So there I was in my cosy beginners world thinking that portages would be nice and gentle, possibly signed, possibly even surfaced, even with handrails. And true, Skelwith is pretty much like that, fairly well-provisioned for the softees among us who aren’t up to the wetside drop (or is it for the spectators, turning up in the hope of a spot of watery carnage?). But its still no easy feat, even with assistance, lugging an 8ft long 20kg lump of rigid plastic on yer shoulder down a rusty old set of steps and across narrow, wet, rocky ledges. And I can’t believe that other places are anywhere near as well sorted. All of which set me thinking along a couple of different lines ……..

thought #1 : my wetsuit boots are fine in the boat and on the nice tarmacced paths at the Barrage, but out in the big bad world of rocks and tree roots and old barbed wire fences my feet could do with something a bit more robust. Even jumping out to inspect at Clappersgate I felt like a big wuss going ‘ooch ouch’ as Ned strode off across the rocks (to end up suggesting very gently that there was nowt to worry about on the rapids – which turned out to be true). So the search is on for a more robust set of footwear for paddling, portaging and inspecting in.

thought #2 : there must be a trade-off between the scariness/danger of the drop you want to avoid and the difficulty of the portage to avoid it. There must be times when you're actually safer in the boat on the drop than on yer feet on the portage. And surely this must be eased somewhat if you’re more confident on bigger water, and don’t need to portage as often. So, inspired by the Brathay trip (thanks lads) and by CKUK’s supplement on ‘The Next Level' (just the right thing for me - nice one) I headed off to the Barrage feeling up for a challenge, and telling the instructor “I think I’m ready for the next level”. And it paid off too, to some extent - a bit more confidence, and a couple of successful runs of features that had tipped me over in the past.

Of course in moving up to slightly bigger water I did spend a bit more time inverted, checking out the impact-resistance of the submerged concrete bollards ...

Ouch! ( …so that’s why we wear helmets then, would’ve really hurt without one!).

But I definitely feel like I’ve moved up a notch - well go on then, a quarter of a notch - and certainly learned a thing or three. Like how its not necessarily the main feature that’s the biggest problem, it could be the faster water just upstream, which grabbed the flat back end of my GTX and spun me over as I tried to slow down for a better line. Or it could be the boily stuff just downstream, going in all kinds of directions, and which again grabbed by back end and spilled me over as I tried to break out of the eddy. But all in all it was definitely a step up the ladder, another small foothill surmounted, with a better view of the way ahead. I might not be running Skelwith, but I might be able to bypass a few more dodgy portages. Roll on next time.

(Which reminds me – I really must learn to roll …)

Cheers

Rookie :-)

PS : thanks a million to Andy and Julie for the barrage pics

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment