[milo]

...ok boys....where is it?....i know who you are, when you went, what the flow was, what the conditions were like, what the rapids were like(except the big birds!)...um.....our trip on the nov 27th was tame compared to the last 2 trips down there....you fukers better call me at least!!!970-275-1890....anybody bite on the big birds(DAYWRECKER, TRIPLE DROP, BALL CRUSHER, NEW GENERATION, GREAT FALLS???)....rumor has it that you guys started hiking in at 4am, hiked out at 5pmish....i met a ranger that patrols at CRESTED BUTTE...he was scouting for an ice climb(GANDOLPH'S BEARD) that forms up just upstream of the cave camp not too long ago...he said there was snow in the HOLE....i suffer from BLACK-A-TOSIS....i need to know how the trip went...time frame etc.....SHITOUTTA(brain cells), thanks for the invite(made me shit my pants!!!)...if it was a few years ago, i would have been there with you whackjobs....my ADD-A-BALLSACK-TO-ME operation this fall was a complete waste of time and money!!!!!so, is it posted somewhere else?....milozadik wishecouldski 420 cb

 

[bobbuilds]

here is Leif's. Leif and Natalie: Black Canyon... in December

who else went in? yeah need a TR please.

 

[Nathan]

That is Leif's from a couple weeks ago, they went in again this past weekend.

 

[milo]

......different crew....

...hey bobuilds, that was a trip done just prior to this trip....this "trip" was on dec 18th...i am sure the theoretical physics mulletman was behind the stunt....i won't throw names out there.....as to lief's wondering why BALLCRUSHER "has a name at all".....well i nicknamed it that after i saw so many ballsy hairboaters get crushed in there....it is the biggest of the normally run "bigbirds".....rolf k likes to do laps in it!!!...as of lately(3 years), it has changed, making it a bit easier i think....also, boats are better, hairboaters are better....call it what you want.....call it CUPCAKE then....or maybe call me cupcake!!!!......cupcake420cb....

 

[Shitouta]

Trip was good fun. Way more snow than our trip earlier in December, a solid 8-10 inches at the putin and temps were a bit colder due to clear skies. Portaging was obviously slow and slightly sketchy due to the shin deep snow and we had quite a bit of ice buildup on gear on the paddle in. The canyon was incredibly beautiful, with snow covered spires and spindrift avalanches pouring down the walls. We had a solid team and routed through daywrecker, but I personally portaged more on that trip than any of my previous ten trips due to the medium high flow, cold temperatures, and not having kayaked much in the past few months. It would be cool to go back at those flows during the regular paddling season and look closer at the big ones. The top of next generation is probably out of play, but the bottom half looks awesome. Same with great falls, looks like a little too much water to run it from the top, but the bottom 20 footer had a badass line, maybe even a little more open and easier to get the key left boof stroke than at lower flows. It was a long day, we starting hiking at 4:45, I think, and made it to the pleasure park at 5:30 in the fading light. It was an awesome day of paddling and portaging with a solid and motivated crew, definitely a perfect note to end a great paddling season on.

 

[leif]

Yeah, I would say ben has underemphasized several aspects of the trip.

The portage was REALLY slow, mostly due to fred and I. We spent most of the portage crawling through the powder, dragging our boats, and crying. Kurt, david, and ben probably waited for like an hour at cave camp. My excuse was that I had a hemrroid. I don't know why fred was so slow.

Daywrecker is not a major rapid, especially at 1600. We didn't even scout it, since ben and I still knew it from the last trip. We didn't run any of the other main ones, but I got innovative and ran a sneak line down the left of balls. Ben and I disagreed about the sketch factor of this sneak line, but I maintain that it is good to go.

We did not take out "right around" dark, we took out about half an hour to an hour after dark. The last few miles were dark enough to see stars. Furthermore, "slalom champ" kurt and "no pain receptors" ben crushed the flatwater much faster than everyone else, and our group had split into five one-person groups by then, which I was not happy about (but there was no way I was stopping to wait for whoever was behind me). Fortunately david spiegel had brought some shuttle drivers, and eric boomer had hiked out with a broken boat, so we had all the cars waiting for us at takeout.

And the reason nobody calls you is that you never come paddling or help with shuttle.

 

[bobbuilds]

you guys are bad ass. that is a lot of water to be paddled in 1 day let alone a winter day. holy shit. add ben luck and eric boomer, did you get autographs? nice work!

I moved my seat forward in my creeker, skied a little and had a tooth pulled, i thought that was a big day. i am not worthy....

 

[leif]

ben luck and eric boomer, did you get autographs?

