Photo by Sandy MacEwan
The Big Magnum has arrived in New Zealand!!!
Check out Andi Url’s Paddle Power on the North Island, or Canoe & Outdoor World on the Mainland to get yer hands on your very own Big Magnum or Big Thunder…both recently imported and stocked for your liquid performance pleasure!
I was lucky enough to receive my Magnum 80 a few weeks before exams, just in-time for a wee summer-break-preview roady. (CLARIFICATION: The trip was wee, and while weeing was performed many times on the trip, it was not the focus of the roady… river ridin’ could be better-described as the focal point of our mission to experience the best of what NZ snowmelt has to offer.) What follows here are a few thoughts and images from the trip.
Photo by Nick Gordon
This boat inspires CONFIDENCE!!! After a rather epic two-day trip on the Upper Waiau, and then driving most of the night south to the Waikaia, I was stoked to finally get my new boat on some steep water. The extra volume of the 80 sat me much higher than my 72, giving me the confidence to run some new lines and rapids on the mighty Waikaia. The beast pictured above, (being one of them) had a tricky entrance which involved riding over a weird curling seam at the lip…needless to say I was glad to finally be in the Big Boy!
Photo by Nick Gordon
The famous “Waterfall of Death.” This two-tiered charge-fest has dished out some interesting lines in the couple trips I’ve made down to it. Sometimes inducing rather frantic paddling, and other-times giving some givers some of that good ol’ fashioned wall love…it’s bound to get yer heart rate up, even if yer just portaging! After seeing two lines produce one of each of the previously mentioned results, I decided to try the river-right-slot entrance to the monster. Boofing in so close to the lip put you in a much more exposed position, however at the same time it looked like if hit correctly the line would set you up much better for a squeaky line off the second drop…
Photo by Nick Gordon
Reaping the rewards of a big drop and a big boat! The 80’s volume kept me on-top of the water upon landing, and its speed helped me accelerate out away from the danger of the nasty pocket on river right of the second drop, (to my right in the picture above). After plugging the second drop my first time running it a few weeks prior, I was stoked to be soaring off it this time with my boat a bit more horizontal!
Photo by Nick Gordon
The Waikaia River is one of New Zealand’s classiest runs. Here I am exiting one of the longer rapids on the run…the link-up contains a very tight entrance, which opens up into a swirling ledge-hole that leads into the run-out, (which is what you can see in the picture above). Even with the increased length and width of the 80, the original hull’s maneuverability was un-touched in the new design, making tight corners smooth, and fine-tuned mid-rapid adjustments to your line intuitively easy to make.
Photo by Nick Gordon
The next classic on the list of rivers was the Nevis River, which we found at quite a solid flow. Here I am dropping into the enduring ‘Freight Train.” Having entered the rapid too far to the right, I was forced to charge down the guts of this rapid, lining up the meat of each hole and feature present. Due to the Big Magnum’s carefully tucked away edges (extending along the back 2/3 of the boat) I wasn’t punished nearly as much as I thought I would be! The edge’s tucked away nature provided the stability to stay upright through some serious meat, at the same time as providing the much-needed speed to get that extra momentum out of one or two quick strokes.
Photo by Nick Gordon
Steep, long, and complex are the three words which come to mind when attempting to describe the character of this river. Here I am coming in hot to the last “section” of one of the steepest, longest and most complex rapids on the river, “Little Brother.” Lucky for me, the Big Magnum was created because of the existence of such rapids like Little Bro.
Photo by Nick Gordon
After ending our day on the Nevis with a bit of an epic (a serious injury and evac to one of our team members) we made our way up the coast in hopes of more widespread water. However, just before Hoki, in the town of Ross, they got word that Riot’s latest and greatest creation was going to bless the town with its presence. They decided to honor the occasion with a fireworks display…it was much appreciated.
Photo by Nick Gordon
The next day we found blue skies, and still a good chunk of water sticking around, so we flew up the Taipo River, a river the guidebook accurately describes as “a must do.” The extremely continuous nature of this run tested the 80’s “On-yer-toes ability’ quite well. Due to the hull of the 80’s unparalleled initial AND secondary stability, along with its quick 0-60 speed, the 80 passed with flying colors. Here’s a shot of me on a rapid named “Showcase.”
If an on-top journey is what ya like, and a little bit o’ speed make ya feel alright. The 80’s got that and a helluva lot more, so get to yo paddle shop and open the door!
Reporting LIVE from Summer Break on the under belly of the world…Where the sun doth shine, the moon doth glow, and the rivers doth flow. This has been Cooper Lambla telling you in all sincerity this time, to go BIG UP YO SELF!!! Peace out girl scout.
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Team Riot:
Team Riot:
Team Riot:
