Still alive

Alright everyone so last time I wrote I was in Norway and on a fast track to the white Nile with no money just trying to get by for a few more months to stay out of nz for more of the winter! Since ariving here I've worked most days and have decided to stay on till mid November after the last Nile river festival! In a few weeks I'll b done with work making raft videos and will have some time to chuck up some pics and some clips from a wee project I have been working on! Till then, don't stress I'll be back online again soon! See ya then

Over the Fijord and far away

With a day off to nurse the hangover and do a bit of board surfing on the local wave it became apparent that my time here in Norway was almost over! I could fit in one more trip but where to go?? Then i heard a knock at the door and Dag ame up and asked if i wanted to head across the Hadanger Fijord and up to to mountain tops to run a river with some cool slides on it and camp the night. My time here in norway has been Hot, and ive been in a house every night so the thought of getting a camping trip in was top on the list! We loaded up the cars and headed South toward the fijord. After a few hours of driving and a quick ferry ride we were at the river.

-Everyone sheltering from the rain at our camp by the road - Photo Josh Neilson

-A Clear patch in the night enough to get a fire going and warm up the feet! - Photo Josh Neilson

- The darkest point of the night at about midnight - Photo Josh Neilson

Through the trees we could see glimpses of slides in the distance which we knew we would see closer the next day! At the top on the mountain where is flattens out (Vida) which felt like the moon or some foreign planet, we set up camp along side the river and the road and settled in for a nice dinner, fire and good sleep! Early next morning we got up and drove a few Kms up the road and hiked across the Vida towards where the river was.

- Making our way across the barren landscape - Photo Greg Dashper

-A quick shortcut across a lake on the hike in - Photo Greg Dashper

- I can see the river valley in the distance but its not getting closer! - Photo Greg Dashper

A few hours in and we could see a nice gorge and a sweet drop to start us off!

-Drop number one on the river, a good start - Photo Greg Dashper

- Greg Dashper having a go too - Photo Aril

It was not long and we were back at our camp spot and where we needed to portage round a section dry from a dam! After some lunch and a quick drive we were bck on the river below the dam. From here the river was slide - lake - slide - lake!

-Dag going left on a nice slide! - Photo Greg Dashper

perfect way to end the norway trip! In the pools we chatted about our summer and other missions and then every few minutes we had to fire ourselves up and run the slides! The biggest one on the river required a bit of thought! You had to roll in, hit a pool, push right on a shallow but fast ledge but not too far right, then boof off a drop onto a slide and pillow then come out down the slide and off a kicker into the pool!

-Josh Neilson at the top of the big drop - Photo Greg Dashper

-And again on the kicker at the bottom, Sweet drop! - Photo Greg Dashper

-Dag coming out the bottom of the big drop - Photo Greg Dashper

-Greg showing us the way on the last big one - Photo Josh Neilson

-Aril going left about to take a paddle to the face - Photo Greg Dashper

What a sweet drop! stoked with this trip and would recomed this river to others for sure! At the bottom we were stoked and loaded up and headed back to Voss! A quick ferry and short drive and we were home sweet home!

-This Drop is downstream of our take out and what looks like a sweet section below too - Photo Josh Neilson

Well temporary home at least! One more day here to sort my things and then back to Uganda! Im really looking forward to being back there and seeing old friends! The Blogs from here may slow down a bit due to the internet speed etc in Africa but keep coming back and reading! Ill update as much as i can!
PEACE

Tunnel drop and kittle Breaker

For a while there my trip was all consumed with traveling, racing on controled sections of water and the party scene around the races. While this is fun it does lack the adrenalin hit required to run this human being! With a now limited 4 days left in Norway we knew we had to get some drops under our belts! At the end of the last post I was rushed out the door and off to check out Nosebreaker, the Tunnel drop and Kittlebreaker falls. At Nosebreaker we were met by a huge flow and no one that keen to follow in IG's footsteps and run it to the bottom!

-Sam Sutton in the light before the darkness of the tunnel - Photo Will Clark

So back at the car we headed 5 more minutes up the road to the Tunnel. This is an interesting drop because it once used to be a waterfall but the train needed to go over it so they dug out the river above and made a tunnel for the river to go through and the train now goes nicely over where the waterfall once did! Last year i was in a self inflicted bout of sickness and didnt get to run this drop but this year was fired up to get on it! standing at the top it was about double the flow and far more intimidating! Sam and Dylan went first right after each other to act as safety for each other on the other side if one was to break a paddle etc. Dylan lost part of a blade and did the bottom bit upside down but all sweet!
Next up I ran and the boys set up cameras and safety at the bottom and top. I was a little left than planned but came down the tunnel at full speed and out the bottom into the hole and backwards into the pool! good fun times!
Will took it next and got his paddle stuck inside the cave which got ripped out of his hand and ran the rest paddleless! A nice hand roll at the bottom and all was good!
Next up was Kittlebreaker! From the tunnel you have about 100m then the water falls down a rolling drop with some kickers to keep you on your toes!

-Sam Sutton about to stomp it! - Photo Will Clark

-Dylan tucking for the plug - Photo Will Clark

Sam landed flat and soft, dylan followed with a nice plug and then i folowed with a similar line but had a hard impact. Somewhere in there i hit rocks, my paddle, my boat and lots of water. Im not sure how long i was stuck in there for but I am very happy for the autonomous skill of rolling!

- Josh Neilson coming down the tounge - Photo Sam Sutton

- Going round at the bottom not knowing I was Kayaking - Photo Sam Sutton

Without knowing what I was doing I came out rolled and then tried to figure out what i was doing! Ok im in my kayak, there is a waterfall, i must be kayaking.... "Josh, Josh, Josh" I could hear from Sam on the rock above me. "Are you ok?".......... "I guess so, Shit, Im kayaking arnt I?''. My paddle was backward and I was a bit dizzy but all good! Todays injuries were a fat chin, smashed nose and a throbbing head! not too bad! I got out and waked round a bit then filmed Will coming off with a sweet line!

-Will Clark in the meat - Photo Sam Sutton

Jamie decided to fire up the bottom slide with a sweet line but the rest of us were too beaten to carry on today! This time we were home in time to get in a few beers and a BBQ on the beach! great way to end the day!
As i write this I am once again being dragged out the door on another mission! This time the kayak stays at home and we have surf boards on the roof! Off to a wave at the end of the lake here in voss where it drains into the river. Sunny day on the river bank doin a bit of surfing! enjoy!

Jordalselvi, Voss, Norway - Beautiful!

Michelle Ramazza getting air about to smash the ribs- Photo Josh Neilson

Right now the NZ dollar is worth about 4NOK Norwegian Kroner. And for that 4NOK you can buy....... nothing. and if you double it...... still nothing! If you want a liter of gas your looking at about 12NOK or $3nz!!! We all need gas to get to the river and its worth it when you get to paddle these amazing rivers in the sun! The weather has been great for over a week reaching 40deg yesterday, so when you get off the river it would be nice to sit down and enjoy a cold beer.... Well if you want to take that option for the evening you are looking at the cheapest beer possible for over $50nz for a 6pack! And for some reason if you decide to do this after 6pm your out of luck because after then you can not buy alcohol! So as you can imagine this has not often been the direction of our evenings! Instead we have drunk a lot of cuts of tea!

-Dylan trying to get out from the falls - Photo Josh Neilson

Due to the low NZ dollar and expensive living here in Norway the back account has taken a battering! Plans were to go up to Sjoa festival in a few weeks and compete in 1 last race for the year then head out to africa at the end of the month or possibly try find some work then head to africa in September. But a quick look at the account it became apparent that this was not going to be easy or possible at all really!
So after hours of tying to book cheap flights online and it never working out I waited till 11.30pm here when NZ was awake and at work and called Graci at the flight center in Hastings and she sorted me out! within a few hours we had a plan and I was off to Africa. The plan now is to spend 3 months in the pearl of africa, Uganda to kayak and film a segment for the upcoming film and take the money from the last film to the clinic!

- The first drop on the river, Jamie Sutton - Photo Josh Neilson

During all this flight booking mahem we have whipped out a fe times and yesterday we got on the Jordalselvi for a late afternoon bomb down the goods! The run starts off with a sweet little drop above a nice 10 or so meter waterfall.

- Michele feeling good but not for long! - Photo Josh Neilson

The flow was close to double what I had done it before and the boil at the bottom was looking juicey! I had a sweet line but the imapct hitting the boil was a hard one and spat me right out into the wall.

- Josh Neilson on the main falls about to impact with the boil at the bottom the the wall! - photo Will Clark

Michelle had a good one but hit his ribs on the side of his kayak and possibly broken ribs and the rest were all good too! we made our way further into the gorge and ran out of camera battery but everything was good! we had one portage which was definatly runnable but a very long and fine line! right after that was another sweet 8-10m drop and then we were pretty much done!
Happy days out! we took off at 9m and home in time to cook dinner by 10 and bed by midnight!

- Jamie Sutton running a small version of Troutpool Falls! styling it obviously! - Photo Josh Neilson

I have a few days more here in Norway so hope to get a few more posts up of this amazing place! The boys have just arrived to pick us up and go kayaking, sounds like tunnel slide and maybe some other falls so see ya later!


