The Robe Race '08

I. The Story, In 250 Words or Less
II. The Results
III. The Photo Dump
IV. The Robe Gnome


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I. The Story, In 250 Words or Less

The 1st annual Robe Canyon Downriver Race! All the elements came together & conspired to make our inaugural race successful. 18 racers & scads of volunteers & spectators gathered at Granite Falls under bluebird skies to make it happen. Watching the flow from 5.3 ft to 4.low the day before the race was a bit of a nail-biter .. but Fri/Sat's warm temps helped to stabilize the flow right at a low, but worthy, 5 ft. The day's events went off without a hitch -- no carnage, no terror, fast times, & plenty of sunburn, good times & beer for all. The Robe Gnomes remained more or less at bay. We started out of a eddy at the lip of Tunnel rapid & didn’t stop til after Conversation, on a beach where our timekeepers awaited -- a length of about 5 miles.

Once we'd all made it to the take-out & shuttles had been completed, about 30 people crammed into the back room at Omega Pizza for the after-party. Amanda B. & the timekeeping crew had kept course times a secret, opting to announce times & crown the champeens at the party.

The winners would each walk away with a super cool satin Boxing Robe (robe, get it?), as well as bragging rights for a year. The robes will be embroidered with the winners' names, & next year, will be passed on to the winners of The Robe Race '09. A new tradition is born!

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II. The Results

The spread between 1st & last place was but 10 minutes. The winning time, posted by McKibbin & Hawthorne, was 33 minutes, 10 seconds! Congrats dudes & savor the sweet taste of sweet sweetness!

Rob McKibbin & Ben Hawthorne 33:10
Chris Tretwold & Ryan Bradley 34:08
John Minerich & Shane Robinson 34:43
Scott Waidelich & Nick Hinds 36:01
Erik Schertzl & Bryan Smith 36:10
Todd Gillman & Andrew Oberhardt 36:39
Jon Dufay & Brad Xanthopoulos 38:30
Ryan Terry & Matt Thomas 42:37
Jeff Bowman & Morgan Hutchings 43:46 (Robe Gnome Award)

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III. The Photo Dump

Many friends have submitted photos. Due to space & time constraints, I had to just kind of pick a handful from each. Still though, there's a LOT of pics!


Andrew Oberhardt & Shane Robinson, stoked.


Organizing the shore support & timekeeping detail pre-race


Building out the team list


Most of the racers posing for group portrait at the start line


McKibbin, confident


Brad X. & Jon Dufay, not as confident as McKibbin .. but pretty sure


Devin & Hale, exhuberant


JP running Tunnel rapid


The winning team outta the gate


Glory Boof #1


Bottom of Tunnel rapid, with GB1 in foreground


GB1


3rd place finishers, Robe regulars, Shane Robinson & Johnny Utard


If there's a radar in the area, this guy's probably way under it, stompin' shit out. There's no vision like Schertlvision.


Ben H., impervious shoulders @ Little Miss Sunshine


Nick Hinds' 2nd time on The Robe




BradX @ Lil Miss


Matt "Effigy" Thomas made the trip up from Medford, OR .. & that's cool. Lise-Anne's shot of him ...


& Owen's shot of him ...


Awesome shot of 2nd place finisher Ryan Bradley on the newly-opened right line on Lil Miss


Shane Robinson, globetrotter


Me on Lil Miss (thanks Owen)


Me & Drew in the runout


boogie water


boogie water


Utah & Shane in the boogie water leading into Hotel California


Sequence of me in the manky river-right channel of Hotel Cali lead-in


Love this backlit shot of B.Smith & Schertzl in the main ledge of Hotel Cali .. nice one, Kennet.


Doof Boof


Effigy running the meat @ Catcher's Mitt


Utah, backender


"The 20-foot Waterfall" is neither


Effingham @ takeout


Then we drank beer!




Kyle Kovalick, the voice of Robe Race '08, doing emcee duty at Omega Pizza


Ammen & Stephanie Jordan .. finish line timekeepers. thanks guys!!!


Hilary N. caught in the act.


Wayrad!


Half of winning team, Ben H., donning The Robe. His partner had to take off before the awards ceremony. This robe (& Rob's) will be embroidered with the winners' names & will be passed onto the next winners each year.

For even more stories/photos from our contributors, please follow the links below! Plunge Pool from Owen Callahan; EJ Etherington's Flickr Set; Chris Joosse's blog; Chris Tretwold & B'ham Whitewater.

