By Matt Cooke

Matt Cooke

Story from issue 12 – September 2013

Tooled up with 18 boats, ten paddles and a whole bunch of toys, the Pyranha team cruised down to their first stop, the majestic Val Sesia Valley in Italy, and assist with the river guiding and safety of the Gene 17 Kayaking Festival.

It was then onto juicy water levels on the Soca River in Slovenia, scouting runs, visiting Ljubljana’s famous Tarcen racecourse and finishing with boater-X racing in the dark and a trip to the Kozak waterfalls. This was followed by the Zrmanja River in Croatia, the La Ola Rodeo in Austria, Interlaken in Switzerland and the Aiasse River in Italy for the Teva Mountain Games. No time to rest, though, as they drove back through Switzerland, stopping at a Pyranha dealer in Basel and onto France where the rivers were at a 50-year high!

To top it all off, there was a 24-hour drive to Norway to pick up Anton Immler, and the lads from Substantial Media asked to join them for three weeks. However, a kayaking accident at Flemmings Fossen, Norway meant the tour didn’t end on a high note. We caught with Matt to see what the tour meant to him and where he is at now.

“My good friend, Liz Forshaw, welcomed me with open arms into the Pyranha team. I felt my journey now had meaning as I was quickly entrusted to lead the 2013 European Team Tour. The tour was to be the most incredible kayaking trip of my lifetime, combining all the knowledge and skills I had developed over the past 20+ years of filming, guiding, coaching, cooking and racing. The tour had it all, pushing David Bain and me to our physical and psychological limits. We quite literally poured our hearts and souls into the 2013 tour and, as a result, produced some classic projects but not without scars.

“Following the tour, David became the main European sales agent for NRS, and I found myself rebuilding my life following a life-threatening crash at Flemmings Fossen, Norway. The years following my accident were driven by my determination to paddle once more, to continue coaching, guiding, and working with other team paddlers to share the love of the sport and the products. I could not train for events as every attempt ended with prolonged injury and the realisation that I had quite literally given my professional life to paddlesport. I had one remaining passion, making movies.

“I went back to school to study film and worked closely with Graham Mackereth to produce a short documentary looking back at Pyranha’s long history.

“Life delivers many blows in various forms, but they are all just tests. The only family is your own. The only future is your own. One thing that will forever be constant is the flow of water through our rivers, streams, lakes and oceans that will never tire from our visits. Paddling is in my heart and my soul. The scenery changes, but the adventure continues. I continue to serve the kayaking community unsponsored – a truly liberating feeling after almost 30 years. I hope to see you all out there in the water soon. On a mission.”

Cookie x

Both films of the 2013 team tour are available to view on YouTube @ www.youtube.com/user/mattcookekayak/videos

Pyranha Team Tour
An endless summer odyssey

Our tour this year, organized by Liz Forshaw was to become the most successful Pyranha Team Tour to date. We had a great opportunity to utilise the Pyranha van and have an epic kayaking adventure all over Europe, visiting some of the most popular kayaking destinations. Tooled up with 18 boats, 10 paddles and whole bunch of toys, we cruised down from Pyranha to our first stop, the majestic Val Sesia Valley in Italy, a popular pilgrimage for many avid British white water paddlers. The drive was a familiar one for me, one I had not undergone for some years, and it was good to be back. 

Our purpose for our first stop was to enter the Gene 17 Kayaking Festival and assist with the running of the different events. Our main jobs for the event were river guiding and safety; our other mission was to work our way through all the class 4/5 runs in the area and test our fleet of Pyranha kayaks. With the weather crapping out for most of our time in Val Sesia, it gave us opportunity to get juicy runs on some of the classics, then when the sun finally came out, we caught high water sunshine runs on the Egua, Sorba and Sermenza. 

The water level dropped on the Friday and for us that meant Devil’s slide was in. The run, first paddled by Shaun Baker back in the 90s is out the back of the saw mill as you drive up to the Sorba. Easily scoutable, an epic section starting with a right angle falls into a pool just above the slide. The slide is in two sections, falling over 100ft. For me, it felt like running a gauntlet just being happy to come out at the bottom unscathed. A fantastic must for the avid adrenaline seeker. 

Our entourage was also here to race. We were all a little out of practice but that did not stop us from giving our all. We scored third place in the team event, David was fifth in the endurance and I placed fifth in the sweet rumble. Italy had been a perfect start, we were all charging and stoked for the next stop.

Our next stop took us to the Soca River in Slovenia. We managed to see more of the country this time, taking scouting missions to find more runs and even visiting Ljubljana to paddle at the famous Tarcen racecourse. Our mission was on the Soca and to assist Blaz Luznik from Positive Sport with a little boat x extreme race. The weather in Slovenia was worse that in Italy, constant rain with just one afternoon of sun. This meant the water levels were juicy. 

We ran the river in playboats then in our Pyranha Shivas and had to work hard all day to avoid getting swallowed. The race was set in the evening at the take out. The race itself was very short but extremely intense. Four off the ramp to start into a break out move, around a buoy, back into the flow then a sprint to the finish. The finals finished around 10.30pm in the dark, looked amazing. 

The party was pretty much rained off but everyone had a great event. We had some time before leaving so we checked out the Kozak waterfalls. We decided to give the second drop a go, never been paddled before, looked sweet with all the rain they had been having. Our first D of the trip, a sweet 50-footer into a tight canyon open at either end. After the drop you can paddle out to the confluence to the Soca.

With the rest of the week to kill before heading to Lienz, Austria, we made a call to mission further south and explore Croatia. What we didn’t count on was our fuel card not working there as, sadly, there were no shell garages. This did not put us off as we had seen photos of what we were heading to see. We arrived in Krka National Park and saw the most beautiful series of waterfalls I have ever seen. Sadly, we were not given permission to paddle them. 

We were directed north to the Zrmanja River where there we met up with the guides from Raftrek Adventure who took us on a wild ride around central Croatia showing us all the sights and some shocking tales from the recent conflict with Bosnia. 

We suddenly felt like we were no longer in Kansas. It turned out to be the most chilled out, beautiful place we had seen on tour. A white water utopia for any class of paddler – something for everyone. The water was 100% spring and the clearest run I have ever seen. A true fountain of youth. We only had two days here but it was a place we will do our best to include in next year’s tour. There are an abundance of rivers in the area that we just had no time to explore. The Zrmanja has it all, beautiful, tropical flats, progressive rapids and even two waterfalls. 

Austria

We could have spent weeks in Croatia but we had a plan and it was time to say goodbye to our new, crazy white water comrades and head north setting a course for Lienz, Austria. We drove through the night and arrived in Austria greeted by the sunrise. We had only one day in Lienz, to assist with the La Ola rodeo. La Ola are our Austrian Pyranha dealers and it was great to get together and talk shop and had a fantastic day testing out the Jeds and having fun with the Teva cardboard race. 

The line up was small, only 21 men and three girls. Was great fun entering a rodeo, it has been years since my last one, session format too, my favourite. Scored an overall third in the men’s final that shocked everyone including myself. Stoked. Was nice to be standing on the podium with my old student, Pringle and buddy Martin Koll. 

Strait after prize giving, we jumped back in the van and drove strait to Augsburg to meet up with our German dealer Wolfgang and Tomas Funk from Kober paddles at the slalom course to run a summer fate style open day with gear sales, demos and coaching. My highlight of the day was David taking an eight-year-old lad who had never been in a boat before down the course in a duo. The kid’s face was a peach as he was slamming through holes and probably cursing his dad in German for making him do it. He was in good hands, David glided down the course delivering the young man back to his father who was ecstatic. The boy could only say one thing, “Papa, could you buy me a kayak now instead of a football.” Priceless ☺

Switzerland 

Our official missions were now over until we hit Huningue but that was over a week away. We decided to fill that week with kayaking. We headed across and down through Switzerland to then go back to Italy for the Teva race, all in five days. Interlaken is situated in the foothills of the Jungfrau range and hosts the best rafting and canyoning in the world, you will not find a stronger team of guides anywhere else. Interlaken is a river guide’s dream and a place I have been to every year since 2005. Here you have glacial rivers next to an abundance of canyons and waterfalls. Not everyone’s cup of tea but the whole area is worth visiting just for the beauty.

Italy 

Mid-week we blasted down to the Aiasse River in Italy for the Teva mountain games. This event was a small affair hosting a limited number of top paddlers. Over two days we ran the team and individual races on the California section and then the king of the falls competition on the slides below. Probably the toughest racecourse I have ever done, even took a swim during the team race out of a hole everybody was avoiding. I did not mean to go in. The king of the falls race was my style of racing, short and steep ending in a sizable multi-move slide. Bain and myself took fifth and sixth overall. 

Back to Switzerland 

With another quick turn around, we drove straight up through Switzerland to Basel then onto Huningue, a small place just on the outskirts of Basel, an unlikely place to find a white water course. We were there to meet our French dealer, Norbert who owns Canadian Canoe Shop across from the course. Norbert put us up at the shop and put us to work for the weekend coaching and demoing our fleet of boats. We both had a blast; it’s a great course for learning white water, filled every weekend by German and French weekend warriors. 

France

On the Sunday evening, we hightailed out of there heading for Briancon and L’agentire. I noticed Chamonix was on route so we decided to stop there for a few nights for a change of scenery. We met up with my oldest friend Dougal Tavener, a pro kayaker turned glacier guide now based in Chamonix. After a nice night catching up, we were out early to the local mountains for a days leading and top roping. David and myself were happy with some 5c-6c routes for the day whilst Dougal and his climbing partner were warming up on 7c. This guy can climb. Used to be junior C1 slalom champion back in the day and paddling for Peak and Riot but always had climbing in his heart. We had a wicked time, now we were ready to hit L’agantiere and student week.

Driving had been grinding me down as I was the only driver for the tour but each time we got in the van to leave somewhere, we were both so high on adrenaline, a great natural stimulant that can keep you going for days knowing that your going somewhere even better than the last. It’s strange how some journeys that are around five hours seem to last forever and some that are over nine can seem so short. I got this feeling many times this summer with the abundance of journeys we were undertaking. Our week in Briancon was cut short due to the weather conditions. The rivers in France were at a 50-year high. Most of the university students were stuck at the camp unable to paddle on anything other than on the lake. Those who did venture out returned with a tales of woe.

We spent three days coaching those who were left on site. The slalom course running next to camp was huge. Colossal holes, waves that dwarfed kayakers and eyes that popped out of paddlers heads frantically trying to find a line down that did not result in heinous down time and a swim that would equal the distance of the English channel. Not cool for chase boaters, that durance was shifting with large trees floating through, not to dissimilar to what I imagine a tsunami to look like.

We spent a good bit of time repairing kayaks and replacing broken parts. Once the word got out, people were coming over in droves to see what we could do for their battered boats. We had fun; it was a good chance for us to have a rest before embarking on our fourth and final mission of the Tour, Norway. As soon as the student race was over, we packed up started the drive north. The race was spectacular. A ‘grand prix’ style mass start from the top of the slalom course to the large peninsula just beyond the bottom.

It was great to watch and we only had one swimmer who decided to do it in a C1. I know, I thought the same thing. I honestly thought he was a goner; he disappeared for 20 seconds before surfacing, still deep in the woods with no immediate rescue on hand. Luckily for him, we had a solid safety crew on the bank and some pretty hand chase boaters including Bain. He wasted no time; recovered banana man then recovered his boat eventually after 2km of chasing.

It was a cool race, great footage. The novice events were all held on the lake, sun was shining and spirits were high. They all then went onto drink their body weight in beer and enjoy the rest of the party. The next morning, we said our goodbyes, packed the van and set the satellite navigation for Oslo.

