Winter Wonders – January 2010

This has been the coldest winter in the UK for 30 years apparently, which I could well believe as I was wondering what I was doing breaking the ice at the put in at Hurley weekend before last. However our luck changed the following weekend. I could feel the excitement starting to build as the weather forecast came, the snow was due to melt and the rain forecast was looking good. Matty was keen for a day trip and he gathered a small team together. We were planning to head to the Mellte and Nedd Fechan – and we set off at the god-awful hour of 5.30 in the morning. Our hopes were fulfilled as most of the snow was gone when we woke up. We drove through heavy rain and arrived in South Wales around 9.30 in the morning after a quick and naughty stop at MacDonalds to keep our calorie count up. Matty and Mandy had already checked levels and the Mellte was too high. The Nedd Fechan was huge and chocolate coloured – I did not see a single eddy and plenty of trees were down. A group decision was made to head to the Upper Tawe instead. Our attempt to drive over the hill to the next valley along was scuppered when we found a metre of snow at the top of the hill. We had to take the long way around and we ended up getting on the river later than we had hoped.
 
 

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Me on one of the slides on the Upper Tawe

 

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Me on one of the many small “boof” drops on the Upper Tawe

There was still snow on the ground, but the river proved a real gem – we walked up about a km from the put-in in the guidebook - past many sweet little drops, one of which was described by Matty as a “mini Ulla” – we had a great time on the first section. The day continued in a similar fashion – not many eddies were to be had, though, and our progress around the many blind bends with a relatively big group of 5 paddlers, was fairly slow. We found lots more sweet drops and slides – a real playground of a river. As we approached the entrance to the gorge, we had spent around 3 and a half hours on the river and the darkness was drawing close. We decided not to risk the gorge as we weren’t sure how easy it would be to get out if it got dark! I left the river feeling completely satisfied though – great new river, awesome day! Thanks to Craig, Will, Matty and Mandy for a great day. Apologies to Mandy for not getting any decent pics of you!

 

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Matty Nicholas reaches for a big BOOF on the Upper Tawe!

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Will Hatt does his best “Blue Steel” while boofing on the Upper Tawe!
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Craig Ayres disappears over the edge on the Upper Tawe!

The next day came and the river gods continued to smile on us and Marsh weir on the Thames was high – only an inch below the wall (not that I was any good at getting on it despite that). We had a brilliant day in the sunshine, as we enjoyed not only the tropical temparatures (well, it was above zero which seemed tropical in comparison to the weekend before!), but also seeing the much talked-about new Pyranha Molan in action, as Richard had got his hands on one of the few pre-production boats.

 

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Richard Brooks puts the Molan through its paces on Marsh Weir on the Thames

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Joe Bradley shows us some BIG AIR on Marsh Weir on the Thames

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