Yeah, they both wanted autographs, but they were pretty shy about it. I always make a point to cater to my fans though. After a trip like that I even did personalized autographs: "To my pal Ben - you're sort of cool" and "To my #3 fan - thanks for the shuttle". Then I gave them a sticker.

 

[bobbuilds]

nice! you know you are finally somebody when the guy standing next to you is leif.

 

[Shitouta]

Sorry about the sneak line sketch factor disagreement, I just don't know what I would have done if my hero and mentor had gotten worked. It would have shaken me to the very foundations of my fragile soul. Luckily, you made it look like manky class II and left me sitting there on the bank, throwbag in hand, shaking my head and crying to myself, "I lost faith in Leif's innovative genius! How could I have ever doubted him? Repent! Repent!" Thanks for the autograph and sticker, by the way. Someday, I'm going to sit my grandchildren down my knee, show them your autograph, and tell them the story of that time I went paddling with Leif. Thanks for going kayaking with me. It was a good day.

 

[milo]

.......

.....(A)bob the builder....look at your calender...(B)leaf....just because you "routed" over the sieves in DAYMAKER doesn't mean they aren't there....nice down play on that one (C)i am super impressed with the recent activity in the BLACK...(D)all of the above....(E)i didn't return SHITOUTTA'S(brain cells) call because my battery charger doesn't reach under the bed....(F)gary edgeworth must have sent his rabid dog(gnar-sniper) BOOMER down here to suss it out to see if it is a worthy canyon....(G)where did the boat break...in a rapid?...on the portage? cold brittle plastic?...(H)j\k bob, it was like winter down there!!! (I)he was lucky to be able to climb out chukar!!!!!(J)way to get after it DAVE, KURT, ERIC, BEN, FREDRIC(you sickass little fucker, didn't they tell you that was 25 and older terrain!!!!) and you too, you "particle hunting", "2 slit experimenting", searching for SCHROEDINGER'S CAT type of guy, LEAF....(K)LEAF got that one....(L)BEN, i'll go check out those big drops with you in the summer....won't run 'em but will be sitting in my boat at the bottom!!!... (M)did you carry on towards PLEASURE PARK because chukar road was too snowed in?(we're not droppin' in but)...(N)thanks for chimmin' in boys to let us(me) know how it went....(O)friggin' sickos....(P) i never learned my ABC's so i don't know what letter comes next so.....(1)did you see the ice formation i was talking about earlier?....(2)were you crying out loud or did you keep it under control til your boys were way ahead?.....(3)did you guys hit the liquor cabinet?.....i never drink and paddle but there is plenty of "firewater" stashed down there!!!! (4)how was LARSEN'S LEDGE with those temps?...a bit icy?hehe....(5)did i spell schroedinger's correctly?... (6)ah shit....i just knocked over all the pbr cans.....cupcake420cb....

 

[[email protected]]

Damn brosidens, this shit is hella sick! Whats so sketch about the left line at bal crusher? Mr. Christ-Ian Cook tested er out a few years back and dubbed it the joe keck line. you fuckers are crazy, I an't going back with the snow after I fucked my ankle on a fair weather trip.

 

[Phil U.]

Way to dance on the edge boyze!

 

[milo]

.........

......no shit [email protected] and phil u......my old school hairboater buddy told me....that if you are not living on the edge, you're just taking up space....this was just after he rode a wheelie on his dirtbike at about 50mph, crashed and broke his leg in half.......we though we were tough huh tj, dirty hippie, seanlee(who, by the way, is way sicker than you or your sickest friend!!!)....our run was like a trip to the candy store!!!!....images of fred and leaf, crawling thru the snow is priceless....but they got the goods...we are just reading about it....back in the day i could never get anybody to go....i have met some of the nicest and sickest boaters out there because of this place....usually being the weak link....goget it boys and girls......just WAAATCH YOURSELF.......oh yea, that left side of BALL MASSAGER is a shit pot....it is constantly changing, filling with debris from the gully slides, then blows out every time they send those flows up towards 7-8 grand....good sometimes, ususally not....the pothole/cave is worrisome....way to look beyond that leaf(leif)....it is fun to watch sickos blue-angel that drop tho....oldandintheway420cb...

 

[lmyers]

You guys are awesome. It's great to see paddlers getting after the shit, in the winter!

Fred posted some pictures on facebook, and since he doesn't ever post on here anymore I thought I would share a couple...they are pretty impressive!

 

[bobbuilds]

his grandpa was a mountain goat and married an olympic runner. awesome.

Colorado paddling in December