Pyrenees Buddies Race 2010

Since a while I knew that Pyrenees Buddies Race was planned, the first extrem kayak race in France!!!
They did it!!
Clarisse Labussière, Julien Le-Naour, Nicolas Fayol and Eric Deguil organized us a first edition more than pretty good!!

We arrived on May Thursday 13th in the afternoon, we enjoyed a sweet long night to be in a good shape for that event, which starts up the extrem kayak races season 2010!!!

May, Friday 14th:

It was training day on the race section of the Brousset river.
Some runs to learn the fastest lines and to get the feeling of that sweet funny bony pyrenean creek.


Jean-Yves Cheutin on trainings on the upper race section.


Me on trainings

On the end of the afternoon took place the registrations and the opening "drink" ceremony, then a dinner with belgian beers!! ;-)


Bart and Maarten, 2 of our 3 belgian friends always welcome to France!!


Stefun Pion, videomaker for this first edition of the PBR.


Morgan Arnaud at the registration.

May, Saturday 15th:

We wake up all early for a commun break first, snow fell down just above Laruns, the village where we sleep.
It's sooo cold!!!
All kayakers drive to the race section, but there's a problem... Road is closed because of snow...
Well, we drove back down and we'll try again soon...

A bit before mid-day, the road is just opened and we can drive to the river.
Today there's just the team race.
Jean-Yves Cheutin, Julien Dekarczyk and I are making a team.


Julien Dekarczyk and I on training.
I also had the onboard camera of Adrenagliss on the back of my kayak.

After the trainings, race is ON!!!


The team from Lourdes with Fred Dumont, Max Mitaut and Fabrice "Fafa" Poueyto, winner by only 0,3 sec on our team Jean-Yves, Julien and I.
Good job guys!!


Me, Demshitz style during the team race.

After the race all of us drive back down the valley in Laruns to enjoy a video session where we watch the film Vocano Ride, then an drink offered by Laruns village and a dinner... And, no worry, there was a massive party all the night!!!

May, Sunday 16th:

Today, the weather looks like to be better, and we'll have the individual races with the sprint and the extrem slalom.

On the morning took place the sprint race on the same section as the team race the previous day.
This race was easily won by Max Mitaut by more than 3 seconds ahead Jules Domine and Eneko Yarza.

Fabrice "Fafa" Poueyto and I ended at the same spot, 4th.


Julien Le-Naour during the sprint.


Eric Deguil, co-organizer of this event and also competitor!!

The afternoon sun appeared finally!!!
Was time to begin the extrem slalom, the course was designed by Eric Deguil.
This race was at the end af the sprint section, where it's steep!!!
For that extrem slalom, we had to valid Adrenagliss banners all along the section with the hand.
Of course, the banners were placed on specific places, not always easy just to make it a bit more difficult!!


Max Mitaut

At that game Eric Deguil wan with style aheah myself, and again Eneko Yarza who completed the p
odium.


Me, happy to be back in a kayak after that long period off because of injury!!


At the overall ranking I wan ahead Max Mitaut 3rd, and Fabrice "Fafa" Poueyto 2nd!!!
It's pretty good for the moral to win this first edition of the Pyrenees Buddies Race, after that long period off with all sports because of my broken collarbone.


The podium of the team race:
3rd spanish Albert Aixas, Aleix Salvat et Gerard Escur.
2nd slalom paddlers Julien Dekarczyk, Jean-Yves Cheutin and me.
1st local heroes Fabrice "Fafa" Poueyto, Max Mitaut et Fred Dumont


The trophy (homemade by Eric Deguil) 1st of the PBR 2010!!!! Yeaah!!!

After the race , I stayed in Laruns to write the article about the event for KayakSession.com
http://www.kayaksession.com/pyrenees-buddies-race-1.php

The video of the PBR by Stefun Pion:


Many thanks to all for this great race, the first one in France and not the last for sure!!!
Congrats!!

Thanks also to Adrenagliss who sponsor me and was partner of the event!!!
www.ADRENAGLISS.com

Pyrenees, THE place to paddle on May!!!!!!

Right now, it's SURE!!!!
After 2 years of reflexion, coming again and again in the Pyrenees, I can now say: it's THE place to paddle on May!!

You know for sure some steep and strong rivers on the french side, but did you know the ones on spanish side??
Looks like spanish Pyrenees offer us a larger choise of rivers and more rivers of class II to V and more.

Here a little 3 days report of what you can find in the spanish Pyrenees, follow us!!

May, Tuesday 11th:

I drove early to join my dear pyrenean friend and guide Eric Deguil and the Pion family.
We met all together in Foix, Ariège, and go to the Carol river, really closed of the border.

Stefun Pion goes down first

The Carol river it's beautiful, it's sweet but in the middle you've that!! Yeaaah!!
A pretty nice run and an incredible place, nonetheless stay careful because of the numerous dams on this river... Too bad...


Eric Deguil also goes down, easy!!

Just after the decent, we decide to drive a bit and sleep at a mountain pass.
The view is just amazing but it's pretty cold up there at 1700m...
A good dinner and we went to the bed.



May, Wednesday 12th:


Snow fell down during the night... First thing I saw that day, Brrr!!

On the morning we took again the road to paddle the Rio Ribagorsana.
And after a long time on little roads of the true heart of Pyrenees, here we are... Always under the rain...


It's a 300m section and it's steeeeep!!!


Stefun goes first, missed the hard entry of that nasty rapid.
Results, a broken paddle, a broken boat, a swim and a painful shoulder...


Eric, second to go, takes a diferent line and run it safe!!


The middle is just amazing!!


What we were there, a waterfall about 13m more or less with landing directly in the lake, yeaaaah!!!
Only Eric ran it, passing really really closed the rock wall at the landing and broke his paddle on his kayak!!! Wow!!


Well done Rico!!!!

After this quick but intense run, was time to leave the high mountain, rain and snow, to go on the Rio Gallego.

When we drove across the city, we did a Tapas dinner, one of the things to discover in Spain.


Eric


Take out by night of the Rio Gallego.

May, Thursday 14th:

Today we paddle a short section of the rio Gallego, then we drive back in France for the Pyrenees Buddies Race.
Let's paddle!!


Stefun Pion at the put in of the Rio Gallego, just under the dam.


Myself smiling at the put in, Viva España!!

The short section of the Rio Gallego we paddled is really funny and easily runnable for many kayakers!!


Yanis trys kayaking on the flat water at the take out.

A lunch in front of "Los Riglos", famous climbing international spot, and we went back in France!!

On the way back, we find a little kilometer long artificial section with 29 drops, we'll come back!!

When we arrived at the border on the way to the Brousset river in the Ossau valley, we found again the bad weather...
By 2°C and snowy rain, Eric and I paddle a quick run on the Brousset river.

After that, all of us drove doan Laruns in the valley for a long sleeping night!!

=> Next, in the coming post "Pyrénées Buddies Race"

French river guide licence and back in the rivers!!

On May 3rd to 6th, I was in L'Argentière la Bessée in the Hautes Alpes to take the exam of the french canoe kayak river guide licence, and enjoyed smelting time creeking with Raph Thiebaut who also gave me a place to sleep in his flat during the trip.


Raph Thiebaut in the gorges of Fontenil around Briançon

Despite the cold winter temperatures et snow falling around 1700m on the Hautes Alpes, I
took my exam with succes, river guide licence in the pocket!!!!
One good thing done!!!

Was also time for me to come back on the rivers and this with one of my freeride kayaking mentors, Raph Thiebaut.
We paddled 3 sections, I never ran 2 of them previously, pretty cool!!!
Thanks a lot Raph!!!