Just some things that I believe to be true about kayaking.
Calm before the storm, clichéd mind games for sure. Lifting the kayaks onto the shoulder; portage on the side of reason without looking, without turning back to look at the fall so often portaged.
A glance is all that is needed, a line, fine and delicate. No definition of thought. The process is far from clinical. It cannot be broken into aspects, into reason without end.
The mind witnesses the window and the glimpse of a chance and the grasp of the elusive. It is a hit to the heart that is searched for, a hit willing to be taken. Pulling all that is pure into the single moment of time. A capsule of stillness, a perfect moment.
The rapid is run, no dreams lay to rest. In that moment it is all open to the elements; the driven form of this illusion. It is open to what we represent in our thoughts as adrenalin. A thought form, a feeling that we cling to. Within the clinging the damage is done. Bravado diverts us from our true goal from the 'pure' form we search.
Only seekers understand the processes. The seeker in search of the truth who abandons all thoughts, feelings, mental illusions and perceptions for the perfect 'pure' moment in time. A moment when time slips from the realms of the rational thought. Where the mind once filled with images of reason and doubt is cast still. This is the reason to run rapids to go inside the disillusion of the masses to witness a 'pure' understanding of the moment between reality and the truth of the real.
The heart now still resting after the rapid run. The chatter has subsided through the stories told.
It is a river run so, so many times each time a new experience. Each time a fresh page. On this occasion I am guiding two friends who have spend the night hours dreaming of this river. Dreaming for an age. In the mind they have built the river into a mystical place. Having never seen it, they expect the worse. Perhaps, without knowing, placing the rapids on a golden platform they look on in humble glory. Does this attach too much to the perceived experience? Does it divert too greatly from the here and now?
At the end after the dust had settled, after the run out rapid away from the walls that have caged in the experience, only then that a conclusion can be drawn. My friends solid boaters and great companions were pushed in this landscape, the mind map perhaps not understood. Here visions of a tossed and torn windswept plateau seemed to embrace them.
Questions are always asked; conversations for whatever reason always resonate with the 'what grade is this' mantra. Those that seek the discharged 'one up manship' charge the grades. They say 'I am a class 5 boater'. They think the world owes them the next big hit, it is this bravado this boasting of pushing the limits that lead to destruction - the praise of peers means the 'truth' of the 'real' experience will forever be out of reach.
We can all have the same fix for thrills if we push our limits. Although this seems not to sit with the 'be all and end all'. For me, like many others the river, sea, still lakes of the earth offer more. Sure, even now I run hard white water but it is not the heart pounding thrill and adrenalin that I chase. It is the battle within to find the 'pure' aspect of the event. This 'pure' is the magic of stillness- of a perfect moment in time. This is all that matters and it can happen any time and any place.
Personally, it is this must make canyon or the lip of a drop, perhaps the ocean swell or the gentle caress of the paddle against the smooth silk water that is only and forever a precursor. A required event in time. It is not the 'pure' 'truth' as the end game.
No matter what you paddle, be it flat calm lazy days or the heart thumping and raging rapids the truth of the pure-real experience is forever available to you.
Friday, 11 June 2010
Monday, 17 May 2010
FREESTYLE & DOWN RIVER
Well well, the sun is out and the birds sing...Its the season for gaining new skills and playing on waves and holes. If you fancy a bash, check this event out.
This May the BCU launch their Freestyle league aiming to encourage more people back to the dark art of rodeo boating. The first event will be hosted by Pyranha at the mighty Tryweryn and results from the day will form the basis of one of the scored that will determine the GB freestyle team this year.
The best 2 out of 4 league event results will be combined to form a league ranking and the winners of the league ranking will be crowned British Champions 2010.
Categories will include Expert/Open in Ladies/Mens and Juniors/Seniors.
Pyranha will also be running fun sessions, coaching all weekend and an all in Boater x on the Sunday. Ranking, scoring and format of events are yet to be confirmed but rest assure this will be a FUN event, for people who just want to get on the water and have a go!
Where: Canolfan Tryweryn , Bala (BCU freestyle will take place on the top wave above the Chipper)
When: 22nd -23rd May
Cost: Entry to Freestyle event £5 Entry to Boater X and Freestyle £10 (Registration on the day)
For more info see http://www.ukfreestyle.com and http://www.pyranha.com
Hopefully see you there!
Also we have river running sessions....
Guided River Trips (Saturday and Sunday) - Great if your coming on your own, Daz Clarkson will guide you on the river at your level.
All trips are half day sessions and £20 per person, which is a great offer just for this event.
Book your place at registration on Saturday morning
See you on the water.