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IV. The Robe Gnome

Our crew is ruthless about giving each other shit. It's an equal opportunity kind of thing, but when it comes to talkin' smack about kayaking, hiking out of runs, getting destroyed in rapids, being nancies, etc., certain friends tend to take more than they actually dish out. On Robe in particular, any time someone has a bad line or swims, somehow it ends up always being blamed on the pranksterish "Robe Gnomes" that presumably lurk around some of the more notorious rapids waiting for unsuspecting victims. I don't remember exactly how the term got coined or by whom, but it definitely had something to do with Shertzl & me. It was always "Hey Shertl, beware, I hear the Robe Gnomes are feisty today!" .. or "Whoa man! That was UGLY!" "Shut it Gillman, the Robe Gnome got a hold of my stern & pulled me back into the Mitt .." something along those lines.

So, while at the post-race party, that brilliant, inebriated Ryan Terry ("RT") produced a great idea -- A prize in honor of The Robe Gnomes who get the better of the DFL team, and, of course, in honor of the DFL team itself.

So, starting with Jeff & Morgan, each year, Newt The Robe Gnome will go home with the DFL team, will spend the year with the team, & will hopefully become better friends by this time next year. The DFL team will have to take a "family portrait" & have it printed for inclusion in the photo album that will accompany the Gnome to the Race each year.

Yes, we are serious.

Ladies & gentlemen, meet Newt The Robe Gnome.

Updater! ::: Spring 08 Stuff

I. Baby Dotcom
II. Big Weekend, Little White
III. The Main Event -- Robe Race 08
IV. Pounds All Around


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I. Baby Dotcom

Poudre Posse stalwart .. Co-creator of one of the most celebrated websites in the whole history of the World Wides of Web .. Co-author of the river guidebook that redefined river guidebooks .. Proud wearer of the Yamika & observer of the Passover .. Mr. Evan Stafford, along with his lovely wife Nicole, are the elated new parents of little Kaija Michelle Stafford. Congrats & much love from your BFF in the PNW.




II. Big Weekend, Little White

The first ever official downriver race (& slalom event) on the LWS was, by all accounts, a huge success & a good time. Hood River loc Todd Anderson took the top honors. Congrats amigo! And nice work to Austin for actually pulling this off. Info & pics Here and also Here


III. The Main Event

And speaking of downriver races ...



Nowhere near as glam as some other PNW classics, The Robe Canyon of the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River humbly lurks in the North Cascade foothills an hour north of Sea-town. But for those who've been bitten by the bug, The Robe has become a bit of an obsession.

With somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 complex class V rapids & at least that many more class IV's, nearly all of which contain soaring big-water boofs, multiple lines, hungry holes & tons of "personality", this 5-mile canyon stretch is hoisting the "quality" flag high for the PNW. And at its best runnable flows, from +/- 800 cfs to double that, it's not really "creekin'", although there are plenty of creek lines to explore if you're so inclined. All of the rapids, except one, are remarkably clean, perfectly spaced, pool-drop style in a relatively remote, densely vegetated, basalt canyon. The gray glacial water is frequently pinched between polished vertical walls, & with ever present overcast skies, Robe can have an eerie vibe -- especially given the carnage this run has been known to dish out. But the more you get to know the canyon, the more you come to appreciate its dark beauty .. & in its current condition, the quality of the whitewater may be among the best you'll ever paddle.

This coming Saturday -- levels permitting -- we will be hosting the first ever Robe Canyon downriver endurance race. Teams of 2 will launch at 5-minute intervals to see who can make it through the length of the canyon the fastest. The race will begin just above Tunnel rapid, at the start of the canyon, & will include a mandatory portage at Landslide (cuz that's just a part of kayaking), & will finish at the cobble beach at the terminus of Lime Kiln Trail, just below the last big rapid, Conversation. With continuous class V from start to finish, it will be a pretty grueling race. I'd look for winning times to be somewhere around 35 min's. As such, emphasis will be placed on combining downriver efficiency with safety .. hence teams of two & a strong volunteer safety crew.

This is a NON-event -- there are no sponsors, no entry fees, no cash purse (though I did spring for some sweet prizes for the winners!), no red tape, no gapers, no celebs, & no attitudes. The day will be 1 part See-Who-Can-Make-It-Down-The-Fastest, & 1 part community celebration of this awesome resource. Then we'll eat pizza & drink beer.

