Chris Gragtmans and I headed down to the Ocoee last weekend for a demo day/river with Overflow Outfitters. Officially, this was a stop on the Riot "paddle with some fabulous guys" tour. Kevin Palmer from Overflow met up with us at the putin with a couple of his chaps from Northern Georgia. Anywho, we had a good ol time on the river then retreated to Ducktown or Copperhill for some Mexican cuisine. I believe it was Kevin who said, and I quote, "they should just cut out the middle man and just dump this food directly into the toilet." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Overflow Outfitters is such a successful retail shop.
Here sat our dinner club while Chris told some campfire stories about wild and scenic Africa. Chris is here to learn and to entertain, not to make out with you.
James Trombley works at Diamond Brand in Asheville NC. Recently, James his his first loop, air flip, on a trip we took to the Nolichucky. He was psyched out of his gourd and his excitement is the inspiration for my newest video. Check it out. .
Here is James as happy as a lark...
Good buddy Cooper Lambla met us there and threw some of the nastiest space godzillas I've seen. Kid was absolutely going off the hook in the Astro 58. Tall, lanky, lightweight kid + short, high volume playboat = large air.
My friend Colin Kemp was with us on the Noli that day and I also took him over to Eternity hole for a session one evening. Colin works for Jackson Kayak and used to run a shop in DC called Valley Mill. Colin is 6'5" and 230 lbs. It is so awesome seeing a guy that large absolutely kill it in a play boat.
Our night session at Eternity. The water is coooooold and the kayakers were blurry they were moving so quickly.
Alas, the Green finally turned back on at 100% after almost two weeks of 60% or being shut down. Nathan Silsbee and I got out on the water a couple days and filmed some river running and down river freestyle in the Magnum and Thunder. The Magnum proves itself time and time again as a great creek boat and the Thunder is definitely on its way to doing the same as a playful creeker or beginner/intermediate river runner. The Riot Booster was one of Riot's most popular boats over the past few years until the Magnum and Thunder arrived. The popularity of the Booster's smooth and forgiving, yet surfy and playful hull inspired us to make the Thunder. People loved the way the Booster surfed and handled down river but wanted a larger, more creeky style deck, and the Thunder was born. I've paddled the boat a bit on the Green and at the US National Whitewater Center and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would highly recommend it, especially for the paddler who is beginning and wants something safe that they can grow into and not grow out of immediately. It's also perfect for the intermediate to advance creeker who enjoys class IV, Wilson Creek type of runs.
Here is Silsbee going for the freewheel off of the Groove Tube boof.
Silsbee running a smooth line at Sunshine
Once again, click HERE to see the new video featuring all the above topics. Visit my Youtube channel for all my archived videos youtube.com/kayakvideo
Later,
Spencer Cooke
Effort.tv
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