Whitewater Paddlers - Dams spilling - Water everywhere - get out and paddle

[John Borojevic]

Hey paddlers, 

 

Lots of options for white-water paddling this weekend with dams spilling everywhere - so get a crew together and get on the water and use it. 

 

Parangana Dam - is spilling with about 60cm over the spillway meaning Echo Valley, Standard Hill and Alum Cliffs are all on. 

 

• Echo Valley has great wave trains, good slalom boat surf-waves and it's also a great run in DR boats. For those who are comfortable on the normal Mersey run, this is a step up, with a meaty rapid in the 3/4 of the way down- avoid the boat-eating hole. Ideal for those who don't have time for a full day for paddling the longer trips further down. 
• Standard Hill will be pretty full on at this height - beware the willows near the put in at Liena and the big rapid in the middle. 
• Alum Cliffs - a classic for scenery and good white water that doesn't run very often. Remember the portage in the middle. 

 

Wayatinah is also spilling with about 50cm over the spillway. Short classic bouncy grade 3 with a meaty stopper at the start and a meaty rapid at the bottom. Good surf height I think. 

 

Lots of water in the Nive too - upper sections are good for intermediate paddlers and lower section from the Lyell Hwy to Tarraleah/Tungatinah Power Station is for gun paddlers only. Big, cold, long. 

 

North Esk is paddleable at about 1.9 but falling. 

 

Picton and Huon have stacks of water - but you can do them all winter so get onto something new. 

 

Esperence might be running - check the WIST site. 

 

Styx is running at 1.6m - ideal height.Upper trip - advanced, lower trip - intermediate. 

 

Check out Paddle Tasmania for trip descriptions, get in and get-out locations and ideal water heights.  http://paddletasmania.canoe.org.au/

 

 

And if you haven't  seen this river height site before its a great resource - save it to your paddling favourites and say thanks to Laurent Besnard next time you see him. 

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/67178067/RiverStatusTasmania.html 

 

It's been a long time between runs for some of these rivers so watch out for new logs and hazards and if you spot them, let others know via the DCC, Tamar or TCC Flash sites. 

 

Make sure you know where you are going, someone else know's where you are going, what you are capable of paddling, have people with the right skills and gear along with you. And don't rely on what the Web tells you, sometimes the latest update hasn't uploaded or the auto-sensors misread - so visual inspection is essential too. 

 

Paddle Safely. 

 

John B