This May the BCU launch their Freestyle league aiming to encourage more people back to the dark art of rodeo boating. The first event will be hosted by Pyranha at the mighty Tryweryn and results from the day will form the basis of one of the scored that will determine the GB freestyle team this year.
The best 2 out of 4 league event results will be combined to form a league ranking and the winners of the league ranking will be crowned British Champions 2010.
Categories will include Expert/Open in Ladies/Mens and Juniors/Seniors.
Pyranha will also be running fun sessions, coaching all weekend and an all in Boater x on the Sunday. Ranking, scoring and format of events are yet to be confirmed but rest assure this will be a FUN event, for people who just want to get on the water and have a go!
Where: Canolfan Tryweryn , Bala (BCU freestyle will take place on the top wave above the Chipper)
When: 22nd -23rd May
Cost: Entry to Freestyle event £5 Entry to Boater X and Freestyle £10 (Registration on the day)
For more info see http://www.ukfreestyle.com and http://www.pyranha.com
Hopefully see you there!
Also we have river running sessions....
Guided River Trips (Saturday and Sunday) - Great if your coming on your own, Daz Clarkson will guide you on the river at your level.
All trips are half day sessions and £20 per person, which is a great offer just for this event.
Book your place at registration on Saturday morning
See you on the water.
Monday, 26 April 2010
SOME THOUGHTS ON FEAR
I have been asked many times about the notion of fear and how to push the doors open and walk in a pasture free from fear. Below are some thoughts, these thoughts are a work in progress.
Many say that they feel fear when on the water. They feel scared, nervous of the rapids they are set to descend. How we deal with this fear is important, for it is the only guidance that we shall ever need.
In order to discuss the fear, first off we need to examine what is fear, or more precisely where it is manifest. Only then can we aim to control this. Fear of things we have control over is ludicrous. This is like saying 'I am scared of cancer' whilst puffing on 40 cigs a day. Whist fear of things we cannot control is posited with anxiety. If we cannot influence events, it is this lack of control that we fear, so to say, we fear been out of control. Although again this is looking awry. We let our children stumble from all fours to two, wobbling with each step of exploration. We allow the hooded darkness of inner city streets to grow with crime. We vote for a political system that will fail and yet we bypass this fear. We allow it to hold our hands through our daily lives. We accept this fear. Our true fear is a fear of our own making, not the making of a collected consciousness. When we allow fear to form from a collected ideal, we can no longer accept responsibility for it, its something else, somebody else - will take responsibility for it.
It is foolish beyond belief to be scared of the river you are descending, we made the choice to be on the river, we have control over our own actions. Some evil genius did not capture us and place us on the water. We need to compartmentalise where this fear sits.
We can all accept that rivers are dangerous places at times. We all accept that accidents, injury and death lurk around the corner. This is a rational fear. Fear of our own mortality, its healthy but needs to be kept in check. Driving the car, crossing the road and flying in a plane all present similar risks. The latter groups we have adjusted our 'inner being' to accept with dynamic risk assessments. We are well within our comfort zones and accept the possibilities. The former, our river based fear has yet to be ingrained into you dynamic risk assessments.
Allow me this time to elucidate.
Alsek, Turnback Canyon.
The river thunders through this chasm, without pause for breath. Violent and uncontrolled it rages. Leaving the last eddy the only safe net is gone. Fear, the base instinct of fight or flight, takes hold. Now, to be paddling in fear of your life is pure stupidity. The heart and mind are not strong enough to control the base urges and allow the body to function in a way that is suitable to allow proper functioning. Decisions become riddles, muscles tense and responses die. This is no way to be.
In order to function and rise to the challenge the understanding of fear must be bracketed.
If we understand that 1) what we understand as fear is natural to a certain extent and that this so called fear in its raw form closes our senses. 2) Fear of morality is natural but we accept this daily, why is the river different? 3) We live in a place where we accept limits that conditions our daily lives as an acceptance of fear. If we can catalogue these points then fear of what we do fades.
But this is not the end, far from it.
When we talk about fear of a river or fear of a rapid, what is it that scares us? If we are able to bracket the river over previous experiences, where does the fear come from?
At the point that we have managed to control our fear of the situation we are in a position that we must face the greatest fear of all. This new fear is the fear of our self, of what phantoms that lurk deep within that control our outlook on life. The Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron in her book The Places That Scare You helps us understand the concept of fear via the noble truth of suffering. Is it not true that our understanding of fear is in fact suffering. A suffering because we lack an understanding of the environment around us. Chodron writes, we expect that what is always changing is graspable and predictable [...] Because we mistakenly take what is always changing to be permanent, we suffer. This falls well into the river that we paddle on, the ever changing aquatic world. It forms fears simply because we cannot tame it. We have fear simply because we are not separate from the river. The fear we feel is a realisation that our action are linked to that which is beyond our control.