If you're in the neighborhood, please come out & be a part of our little one-day circus -- For spectating, you can access one of the most action-packed parts of the river super easily from The Old Robe Trail, off the Mountain Loop Hwy east of Granite Falls. We'll be meeting Saturday at the Granite Falls parking turnout / Robe take-out at 9 a.m. for competitors/safety meeting. After party will be at Omega Pizza in cosmopolitan downtown Granite Falls, WA. If flows don't cooperate, we'll shoot for Sunday .. but I have a good feeling about Saturday. If you are interested in racing, please email me your team info asap so I can add you to the list.

To get you stoked, here's a short Vimeo piece on THE ROBE, shot & edited by our good friend Chris Tretwold of Bellingham Whitewater

Robe Canyon from CHRIST on Vimeo.


IV. Pounds All Around

For several days last week, drivers on I-5 seemed a lot less erratic. Bartenders & servers at Capitol Hill hipster hangouts & restaurants replaced their usual sneering or sardonic smirking with legitimate friendly smiles. Passersby on the sidewalks of downtown looked up from their fixed downward gaze & said hello to one another. And the sun even made a cameo appearance for about half a day.


His Holiness The Dalai Lama visited our fair city. Here he is seen showing Adult Contemporary heartthrob / Seattleite, Dave Matthews, the proper way to bump knucks. You'll start seeing this hot new style in all the gossip rags at the grocery store checkout .. but you saw it here first .. unless you actually saw it in the Seattle Times first.

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

I love living in Cascadia, but it is not without problems. Often one of the most challenging aspects of life in the Northwest - on a daily and weekly basis - is choosing your recreation du jour. This is especially challenging in the spring as longer and warmer days bring life to the flora and waterways of this region. Of course, there is always something to paddle throughout the year up here, but when the flowers start coming up, you know that the plethora of choices is about to explode like a tulip bloom on a sunny spring day.

Of course spring is also a time of year when people start looking to get on their bikes with more frequency, or head for the east side to soak up some vitamin D at their favorite crag. Additionally, spring storms often remind us that winter does not want to fade into the past as huge swell pounds the coast and snow continues to blanket the mountains. Finally, the ocean is always there offering up some of the world's best sea kayaking. On any given day, the choices of how to go play in the wilderness can create a sort of paralysis - sometimes referred to as the Seattle Disease.

In the past I have dealt with this decision making process in two ways: keeping the number of activities I participate in low and placing quality above quantity. This year I might be breaking rule #1 as I feel tempted to dust off the rock climbing equipment and "pull down" whereas in the past I would simply keep my garage filled with only ski and kayak gear. We'll see how that goes. I am also being tempted by friends to buy a surfboard and sea kayak. Pretty soon I'll need a yakima rack with so many accessories that I can't actually put anything on it.

Skiing has the unique aspect of powder, which is finite in both quantity and quality. When it's good, it's only good for a short time - especially here in the lower elevations of the cascades - and can be enjoyed by others before you get the chance to indulge. Thus, I usually let powder skiing trump kayaking as I know that Robe will be running for several more months this year and the forest roads will soon melt out allowing access to all the other local delights. And, the highest quality of snow will quickly be a thing to only look forward to for next year.

As the forecast calls for yet another winter storm (with possible snow in Seattle!) this weekend, I am looking forward to another lap in my newest favorite tour: The Slot Couloir. Below are a few pics from some recent trips. Enjoy.

Dale dropping in


Dr. Timmy taking his turn

Photo by Jason Salvo

Our token splitboarder and resident dirtbag


Dr. Daniels fills her powder prescription


Exiting the couloir and opening up some speed for the apron


Tim coming in hawt!


Becca goes for more


One of the finest lines I have ever skied!


Time to go home

Photo by Tim Holmberg

One Week Changes Everything

Just last week Todd, I and the Squampton crew were searching for something to do. With river levels ultra low and snow issues up the Elaho we stumbled into a couple of great days on the Lower Mile of the Ashlu pretty much by accident. While we thought we might encounter boat breaking low conditions, we were pleasantly surprised with some fun whitewater. So as this weekend approached, I spoke with Greg, Tim, and Matt Compass and motivation was high to get back into the Lower Mile for a few laps before she started to juice up.

