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| Reviews & Photos | Canoganing 24 January 2007 | |||||
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Team Extreme – Dave Bell, James Cole, Ben Nolan, Duncan Stokes The Boats- The G Force (the ‘G’ stands for ‘Guns’), The Topo Duo On what will probably be the only snow day this year, it was decided that we should take advantage by going canoe-tobogganing (canoganing). We assembled at the lock up between 11 and 12 to get our extreme canoganing equipment- we picked out some extreme paddles and a full face helmet (we’re very safety conscious here at the canoe club). Kitted out, we headed off to find some snow. Typically for England, the miniscule amount of snow that had laid (about 2cm) was already beginning to melt in many places so we knew we had to move fast… First off we paddled the slope by the library steps (Grade II), Dave & Ben in the Duo with me following closely behind in the G- Force. It was quickly realised that the snow was too light for the Duo to run well so we spent most the time carving up the slopes in the G-Force, relegating the Duo to some kind of ungainly fashion accessory. A few runs of the Library slope in the G-Force drew some strange looks from passers by, obviously in awe at such feats of extreme-ness, and a surreal moment where a man in a cow suit posed on top of the Duo with a set of paddles. Whilst fun, we knew we were far too good at canoganing to stay on Grade II slopes, so we went to find some more extreme spots where we would no doubt be able to impress girls by pulling off some awesome stunts. Our travels around campus in search of un-tampered snow eventually led us to the rubble mound behind the Russell Building, which looked like it might provide some interesting canoganing. However, our journey there was fraught with danger, as the appearance of four blokes and two kayaks on a snowy slope behind Park Village seemed to act like a magnet and soon we were being pummelled with snowballs. Luckily this is where the Duo came into its own- it makes an excellent shield from snowballs. Our attackers soon tired and left us alone when they realised it was not in fact possible to defeat team extreme. At the Russell Building we quickly climbed the mound and Dave and Ben ran a nice line (Grade IV) in the G-Force, but unfortunately neither could stay in their boat when they levelled out at the bottom. I went next and after faffing at the top like a big girls blouse for ages I picked a sweet line and stayed in my boat for the whole run. James also managed to stay in his boat despite taking a slightly unorthodox line down the left hand side (also Grade IV). We had built up quite an audience by now, who were watching from the Russell Building so Ben decided to try a slightly harder descent which went off a kicker to the right of the mound (Grade V). Ben managed to nail this and get some sweet air too. After this extreme display we could not find any more decent snow due to severe melting so we had to call it a day, retiring to Falmer Bar to eat some well earned grub and tell anyone who would listen about our extreme-ness. By Duncan Stokes |