The river is a mistress in the theatre of our own making. The river, those situations that first seem to scare us, can only be feared if they act on our inner being. Fear acts deep within. It is the place that is dark and foreboding. A place we seldom go. It is the place that we cover up with televison, music, art and our working lives. This is the true nature of what life is all about. The river allows us not just a pleasant leisure activity but it also allows us the chance, however fleeting, to understand who we are without the camouflage and make up.
Each river opens our inner being, each take out can shut the door of experience. If we are unsure about our inner being, this is the point that fear will manifest. Pandora’s box will open and we have no control over the contents. Our world can be blown to pieces, a million emotions and false ideals shattering around us. Dreams and hopes of others, that weight on our shoulders, can drowned within our will. It is the dark places, the challenges of the river that can bring these to the mind.
To fear the river is without reason if we are unable to face the mirror of fear where the river brings out the 'real' for us. For myself I enjoy the depths of the 'real' that I face when the world collides within the crashing river. Looking deep within opens possibilities and allows me the chance to see who I honesty am, away from the facade of popular image, away from the trappings imposed on me and away from the trappings I brought into the mix.
Embrace the river, embrace the places that scare you, for they will teach you more about yourself than you can over know.
Many say that they feel fear when on the water. They feel scared, nervous of the rapids they are set to descend. How we deal with this fear is important, for it is the only guidance that we shall ever need.
In order to discuss the fear, first off we need to examine what is fear, or more precisely where it is manifest. Only then can we aim to control this. Fear of things we have control over is ludicrous. This is like saying 'I am scared of cancer' whilst puffing on 40 cigs a day. Whist fear of things we cannot control is posited with anxiety. If we cannot influence events, it is this lack of control that we fear, so to say, we fear been out of control. Although again this is looking awry. We let our children stumble from all fours to two, wobbling with each step of exploration. We allow the hooded darkness of inner city streets to grow with crime. We vote for a political system that will fail and yet we bypass this fear. We allow it to hold our hands through our daily lives. We accept this fear. Our true fear is a fear of our own making, not the making of a collected consciousness. When we allow fear to form from a collected ideal, we can no longer accept responsibility for it, its something else, somebody else - will take responsibility for it.
It is foolish beyond belief to be scared of the river you are descending, we made the choice to be on the river, we have control over our own actions. Some evil genius did not capture us and place us on the water. We need to compartmentalise where this fear sits.
We can all accept that rivers are dangerous places at times. We all accept that accidents, injury and death lurk around the corner. This is a rational fear. Fear of our own mortality, its healthy but needs to be kept in check. Driving the car, crossing the road and flying in a plane all present similar risks. The latter groups we have adjusted our 'inner being' to accept with dynamic risk assessments. We are well within our comfort zones and accept the possibilities. The former, our river based fear has yet to be ingrained into you dynamic risk assessments.
Allow me this time to elucidate.
Alsek, Turnback Canyon.
The river thunders through this chasm, without pause for breath. Violent and uncontrolled it rages. Leaving the last eddy the only safe net is gone. Fear, the base instinct of fight or flight, takes hold. Now, to be paddling in fear of your life is pure stupidity. The heart and mind are not strong enough to control the base urges and allow the body to function in a way that is suitable to allow proper functioning. Decisions become riddles, muscles tense and responses die. This is no way to be.
In order to function and rise to the challenge the understanding of fear must be bracketed.
If we understand that 1) what we understand as fear is natural to a certain extent and that this so called fear in its raw form closes our senses. 2) Fear of morality is natural but we accept this daily, why is the river different? 3) We live in a place where we accept limits that conditions our daily lives as an acceptance of fear. If we can catalogue these points then fear of what we do fades.
But this is not the end, far from it.
When we talk about fear of a river or fear of a rapid, what is it that scares us? If we are able to bracket the river over previous experiences, where does the fear come from?
At the point that we have managed to control our fear of the situation we are in a position that we must face the greatest fear of all. This new fear is the fear of our self, of what phantoms that lurk deep within that control our outlook on life. The Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron in her book The Places That Scare You helps us understand the concept of fear via the noble truth of suffering. Is it not true that our understanding of fear is in fact suffering. A suffering because we lack an understanding of the environment around us. Chodron writes, we expect that what is always changing is graspable and predictable [...] Because we mistakenly take what is always changing to be permanent, we suffer. This falls well into the river that we paddle on, the ever changing aquatic world. It forms fears simply because we cannot tame it. We have fear simply because we are not separate from the river. The fear we feel is a realisation that our action are linked to that which is beyond our control.
