White Water

The rain arrived at the ideal time for me! I happened to be over in Lochgoilhead with my good friend (brother from another mother) Scott Robinson.
Scott's become a pretty handy kayaker (i'd like to say because of my input... but that's probably a lie!) and has been running a lot of the harder rivers on the west coast. We managed to get a really good run down the middle Orchy in a Monday evening which was enough to wet our appetite for something more full on when the rain arrived. The burns were over flowing on Friday as we drove up the road from the 'goil and Scott suggested we check the levels on the Kinglas.
 Arriving at the put in it was apparent there was plenty of water to run this elusive classic and we got on psyched!

 

The Kinglas drains into loch Fyne and requires a lot of water to run. It starts with alpine-esque grade 3 bouncy wave trains with a couple slightly more technical rapids before a portage at a large weir. From there there is a 4+ rapid with more bouncy stuff until it enters the gorge section. The first major rapid in the gorge is described as a grade 6 is some descriptions, but in reality is modern grade 5. With only two of us, there was only one spare to run safety and we opted to walk this, despite being confident in our ability sometimes it's best not to take the risk.

 

The remainder of the river gave continuous grade 4+ boating with lots of "must make" lines. A couple more of the rapids definately warranted grade 5 and gave excellent technical boating with lots of linked moves to make. About two thirds of the way down the river flows through a tunnel and you are plunged into complete darkness for several hundred metres! The rapids enclosed within the tunnel where big bouncy waves and with no light to see by you have to rely on proprioception to make the moves!
With enjoyable paddling all the way down to the loch, it's easy to see why so many people vote this as the best river in Britain.
A quick hitch hike and we got the boats loaded and had time to make a quick run over to the Falloch. Although we didn't have enough time to run the whole river we did manage to "park'n'huck" the falls. These stand around 30ft and with the large amount of water airated at the base i opted to boof and recieved a pretty soft landing.

Scott had run the falls before and decide he wanted to try and reverse freewheel the drop. Unfortuntaely mis-judging the line he landed upside down and suffered a deck implosion... doh!
The following day we met up with Joe Ryan and headed over to the Etive and Allt a Chaorrain, Scotland natural water park!

Whilst some brilliant paddling was had over the last week, the highlight was definately Scott forgetting his over trousers on the Kinglas and having to paddle in his pants!

Summer Time

This summer has turned out to be a real roller coaster time (as life so often is!) with some excellent and varied work.
Throughout the last few months i've continued to work at a lot with Wilderness Scotland on their excellent Sea Kayking trips, and these have definately been on of the highlights of my season. In addition to their Sea kayaking, i've been lucky enough to guide some of their bespoke walking holidays for a range of clients, all who have been lovely and a pleasure to work with.

I have also had a few days at the end of June working with Glenmore Lodge at the Royal Highland
show. This was an awesome experience to work along side such highly qualified and experienced instructors and represent such a prestigious organization. Running an climbing wall at an event such as the highland show is outside of the norm for a centre as the Lodge, but recieved incredible feedback and thanks from the general public. "Inspiring Adventure" is a really important part of why i choose to do this job and it was fantastic to have hopefully inspired hundreds of young folk and their parents to go and discover more of what outdoor sport has to offer.
I have continued to work on a lot of D of E courses and again it's been a pleasure to work with some fantastic groups and introduce them to the mountains.
With the summer rapidly drawing to a close it leaves me seeking more steady employment again for the winter. I hope to remain in Scotland to continue working toward more advanced qualifications and enjoying being in the beauty of the Scottish mountains.