- This is Sam running a drop over the fijord from here that they did a few days ago - Hes small in there! -Photo Will Clark

Voss Extreme week and beyond!

-Trying to get a boof in tired from racing - Arnstein Karlsen

Hey where have I been and where has the last few weeks gone!!!??? So since the epic mission in Italy I caught a cheap and somewhat dodgy plane from a small airport east of Milan to a small airport out of Oslo, Norway where a friend, Val and I drove a few more hours to her place in a cool little ski village called Geilo. We spent a bit of time relaxing after out Italy partying and one day trip to germany! Once we had slept and eaten enough we were hankering for a bit of solid whitewater! (solid as in difficult not frozen!)
We ran the Zambezi section of a river possibly called the Dagalli but possibly I just dont remember!

- Brandseth race - Photo Kjell Håkon Larsen

Anyway that was awesome and had some nice big holes in it with a solid flow! Just what the doctor ordered!
Then it was time to get to Voss to see Mike and Margis and pick up Will from the airport in Bregen. Back at Margis and Mikes was awesome catching up with them and also Greg and Kristy who were out here last year too! Next up was preperation for Extreme sports week! An epic week of racing, partying and long day with even longer nights! We also set out to make a film for the film cometition but once all shot and ready to edit we couldnt get the footage off for some reason!
- Josh Neilson racing on the Brandseth - Photo Marit Stensby

By the thursday we were ready for racing! The Brandseth River is home to the time trials and teams race and this year it was a good flow, the sun was pumping, there was a jazz band on the side and we were feeling good! First runs were good with Sam taking an early lead but then Mike Abbott came back with a 4 second faster run! Once they made the cut down to 15 I had made it through in 10th and knew I had to go fast to hold that position! Overall i gained 3 places and came in 7th with Michelle Ramazza from italy just beating Sam by split seconds!

- The waterfall on the Brandseth - Photo Marit Stensby


Over the day the sun was scorching and the snow was melting! all the teams for the teams race headed up to the top to run the steeper higher section and it was going off! I have to say it was the scariest race ive ever been in! I ran everything big backwards and got smashed in every hole to where i thought i was going to swim! luckily i didnt and we came in 4th with kiwi team, Sam, Brad and Dylan in 2nd and Mikey Abbott's team once again taking 1st place!
The rest of the week was partying and gearing up for the head to head! I didnt know the lines because I was late due to my kayak being left in town and didnt make it through to the next round but once again this year Kiwis dominated with Sam Sutton in 1st, Mike Abbott in 2nd and Jamie Sutton in 3rd! We done boys!

- A perspective of some of the race - Arnstein Karlsen

Once that was over we heard that one of the best creeks in Norway was running and we had to check that out! we missed it 3 times last year but not this time!
The tiegdale is epic! Driving up the river the road switch backs its way up the valley and as you look down you can see the little village well below you!

-Josh Neilson on the Upper Slide, Photo Will Clark

-Upper slide on the Tiegdalen, Sam Sutton givin'it - Photo Josh Neilson

-Sam Sutton sliding high on the Tiegdale - Photo Josh Neilson

-Dylan Thomson on 'Notter Drop', he Styled in but to most its not a drop!- Photo Josh Neilson

It starts off with some sweet manky rock gardens into the first gorge! Drop 1 is a 8 or 9m S-bend waterfall with a nasty pocket at the bottom! Jamie decided to check it out with an epic swim out but luckily he was all good! the gradient picks up as slide after slide you make it to the bottom! we havent documented the river much due to putting on round 6pm each day as this is when its at its highest from snow melt!

- The best boof in the world, land flat then get ready to fly - Josh Neilson - Photo Dan

- The second of the double - Josh Neilson Flyng - Photo Dan

- The Famous and real 'Double Drop' Sam Sutton letting go! - Photo Josh Neilson

- Ian Garcia showing kiwis how to fly! - Photo Josh Neilson

The last drop is where its at though! the famous Double Drop is a clear favourite and the pictures speak for themselves!
Over the past few days we have been sessioning this river over and over while its round and its awesome! from here we are off to Sjoa so keep an eye out cos there should be some more drops coming soon!
Cheers

-Lake to lake on the Eksigndalen - Josh Neilson - Photo Dan

-Lake to Lake middle drop - Josh Neilson - Photo Dan

Italy Mountain Games, Ivrea, Val Chiusella

Race Day 1 - Footage: Olaf Obsommer, Gauthier Grollemund, David Arnaud
Editing: David Arnaud




-Honza Lasco on the Extreme Race Day 1 - Photo Arnd Schaeftlein

After 26hrs stranded in Milano Linate airport I had a break through and next minute I had a friend of a friend yelling out from his car getting my attention, quickly loaded the car and before I knew it I was on the motor way heading for Ivrea! Kees Van Kuipers was on his was and running a bit late so was on time to call in and save me from my spell in the airport! Within a few hours we were up in the hills but unfortuantly just missed the down river extreme race but good news was already out with Bliss-Sticks, Honza Lasco in 1st and Mike Dawson in a close second!

