dropping in at 19.5k.
dang it was cold today.
the front wave was great. blunts both sides, cartwheels etc.
ice cream headaches. that water was snow not very long ago.
shalom
jolyon
Showing posts with label New Hampshire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Hampshire. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
good session today
on the 302 waves.
this was my first time there below 20k. level was ~17.6k cfs. the front wave was great. left me wishing i had a more fashionable playboat. the 'fast wave' was too low and surgy for any good rides.
shalom
jolyon
this was my first time there below 20k. level was ~17.6k cfs. the front wave was great. left me wishing i had a more fashionable playboat. the 'fast wave' was too low and surgy for any good rides.
shalom
jolyon
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
302 Waves - CT River
These waves have not gotten a lot of attention until recently. But they are excellent.
The front wave at 17.6k
Located immediately upstream of the Rte. 302 bridge over the CT River between Woodsville, NH and Wells River, VT, they are easily accessible and a lot of fun. They are high water waves, beginning to come in above 12k on the CT River @ Wells River usgs gauge. I've surfed them as high as 25k and I expect that at least one of them continues to be excellent above 25k as well. The CT does not get this high for very long. It's up in this range for maybe a couple of weeks worth of days per year. So if these waves are in, get on it! These are better than most of the other stuff in the upper valley when they are high (except for the cliff wave on the white).
big picture at 17.6k
The front wave is a gentle wide wave with a nice pile that forms in front of a big pourover (partly from the compression upstream of the pourover rock). It looks like you could get stuck in the pourover if you washed off wrong, but you'd have to really try. This wave allows blunts, spins, even cartwheels at the lower levels, and all manner of elaborate modern freestyle moves for slower waves. This wave is better at the higher flow end for this spot but works all the way down to 12k or so.
The front wave (right) and the fast wave (left) at 25k
(lame cell phone photo)
Behind the front wave and more in the main flow is a series of faster waves in a wavetrain. These waves come in at the higher end of the scale. At until the low 20ks they are not well formed enough to surf (too surgy) The first fast wave forms off the trailing corner of the pourover. At higher levels it's pretty bouncy and surgy allowing for aerial moves.
A rodeo was planned for this location in April of 2009 in conjunction with the Ledyard River Festival, but water levels did not cooperate. checkit: http://www.ledyardriverfestival.com/competition-events
The front wave at 17.6k
Located immediately upstream of the Rte. 302 bridge over the CT River between Woodsville, NH and Wells River, VT, they are easily accessible and a lot of fun. They are high water waves, beginning to come in above 12k on the CT River @ Wells River usgs gauge. I've surfed them as high as 25k and I expect that at least one of them continues to be excellent above 25k as well. The CT does not get this high for very long. It's up in this range for maybe a couple of weeks worth of days per year. So if these waves are in, get on it! These are better than most of the other stuff in the upper valley when they are high (except for the cliff wave on the white).
big picture at 17.6k
The front wave is a gentle wide wave with a nice pile that forms in front of a big pourover (partly from the compression upstream of the pourover rock). It looks like you could get stuck in the pourover if you washed off wrong, but you'd have to really try. This wave allows blunts, spins, even cartwheels at the lower levels, and all manner of elaborate modern freestyle moves for slower waves. This wave is better at the higher flow end for this spot but works all the way down to 12k or so.
The front wave (right) and the fast wave (left) at 25k
(lame cell phone photo)
Behind the front wave and more in the main flow is a series of faster waves in a wavetrain. These waves come in at the higher end of the scale. At until the low 20ks they are not well formed enough to surf (too surgy) The first fast wave forms off the trailing corner of the pourover. At higher levels it's pretty bouncy and surgy allowing for aerial moves.
A rodeo was planned for this location in April of 2009 in conjunction with the Ledyard River Festival, but water levels did not cooperate. checkit: http://www.ledyardriverfestival.com/competition-events
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Sign Wave - CT RIver (hartlands)
 |
| jolyon pruszinski pre-blunt summer '09 |
colin keenan ripping it old school - May '97
The sign wave is at sumner's falls on the CT river. The VT side of the river is Hartland, the NH side is Plainfield. This rapid is know to most boaters as 'hartlands'. The sign wave, when it is in, is located at the upper river left of the rapid, by the large portage sign (hence the name). It's also known as the 'upper-left wave.'
It comes in at medium levels. Typically in May for a few weeks, and at other times when the water is up. When it's in it's a great wave for spins and blunts. Eddy service is not amazing. It requires paddling hard to catch even when you wash off upright. Flip on your ride and you'll really have to pull to get back.
they don't make boats like they used to... carter wray - May '97
levels are tricky to judge sometimes because when the wave is running you need to add the gauge readings on the:
CT R @ lebanon, nh
Mascoma R @ lebanon, nh
Ottauquechee @ N Hartland, VT (outflow of reservoir).
As far as we can tell it seems that at 11,000 cfs the Upper Left Wave begins to be surfable, but washes out by 14,000 cfs.
CT R & Ottauquechee gauges:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nh/nwis/current/?type=flow
Mascoma gauge:
http://www2.des.state.nh.us/rti_home/station_information_display.asp?WID=fivebasins&ID=MCAN3&NAME=Mascoma+Lake
HAPPY SURFING
Excelsior Hole - Mascoma River
chris fowler - April '97
This hole was an old favorite in the '90s. It's still good for getting used to hole-play and low-angle ends. Not much good for modern playboating moves, but it's more fun in a short boat than these old 10fters.
It's located at the end of the normal run on the mascoma, just before the takeout.
jolyon pruszinski - sidesurf airjordan
Comes in at around 250cfs as a hole and up by 650 cfs it's more of a wave and access from the eddy is harder.
Here's the gauge:
http://www2.des.state.nh.us/rti_home/station_information_display.asp?WID=fivebasins&ID=MCAN3&NAME=Mascoma+Lake
It typically is running for a few weeks in the spring and a few weeks in the fall. During a weak winter it will come in and out.
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