Trip report: White Nile, Uganda

Africa, I've been dreaming of sufing monster waves in Africa for more than a decade ever since the days of "Wicked Liquid" movies which still continue to blow me away. Finally came the time to make it happen, but then there was the tough decision to head for either the Zam or the White Nile.  It wasn't an easy decision since I had always wanted to surf the Zam but after researching the logistics of both and the fact that the Nile is currently being dammed it turned out to be a no brainer, so we bought tickets to Kampala, Uganda and packed our bags.

Upon arrival in the town of Jinja one of the first people that I even saw was Steve Fisher, I was pretty stoked to talk to him and catch up about the good ol' days of rodeo and within a day or two we were hanging in the bar doing just that.  Just a short Boda ride (motorcyle) from Jinja is the village of Bujagali where all the action happens.  We rolled up to Nile River Explorers campsite and I looked down at the frothy goodness for the first time.  The deck from camp overlooks Bujagali falls which is a series of different rapids that contain no less than 5 different back channels all containing epic class 4-5 drops.  So needless to say I was stoked from the get go, now I just had to find some folks who knew lines to hook up with.  Well, that didn't take to long as I hung out with a group of Brits that were all great paddlers and super fun just hangin with at camp.  A few days later an American named Andrew showed up who had been guiding on the Zam all winter and he was in the same boat needing a paddling partner.  Andrew was a true Godsent for me, he and I ran so much good shit together including the infamous Dead Dutchman, Kalagala, Itanda, and many many more. 

After a few full day trips on the upper with raft groups I started to learn the river a bit but its just so mind blowing the sheer volume involved when any one of 4 or 5 channels still has 10 times the flow of the Snake even when peaking...we're talking hundreds of thousands of CFS here now so it really changes everything that I'd spent 13 years of kayaking learning.  But  damn is it fun, the rapids are so big and yet forgiving and the variety of lines are endless. 

Those days on the upper section made me jonze hard to see the lower stretch that famously cullimnates at the world famous Nile Special and Club waves, the waves so good that they named beers after them. When I finally got down there I wasn't dissappointed.  The lower run was even more fun than the upper for me, the play is just better plain and simple.  At Hair of the Dog, I had to stop throwing airscrews because I was afraid I may had broken my ankle simply from landing so hard, at Special I had a blast just front surfing and throwing side kicks because its just so fast and bouncy that you dont need to do anything else to enjoy the ride, and at Club directly below Nile Special, you could throw any trick you wanted because the huge pile wasn't about to let you flush.  Once down there we stayed several days on an island at the Hairy Lemmon, and this place has absolutly nothing to do but relax and surf, it's just a 5 minute paddle from Special so you just bring a book and surf your ass off. 

The number of international rippers on the scene was impressive to say the least, national team members from all around the world training there, so its fun to just kick back and watch the action when you get tired. 

After a few weeks of the best paddling of my life it was time to head for the beach and some safari for a couple of weeks.  But when it nearly time to go home the river was just to good to leave just yet, so we rented a car and headed to the river for a few more days of epic whitewater and surf.

For anybody considering a trip to Uganda...all I can say is go, and go soon becuase there will be some very good suff lost for good when this damm finally gets finished.
Till next time  remember, we don't tame the white dragon, we're just along for the ride. 

                                                                                                   Snug

ERIC PARKER RUNS SPIRIT/NO PORTAGE L-DUB

For any kayaker who has ever run the Little White Salmon or L-Dub as we like to call it, you know that it is one of the most monumental stepping stones in your whitewater class V career...for one Jackson Hole local, 17 year old badass and Greater Yellowstone Guerrilla, that stepping stone has been crossed. I'd like to send a huge shoutout to ERIC PARKER for his first no portage little white. A no portage involves running spirit falls, which after nearly 100 plus descents still scares the stink out of me. If you've ever coached any young kayakers you understand the pride I feel for this youngster...here's a photo of one of the most memorable moments in this young mans life!

PROUD of you Eric....

Austin R.

Winter / Spring 2010

Winter having never fully shown up, I spent an excessive amount of time dreaming about kayaking this winter. Although a few really good days of skiing did occur this winter, in comparison to a typical Jackson Hole winter, this one stunk.  

 

 One of the few, really good days on Cody Peak this winter

Finally in late February the winter flows of the Snake rose enough to bring in a low-water surf spot that only sees action from the most water-hungry of paddlers. Typically the "winter wave" as it's called, is surfed by die-hard kayakers in the late fall and early spring. Fed-up with the marginal skiing, Matt Domeland, Elliot Bucholz, Sam Lowenthal and myself (Austin Rathmann) all began making multiple trips a week down to winter wave. We were rewarded with "marginal" kayaking  at best, but as any die-hard kayaker knows, "marginal" kayaking, beats just about any other pastime on it's best day.