Norway

For reasons unbeknown to us, we were a driver short, which meant I was to embark on a personal and potentially world record stint of driving. I have driven a long way in my life up to now but this was a daunting thought as it was to be over 24 hours of drive time and we had 30 hours to do it in. This was one of those long driving sections that felt much shorter due to the emotions you feel about the destination, the drive was a lot of fun. Maybe the ton of coffee, Red Bulls, sherbet, Haribos, plums and water helped too. After a six-hour snooze in Denmark, we headed over the insanely scary bridges to Copenhagen then strait up to Oslo to pick up Anton Immler.

Anton is a Swedish pro kayaker who travels the world in search of the best white water. He has superseded this goal and continues to push the boundaries of what is possible on the river. Having Anton onboard mean only one thing, our big boy pants were going to have to come out for the duration of our stay in Norway. We wasted no time. Arriving at the Brandseth race course, we have a few hours sleep then put on at the top and blasted down our first class 5 followed straight after by a high water run down the Myrkdal.

It had happened, we were deep into the forest and very far from Kansas but we were so happy. I could talk for days about what happened next when the Substantial Media lads asked to join the van for three weeks. We wasted no time, had no team days off just the odd days from injury of fatigue from the sheer volume of kayaking that we were getting done.

We paddled two, sometimes three rivers in one day. The daylight always on our side. We covered the main beaten kayaking path around Voss to Valdall to Soja with many plan deviations along the way. I would certainly recommend taking some ferries across the fjords. Fjords are a natural wonder, covering a vast area of Southern Norway. Inland seas and flocks of sea gulls over a 100-miles from the coast. No swell, just fresh sea air, fishing boats and stunning natural beauty.

Our tour was to be violently cut short after a second expedition to the Rauma River a few hours east of Trondheim. The Lower Rauma has nine rapids of notable size ending in the notorious ‘Flemming’s Drop’ finishing the run with a peaceful, well deserved paddle out over a few kilometres to the take-out bridge. For us, the second descent down this section was to end very differently. As it was my first time down this section, I was keen to do all nine drops and paddle out to complete the run. The water was much lower than the previous trip, this meant that rapids 1-8 were much more manageable but number nine was looking substantially less cushioned than the previous inspection a week earlier.

Flemming put-in first above the lead-in rapid for nine. He floated down an almost class 6 sequence then re-positioned for the lip. The line was almost perfect, Flemming dropped in just above the kicker but hit it slightly off causing him to spin around resulting in a heavy landing, ripping him from his kayak. Luckily, he was OK.

This left me with a dilemma. I knew it looked low but Flemming was OK. I had a green light feeling inside me. I put in. I had rehearsed the line like it was a slalom course; I was as happy and confident as I could be. I went for the crux and drifted over a curler sending me left of my intended course. I thought I would get away with it, tucking and committing to the landing 80-foot below. What happened in the next few seconds would change my life for the next four months. Something was waiting for me! I’m still not sure what but it was most likely a rock slab.

Whatever it was managed to break three ribs and fracture my L1 vertebra. The euphoric paddle out to the bridge turned out to be the most painful wild spinal extraction I had ever seen. The rescue was executed with military precision and I was in the helicopter just 40-minutes after covering 2km of class 2, one class 4 portage and a further 200m in the river getting towed and carried. I am so thankful I was wearing a dry suit. I managed to get the boys to take it off me before the helicopter arrived, as I didn’t want it cut. It was an expensive bit of kit. I was OK after an operation in Trondheim screwing my back together and I was off home with Bain to start the long rehabilitation.

My summary of the tour defines my perception of a professional kayaker experiences. It’s not a glamorous life in the eyes of the western world but to us these places and our experiences are much more valuable than material possessions that have no true value. We will never be self-made millionaires as we are not willing to step on other people to reach that next level, we have all we need right here on the ground, in the rivers, the hills, mountains and sky.

Shout outs

All this would not be possible with help from companies like Pyranha, Robson, Teva and NRS, who have invested in us to bring back the goods, we strive never to disappoint. We thank you all for giving us this opportunity to be ourselves and share our passions.