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Looks as if Michael Laloli won't be doing quite as much paddling this year. His wife Kristie gave birth to their first child 2 weeks ago, a baby girl named Joey.
Everyone is doing really well. He said, it will limit his chances of getting on the water but it will be well worth it. He reckons he will have a K2 partner for Avon 2035.
Congratulations Michael & Kristie.
Kristie & Michael.
Now their dog will lose its place on Kristie's lap. There is always Michael's lap though!
Last year Michael competed in four of Australia's big races - The Avon Descent, the Murray 200, the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic and the Murray Marathon. He competed at this years Australian Marathon Champs as well as many other races.
In more recent times he has been getting faster - will fatherhood slow him down?
Libby Le Coultre
another baby on the way
Libby Le Coultre in the Avon Descent
Libby who was once very competitive in the paddling scene is now a mother of two with another baby on the way. She is not often seen in a kayak any more
but she can still be seen running around Bassendean keeping fit.
Libby has achieved a string of wins including the Avon Decent, Surf Lifesaving Championships, Sprint and Canoe Polo and other high profile competitions.
She has always loved sport, competing at WA and national levels in many different fields including swimming, running, rowing, canoe polo, surf lifesaving, adventure racing and, of course, kayaking.
“She discovered kayaking during the off season from rowing when she was in Year 11. It was something she only did for fun.”
In 2004, Libby received a phone call that would change her life. “She was asked to participate in the national kayaking marathon championships, being held in Perth, to bump up the numbers in the U18 category. It was a 24km paddle and she hadn't ever kayaked more than about eight kilometre before, she did however have a
good fitness from all the other sports that she had been doing so she thought she would give it a go — for fun.”
Libby said she was “pleasantly surprised” when she won her first- ever national gold medal. She was encouraged to join up with Trigg Island surf club and give surf ski paddling a go. She loved that and at the same time started playing canoe polo. “She competed in national and Oceania Canoe Polo competitions and then she tried out for the
‘Surf and Kayak to London Olympic program in 2008. It was a program designed to convert surf ski paddlers to sprint kayakers, giving ski paddlers the opportunity to get into a disciplined run at the Olympics. She was successful in making it into the program and this is where her sprint kayaking career began.” In 2010 Libby LeCoultre was selected in the National Sprint Team to compete overseas.
Don't forget the
SunSmart Classic Paddle
Sunday 7th October
Deepwater point Mt Pleasant
A 13 km Race
Dash for cash and more!
Open to all craft Dragon Boats, SUPS, Surf Boats, Skis and all Kayakers.
Registrations close midnight (AWST) Thursday 4th
October.
Enter here: https://www.paddlewa.asn.au/sunsmart-classic-paddle/
The Sandy Beach Saturday morning training is on this week.
4km Race starts at 7.30am.
Best to be there before 7.15am.
Sandy Beach, West Road, Bassendean
Perth Paddlers
Team Boat Challenge
Sunday 30th September
Perth Paddlers are hosting a team boat challenge, open to all doubles, triples, 4's and 6's on Sunday the 30th September at Banks Reserve Pavillion. Bring the family along to a beautifully prepared sausage sizzle and a cool drink. There will be fun family activities for the kids! |
James Morfitt & Todd Coulter in a little trouble. You will find them training hard at the Ascot Kayak Club.
Australia’s Jessica Fox is two races away from creating yet another moment in history, after qualifying fastest in the women’s C1 at the 2018 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Rio.
If Fox can win the C1 title she will become the first slalom athlete to go through an
entire international season undefeated, after she won all five World Cup events earlier this year.
Four other Australians also qualified straight through to this weekend’s semi-finals – Lucien Delfour (NSW) and Daniel Watkins (NSW) in the men’s K1, and Noemie Fox (NSW) and Ros Lawrence (NSW) in the women’s C1.
Paddle Australia.
