Jeremy and Tom Marley decided to give Pinnacle a go in the raft. Video to follow...

We all know it's not over until the Fat Lady sings! Nick charges the last nasty spot before the takeout while Darren stands by with a helping hand.


The Fat Lady is less of a rapid and more just a sieve-pile you get to kayak over.

So. Another year in the books. Another sick canyon kayaked. Thanks to everyone that made this weekend possible. I love it!

Thank you to American Whitewater for gaining us kayakers access to this amazing river. Thank you to Chelan PUD for the warm welcome and hospitality. 

While I find time to finish editing all this carnage footage, Check out a teaser from this year's release.



2015 - Chelan Teaser from daniel patrinellis on Vimeo.

Until next September, gnome what I'm sayin?