                      Austin R. surfin it up early season

Matt Domeland, practicing some freestyle

Elliot Bucholz,  Mcnasty anyone?

After a few weeks of mediocre surfing and one miserable road trip to the Casper, WY, playpark for more mediocre surfing, our brains started to seek out other whitewater thrills. The idea soon developed to find a way to get in to run the Henry's Fork River, and Mesa Falls. Our first attempt resulted in an hour and a half hike in through the snow to Lower Mesa Falls. A Huck-Fest ensued and we all felt slightly satiated but were hungry for more. We returned home and the plan to find a friend with a snowmobile began. Sam had a friend with a snowmobile who was more than excited to tow three kayakers several miles up the Henry's Fork so that we could get a little more action, and of course the always classic huck at Lower Mesa one more time. 

After driving to Ashton early in the morning, Elliot, Sam and myself tied three throw ropes to the snowmobile and tossed around a few jokes as to how this was going to work. Despite all the skepticism, the snowmobile towed the three of us perfectly and speeds on the straightaways, ultimately reached 45 miles/hour. With several feet of snow still blanketing the area and all roads under snow, I had some difficulty finding the put-in and ultimately had us put on about 2 miles below the good whitewater. Despite my failures as a guide, we had a fun paddle down to Upper Mesa falls and a fairly painless portage around the unrunnable upper falls.

We continued downstream to Lower Mesa and enjoyed our second huck-fest in as many weeks. Seeing as it wasn't even March 15, yet we were stoked to have had such a fruitful pre-season.

Austin R. on Lower Mesa's first drop

All tied in one line for the "tight" spots, snowmobile kayaking is SUPER FUN!

An odd site if I might say so myself

Hiking through the snow, Mesa trip 1

Austin R. Sailing off the Diving board, February 2010

The Weather in Jackson never came around to let boating season truly begin, so two weekend trips occured in April. Trip one, to the Black Canyon of the Bear in Southeast Idaho, Trip two, The North Fork of the Payette, Banks, Idaho. The Bear was releasing on a Sunday only, so we made the trip down and had an incredibly fun time running our first class IV/V of the year with about 100 other boaters from Utah Idaho and Wyoming. 

A week later, Matt, Elliot and I all decided to escape the J-Hole weather again and drive to the North Fork of the Payette. Matt and Elliot were North Fork newbies and I was super stoked to take them down. We arrived at the Payette late one thursday afternoon and immediately put-on. Mat and Elliot were super fired up on the upper 5 and both had incredible lines through Nutcracker. We met up with my friend Micah Kneidl on the Middle 5 and good lines continued all the way through Bouncer down the Middle, but at Pec fate stepped in. Fatigued from the drive and 7 miles of non-stop whitewater Matt, flipped in Pec and got beat up by some rocks on the river-bottom. after several roll attempts Matt swam and felt first hand why people say you don't want to flip, much less swim on the North Fork.

We scooped matt from the river quickly(quickly in North Fork Standards) but his boat and paddle were moving downstream. Matt was feeling beat up but no worse-for-the-ware and Micah and I continued downstream after the boat/paddle. I quickly found/recovered matt's paddle and as I went downstream, saw Micah had retreived the kayak. both were in perfect shape miraculously, so we continued down to Jake's to take out and regroup with the crew.

All tired from driving/paddling we opted to take off for the day and tackle a top-to-bottom the next day.

After a relaxing night of Hot-Springs, Elliot and I put on the next morning for a full top to bottom. Matt's shoulder was feeling off so he opted to take photos/drive shuttle. The next 3  hours were a sweet sweet welcome back to one of my favorite rivers on the planet and an incredible introduction for Elliot. We paddled all 15 miles with Elliot walking Jake's and myself choosing to give 'er a go. At the bottom  my soul was refreshed and Elliot looked like a kid who'd just been to his first amusement park. It was a perfect day, and we would return home the next morning all smiles and excitedly anticipating the whitewater waiting around the corner.

Austin R. returns to the Maw that is Jacobs Ladder after 2 long years away

Austin R. Rock Drop, Jacobs Ladder, NF Payette

Elliot and Austin, buried in the business, NF Payette

 

Elliot and Austin workin their way down the North Fork

On a side-note, the following photo popped up on the GYGK Facebook page the other day, definately some Guerrilla Goodness...