Phew! - Tryweryn Report
Phew!
After finally salvaging something from a disappointing season (thanks 'pool!) what better way to celebrate than a sun-drenched trip out to the Tryweryn with the local club armada...
The dam released section of the Tryweryn (call 01678 520826 beforehand to check the dam is releasing) is paddleable for roughly 200 days a year and is one of the best Grade 3 / + rivers around. Managed by paddlers for paddlers it has excellent facilities on hand but can be a bit on the pricey side if you're not affiliated to one of the unions. So if you're gonna go regularly it might just be worthwhile checking out their season ticket offer.
Late last year saw some modifications to the upper section, affectionately know as 'The Graveyard' (named by slalom paddlers who can testify to the number of emergency repairs required after running this boulder garden!) which has now turned this section into more of a 'pool drop' situation and a brilliant place to sharpen those eddy-hopping skills.
'Ski Jump' is the next fun section of drops culminating in a cool airborne bounce on the last rapid, with a large eddy river right and the chance for the trashing-friendly to play in the stopper.
Next up is 'International Wave' and then 'Fedw'r Gog' (or Stone Bridge rapid) which looks intimidating but once inspected, proves fast and fun with routes either river right into a micro-eddy or hard left through the drop into eddy river left (centre line often deals out a back loop and a wash up onto rocks on the next fall!).
The next wave is a friendly, surfing and spinning wave in front of the cafe and generally the eddy gets pretty crowded as this tends to be the main spectator spot. It's very fast however and you need a good quick roll if you're to avoid slipping down steeply into 'The Fingers'; the next rapid on the river. N.B. LARGE rocks lurk beneath the surface here, so routes river left tend to work best till you pass the rough stuff. There is a get-out point here where the rafts disembark and usually marks the end of your first trip down the mighty Tryweryn!
To carry on below there follows a series of stoppers and drops and the river leads down to the NRA bridge and an excellent cartwheeling mini-stopper and wave sometimes known as 'The Haystack' where usually a crowd of playboaters can be found. Below is Chapel Falls, a steep natural weir with a gnarly stopper at the bottom. Its paddleable but has something of a reputation for dealing out beatings to those who fancy playing in it. Definate throw-rope practice here - it holds swimmers on river right! A few small surf waves now take you down past Tyn y Cornel campsite to the takeout bridge.
Bloody excellent river, chock full of paddlers at times and not averse to dealing out the odd beating now and again - but on a day of glorious sunshine and surrounded with just the best company around there's not much to beat this gem. Go there. Period.
For further information go to the WCA website at: www.ukrafting.co.uk
After finally salvaging something from a disappointing season (thanks 'pool!) what better way to celebrate than a sun-drenched trip out to the Tryweryn with the local club armada...
The dam released section of the Tryweryn (call 01678 520826 beforehand to check the dam is releasing) is paddleable for roughly 200 days a year and is one of the best Grade 3 / + rivers around. Managed by paddlers for paddlers it has excellent facilities on hand but can be a bit on the pricey side if you're not affiliated to one of the unions. So if you're gonna go regularly it might just be worthwhile checking out their season ticket offer.
Late last year saw some modifications to the upper section, affectionately know as 'The Graveyard' (named by slalom paddlers who can testify to the number of emergency repairs required after running this boulder garden!) which has now turned this section into more of a 'pool drop' situation and a brilliant place to sharpen those eddy-hopping skills.
'Ski Jump' is the next fun section of drops culminating in a cool airborne bounce on the last rapid, with a large eddy river right and the chance for the trashing-friendly to play in the stopper.
Next up is 'International Wave' and then 'Fedw'r Gog' (or Stone Bridge rapid) which looks intimidating but once inspected, proves fast and fun with routes either river right into a micro-eddy or hard left through the drop into eddy river left (centre line often deals out a back loop and a wash up onto rocks on the next fall!).
The next wave is a friendly, surfing and spinning wave in front of the cafe and generally the eddy gets pretty crowded as this tends to be the main spectator spot. It's very fast however and you need a good quick roll if you're to avoid slipping down steeply into 'The Fingers'; the next rapid on the river. N.B. LARGE rocks lurk beneath the surface here, so routes river left tend to work best till you pass the rough stuff. There is a get-out point here where the rafts disembark and usually marks the end of your first trip down the mighty Tryweryn!
To carry on below there follows a series of stoppers and drops and the river leads down to the NRA bridge and an excellent cartwheeling mini-stopper and wave sometimes known as 'The Haystack' where usually a crowd of playboaters can be found. Below is Chapel Falls, a steep natural weir with a gnarly stopper at the bottom. Its paddleable but has something of a reputation for dealing out beatings to those who fancy playing in it. Definate throw-rope practice here - it holds swimmers on river right! A few small surf waves now take you down past Tyn y Cornel campsite to the takeout bridge.
Bloody excellent river, chock full of paddlers at times and not averse to dealing out the odd beating now and again - but on a day of glorious sunshine and surrounded with just the best company around there's not much to beat this gem. Go there. Period.
For further information go to the WCA website at: www.ukrafting.co.uk
posted by renko at 5/17/2004 11:12:00 AM
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