Jessica Fox. Photo Bence Vekassy
Paddle Australia can confirm the appointment of Emir Mujcinovic to the new position of Performance Pathways Coach.
This position is supported by the New South Wales Institute of Sport and will be a full-time coaching role based in
Penrith.
Long Distance Sprints
K1 & K2
There were lots of paddlers competing at the long distance sprints which ended up being about 4.8 kms long.
Hunter and Scarlett Florisson thought the race was too easy.
Competitors line up for the K2 race.
Mark Alderson and Stuart Hyde lead the young guns but later they were overtaken by Luke and Clare.
K2 winners - Lachlan Armstrong and Brett Cassidy. Lachlan beat Brett by 1.1 second in the K1 race.
Results here:
https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=152518 https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=152520
This was Brett Cassidy in 2012. He has come a long way since then.
A 14,500km Cycle, Backpack & Paddle Across the USA
A cycle into Yosemite National
Park
and I came across one of the most magnificent sights in the world
Entering the Yosemite National Park near Tuolumne Meadows by cycle. I had just cycled up the steep 3,031 m Tioga Pass to reach the Park. It was snowing.
Further into the park the snow turned to hail, then to rain. The road was soon closed due to another snow storm approaching so I had the road across the park to myself.
I was cycling across the Yosemite National Park and about to cycle into Yosemite Valley. I stopped at the Crane Flat Service Station and asked about the local camp ground, which was $15.00 to camp, but the lady suggested going on to Yosemite Valley to the Sunnyside campsite
as it was only $3.00. It sounded feasible, so I decided to head there, but it was 6.00pm and I still had 26 kilometres to go, although she did say it was all downhill all the way. But I’d heard that one before!
I bought a tin of beans, put it in my pannier, zipped my Gore-tex jacket and hood and descended down the Big Oak Flat Road which certainly wasn't flat. I was cold and became colder as I gathered speed. I was now longing to climb a
steep hill to get warm again, but I just kept accelerating downwards in the mist. I sped through two tunnels and suddenly right in front of me there it was – one of the most magnificent sights in the world, Yosemite Valley.
It was like something out of a fairy-tale book. If there was a fairy-tale world out there, then this view was it. It was more than amazing and my heart pounded with absolute joy. I stopped next to a Japanese couple
looking over the valley, took my camera out to find it was all fogged up and unsuitable to take photos. I couldn’t believe my luck! I had the world’s most breathtaking sight in front of me and I couldn’t capture those memories. How disappointing that was.
A river flowed below in the valley, winding through the pine trees and between huge cliffs and mountains. One huge, vertical cliff was called El Capitan, a very famous climber’s cliff. It was
right there dominating the scene. I could see a lush valley that narrowed, until the mountains totally engulfed it. A waterfall cascaded from near the summit of one mountain top. I was in complete awe of the sight before me. I shivered with total elation.
The sun started to dip beyond the mountain behind me leaving an illuminated trail that slowly grew fainter until finally the bright light that was shining into the valley had virtually
vanished. The whole scene was overwhelming, breathtaking and I just wanted to camp right there to wake up to it in the morning and look at it forever. The view couldn't have been better I think due to the weather and the time of day I arrived. I had come out of the mist and there it was. Unfortunately, the steep sided mountain pass offered no place to camp as it was just too steep so I had to move on.
A view of the Yosemite Valley but not quite as good as the view I had.
A low wall ran beside the twisty road and guarded traffic from running off it and dropping thousands of feet to the valley floor. I followed it down zipping by it at great speeds until I crossed the Merced River and where the hill ceased. Shivering, I now followed a one-way road shielded by towering trees. I was
seemingly in another world and trying to grasp the stark contrast in scenery.
