CSCC Reports 2011: Lee Valley White Water Course - 3^rd September 2011

On Saturday Fi, Mark and I drove to the new Olympic white water venue at Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire.  Hils, Pete, Martin and Dave M had been a couple of weeks before so we had some idea what to expect but we were all a touch nervous about going near a course that will test the best slalom kayakers in the world next summer.

You are not allowed on the course unless you have passed an assessment and Fi had made an appointment for us all  to be assessed at 1pm so we arrived in good time so we could walk the course and have a sausage sandwich beforehand.

The centre is new and very professional, although the business is clearly slanted towards rafting trips which make a lot more money for the centre than kayakers and we were asked not to use the lockers in the changing rooms as they were reserved for the rafters.  There is a nice roof terrace with a cafe and a drop off point for kayaks at the get in.  The car parking is a bit limited and spread out along the access road but I think this is probably only a problem at peak times.

There are two courses at the centre, the Olympic course and the "Legacy" course and everyone starts off on the legacy course.  The assessment was roughly as follows:-
1. weave in and out of slalom poles on flat water;
2. do a roll in flat water,
3. go up the escalator in your kayak to the top of the legacy course
4. do one run of the course without making any eddies - i.e. charge straight down the middle
5. do one run where you eddy out and try to make some slalom gates;
6. do one run where you go for it bit more and then do a roll in the white water.
At stage 6 I capsized in a hole and could not roll up again so had to swim to the end of the course.

We gathered around the instructor.  I had capsized and failed to roll, Fi claimed not to have seen any of the slalom gates, and Mark claimed not to have made any eddies.  Nevertheless we all passed!  However, we polite demurred at any suggestion that we might try for the Olympic course and instead went for lots more goes on the Legacy course, getting used to it and gradually improving.

Given that the course is a concrete ditch with plastic breeze blocks instead of a river with rocks, it is quite a pleasant place to spend a few hours, and the fact that the escalator takes you to the top of the course each time means you can practice again and again and improve your technique. and it's a lot nearer than Devon or Wales.
 
A couple more tips for anyone else wanting to go:
- the course will close in a month or so until after the Olympics (who knows why?)
- don't get changed in the car park instead of using the changing rooms (they like to promote an unrepresentatively modest image of kayakers);
- if you fall in, dont try to get out half way down the course as it has flat sloping sides and it is impossible;
 - there is a branch of Brookbank Canoes very nearby for anyone needing some retail therapy afterwards.