On Saturday Squamish hit 20 degrees Celsius, which I think equates to about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. You can see life in Canucky is starting to take hold. I'm thinking Celsius, meters, and tuques these days. Toques are hats for you unseasoned yankee folks. Point being, the 20 degree sunshine started to melt a little of our low elevation snow and conveniently brought us some proper water levels by Sunday. Plan was to head to the Ashlu and see what we could find. The stoke started to build as we made our way out the Squamish valley. Cluing into to water level visuals on the Squamish we all started to talk smack about the Box being in. After conveniently checking in with Ledcor staff and giving them our names and license plate numbers for their world-class "safety management" in the Ashlu valley, it became clear that we had enough water to head to the Box.

Put-in to the Box. You can see the parked trucks just beyond us. They were skinning up to go skiing! The road is a no go beyond the 25 mile bridge right now. Going to be a while before we can get into the Mine.

photo Bryan Smith

Greg Daspher...this guy always keeps the stoke high!

photo by Bryan Smith

Right from the start we had lots of snow to deal with on the put-in trail.


We had solid medium to high flows which had those of us who know the run a bit on edge. The Box always tugs on the nerves when no one has been in there for a while. Post holing our way to the put-in, I suggested that it was imperative that one of use went on a scout of triple drop to make sure it was clear of wood. Because I knew it would slow the pace down if we all tried to navigate through the snow along the ridge, I pushed on while the others scouted the first couple drops. While nothing is super gnar-gnar in the first few rapids, it is all unscoutable and un-portagable from river level requiring a good knowledge of the lines and peace of mind that no old growth is lurking downstream. I pushed onto to triple drop and discovered a hunk of old growth wedged in the exit of the third ledge with just enough room to sneak under the right side.

The team scouting the first rapid from the canyon level pillow lines.

photo by Bryan Smith

Matt warming up the shoulders before dropping in.


The first few rapids went pretty smooth, with the log in triple providing an extra element to an already intense rapid. Then we hit Kernage. The entire entry was all chalked full of wood and the boulder scramble portage was covered with a few feet of snow.

Matt Compass probing. You had to sneak in along the left and drop into the first ledge sideways with no speed. Needless to say we had some interesting lines.

photo by Bryan Smith

The view of Kernage from the bottom. Note the wood junk show in the entrance.

photo by Bryan Smith

At the end of the first canyon comes what some consider a junky rapid, but when you have proper flows and know the line this one is a diamond in the rough.

Greg launching the entry boof

photo by Bryan Smith

And the glory exit from the first canyon of the Box

photo by Bryan Smith

The first rapid in the second canyon always has had a long history of collecting wood. Because of the amount of wood we had been dealing with, we opted to post hole our way to a quick vantage. I took the camera and shot from an angle that people rarely see.

Mt Ashlu guarding us.

photo by Bryan Smith

Greg dropping into the lower Box canyon.

photo by Bryan Smith

Wood continue to play games with us as we hit the two perfect 10 footers just after entering the lower canyon. The second of the two ledges always sends you right and of course there was a tree wedged in the exit. After scouting for a bit we came up with an alternative line on the left which proved to be an incredible boof.

Matt coming into numero uno.

photo by Bryan Smith

Matt going left on the second ledge to avoid the tree on the right.

photo by Bryan Smith

So just one week after "Low Water Salvation" we got the Box at a solid flow. Amazing. It is scary to think about what will happen if we get a week of sustained temps here in BC. It ain't going to take much before the low elevation stuff starts to blow out and we are scrambling up snow laden roads trying to escape the melt. Hold on...it's going to be a big water year in BC.

A Break in the Programming

Before I begin, I want to draw everybody's attention to the TRL Del.icio.us Menu on the right sidebar. It is not new, but is always showing the most recent files added to our delicious folder. I try to keep a good flow of semi-relevant information there in case you get bored. Check it out if you haven't.

Now I don't know about all of you, but I am already getting excited to see the applicants of this years VACATION TO HELL. I hope some of you are planning to apply. Just a word to the wise ... we pretty much had half of the work done for us. We already had the blog going, lots of footage collected, and three of four team members. Despite all that, it was a great deal of work to get the application finalized. So don't procrastinate! Get a team, start collecting material, and get excited!

Next, I know that beer is the preferred beverage of choice for most kayakers, and we know what flavor to choose in that regard (hint, hint). But in case your not a member of AMERICAN RIVERS (which you should be), you can help them just by getting drunk ... on wine that is. Choose WATERBROOK WINE the next time you're craving some vino, and you'll be helping American Rivers out. Cheers to Waterbrook!