As the last of the sun’s rays faded from above the mountains on either side of me, I felt a rush of excitement that pulsed through my whole body. I kept getting glimpses of the huge rock walls between the trees and occasionally I would see a tiny ray of sunshine that would illuminate a small part of the high vertical cliffs. It looked mysterious, surreal, but
brilliant. I paused to take a photo. Further, a huge rock tower (Sentinel Rock) to my right stood like a giant pillar at the entrance of a hidden world. The shallow Merced River flowed to my left with tiny meadows beside it which were layered with mist. The canyon narrowed further leaving me with a sense of being locked in. I knew then why this place was turned into a National Park.
The sun setting on the Sentinel Rock.
El Capitan. The climbers Mountain.
I knew that I was entering a very special area but suddenly those last remnants of light had gone and the darkness now robbed me of seeing one of the most stunning valleys in the world. The canopy of trees and the cliffs soon blocked the light from even the brightest star from filtering through, leaving my trail towards
Yosemite Village black, wet and cold.
I had no map of the village, so I followed my nose towards the lights and the camping registration building. There was a sign on the wall saying, ‘No Vacancies’. I crossed the potholed car park and asked a couple, whose bright clothes and hair colour indicated that they were climbers, where the best place to camp was. They suggested that I should sneak into a vacant staff tent, but I just didn’t have the
courage to do that. The only thing now was to go in search of Sunnyside, the climber’s campsite.
It was absolutely black, the road was wet and dazzling lights from the passing cars made it difficult to cycle safely but I arrived at camp without falling off or being hit. Disappointingly though I was out of luck again, there was a sign saying ‘full’, so a man suggested I go to the backpackers campsite, back up the valley. This campsite is only for
backpackers heading out on a walk, but I was past caring, I needed to camp somewhere. As I struggled to find a place to rest my head, my evening had now turned into a nightmare and my morale had taken a dive. I should have camped back up near the service station, I thought.
I was cold and could see little on the darkened cycleway. Every few moments I would accidentally deviate from the cycleway on to the dirt, despite my dim torch shining on the
path. I was told to look for a sign, but found nothing and ended up lost. I returned the way I came wondering if the night could get any worse. I then spotted campers in the distance through the trees around a blazing fire. I went over to them and asked them if they knew where the backpacker’s campsite was. “You’re here,” they said. I don’t think you could begin to imagine how happy I felt.
I was so relieved to find a place to camp. The group
welcomed me and I was content to get warm around their fire and have a good talk about my walk ahead. Steel lockers were scattered around the camp, which gave campers a place to store their food away from the bears.
It was late when we stopped talking and all the others hit the sack. It gave me a chance to change clothes, erect my tent and have some food. After such a big day (13 hours cycling steep hills) and the last hour cycling in circles, it
was great to be warm, settled and camped.
Unpacking my cycling gear and packing my walking gear.
With daylight I returned to Sunnyside Campsite to book a spot. It was the cheapest campsite I had used in the US, $3.00, however I shared a small site with six other tents, but that didn’t matter. I counted 160 tents in the camp ground, which had only one toilet block and no showers. If you
wanted a shower, there was a public pay shower block in the village. Most people were happy to get a cheap site and shower occasionally. The campers were mostly climbers and the camp was only a few minutes walk from one of the biggest vertical climbing walls in the world. I met Scott Camps and Jenny Vran, two Australians who were ready to attempt the big wall climb of El Capitan. Once they start climbing they will spend days climbing the wall and will have to camp on the wall at night in
hammocks. Jenny said, she had bought my canoeing book back in Australia. What a small world!
In the next couple of days I rode around viewing spectacular sights like the Half Dome, Yosemite Falls and El Capitan at different times of the day to capture them in their different moods. I also collected my warm gear from the post office and the four season tent sent to me by Mike from Mountain
Hardwear who sponsored some of my gear. I had a lot of gear that I didn’t want to take with me on the walk so I placed it in two lockers in the village. It was very cheap, and the best thing was, there wasn’t a time limit.
From the bike to the backpack.
