4-star training 11/01/09

Steve T · 4-star training 11/01/09

Today I went on a one-day four star training course for the "new" award with Calder Canoe Centre. Like Carl I have the old four-star but want to get the new one which is a river-leader award, and therefore ideal for a club like ours which runs lots of grade II / III trips.

Most 4* training courses are two-day, but the coaches have noticed that lots of the people attending already have the relevant river skills, and many already have the old award so they are running this course to concentrate on the river leading aspects. As I did a two-day intermediate white water course at the Tryweryn 18 months ago this sounded ideal for me.

We met at a service station on the M6 then drove up to the Lakes to paddle the Leven from Newby Bridge to just above Backbarrow Falls where apparently it all starts to get a bit hectic, and then moved on to paddle the Crake from Coniston Lake down to Spark Bridge. Both rivers are Grade II with bits of III - I've never paddled either before but they were as low as some of the group had ever seen them. I can imagine in decent levels they would make good club trips, although the Crake is committing as the last GIII rapid (Bobbin Mill) is un-inspectable and un-portageable so once you're on, you're running it. It was interesting to paddle with others who you aren't used to, and also to get two rivers done in a day and still be off the water by 3:00 (as a club I think we faff a lot and need to get slicker sorting shuttles etc.)

The course was good and everyone got lots of experience leading and supporting the leader, and we spent time talking about different ways to run rapids with groups as well as the gear you should carry. As with Carl's course there was an emphasis on CLAP:
Communication
Line-of-sight
Avoidance (is better than cure)
Position of maximum usefulness.
These are a few easy to remember points which I will keep in mind on future trips.

The ratio was two instructors (Andy & Martyn) to five students - a good ratio and I guess that you need a party of that size to make the leading side realistic. Based on today I would recommend Calder Canoe Centre (http://www.caldercanoecentre.org.uk/) who run lots of other courses at all levels.

All-in-all a good day out when I learnt a bit and was reminded of other stuff I already should have known. I now need a bit more experience leading trips, plus a bit of skills practice on grade III+ water before my assessment.

I guess Carl and I need to get our heads together and use what we have been taught to (hopefully) good effect on club trips. I would also benefit from any constructive criticism from those club members who are subjected to my river leading over the next few months.

Steve

CarlS

I agree Steve, we do need more practise and I for one would like to repeat the course I did at the Tryweryn. It is interesting to note that you were able to paddle on these rivers and perhaps we should plan a trip to the lakes shortly. We cancelled the last outing due to lack of water and yet on the same weekend you were able to paddle. We should consider having 'back up' rivers which are probably too difficult in normal conditions but okay in low water.

Incidently it is good that you are now up to speed on the CLAP, the more awareness there is, the more of us can practice safe paddling. Prevention is better than cure and by using protection (or should I say position) of maximum usefulness, we can take part in what should be an enjoyable physical activity whilst lowering the risk of STDs (swim type dramas).
Carl

Steve T

The rivers were very low - I'm not really sure that the Crake was worth doing if it was a challenging day's paddling you were after - a real scrape. However a lot of it is a narrow little ditch and if there was more water then trees would be a real problem - I can understand why (insert name of experienced paddler of our mutual acquaintance) had his issues with trees here.

The Leven was a good run, some good rapids which would be much more fun with a bit of water although they were still all runnable. One group arrived just after we got on, after apparently driving round for something paddleable, so this might be the low-water option in the Lakes. I'd want to scout the get-out first, it's not that obvious and I'm not sure we want to take the club (or me) down Backbarrow Falls.

As for the CLAP - all I can say is "thermals - essential wear". (I was trying to think of a good helmet joke that I could get away with here, but failed).

Steve

Steve T

Steve T

Carl:

This was the UKRGB thread I mentioned to you about further 4* training:
http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=45062
As you can see, half way down I've suggested that I might get in touch, but realistically I'll be out of action until March.

Could be worth a look.

(I thought of a CLAP joke involving Nookie gear. Too late now I've let the moment go)

Steve