-The View from my tent the morning after 26hrs in the airport! Happy to be here! - Photo Josh Neilson

That night I got to catch up with the crew and hear horror stories from the race that day! The course is steep and technical and over the day there was broken ankles, ribs and other various injuries from running the Gnar at speed!

-Sam Sutton rolling off the start ramp - Photo Arnd Schaeftlein

Early the next morning was the Teams race! This was the first part of the overall World Championship title! Team Switzerland was missing a paddler due to the day before's incidents so i paddled for them which was an experience running the whole race blind without ever seeing the river before! I got in behind and kept close and rolled off every drop in the same place as who ever was in front in hope they stuck their line so i would too! At the bottom I was stoked to be down, uninjured and back on the river!

- Brad Lauder flying off the upper drops at full speed! -Photo Arnd Schaeftlein


- The Upper Gorge - Photo Arnd Schaeftlein

- Over all 2nd Mike Dawson navigating the upper race course - Photo Arnd Schaeftlein

Team kiwi (Mike Dawson, Jared Mehan and Sam Sutton) took the days top time taking them into the second round 15seconds up on the France!
The races now moved into town down the hill to a beafy slalom course where the boatercross, downriver sprint and the second round of World Champs for teams would be held!
I got a 7th place in the down river which was cool and only 2.6 second behind Italian Filippo Brunetti!

-Mike leading the pack in the boatercross - Photo Josh Neilson

-Louise Jull Coming from the back of the pack to win the Womens Boatercross - Photo Josh Neilson

-Louise Jull keeping focused and winning the womens extreme slalom - Photo Josh Neilson

To split up her slalom tour in Europe, Louise Jull who is traveling round in a truck with Mike Dawson, came to the race and dominated. Unfortunalty she didnt have a kayak to race in for the Val Chiusella race which means she couldnt be eligable for overall winner but she did cleanly win the slalom and Boatercross which was awesome to see!
Next up was the Teams Slalom which I moved down the pack to 27the out of 46 as this is definalty not my specialty but it was a fun race.
The next big event was the teams slalom. This was the second part of the World Champs for teams racing. With some very strict rules of missing a gate a 50sec penalty and also a touch of a gate 50 sec penalty it meant that if any team had even a touch they would be out for sure!

-A touch of NZ in Italy, this flag flew for the kiwi mens world champion team! -Photo Josh Neilson

Team NZ was last to run and with the French having clean and fast lines through the course! This meant that if NZ touched a gate they would loose the title right there! Mike came through the course clean followed by Jared..... Sam was the last to come into the last gate and also hit it clean! NZ took the title for World Champions for teams racing which is awesome!

- Team NZ (Jared Mehan, Sam Sutton, Mike Dawson) World Champion team racers - Photo Josh Neilson

The overall times for every race were added up to find the title for the Teva Cup and Mike Dawson took 2nd place which was another great result for NZ's Extreme racing crew!

Teva Cup Overall 2nd Place Mike Dawson - Photo Josh Neilson

Right after the event I loaded up a car with Valarie Bertrand from Norway and headed on a bit of a mission over night to Germany where she picked up some new kayaks then straight back to Italy to pcik up our kayaks we had left with Filippo.

-On our way to Germany we camped by the river to find this sign early the next morning! -Photo Josh Neilson

We went out for pizza itallian style and then a tour around Verona, Italy! A town we easily passed by on the way but stoked we got to check out! We walked around the city til 3am looking at castles, statues, arena from the Roman time and even checked out the place where Juliet lived and saw the balcony where Romeo stood below! An amazign town rich in history and very beautiful!

-Panoramic view of Verona, our last site before heading to Norway - Wikipidia

-1 of 12 bridges into Verona - Photo Wikipidia

-Verona square! beauty! - Photo Wikipidia

-One of many Castles along the way - Photo Josh Neilson


-Following Team Italy home from the race in Ivrea - Photo Josh Neilson

Straight from there we drove 1.5 hrs and caught a plane Olso Norway and then a 4hr drive to where i sit right now! Back in Norway and looking forward to the next chapter in the 09 mission! Tomorrow we will be back on the river here in Norway and getting ready for Voss Extreme Sports Veko next week! Lets go!

- Hanging with team Italy pre party on saturday! -Photo Josh Neilson