Trisuli Festival take 2

We made if off the Sun Koshi and onto a bus for the aforementioned "20 hr" busride that would bring us from the take out of our ten day trip to the royal beach/trisuli camp where the Peak UK Himalayan challenge would take place.



The trisuli hosted a great wave, as well as plenty of beach for camping, and a sweet rapid to set up a downriver slalom race on. I did a brief recap after the festival, so check November posts for the details. Here are some photos and some brief reminders of what happened...

This would be the first year that Nepali women would compete, in their own category and with the western women. It was a huge deal and super exciting to have not one, but three competitors.
stephan talks with sussmita about the day



Sita getting ready to compete

Day one was the slalom course- where competitors have to go through gates. The gates are arranged over/according to certain river features, forcing paddlers to catch certain eddys, ride certain waves, avoid some holes, etc.. It was loads of fun, and while a challenging course, accessible for everyone. If you missed a gate, you were penalized by having time added onto your run.

Sophie styling the slalom courseHayley and Whit, both first timers on a slalom course tearing it up

It was a fun day- and a good one for team Nepali women: Malin Bergman and Sophie Hoskins took first and second while the Nepali ladies watched and cheered us on.

Rama, Sambhavi, Kamala and Anita cheer for their new western friends

What would a festival be without a fun scene off the river as well? The party that night was loads of fun- western girls learned Nepali dancing, Nepali ladies learned western dancing, a few beers were had, and of course, some funny photos taken.


Anita shows off some of her dance moves


Emi and Jeff pose with new Nepali friends

The next day dawned bright and early as people headed to the wave to get some warm-up rides in before the freestyle competition. The wave was sweet- and made me wish i had a playboat. Rules of the comp stated that one boat must be used for the entire three day competition, so even though i had a big boat to throw around on the wave, those in playboats were going to have a much tougher time on the slalom course and in the down river race !


getting some coaching from will on how to loop a creekboat


Josh Neilson showing it is possible to loop a creekboat.

The comp was fun to watch- and there were some big loops and other moves thrown- though some of the best stuff thrown all day happened during the warm-up rides..

Willl Clark with an old school pop up

The girls all did great- Sita and Sussmita included. Even Emi got in on the fun, after having only kakayed for a total of 10 days... ever.

Hayley takes a breather in the eddy


Nope, thats not Josh, that Emi, tearing it up

Malin gets a ride in before flying off to Sweden


Malaika goes for a spin


Sita on the wave
Hester plugging he r bow for the pop-up


There was a huge crowd watching and cheering, music blaring, and overall a long, but sweet day.

some local ladies watch as Sita and Sussmita compete. Maybe they will be out there next year?

There was more debauchery as the festival continued with celebrations well into the night.
Inka takes time to smile with Hasila, Sambhavi and Kamala

Day three was the downriver race- fierce competition over a 10k course with some signifigant wave trains. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to get any photos as it was hard to see the river from the road, except for the start and finish. Lucky for me that i had Kelly and Emi to take pictures during the rest of the festival while i was running around competing, and of course, having fun.. Malin takes a break from winning the slalom and styling the freestyle before returning home to Sweden.


The day ended with prize giving- the highlight being Sita and Sussmita recieving gear prizes like paddles, helmets and even a kayak that will help them further their river guide careers.


Sussmita shows off her trophy and her prize.