2013 All-Star

Cat's Paw

This last weekend Cal Mike, Rick and I were all set to head to the Cheoah River but a strong storm brought the Saint’s Level to over D bridge. As we debated what our weekend entailed, we decided to stay local and paddle the saint.

Campsite

 With the saint at a great play level, I headed to the Alpine Shop to pick up the 2013 Jackson All-Star and headed straight to the put-in. We arrived around 7:30 with a level just about 1ft over D bridge.

The new All-Star is very different than the previous model. The boat has more volume and is much wider. The width was the hardest to get used to. The boat is extremely stable but with the increase width I found it had to get on edge, making Flat water cartwheels very difficult. In a hole or wave the boat felt very balanced on stern and bow.  

2013 All-Star

Overall I thought the boat was a great river runner and even better surfer, but I feel it lacks in the river play due to the increased volume.  I also tried the new Pryahna Jed, which is a cartwheel machine. The slicer ends allows for very smooth cartwheels in flat water. I'm truly undecided on the two boats so more testing will be needed.  Here is a quick video I made of the Jackson All-Star boat.

All-star-premier from Curtis Ahlers on Vimeo.

Where Have I been?

It’s been some time since my last blog post due to a full schedule this semester. Winter started with teaching all week and then putting in 30+ hours at the shop fixing and waxing skis. I didn’t get to kayak that much this winter but I was able to get some skiing in. I got 16 days this season at winter park and copper mtn. The best day was one of the last of spring break, it snowed all day! By lunch we were making fresh tracks again! Chris and I even found a nice size pillow to drop off of.

Once home I was given the opportunity to go to the Smoky Mountains with the Rockwood Trek and Travel program. They take 5th grader to Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont to learn outdoor skills and local biology. The school is located in the national park. The experience was amazing! I was reminded why I decided to become a teacher. Here are a few pictures

My group of 5th graders

A waterfall we hiked to

we got 4 inches of snow the first night!!

Sleeping Quarters

river that runs through Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremount

Hiking in the snow

 Anyways to tell you how awesome/crazy my February was, I was in Colorado for president’s weekend then St. Louis the next weekend then Smoky Mountains the following weekend, back to St. Louis and then back to Colorado. So in 5 weeks, I spent 3 of the weekends in the mountains! With kayak season right around the corner check back for more blog post, I promise! Until the next adventure.