It was October and the summer holiday season was over. Many of the roads and tourist venues in the mountains were closed. However Yosemite’s climbing campsite still bustled with activity. Some of the best climbers in the world were here. The main talk around camp was of a Slav climber
soloing El Capitan on the west side of the ‘nose’. Apparently it was a very difficult climb, especially when doing it solo.
That night I walked to El Capitan along a deserted road. The mist was rising and the full moon illuminated small meadows alongside the river and light streaked through the trees. There had been bear sightings in the valley, so I checked out any rustle in the woods. When I arrived at El Capitan it too was lit up by the big,
bright full moon. I felt as if I was in heaven, just standing there looking up at the steep rock face trying to spot climbers hanging in hammocks and bivouacked for the night. It was another amazing scene which would be firmly entrenched in my memory.
It was finally time to leave my safe haven and take to the mountains and start my 350km John Muir Trail walk which is
regarded as one of the best in the world. I locked my bike behind the Wilderness Centre and started my walk out of the valley and into the mountains following the Nevada Falls track to Little Yosemite Valley.
Within the hour I was wondering why I was carrying such a heavy pack. I tried working out what I could leave behind before passing my last rubbish bin at Happy Isles. I needed ten days of food
for the first part of the walk to Mammoth Lakes and I wasn’t prepared to throw any away. I was heading up into mountains of 11,000 to 14,000 feet, and winter was moving in quickly, so I really needed all my clothes. My four season Mountain Hardwear tent was heavier than my 3 season tent, but not knowing how bad the weather was going to be, I needed to have the best shelter. And although I could feel a strain through my right leg, I had no choice but to carry my heavy load of 30 odd kilograms.
The length of the trail to the end near the highest mountain Mt Whitney was going to be about 350kms, it crosses six passes over 3,400 m (11,000 feet) and several other lower passes. About 35% of the trail, including the entirety of the last 48 km, lies above 3,000 m (10,000 feet).
Liberty Cap & Nevada Falls.
To read about the backpacking trip on the John Muir Trail go here: https://terrybolland.wordpress.com/john-muir-trail/
As unfit day-tourists and mules descended the Nevada Falls trail, I moved along ascending and zigzagging along the switchbacks and getting spectacular views of the waterfalls, of Half Dome and other high walled mountains in the valley, all of which had the sun shining directly on them. When I
reached the top of a falls, I stood on the falls rock ledge and had my last look into the valley and then carried on towards the Little Yosemite camp grounds on a trail less steep.
At the campsite, which was nestled between the mountains, several other people were making the best of the weather and full moon. In the days since my arrival at Yosemite, the weather predictions had been bleak with snowfalls and the onset of winter. But
in the last day or so, the clouds had moved away, opening up clear, beautiful blue skies. Consequently the nights ahead with the full moon, clear skies and being up at 9,000 to 14,000 feet were going to be decidedly cold.
Ninety nine point nine per cent of the hikers in the Little Yosemite camp were there just to climb Half Dome, a particularly dominant and spectacular feature in the park. I camped next to Carol and Chris and had a good
chat. Well, I did most of the chatting, but Carol and Chris seemed content to listen and ask questions as I talked about my big trips, my books and the time I worked with unemployed youth and street kids and how I used to take them on twenty four day physically demanding outdoor trips to help boost their confidence and self-esteem.
Sunday 4th October
By the time I was ready to make my way to
Half Dome several people moved out from under the trees of the camp to find sunny patches to try and thaw out after such a cold night. I’m sure most had sleeping bags that were inadequate for the low overnight temperature. I now had a very warm sleeping bag so I slept well.
It was a busy trail to Half Dome and although I carried a heavy pack, the day trippers, who were only carrying day packs, were slower and more exhausted than I was. It was
hard to believe how unfit some of the young males were, but I guess I had been doing a lot of physical activity and was probably at the pinnacle of my fitness. At the John Muir – Half Dome trail turnoff, I hid my pack behind a rock and took off bounding towards the summit with only a day pack, and what a difference it made. I was certainly able to move faster and easier. Closer to the summit, as the trail moved out of the forest onto the rocky mountain side, it became steep. Some walkers were
exhausted from the climb and from the thin air, so they ventured no further. Others managed to steadily climb the trail only to find it became even steeper where the last part of the climb to Half Dome began.
