I arrived in Ottawa just in time for Bus Eater to make a two day appearance. It wasn’t nearly enough but I was grateful to get that since this wave is in so rarely. Next I made my way to the Level Six Cup held annually in a small wave hole in down town Ottawa. It was cold, real cold. The last week had been super warm forcing me to bust out the shorts for the first time this year but rain, wind, and single digits came back with a vengeance. I got the call that night that Quebec City had been hit hard with rain and the creeks in the area were going off. I met up with Benny Marr, Chris Gragtmans, and Adam Johnson in Montreal for a really unproductive day before heading to Dominic Fournier’s climbing Gym which would be our base camp for the next few days.

Mini Bus

Dominic dragged us around the area for the next few days to some of the area’s best runs. The favourite had to be the Nelson, which was running at around 50 cms about 30 cms higher than usual. What did that mean? 20 kilometres of class IV-V in just under an hour. At one point Dominic told me we only had six drops left. I asked how many we had done, he simply replied, “A lot”. We figure we only did one drop that was 20 kilometres long because there weren’t exactly flat sections. Special thanks to Dominic for giving us a place to stay and showing us down some sweet runs.

Suiting up

When I got back to Beachburg Billy Harris had his new RV loaded and ready to hit the road to Sudbury to find some park and huck waterfalls. Basically we found a lot of drops with a dam in the middle of them or there wasn’t enough water to run them. As usual, with Bill, it was a never ending show. He wonders why no matter where he goes it’s a show but claims it’s not him. (It’s defiantly him) He’s loud and obnoxious with everyone but is able to come across in a non abrasive way so it’s easy to tell he’s just messing around. Whether it’s a Tim Horton’s cashier or a government official he can get them riled and usually does.

Scouting with Ugly Bill

I wrapped things up with a day of instructing at Palmer Fest and the Big Cojones Rodeo at Big Kahuna on the Ottawa. Benny Marr killed it taking home first place for the guys while Ruth Gordon took the women’s crown.