Pre - Season
Facebook has made April a tough month to be living in Alberta. I am constantly bombarded with awesome photos from Eastern Canada and the Northwest US to get me stoked for the upcoming season, but when I check levels of nearby rivers the pickings are slim. My one solace is knowing once the water starts flowing we'll be creeking until October. Last month Dave Crerar and I were so desperate we paddled the Elbow at a bony 4 cms in the snow, I like this run best at 60 cms.
The one bonus this year is that the new playpark in Calgary is now officially open. The park was built to eliminate the hazard created by the previous weir structure, nicknamed the drowning machine. It's located adjacent to Calgary's busiest highway, Deerfoot, which will lead to hundreds of new people being exposed to kayaking and inevitably more people taking up the sport. It's been pretty useful for me this last week, I've been on the water every day which is helping me get into shape for the upcoming season. I've been alternating between playboating and taking the creeker out for training in preparation for a few of the races I plan to attend this year.
Global TV was out the last couple of days filming, you can check out the article and video here.
