Monday 1 June 2015

Teesside Whitewater Centre - 31st May 2015

A change of scenery - I enjoyed the chance to paddle the artificial white water course at the River Tees Barrage with the Macclesfield and District Canoe Club. A 300m course runs in a loop with many drops and wave features to practice my rather rusty white water skills. I'd not paddled and played in such conditions for nearly 30 years!

Punching through the bottom stopper
The water level is maintained by four large Archimedes' screws that pump water back to the top. Alongside the screws is the ultimate luxury - a conveyor belt that takes paddlers back up to the start! This makes it possible to have continuous runs of the course without leaving your boat.

Approaching the conveyor belt, with the Archimedes' screws to the left
riding the conveyor belt
Playing in one of the waves
I can still breakout!
Dropping into an eddy alongside a "hole"
playing in a small stopper
I surfed and played in a number of the features, perhaps slightly gingerly. In the past (in the 80s!) I have played in such conditions and rolled regularly, but my confidence in my white water roll is not as solid as it used to be. Hopefully the Greenland rolling I am doing at Brereton Lake will re-tune my rolling so I'll be more confident next time.

Thanks to Alan Tonge for the photos.

1 comment:

Lene Gjelsvik said...

Looks like great fun! And what a luxury with the conveyor belt! :)