The river is a mistress in the theatre of our own making. The river, those situations that first seem to scare us, can only be feared if they act on our inner being. Fear acts deep within. It is the place that is dark and foreboding. A place we seldom go. It is the place that we cover up with televison, music, art and our working lives. This is the true nature of what life is all about. The river allows us not just a pleasant leisure activity but it also allows us the chance, however fleeting, to understand who we are without the camouflage and make up.
Each river opens our inner being, each take out can shut the door of experience. If we are unsure about our inner being, this is the point that fear will manifest. Pandora’s box will open and we have no control over the contents. Our world can be blown to pieces, a million emotions and false ideals shattering around us. Dreams and hopes of others, that weight on our shoulders, can drowned within our will. It is the dark places, the challenges of the river that can bring these to the mind.
To fear the river is without reason if we are unable to face the mirror of fear where the river brings out the 'real' for us. For myself I enjoy the depths of the 'real' that I face when the world collides within the crashing river. Looking deep within opens possibilities and allows me the chance to see who I honesty am, away from the facade of popular image, away from the trappings imposed on me and away from the trappings I brought into the mix.
Embrace the river, embrace the places that scare you, for they will teach you more about yourself than you can over know.
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
All in the detail.
It has been a busy time for building stuff on the web.
http://www.pyranha.com/team_paddlers.php?paddler=Daz%20Clarkson
www.purelandexpeditions.com site has also been having some minor changes.
More stuff on this blog soon, I have to rush as the rivers are up and I fancy a quick paddle.
http://www.pyranha.com/team_paddlers.php?paddler=Daz%20Clarkson
www.purelandexpeditions.com site has also been having some minor changes.
More stuff on this blog soon, I have to rush as the rivers are up and I fancy a quick paddle.
Friday, 26 March 2010
SUN KOSI
Well all you expedition hungry kayakers and rafters, we now have a new date for the Sun Kosi in Nepal. The website is getting sorted so this blog post will let you know the full details...
Seems that the 23 OCT 2010 is gonna be a busy time 'cos we now have a Sun Kosi trip...stick it in my diary, book your flight to Kathmandu and enjoy the ride.
Seems that the 23 OCT 2010 is gonna be a busy time 'cos we now have a Sun Kosi trip...stick it in my diary, book your flight to Kathmandu and enjoy the ride.
SUN KOSI RIVER RAFT/KAYAK
START AND FINISH- KATHMANDU
GRADE- UP TO CLASS 4
REGION- HIMALAYA
STYLE-FULLY SUPPORTED
DURATION-16 DAYS
Day 1: Arrival in Kathmandu (optional)
Up on arrival in Kathmandu, met by representative of PURE LAND EXPEDITIONS and transfer to hotel in Kathmandu. Time to explore the chaotic capital.Overnight Kathmandu.
Day 2: Arrival in Kathmandu(second arrival)
After breakfast chance to visit Kathmandu Durbarsquare and Soyambhunath (Known as monkey temple). Pack personal gear for expedition.PURE LAND EXPEDITIONS will supply a full range of dry bags for the transport of equipment during the expedition. Overnight Kathmandu.
Day 3: Kathmandu to Upper Sun Kosi
After breakfast drive to the Upper river, approx 4-6 hrs. We drive across river valleys, idyllic countryside and farm land taking time to experience the stunning views. We arrive at our resort for lunch before running the rapids of the Upper Sun Kosi. Playing on waves and ripping up holes. The night is spent at our riverside resort.
Day 4: First full day on the river.
After a relaxed breakfast we load the rafts and set off on our expeditions towards India. We soak in the sights and sounds as we paddle downstream.We overnight camp on the river, looking at the moon and stars in the Himalayan sky.
Day 5: River day two
After breakfast we break camp and set off on our adventure, stopping for lunch around midday gives us a chance to relax afterall the paddling. We continue on the water for a few hours until we find camp.Again it is a night under the stars or canvas. The choice is yours. Each day mearges into the next as we head on down the river. Our smooth passage allows us to take as rest day and explore the local area, during the descent. Each day will feature some amazing rapids and waves, some must make moves and some relaxed pools.
Day 6: Day 3
Day 7: Day 4
Day 8: Day 5
Day 9: Day 6
Day 10: Day 7
Day 11: Day 8
Day 12: Day 9
Day 13: Day 10
As the hills fall away we make our takeout at Chatra, near India. Those that have wished take the flight to Kathmandu (additional cost), other take the scenic 16hour + driveback to Kathmandu, we relax into our hotel and enjoy tall tales and shared jokes.
