Chaomeister ...

Green stuff.

Roger did good and made the first winter crossing of Tasmania's Arthur Range in winter and climbed Federation Peak as well. His spiel is in the Exped area as well as a Profile of him too.

He's planning something bigger right now that we'll cover soon, so settle back for a nourishing bowl of slime which is what he ate on the Tas trip. In fact all he ate, every day, every meal, for 5 weeks.

He reckon's he was pretty "loose" after that diet .....

Active Antz ...

He may have the same name as an insect but Kiwi Antz Longman has been busy with trips away, kayak festivals, launching the NZ Kayak Buyer’s Guide magazine and testing some of them too. He gives his perspectives in the Profiles area and a Central America Dirtbag trip too. Give him a shout at his blogspot with is in his Profile area.

Antz over Maruia falls, Murchison river in NZ.

Man with a duck ....

Paddler. Duck.

The following introduction from global paddler Honza Lasko brought us in contact with someone who's willingness to take major drops is astounding. Have a look at his profile and the start of the report on his Alaknanda expedition. He's backed by Bliss Stick www.bliss-stick.com and if your Czech is up to speed, have a look at Honza's site www.ww8.cz. His English is better than our Czech, even if he is tough on one item we've got.

“Hello, here is Honza Lasko from Czech Republic. I been travelling last three years around the globe and try to kayaking all the time.

Start really competing in extreme race and did sometimes well, still in the freestyle national team and we all ready start planing big expedition to India on September and October, probably it will be biggest action at least in Europe.

We going by car to India via Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and going to make first descent of Alaknanda, this is source of Ganges.

Anyway, just send me email if you are interesting about this pictures, I would love to have some t-shit or other thing, but whatever, I not care if you want, I send you anyway. Have a good day”. Honza

Main drop Tee Tree Gorge, New Zealand.

Our thanks to ...

All the people who gave the OK to use their shots in a Postcard Series we've had done recently. Really generous of all of you and a gallery of them are in the gear section with credit where it's due.

Give a shout if you want a set or two sent your way and we'll get them posted off. Here's one of them; Dave Prothero off Godafoss Falls in Iceland and thanks to Tim Trevaskis for the pic.

Roll of the Dice .....

"Late December 2006 the mission was finally on! I'd been planning this trip for a while to combine mountaineering and paragliding and the location chosen: Mt.Tutoko in the New Zealand Alps".

Have a look at Dice Inaoka's recent high altitude feat, he's had this one planned for a year, with Tutoko just the warm-up to what's coming. It was a Dirtbag Trip, so it has its own little home there now.

 

Ever considered putting an expedition together?

GSJ on the way to the North Pole

A first ascent of this?

A first decent of that?

Expeditions can be fantastic but they can also be a living hell that sucks the life and cash out of your dreams and turns your best friend into your worst enemy.

If getting things done right appeals, have a look at our Expedition Consultancy Service, which is a pretentious way to say get in touch with Graeme Joy.

We had to put what he offers somewhere on the site, so he get's his own section.

He’s been a huge help to numerous trips we're associated with, so read how he can help you too ……

Why's he The Happy Paddler?

That's Kyme's name for himself but why? He's been to Nepal paddling with Georgia and her friends, is now working in NZ as a rafting guide and is not a dentist like his family wanted.

Put like that, it's pretty damn obvious.

He is a dirtbag, he lives in a hostel to save a buck, so check out both recent trips in the Dirtbag trip section, his Nepal one kicks things off.

And his profile's where that belongs; in the Profiles area ....

Trust me, I'm a Kiwi ...

Snowkiting update .....

Kiting world for us has grown last year with some great options to have a think about. We're really into it during winter '07; see at the Aust Snowkiting page, we've got 3 brands of landkites available, 2 kitesurfing models and mountainboards too.

The boards are great in their own right but are truly useful as an off-snow training aid to become a proficient snowkiter.

If it appeals, we've got this gear in stock now and can even sell it too, the section under our gear explains how it works ....

Chris UK writes...

Brit kayak paddler and instructor Chris Millbank writes:

“Alright Guys.

Hope all’s good over there and have a look at the FTR logo’d up shuttle vehicle and in return, feel free to plug my company here

Ha ha ….. cheers for now. Chris”.

Have a look at his profile and great if you can recommend his services to some novices.

Africa Paddle 2007

Beau Miles is a friend of ours and it’s with pleasure we showcase what he did from January 2007 onwards, for the next 5 months. See the Expedition area for details.

The route of Beau's solo paddle.

7 cups

Radal Siete Tazas National Reserve in Chile looks just a great place, here's official speil on the joint.

"This is a gorgeous reserve, with a surface area of 5,147.51 hectares (11,324.5 acres) whose major attraction is its 7 waterfalls and their respective ‘cups’ (tazas) that the Claro a Molina river has carved over millions of years out of the basalt.

This reserve is characterized by the ecological transition between the drought-tolerant vegetation of the north to the more humid forests of the south. Here you find woods of mountain cypresses and oak trees, diverse species of singing birds like the thrush and the tenca; big predators like the puma and the colo-colo cat, and two marsupials – the yaca and the mountain monkey".

But Fulbright's trip got ugly; he paddled a Class 4 section with a colo-colo cat inside his boat gnawing at his groin.         Colo-cat 1. Sam 0.    See the wounds here

Zach Mitchell goes oldschool style on the freestyle drop on the Fuy. Photo Sam Fulbright.