Over the last 6 years or so I’ve been to HPP for various reasons BCU conferences or watching friends compete in Slalom comps there to freestyle events and always looked at the water and thought wow that looks a lot of fun but more challenging from what I’m used to paddling on small grade 2 and coaching in a flat water lake.
But after all these years building it up in my head to be this big killer course only for the most experienced paddler the time had come to face my fears and see just how bad it really was J
Well what can I say it has got to be one of my best days paddling ever, looking at the course from the top of the bridge the first thing I saw was the inlet gate which is a smallish stopper and as I’m scared of stoppers this was not a good start in my head but from simply just paddling through it I was clear of it and relieved at the same time.
The next section of the course was slightly wider section of moving water which was great for me to get more confident on before moving off downstream to the bigger sections below, so we spent some time here doing some ferry’s and getting my edges and angles correct and breaking in and out trying not to use a bow rudder all the time but using just your body rotation and speed, angle and edge, although I found this hard at first trying to change a stroke that I’ve been using for a few years I soon began to understand the concept and it was much smoother and has a more solid feel to it whilst crossing the eddy lines ( which i have to say were a fastest and boililest ones I’ve ever been on so far)
Once I was crossing this section well we moved another step further down the course to my first real stopper again terror took over but after I was taught the correct way to approach the stopper and how to lock and load my paddle and pull through the cushion wave on the top I felt ready to give it a go, the first time my timing was all wrong due to fear so made it through ok but only just felt, it slowed me down no end but I was still upright and alive so all was good! After a few more go’s I was getting there and was not worried about it at all just enjoying the session so much. It also helped that for March the sun was shining and it was really hot and it felt refreshing to be getting splashed and cooled down after all the hard work paddling I was doing.
So then onto the next section of the course below from jumping out of my kayak and looking downstream again the terror once again took over at everything that was going on below wave after wave and stopper after stopper wow would I survive I asked myself, It was not the rolling or the capsizing that worried me really more the fact that if I did swim where would I end up and how far would I be washed down before being able to get myself out or be rescued? Worry I need not after lots more expert advice and demos I was ready to rock and roll and get back on the water,
I first watched my Son Harry paddle down through the biggest stopper on the course and into the next one and then safely break out it was my husband’s turn to have a go I was feeling still on the edge of shall I run it or walk round and get in below but for once in a long time I felt safe and I knew I was being looked after and if I didn’t do it today when would I get over my fear and do it, So Richard’s go had arrived and he got through the first big stopper fine only to get his exit a little bit off to one side and he was spun round and slammed into one of the omiflots there! Ouch I thought I’m not doing that!
So that was it decision time! Shall i shant i? It’s now or never I thought so let’s do it the feeling I was going to get afterwards when I arrived safely in the bottom eddy after running the 2 stoppers was the best feeling ever! I could hardly breathe with all the excitement and adrenaline that was going through me, But wow it was so worth it.
From then on I felt so much more confident the most i’d felt in years nothing could stop me now, We moved on down through the rest of the course and worked out way across sections of the flow over waves through stoppers and down drops it was the best feeling on earth and the more we did the more confident I felt so all of my paddling improved and I was getting in the eddies tighter and pushing just that little bit harder and when I was asked to lead on some of the course that was also a challenge but one I took up with enthusiasm off I went finding my own way and spotting my own eddies whilst everyone else followed me down.
At the very end of the course there was one last stopper called the washing machine I have to say I had a bit of a shock when I first went through this one wasn’t very visible from above so was not to good and on thinking to myself well this can’t be that bad I’ve paddling through the biggest one and I was fine so off I went, only to be slightly surprised when I got to the top of the drop and saw it wasn’t quite straight across the river but at a angle I paddled on the best I could and hoped for the best I came up the other side and felt myself get pulled backwards wow I’ve never paddled so hard to get out of it, But again there I was there safe and well and on the other side at last, and at the bottom of the course phew!
I went onto run this section two more times after understanding how no matter what angle a stopper is on the river you must always attack it straight on and once I understood that i was all go!
At the very end of our days training we did a confidence boost swim and i had to jump into the course above the washing machine stopper roll into a tight ball go through the stopper out the other side then try as hard as I could to swim out of the very fast flow and into the eddy wow exhausting is about all I can say about that but it was fun and so much so I had another go.
So to sum it all up at the start of the session before getting on the water had to be my scariest moment before paddling a new section of water turned out to be the best paddling experience ever and so much that I’ve already booked my session back up there again to get back on the water and attack those stoppers again!
Cant wait!
Sammy Jackson
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