No kidding it was steep! To help walkers climb this last section of near-vertical, smooth rock, there were two steel cables descending the mountain-face held in place every 3 to 4 metres by steel posts. Between these posts were planks that made it a little easier to rest, and decreased the strain of having to hold on to the
rails.
At the base of the slab were hundreds of gloves lying on the ground. These were to prevent your hands from becoming severely cut on the steel wire. I grabbed a pair and then looked up to see twenty people on the climb. They were moving slowly, however they had good reason, even I was surprised at the steepness of the climb. If one person is slow, so is everyone behind them. The fitness of the walkers was really tested here. I could hear
them breathing heavily. It was mighty slow progress and when the people descending the cliff caught up with walkers ascending, it became even slower. It was nearly impossible to ascend and descend elsewhere, as the rock was too smooth and steep.
At the summit several people were making phone calls home, I assumed they were telling their loved ones or friends how beautiful it was up on the mountain. Most though were getting answer phones and
were a little annoyed that they couldn’t talk to their friends from such a spectacular place. It was indeed spectacular and looking over the edge of this giant rock slab was alarming. It dropped several thousand feet without any interruption. Most people crawled carefully to the edge with care and peered down into the valley with both astonishment and awe. Others were too nervous and wouldn’t go anywhere near the edge. I could understand their fear. A guy kindly offered to take a picture of me
on a rock shelf that really overhung the Half Dome Mountain by several metres. I jumped at the idea and it turned out being an unreal shot. The view from Half Dome was so spectacular I could understand why all the unfit people around me had wanted to get to the top.
On top of Half Dome. It's a bit drop.
Just seeing so much breathtaking scenery over the last few weeks had been mind blowing and it wasn’t going to stop until I at least, finished my walk.
On my descent there were only about ten people climbing up so I had a quick run down. One slip though and you
would say goodbye to life. My hands heated up as I grasped the steel cable and used it as my hand rail. Thank God for the gloves! I passed many exhausted walkers on my return and at the bottom of the steep climb I met Chris and Carol who were going no further. They said their fitness wasn’t up to it. Chris jokingly said I was like a fox terrier as I managed to go so quickly and leapt around like a young dog. An Afro American was also resting at the bottom and he said he was scared of heights and
could go no further. To come all this way and not be able to reach the top and see the view must have been heartbreaking and I genuinely felt for them. I walked slowly back to the turnoff with Chris and Carol and a few others that had been forced to turn back because of their lack of fitness.
At the turn-off where I left my pack I gave Chris and Carol a big hug. I felt that we had become good friends in such a short time. From this junction I
would see very few people on my journey south to Mt Whitney. My pack was still where I had left it, and after hoisting it on my back I continued my journey east on the John Muir Trail. Everyone else walked in the opposite direction to return to Yosemite Valley at the bottom of the mountain.
The track weaved and I kept looking back to see Half Dome and its splendour. Eventually it disappeared from sight and now everything ahead of me was
new. I now had 350kms to walk on the John Muir trail to Mt Whitney the highest point in the contiguous United States.
To read about the backpacking trip go here: https://terrybolland.wordpress.com/john-muir-trail/
Come & Try Champion Lakes Boating ClubSaturday 29th September3-4pm Only $10 8 Yrs +
Bookings:kayaking@clbc.org.au
Perth Paddlers
Team Boat Challenge
Sunday 30th September
Perth Paddlers are hosting a team boat challenge, open to all doubles, triples, 4's and 6's on Sunday the 30th September at Banks Reserve Pavillion. Bring the family along to a beautifully prepared sausage sizzle and a cool drink. There will be fun family activities for the kids! |
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