ECE Mission:Pingston Creek Part 5 - Round 2

By now you must be pretty tired of hearing about the Pingston so I'll try to keep this short. I am just so stoked to get even one run down this river, let alone multiple runs on different sections.

After heading back to town to get gas and food I came back up to the Pingston to meet up with Scott Feindel and Kelsey Thompson for a run down the Upper. They had just driven in from Calgary that morning so we didn't get on the river until 1 pm but with a strong group and recent knowledge of the run I figured we could make it down in no time. It was great knowing the lines for all the rapids in the early part of the run because there is nothing you have to scout and we were able to cruise through a lot of good rapids.

We scouted the big slide before running it with clean lines and then took a look at Highway to Hell. I ran it first and was online through the first part but was turned around in the second part and finished it backwards but with no major issues. Scott and Kelsey both had super clean lines. We made short work of the middle third and walked around the big canyon. The bottom section of the river was great with so many good ledges that we could just run blind, so much fun. We took a quick look at Stairway to Heaven but it was really no problem. We ended up doing the run in less than 4 hours, shaving 2 hours off my previous fastest run.

Scott in the second part of Highway to Hell

Scott in the second ledge of Stairway to Heaven

Kelsey boofing the bottom ledge of Stairway to Heaven

The next morning, after camping at the lake, we walked up to huck the bottom set into the lake again. I went first and had another clean line, then Kelsey went flipping in the first one before rolling and styling the next two. Scott was nervous about his boof so he skipped the first drop on his first run, and styled the second. Then he walked up to run the whole drop, he flipped on the first drop rolled up and came off the second one a little off balance flipping at the bottom. He sat on the boil for a second before being sucked back into the falls just as he was rolling. His paddle was ripped from his hands and he pulled his deck. It was an easy rescue as everything just floated into the lake.

Mikkel lining up the first falls

Scott in perfect position on his first run

Scott boffing the second drop on his first run.

Scott in a bad spot on his second run.

Next up we went to check out Sutherland Falls on Blanket Creek. Scott and I are getting soft in our old age and with multiple runs already under our belts we decided to pass. Kelsey had never paddled it so he was fired up. He had a perfect line but unfortunately ended up with a broken paddle and a blown deck and the second bootie of beer of the day.

Kelsey on Sutherland Falls