Mini-Expo

Midwest Mountaineering put on their spring Mini-Expo yesterday down at the Verm. There were tons of paddlers, grilled brats and dogs, loads of boats to demo, and enough water to make the play features a really good time.

Graeme made Railroad look like his second home, spinning endlessly and working into low and mid-angle cartwheels, I managed to hit a couple of single and 2-end wheels as entry moves from the top of the foam pile, and just about everybody got some good rides down in the trough.

Donut was it's usual awesome self and people were rippin' it up. It also proved to be a great level for bodysurfing, so I took the opportunity of getting in the first couple of bodysurfs of the year.

I didn't get any pics with my camera, but I did steal Nora's for a few minutes and took some with hers. The ones you see here were taken off of her blog, but she's got more good ones on there so check it out!

Verm II: Vermilicious

Went back for more vermilicious fun today with Nora, Caleb, Andy (Mac), Dennis, and Aaron. This time, however, we had one heck of a good photographer along with us (huge thanks Lisa) who got some great shots. Lisa also brought along her really great son, who we're trying to brainwash into being a future paddler.

We had another great day down there, but I think I wrote enough about it on yesterday's entry that I won't make you read it all again. The notable differences were 1) Andy made a an awesome addition to the crew today, 2) Huck and another guy whose name I didn't catch were also on the river, though they kind of did their own thing. Unfortunately, that included Huck trying to paddle under the ice bridge, getting hung up, and luckily being able to swim out. He lost his paddle in the process, but considering what could have happened it's a small price to pay, and 3) We've got tons more pictures, both from Lisa and Nora's camera.


Here's the pics from top to bottom:
1) The Hike
2) The ice bridge (Also our put-in)
3) D-Rad
4) Triple Drop
5) Caleb and I
6) Caleb in Railroad
7) Dennis Wheeling out of Railroad
8) Huck with his substitute paddles
9) Nora, Andy, and Aaron
10)Aaron

Season Opener!

WooHoo! Paddling season has officially begun. Today Nora, Dennis, Graeme, Aaron, Caleb and myself made the first Verm descent of the year. There was still a big ice bridge above triple drop, so we technically couldn't run the whole thing, but anybody who knows the river knows there isn't really anything above there anyway. Plus, that ice bridge made an awesome put-in!

Nora and Dennis started off in the pool below railroad and paddled up, but Caleb, Graeme, Aaron and I hiked up to see if we could put in above the Triple Drop. As it turned out, there was a great route down the cliff that, though steep and zig-zagging, had good footing and led us right to the ice bridge. The bridge formed from the ice shelves on either side of the river and spanned right across. The ice was still a couple feet thick, so we decided to use the bridge as our put in. Because the top of the ice was about 4' above the water, and the water below was only a few inches deep, we had to push each other along the ice, then ski-jump off the edge so that we wouldn't just nosedive into the bottom. It worked great - possibly my favorite put-in yet on the Verm.

Triple was decently sized and really splashy, which gave everybody a wake-up as the ice water hit our faces. Because of the huge ice ledges that lined the river, there were no eddies and no route except down the center.

At the bottom, Railroad hole was rockin'. It was at just the right level - big and retentive enough to keep things interesting and allow some tricks, but not so huge that you couldn't get out. There was some spin-o-matic action on the River Left shoulder, a couple of ends thrown in the pile (mostly by Graeme, who showed no rustiness at all), and a variety of interesting exit moves.

The ice really narrowed the channel through S-bend and forced you to ride right over the rocky area, but nobody got hung up too bad and everyone avoided the overhangs. The wave at the bottom was silky smooth and even allowed a couple slow spins.

That was in perfect contrast to Donut, which was raging. Because of the restricted flow from the ice shelves and the lack of plant growth and algae this early in the season, the water speed at Donut was unreal. I don't think that I've ever surfed faster moving water. To make it better, the foam pile was almost shoulder high and punchy. It would toss you around and pop you up in between your spins. Speaking of spins, wow. If you got into the right groove, you could get motion sick you were spinning so fast. The water on the shoulder was going fast enough that it would grab you ends and twirl you like a top. It was really a riot. The problem was that the river right eddy was largely blocked by an ice bridge, so if you couldn't catch the left one you were in Fisherman's before you knew it.

