The Himalayan Challenge

I went to Nepal to indulge myself in kayaking. To immerse myself in white water, and become a stronger more confident paddler, that was my dream. Part of that dream was to compete in the Himalayan Kayak Challenge.

However, as we all headed back to Sukute Beach Camp to work on The Project it felt as if my dream had started slipping beyond my reach . Suddenly, I had a lost a lot of confidence and I had even taken a couple of swims. Maybe I didn't really want to kayak after all?

As this was the first time since I took up kayaking that I had found myself in this situation, I didn't know what to do next. Suddenly, easy grade 3 rivers had started to feel scary. And the pressure was on, with the competition starting in less than a week I didn't have much time. So that week, while teaching the Nepalese kids kayaking basics, I also had to teach myself a thing or two about kayaking.

As usual, luck was on my side, as Sukute Beach Camp is next to the Bhote Kosi river. This is one of the most easy to access rivers in Nepal with great paddling from class 2-4. Also with me at Sukute was my paddling buddy, Anton, who also worked as a kayak instructor at Kajaktiv where I had taught during the summer. Now Anton is only twenty but you would not guess it. He is an awesome play boater, as it turned out, a kind teacher. He first took us down the easy section of the river, and taught me to boof. Later he led us down through the trickier upper section, and while I still quite scared I managed to follow him okay. Another day I paddled with some Irish paddlers. Many laughs later and I was beginning to find my form. I had found what I had lost, my river smile!

By the time the competition morning came around, I was still a little shaky in my boat but determined to enter the competition. And the competition started in the deep end with an Extreme Slalom, on the grade four rapid called Dazed and Confused. The previous nights partying and my last 6am English lesson meant I was a little dazed and confused myself when I finally made it to the rapid after missing the first bus and waiting 4 hours for the next one. "It'll only be a few minutes" they had said. "Yeah right, even Nepali time moves faster than that!"

The slalom course started with a tough move from the gate 1 to gate 2 which lay in a flushy micro eddy. Next was a ferry across very fast moving water to the other side where gate 3 lay. After that were plenty more challenging but achievable moves. With my late arrival, I only just managed to squeeze one quick practice before the real run.

In the starting gate I was nervous. I thought about skipping gate 2 as several of us had decided that was the tricky one which maybe should be skipped. But I decided I was here to compete and complete the whole course. I was determined.

And then it was my turn. I caught gate 1, and then 2, and then I just made the eddy for 3, although I had to give it some hard paddling to get into it. I was elated!

Then my inexperience started to show. In my excitement I nearly went through gate 3 the wrong way, and lost many vital seconds paddling round in the eddy. I also misjudged the next move, a comparatively easy move straight down the drop. I ended up surfing the wave above the drop for what seemed like a long time, before rolling over, and coming up just before I passed through gate 4.

The rest of the course went by in a daze. It was bloody hard work, and I was really tired. I was dazed, confused and exhausted.

In the end I missed only two gates (mainly through tiredness), and the compulsory cartwheel that I didn't even attempt in my huge creek boat. Given my struggle to even reach the start line I thought it was a bloody awesome effort, and I was stoked. So I was a little disappointed when the results were posted that night. I was last, even though only one of the others had caught more gates than me!

The next day was the freestyle competition. Now, I don't really consider myself a freestyle paddler, and especially not in the enormous creek boat that I was paddling. So, my hope for this day was to simply not to come last, again.

I decided it was a day to have some fun. I got out my pois and lightened up the atmosphere while the boys were competing with a bit of poi-ing to the tunes coming out of the stereo. It seems that even in Nepal a freestyle competition is just not a freestyle competition without a sound system and some funky tunes.

All 5 of us girls "made" the final. With the wave being a tricky beast even for the best paddlers, I decided my aim was to have some fun. Before my turn I prearranged some help from Irish Brian on commentary to play it up about how serious I looked. Then for my turn, I kept going out as if to start and then coming back, as if I was waiting for the right time to make my move. And then I made it. I pulled out my shortened pois and spun them around me while in my boat - a much harder move than you might think. If only wished I could do such a move while surfing the wave!

After that I really had lost my focus and for my proper turn I hardly caught the wave at all. I thought I would be out of the competition, and was relieved it was over. But no, the other girls were also struggling under the pressure and I was into the next round.

Then I realised I really did want another go. I wanted to show everyone I could at least catch the wave. Well, one thing led to another, and at the end of the day the person having the most fun won the rodeo for 2005. And that person against everyones' expectation was Me!

Waking up on the last day I had only one more event to complete, the down river race. This event was to be on the same stretch of river that I had tackled first after coming back to Sukute Beach Camp. However, today, only a week later, I felt confident paddling the stretch of water on my own.

I thought I could compete well in this event with my background in multisport kayaking, but as it turned out, the race was more about reading the river that I realised. Any time I made up on the few short flat sections I lost on the moving water. At the end of the day, working with the kids during the week, and the first 2 days of competition had taken all my mental energy. On the last day, I just didn't want to win enough.

I came third in the last race, and was placed third overall in the women's competition. At the prize giving I was given a cool wooden sculptured plague to take home with me. It was nice to have something to keep, to forever remind me of what I had achieved in this amazing week. One where I helped underprivileged kids learn new skills, and also taught myself a lesson or two about life and the importance of believing in oneself.