Rio Boavi

It has been a really warm week so the water levels went up like crazy!!! Here is a few shots of a sunny day paddling the river Boavi probably one of the most fun & difficult runs in the Pallars Sobira. 
I am loving life and paddling more than ever, my body is feeling good and I am really excited for the spring time in Spain!

Enjoy a few pictures of my buddies Aleix Salvat & Marsal de la fuente!!! thanks boys!

all stoked to get on this amazing run!!

going for another run!
sick 25 footer slide! 
















Limbo!!! Love this rapid! 

Aixas going for a big boof!





good times with Aixas

three years ago I took a massive beatdown in this hole at higher water. now it's called "happy ending"

Vidéo Max kayak trip in Australia



Salut,

Avec quelques mois de retard, voici la vidéo de mon trip kayak en Australie. De l’eau à 27°C, la température extérieure à plus de 30°C tous les jours… c’était vraiment génial.

Avec le climat tropical de l’Etat du Queensland (Nord-Est de l’Australie), on ne peut naviguer qu’à la période des pluies. J’y étais à ce moment là, mais les premières semaines, il n’a pas plu une seule fois. On a quand même pu faire de belles rivières. A la fin, juste avant de partir, la pluie s’est mise à tomber à tel point qu’il y a eu des inondations. Des routes étaient bloquées, c’était hallucinant. C’est là qu’on est allés voir cette chute impressionnante de plus d’une centaine de mètres de haut. Et on a également eu droit à une belle vague parfaite pour un peu de freestyle.

Pendant tout ce temps là, j’étais logé chez un kayakiste australien, Josh Bond, un super gars. C’est avec lui que j’ai navigué le plus, il m’a présenté ses potes, on a passé de très bons moments.

Dans quelques jours, je mettrai en ligne la seconde vidéo. Ce sera le même début, mais la fin comporte plus de kayak, dont mon meilleur souvenir : une expédition de deux jours en autonomie au milieu de la jungle. C’était extra.

J’espère que cette vidéo vous plaira…

A bientôt,

Max.

Santo domingo river

It has been a long time since I saw some of the first photos of the Santo Domingo. Ben Stookesberry and Jesse Combs on their epic first descent of what is probably the steepest kayaking section of the world. There’s nothing similar to see the photos of a place than to experience it by yourself, so when I heard that River Roots (Rush & Rafa) where planning a mission down there I was really excited to go with them and be part of it. 

The crew posing with the Santo domingo valley behind! Such a wild and beautiful place! 
Van from hell cleaning day!

 We have done 3 rounds down the Sto. Domingo and they have been totally awesome. The put-in is under a bridge so you don’t even have to walk to get in, there’s a few class IV rapids before getting to the steep section starts. Then you got 2 options, you either run “Angel wings” or make a rappel down and start before the “Dome”. 



The problem with those drops is that they’re so close one from each other that In case of getting injured or getting ejected on the first one you will probably end up swimming the next rapid wich will be insane and would hurt a lot…

GoPro shot of the Dome

all stoked at the bottom!!
love that view!

After that the river follows with a 20 foot slide. Then you have the “Tobogan” wich is a super steep and fun 60 footer where you always get mad speed! 

 
having some fun in Disneyland!
the toboggan! photo by Gerd Serrasolses
 The final drop you can run it in 3 different places, straight and tight 40 footer on the right , or the main line in the middle wich has a really fun entrance into the drop, all of them are good to go but be aware of sticky holes at the bottom, might be a good place to hold on your paddle at high flows. After the last waterfall the river gets way bigger because of an affluent coming from the right. 

Mattie B the boss slaying shots with his Red cam !! a 40 thousand dollars camera can
you believe anything can be so expensive???
photo by Gerd Serrasolses
All that section goes through a really tall gorge with lots of high volume quality rapids. Make sure to stop and scout “ Big Dawg” that one has a complicated entrance into a massive pillow, definitely a big ass rapid!

Gerd running "big dawg" photo by Adam Mills
After that there’s a few more quality rapids that we mostly sneaked on the right, except of Gerd and Evan who found their way through the big stuff! A few Km. later you will find your take-out on river left, road access so again no walking needed… Overall the Sto. Domingo Is one of my top 5 rivers in the world ! Such a beautiful and special place, awesome and scary rapids and a amazing crew made it one of the best experiences in my whole life. I am definitely coming back for the full descent someday!! 

happy brothers!