After that it was more ice-shelve dodging down to the take out, where nature had mercifully collapsed the shelf at the take out. Thanks to that, we could climb out pretty easily. The best news, however, was that our stairs at the top of the hill held up perfectly over the winter, making and area that normally required ropes to climb an easy walk.

All in all, it was an amazing day. Warm temps, good water, and good friends. Tough to beat. Check out Graeme's new British flag helmet! I'll try to get some on-river pics tomorrow. Until then, I think Nora should have some posted on her blog, so check it out!

Verm Again

Dennis, Paul B, and I headed down to catch what was left of the Verm flow. The water level was only in the 70-80 cfs range (about 1/2 of Monday's level), but was still fun. Triple was in and fun, Railroad had the spin-o-matic groove on surfer's right, and Donut was a real lively and fun time that was perfect for hand surfing. Couple noteworthy events: First, Dennis and I completed the first (to out knowledge) tandem spin in Donut - we were party surfing the wave, linked boats, and got spun around like that; Second, I had a beaver dive out of the grass after fisherman's and swim directly under my boat. On a less cool note, there is now a man's wedding band somewhere in the rocks immediately upstream from the takeout and on the river right side. Nate had taken a friend down the river shortly before Dennis, Paul, and I arrived. Apparently his friend did well, but flipped right before the takeout and lost his ring while fighting to get upright again. If you see a shiny band in the water, grab it and let Nate G know!

Hooray for Rain!

Aaah, the upside to a wet and dreary weekend... In addition to relieving all of the drought-related problems, the recent rains finally brought the Verm back to life! It was a great time down there today, with the level just over 200 cfs and around 20 local paddlers making it down for a run. The level was perfect for playboating and it was really great to get to see everybody again. I paddled until my arms gave out, then grabbed the camera for about 10 minutes at Donut Hole. Really great time. Check Nora's blog for more pics.

Famous!

Dan "Monkey Boy" Monskey is putting together some video on outdoor sports in MN, and WCCO TV decided they wanted in on the paddling segment. So Dan, Dennis, Graeme, Rich and I went down to the Verm to do some filming. Nora and Lanny were also there for the beginning, but left early due to other committments. Kim (paddling guy Kim, not my girlfriend Kim) met us late down at donut. While I'm sure that when the editing is finalized everyone but Dan will be little more than a blur in the background, we did our best to put on a show for the cameras. Dennis, Graeme, Rich, and I got in some great party surfing on Donut and we also ran the slide below the falls at the top. This time however, we were able to climb up the river right bank and get a good, full-length slide in right from the curtain of the falls. Really fun. Supposedly the video will be shown on "Out and About" on Channel four at 10:30pm on May 19th, if anyone is interested and has nothing better to do on a saturday night (or has TiVo). In the meantime, I stole a shot that Nora took to put on here. She has more on her blog, so check out the link to it on the right side of this page!

Verm Trip

We had a truly awesome group of paddlers on the Verm on Saturday. Brian J, Caleb, Graeme, and I decided to head there after the cold temps and 2 degree windchills made the Kettle less appealing. It turned out to be a good decision, because the Verm treated us well. It seems like the features on that river are never the same twice, and Saturday was no exception. Railroad was loads of fun, with 4 feet of horizontal shoulder on the river right side and a sloping shoulder coming on from the left. Great spinning and even some low-angle wheels. S-curve was bouncy and fun, and Donut was really fast with a long, low foam pile that could get you back to the front from 4 feet back. It was pretty cool. The most interesting part, however, was probably going up to the falls and running the slide beneath it. Fast, splashy water sliding over the rocks in a giant banked corner, followed by a good sized wave-hole at the bottom and a a couple boulders to dodge. Brian J had his camera along so there's pictures and video. I'll post links to the videos when I get them (probably this week).

Good Water

Went down to the Verm yesterday expecting it to be a puny 150cfs. Once we got there, though, it didn't take long to see that the level was much closer to 300, and the river was actually at a really good level. The water was pretty cold, but the playspots wre rockin. Nick and I got there early and made a 2-hour morning run. I kept gettting flipped in Railroad, then having to roll back up in the hole and surf my way out with an ice cream headache. For whatever reason, I seemed to be the only person all day that didn't just wash out when they flipped. Nick was rockin' in there with some low-angle cartwheels and good spins, but he had some other commitments and had to leave just before the rest of the crew showed up around 11:30. Having had enough brain freezes for one day, I decided to take some pics, rather than make another run. It turned out to be a great day for it with warm sun and good water.