Tyler Curtis's Blog (52)

Salto Palguin...the big one!

Here it is. The stout 'brown' of Pucon Chile.

Added by Tyler Curtis on March 15, 2010 at 11:11am — No Comments

To celebrate Xmas we decided to head north to get on a few runs, which I haven’t paddled for a few years! Our first pit stop was the Rio Laja. This short section of whitewater is pure gold. It is combat paddling at its finest with little to no eddies and a continuous gradient which is full of sticky pourovers. None stop action for 3-4kms. The greatest part about his river is that you can walk the shuttle in a quick 20min.

At this point it was starting to get late so we decided that it… Continue

Added by Tyler Curtis on February 3, 2010 at 8:59am — No Comments

Chile...11 years in a row!

Chile –Freeboating and hucking upon arrival

It was the time of year again to pack up the paddling gear and jump a plane to the paddling paradise of Chile. It would be my 11th season in a row travelling to this amazing country and with my vast knowledge of rivers and recently released Guide Book ‘Whitewater Chile’ the possibilities for great whitewater was endless.

A large number of paddlers headed for Chile this winter and the rivers were relentless in delivering punishment. The swim… Continue

Added by Tyler Curtis on January 31, 2010 at 11:46am — 2 Comments

Some Norway playboating in Skjaak.

Here are a few clips from one days of playboating at Norway's Skjaak Wave..
Skjaak.mov

Added by Tyler Curtis on November 16, 2009 at 6:11am — No Comments

Whitewater Chile

Hello Fellow Paddlers.

For those of you heading to Chile or perhaps are already there...you might want to consider making your trip to Chile much simpler by checking out the Guide Book..

Whitewater Chile.

Another option if you are short on time and don't want to deal with logistics check out www.whitewaterchile.com

See ya there..

Tyler Curtis…

Continue

Added by Tyler Curtis on November 16, 2009 at 6:07am — No Comments

Cover Shot

Hey Fellow Paddlers..
Just wanted to share the hype. I just received my 5th cover shot of the season on European Canoe Kayak Magazine.
Super sweet. Thanks to Raphael Thiebaut for taking the photo and Ron Fischer for being captain of the duo kayak used to get the money shot!
Enjoy...

Added by Tyler Curtis on October 29, 2009 at 2:42am — 1 Comment

Body Positioning.

There are three body positions when kayaking. To move from one to the other is completely normal and once you progress toward the intermediate and advanced stages you will utilize this movement to aid in throwing your kayak around.

Body positioning in kayaking is like that of any other sporting activity. Without the proper positioning you will continue to struggle.

Think about it!

Neutral Position –this is the position that you want to spend the majority of your time in.… Continue

Added by Tyler Curtis on October 2, 2009 at 2:52am — No Comments

Twelve Years with Wave Sport

In 1997, I received my first kayak as a ‘sponsored’ athlete. It was the recently released Wave Sport Kinetic and Godzilla…

Since that very first day paddling my new Wave Sport kayak I have paddled over 20 different models produced by Wave Sport…

Lazer, Descent, Frankenstein, Godzilla, Kinetic, Stubby, Foreplay, Score, X, Y, Z, XXX, EZ, Big EZ, Mutant, Ace Series, Transformer (T2), ZG, Project 52, Diesel, and Habitat to actually label them all! In case you DO NOT know the history of… Continue

Added by Tyler Curtis on September 28, 2009 at 2:05am — 3 Comments

Posture in your kayak...

Posture is one of the key components to taking control of your kayak and getting to where you want to go in whitewater.

It is very instinctive to start wandering toward sitting back in your kayak when things get tough or a slight bit frightful.

The problems or negative affects with leaning back in your kayak are as follows:

Firstly, your stern edges are more likely to get caught by the whitewater (boils or seams) and force you to turn over.

Secondly, the bow edges of… Continue

Added by Tyler Curtis on September 21, 2009 at 8:22am — No Comments

Norway Daze

It was another incredible successful year for our Norway Daze Program.. We once again upgraded our facility with new beds to only compliment our gourmet food, hot tub over looking the river, fire place, wide selection of kayaks, and of course world class guides...that's Mariann and myself!

If you have any interest in a trip to Norway feel free to contact us or check out www.norwaydaze.com

I will let the photos speak… Continue

Added by Tyler Curtis on September 9, 2009 at 9:51am — 1 Comment

Tuck n' Duck Technique

Tuck n’ Duck

The Tuck n’ Duck is one of the more important techniques to learn when paddling big water and simply learning how to take on bigger waves.

Body position and an active paddle placement is the key to this skill. Your first task is to find yourself a nice sized crashing wave that is located in a safe location. You don’t want to drop into something that can lead to trouble.

You want to utilize your offensive body position.

Offensive Position –this… Continue

Added by Tyler Curtis on September 4, 2009 at 4:01am — No Comments

Freestyle Nordic Championships

On July 1st (Canada Day) the Freestyle Nordic Championships took place. Athletes from Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the UK joined together to throw down at the Bubble Machine. Due to high water levels the Skjaak Wave was washed out and the event had to be moved from a wave feature to a hole! The Bubble Machine is a great feature that allows every hole move you can think of to be performed. From Tricky-Whu to Phonix to Air Loop and Super Cleans the Nordic Cup spectators saw them… Continue

Added by Tyler Curtis on July 8, 2009 at 1:34pm — No Comments