Last days at Skookumchuck!

 

Purple Starfish at Skook (Photo by: Kim Russell)

For the next five days or so, we spent our mornings at the BackEddy Pub and Marina, and our evenings at the wave.

Like clockwork, at 7:30 am, Todd and I would wake up, sneak into
the van, grab some breakfast food, and shut the door as quickly as
possible before waking Bryan. Needless to say, we never did get our
food out without waking him up... Sorry!

 

Bryan and Todd making breakfast (Photo by: Kim Russell)



Todd and I would make breakfast, toast some bagels (more of a burn
than a toast), make some oatmeal and chat with Trevor for a few hours.



 

Mmmmm... eggs! (Photo by: Kim Russell)



By 10:00 am, Bryan would be up, we would all do a quick internet
session, then either log footage from the day before or look at photos.

 

By noon, we would wander down to the BackEddy Pub for some quick, 
delicious grub, then make our way down the road to the trailhead for
Skook.



 

Float Plane at Skookumchuck (Photo by: Kim Russell)



Towards the end of our stay at Skook, we made it out to the wave early enough for it to still be slack tide (no moving water). We were able to wander around the tide-pools and check out all the cool sea-life.

 

(Photo by: Kim Russell)

 

Not to mention, watching the wave grow from nothing... it's pretty cool.





Kelsey Thompson, Trevor Clark and Todd Baker (Photo by: Kim Russell)

 

Check out the photos below of the remainder of our stay at Skookumchuck!





Kelsey Thompson givin' er with a flashback (Photo by: Todd Baker)





Kim Russell with a sweet righty (Photo by: Todd Baker)

 

 

Todd Baker mid Pan-am (Photo by: Bryan Kirk)

 

 

Bryan Kirk going clean in his Kaenon sunglasses (Photo by: Kim Russell)

 

 

Kelsey mid-air screw (Photo by: Bryan Kirk)

 

 

Kim paddling hard to stay on the green wave (Photo by: Todd Baker)

 

 

Bryan Kirk (Photo by: Kim Russell)

 

 

Todd Baker in the Fuse 48 (Photo by: Kim Russell)

 

Backsurfin' (Photo by: Todd Baker)

 

 

BK (Photo by: Kim Russell)

 

 

 Kelsey Thompson going clean (Photo by: Kim Russell)

Kim goin' right again (Photo by: Todd Baker)







Todd mid-flashback (Photo by: Kim Russell)









Stay Tuned for some creeking at Whistler!

Smile,

 

Kim Russell

Team ACKC goes to Canada!

 

Todd Baker, Kelsey Thompson and Natalie Lussin (Photo by: Kim Russell)



After looking at pictures of Skook for years, we are finally here! Bryan Kirk, Todd and I made it up late Thursday evening just in time to meet up with our friend and photographer Trevor Clark as well as catch the wave before sunset.



Skookumchuck Tidal Rapids are located just outside of Egmont, BC along the Sechelt Inlet. During ebbtide, as the tide flows out the inlet towards the ocean, the wave doesn't even exist. Once the water in the inlet gets low enough, the tide switches, and water rushes back in to fill the inlet. As this happens, the wave begins to build, and usually peaks about two hours after slack tide. You can surf the wave as it begins to build all the way to the peak and back down to slack tide.



During the end of July, the tides are set so the wave is coming in later and later each day. Thursday the wave peaked at 6:00pm (we could start surfing at 4:00), and tonight (Tuesday), it is peaking at 8:30 pm, meaning we can start surfing at 6:30pm. To get to the wave you can go either by boat or by land, hiking about 4km to the wave on a sweet trail through the BC forest.





Kim Russell dropping in (Photo by: Todd Baker)



We are heading out to the wave to meet up with Kelsey Thompson in a few minutes, so I'll have to keep this short, but check out the photos, and stay tuned for more!





Bryan Kirk and Todd Baker waiting for the pile (Photo by: Kim Russell)





Kelsey Thompson (Photo by: Kim Russell)





Bryan Kirk logging some air miles (Photo by: Kim Russell)





Todd Baker mid-helix (Photo by: Kim Russell)





Kim Russell with a sweet righty (Photo by: Bryan Kirk)





Kelsey Thompson with a kickass airscrew (Photo by: Bryan Kirk)





Bryan Kirk mid-helix (Photo by: Kim Russell)





Kim Russell workin' the flashback (Photo by: Bryan Kirk)





Todd Baker going huge with a clean pan-am (Photo by: Kim Russell)





Bryan Kirk clean it up makin' a rainbow (Photo by: Kim Russell)



Cheers!



Kim Russell

First Descent of the Upper North Fork Tumalo

Scott Baker, Brian Lee, and I went up searching for the first descent of the Upper North Fork Tumalo. Scott Baker and I were the only ones to run this small gorged up section. This sweet little run ended up being named "Happy Valley Gorge." This gorge consisted of 5 different drops which were a 12 footer, into a 10 footer, into a 30 footer, into a 8 footer, into a 5 footer.

The 12 footer was super shallow at the top with a nice little slide feel to it. It was an ok drop that really could use a little more water to help the lead in become more fun. After the 12 footer it led directly into the 10 foot ledge. The ledge was an easy move at the top but proved hard to boof due to the low volume. After two runs Scott and I concluded that it should be run center right, which was the deepest part of the landing (Scott Hit bottom running Center Left). After the 10 footer there is about 50 feet before the 30 footer. There is a micro eddy on the left below the 10 footer backed up by a log. The 30 footer is slanting left that requires you to make a line to the right side to avoid the shallow pool at the bottom on the left. This basiclly ment a good right angle with your boat and a strong left stroke for us to run this one clean. After this you run into a little 2 foot ledge that leads into the final two drops. The 6 footer was an easy boof lip that lands on soft water and helps launch you into the 5 footer. The 5 footer was a little difficult in the fact that it ran into a wall/underwater cave. Overall it was a sweet park and huck gorge to hit up around the Central Oregon area....


Here are some shots from the day... In random order...


Scott on the entrance 12 Footer
Photo: Author

Scott on the 10 Footer
Photo: Author

Scott Scouting the 30 Footer
Photo: Author

Scott Running the 30 footer
Photo: Author

Author on the Entrance 12 Footer
Photo: Brian Lee

Author Running the 10 Footer
Photo: Brian Lee

Author Running the 30 Footer
Photo: Brian Lee


Author Running the 30 Footer
Photo: Brian Lee

Author Running 30 footer... Different run different angle...
Photo: Brian Lee

Author on the 6 footer
Photo: Brian Lee

Author on 5 Footer
Photo: Brian Lee

Scott Baker running the 30 Footer Agian
Photo: Brian Lee

Scott on the 6 Footer
Photo: Brian Lee


Scott on the last 5 foot ledge
Photo: Brian Lee

Paddle Fest in Bend, Oregon

Last weekend, Aldercreek hosted the annual Paddle Fest at Mckay Park. Aldercreek provided the opportunity to demo boats and paddles at no cost to the public... a free paddle day! There were hundreds of boats available to try from Liquidlogic to Wilderness Systems. Safety boaters were also on hand to help any visitor in trouble...we understand that canoes are tippy!

Sign up began at 8 am and around noon, we peaked with roughly 300 visitors present. Total, we had around 400 visitors- a big success for Aldercreek and the paddling community!

(above) the park getting busy

(above) Josh- the official safety boater, getting ready

Come out next year for the annual Paddle Fest at McKay park, you wont want to miss it!

Happy Paddling,
Christina Russell