Finally, if you have your own kayak blog, or read other kayak blogs that you like, please shoot me an email (shanecrobinson+trl (at) gmail (dot) com) with the link. It is for a future post I am working on. Thanks!

Ok, stay tuned, as the regularly scheduled programming continues ...

Low Water Salvation

It has been a weird Spring here in the Norfwest & BC -- one of the coldest months of March on record. For that matter, it has been really cold, down to sea level, all Winter long. What this has meant for us is lots of deep pow in the mts (90" in the last week of March at Baker) & of course, a healthy snowpack in the Cascades. Most interesting is, while we have a respectable, if not earth-shattering, snowpack (depth), the snow-water equivalents throughout the Cascades ARE pretty impressive. Throughout the winter, we've had very little boatable water available, & this has persisted into Spring. We got lucky on the Island a couple weeks ago with some warm weather & a bit of precip, but before & after that it has been full-on Winter. All that water has remained in storage, which can be either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how quickly it warms up. I'd suspect that if we get any kind of sustained warm & wet weather in the next month, the flooding could be biblical around here.

This past Friday was TRL'r-by-marriage & matriarch of the Squamish Boaters Hostel, Lise-Anne Beyries birfday. Bryan & the local crew had a fete planned for her, so I blazed north after work with my boat on my roof. Bryan & I had talked about maybe Fear Canyon or else doing some bushwhacking/scouting, but it was clear that this weekend was more about LA's b-day, getting out of the city, & maybe getting lucky with some water.

Dragging from the festivus the night before, we headed up the Squamish road toward Fear Canyon to meet Madaloni & Greg. A little over halfway we got turned around by deep, soupy snow covering the road.




The Tantalus subrange of the Coast Range as viewed from the Upper Squamish valley

At a loss, I blurted out, "Let's drive up the Ashlu & just see what's going on up there .. maybe the Bottom Mile is scrapeable." Greg chimed in that 50/50 Falls is actually a fun double-boof at super-low water.

We found ourselves checking-in at Ledcor's hospitality office, where we heard over the truckers' cb radio, "Ah, looks like we got the first kayakers of the season 'bout to drive up.."

Not much else to report on this, so I'll let the pics/captions do the talking from here. The key takeaway is that even when everything else in the central/north Cascades & BC is bone dry, the Ashlu saves! Super-fun, super-accessible, super-steep, super-beautiful -- that's why we *heart* the Ashlu.


Til they get the project online, you'll be sharing the Ashlu road with a constant parade of massive machinery. Head's up when you're up there.


The first major rapid marks the point of no return. Hiking out after this would be pretty much impossible .. but if yr in at sane levels, you can walk around anything you don't want to run. Greg Dashper dropping into the granite zone.


It's a tight +/- 8-ft boof into a shallow runout with undercuts on both sides.


Ian exiting the room.


From here, it's a straight shot to the takeout .. just gotta get through a bunch of boulders first.


The Tantalus is one of the big ones. Sketchy entrance into a non-boofable pourover into a big backed-up hole with an elevated, super-tight exit. Here's Vancouver Kyle battling .. check out the granite.


Smith sneaking through by the hair of his chinny chin chin




Glory boof sequence






Kato contemplating the line


A quasi-waterfall of about 10 ft comes toward the end of the run. It's very tight, but good to go. Here's the dudes scouting.


I went first


Then Tim Loubier, who absolutely greased it .. I don't think he even got his face wet.


Kato


The bad thing that you think is gonna happen here .. didn't.


Couple more clean ledges & you're home free


Tim getting his grind on


The view back up into the Bottom Mile is pretty arresting .. it really is just a steep pile of car-sized boulders that you're boating through.


Beware the Aslu Sniper

So, the Ashlu is pretty much an industrial site these days. From before you even approach the canyon in your car it's obvious that Ledcor is in control of the valley. This is not new news. However, for the most part, when yr on the river, all that stuff disappears & it's just you & your friends in a beautiful granite-lined canyon.


Instead of beating our plastic on the shallow runout where the river splits & goes down to Twin Bridges, we took out at the super-convenient construction site where the powerplant is being built in a massive, environmentally-sensitive riverside pit. This is where they will carefully put the diverted water back into the river. This is also where diesel fumes, the loud drone of generators & the beeping of heavy equipment in-reverse welcomes you back to the reality that this river is being raped.