 | Thun river Jam 07
For me a family holiday to Switzerland via Lyon meant a cheap holiday and tons of kayaking.
The Thun river Jam brings river surfing and kayaking together in the middle of the city as over 100 riders gather to for some sweet rides
Author Flic Meares
04-09-2007 |
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At Lyon we had super hot weather, the water levels were a little low but it was still fun.
Driving through Switzerland was spectacular, and the car waited until we reached the slip road off to Thun before it broke down!
Switzerland was a different story with water levels, after heavy rainfall all summer the city had been threatened by floods 3 times, and the lake levels above the weir were super high. Luckily the levels just about co-operated and although a little flushy and not perfect, we had a sweet wave within a perfect venue.
Friday morning the wave was set to go and by 12pm practice was over and the heats began. 10paddlers, 30miniutes, best 5 moves counting and a maximum of 45second rides was the set up to produce a spectacle of big moves and an exciting atmosphere.
Early evening after the freestyle heats paddlers began dressing into their full face helmets and protective clothing ready for the king of the wave carnage session. The wave was under spot lighting and 10 paddlers sprinting up the eddy to knock the contestants off the wave was highly amusing. Juniors and seniors, men and women fought each other to take the title of king/ Queen of the wave.
Semis and Finals took place on Saturday afternoon after a morning of chilling out, on the wave in the city, skate boarding or wake surfing. Finals consisted of 5 paddlers each naming their ride and for every correct move they nailed in their ride the score was multiplied. The men’s finals showed that keeping to a safe routine was perhaps the best bet with the top two men both beginning their rides with a clean spin!
The city of Thun provided good food, great skateboarding streets, fantastic ice cream and of course hosted one crazy party at the Mokka bar on Saturday night.
Sunday morning paddlers were crawling out of bed to head off for some creeking while the top board surfers flocked to the river for a contest.
Thanks to Simon for a fantastic event and bring on worlds 2009!
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