An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 35 After this drop the river begins to flow over a sharp rock- bed with twisting turns and large undercuts down steep slides. This is when your scouting of the river is key, as you pick your line based on how you read the water: this is a kayaker's most important skill. As well as understanding the hydrodynamics of how water flows, you must understand how a boat will move through, over and under this water; looking for eddy currents, boils of air and dangerous recirculating holes. The finish of this spectacular river is a series of five wa- terfalls, each within 10 metres of the next. The first three are spectacular drops ranging from four to ten metres, before the fourth's 18-metre drop, with a dangerous ledge four metres from the top, followed by the fifth fall, just after which there is a mas- sive undercut and re- circulating currents. The combination of these dangers and stories of a British kayaker who was paralysed after the fourth drop makes for easy decisions. Instead we set up rescue at the bottom of the fourth for a pair of French paddlers who made the first four drops look easy and then skipped the fifth. The climb down and back up from the fourth drop was harder than the French pair made it look. After these falls the un-runnable section began. We pushed north to some steeper rivers with less flow, some of which are infected with a salmon parasite, mean- ing all gear must be sterilized after getting off the river; the disinfectant is widely available. With a drive through the deep fjords and up over the mountains we hit long hard rivers, ending up many miles from our starting point. Each time we did, one of us would thumb a lift back to our car, and the Norwegians seemed very happy to provide this service. With many rivers under our belts we moved west to Voss to the larger more famous drops such as the 18-metre Money Drop waterfall, which, up until recently, companies used to pay kayakers up to €300 to run. When we arrived it was late at night and although the water levels were perfect we decided to wait until morn- ing to run. However, rain fell all night, changing the drop a lot. Still, after some scouting and serious consideration I decided to go ahead and run the drop. As you sit above ready to go, you can hear and feel the roar of the waterfall as thousands of litres flow over the edge every second. you think through everything in your head, again and again. you know what you have to do and how to do it. Strap yourself in and hold on tight, is the sim- ple breakdown, but realistically you are trying to stay calm, slow your heart rate, ensure your safety team are in place, set up on the right line even though it looks completely dif- ferent from this new point of view. As you go over the top your heart rate peaks, you take one last stroke and keep the boat aimed perfectly. As you fall all sound seems to have disappeared as your focus is on your sole task, you reach the bottom and are completely swallowed by water, all light disappears. The sound is back now, and you can feel crushing pressure on your ears and eyelids. you can feel the water pound down on top of you as it rages and tries to tear the paddle from your hand. you squeeze tight with your hands and feel the pressure on your ears begin to ease as you rise to the sur- face. Light begins to shine through the bubbles, and finally you pop up, with a mere moment to celebrate before your focus changes to getting to an eddy before you get washed over the next drop. While Norway is known for being expensive, that should not deter you from travelling there, as it is mainly alcohol, sugary and processed foods that take the hit. Fuel was comparable to Ireland and we managed to keep our costs low by bringing a gas cooker and sticking to a diet of rice, pasta, veg and some meat all mixed in together; porridge for breakfast; and bread, etc, for lunch. With our 10 days in Norway costing around €700 each, including flights, this fabulous destination will most defi- nitely be visited again. A view of money drop from above Slides on the Store Ula The top of money drop Halfway down money drop

• Cover