Day 14: Day
Shopping and sights
After breakfast it is time to relax and think about the experiences and the river living life. Kathmandu is a maze of Hindu and Buddhist temples and those that wish to experience this are welcome to guided tour. This is our last time to laugh with our new friends as departures to host country take place tomorrow.
Day 15: Day
Fly to host country (option recommended)
After breakfast people may wish to relax or do final sightseeing, a PURE LAND EXPEDITIONS member will assist in the departure at the airport, transport provided.
Day 16: Day
Arrive host country
All meals are included except in main towns.
PURE LAND EXPEDITIONS
www.purelandexpeditions.com
info@purelandexpeditions.com
bookings@purelandexpeditions.com
twitter; dazpureland
facebook; Darren Clarkson-King
facebook group; PURE LAND EXPEDITIONS
2 Camfa'r Lleiniau
Gellilydan
Gwynedd
LL41 4DY
Only your dreams can set you free!
www.purelandexpeditions.com
info@purelandexpeditions.com
bookings@purelandexpeditions.com
twitter; dazpureland
facebook; Darren Clarkson-King
facebook group; PURE LAND EXPEDITIONS
2 Camfa'r Lleiniau
Gellilydan
Gwynedd
LL41 4DY
Only your dreams can set you free!
Monday, 15 March 2010
MOVING FAST
FUSION
www.pyranha.com
Over the last few days I have been charging the rivers in the FUSION. Whilst many think that its a long boat and will not perform, I have to say this is simply not the case. I have had it on my local river in Wales and it makes all the same moves as the Everest. The Fusion is shorter than the 1st boat I ever owned and getting in it its just like a trip down memory lane.
As the name suggests, the Pyranha Fusion is a cross-over kayak which allows the paddler to enjoy two great areas of paddle sport, white water and touring.
Super stable, fast and easy to paddle, the Fusion gives you the freedom to choose from some fun whitewater or checking out some estuaries or a sheltered bay.
The tried and tested Pyranha skeg system adds a great feature allowing you to track in a straight line and the drag reducing skeg box allows the water to flow straight out of the stern of the kayak.
I think this boat will be used for many trips, on many rivers.
WEB
www.purelandexpeditions.com
Some of you are having issues with the booking form on the website and we hope to have these fixed soon, but the gremlins in the server are hard to find. Please feel free to email us direct about the schedule or your needs for a bespoke package. We will be happy to show you around India, Nepal and indeed Europe with cost and packages to suit.
www.pyranha.com
Over the last few days I have been charging the rivers in the FUSION. Whilst many think that its a long boat and will not perform, I have to say this is simply not the case. I have had it on my local river in Wales and it makes all the same moves as the Everest. The Fusion is shorter than the 1st boat I ever owned and getting in it its just like a trip down memory lane.
As the name suggests, the Pyranha Fusion is a cross-over kayak which allows the paddler to enjoy two great areas of paddle sport, white water and touring.
Super stable, fast and easy to paddle, the Fusion gives you the freedom to choose from some fun whitewater or checking out some estuaries or a sheltered bay.
The tried and tested Pyranha skeg system adds a great feature allowing you to track in a straight line and the drag reducing skeg box allows the water to flow straight out of the stern of the kayak.
I think this boat will be used for many trips, on many rivers.
WEB
www.purelandexpeditions.com
Some of you are having issues with the booking form on the website and we hope to have these fixed soon, but the gremlins in the server are hard to find. Please feel free to email us direct about the schedule or your needs for a bespoke package. We will be happy to show you around India, Nepal and indeed Europe with cost and packages to suit.
Friday, 26 February 2010
EVEREST
THE MAN FROM EVEREST
PADDLES AN EVEREST.
Mount Everest cries with the tears of 3 main rivers. The Arun and Dudh Kosi in Nepal and the Rongbuk Chu in Tibet. Only one kayaker has descended all three rivers. Now Daz Clarkson-King (
www.purelandexpeditions.com) is proud to endorse the Everest kayak. Back in 2002 the H2 was used on the Arun now the Everest is the natural choice.Mike Jones chose the glass Everest kayak for his team, his legacy is the future of kayak expeditions and the modern Everest kayak stands alone in the field for big water expedition kayaking.
See you on the water
DAZ
PURE LAND EXPEDITIONS
www.purelandexpeditions.cominfo@purelandexpeditions.com
bookings@purelandexpeditions.com
twitter; dazpureland
facebook; Darren Clarkson-King
facebook group; PURE LAND EXPEDITIONS
2 Camfa'r Lleiniau
Gellilydan
Gwynedd
LL41 4DY
Only your dreams can set you free!
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